Chapter Summaries

Chu Qingjiu woke in a supernatural dungeon as a sickly-looking newbie and recognized Wu Qi as Qi Wu, the player who had severed his puppet strings. He planned to kill Qi Wu and reclaim them, but the chapter left him stuck beside the teasing veteran while pretending to accept his protection.

• Chu Qingjiu woke on a sofa among five players, coughed violently, and let them mistake him for a fragile newcomer.
• Liu Peng questioned Chu Qingjiu about his dungeon experience, and Chu Qingjiu admitted he had never entered one before.
• Wu Qi came downstairs, and Chu Qingjiu recognized him as Qi Wu, the leaderboard's number-one player who had severed his puppet strings.
• Chu Qingjiu resolved to kill Qi Wu and recover his strings, while Qi Wu offered to take him under his protection.
• The players introduced themselves, and Qi Wu called him “big brother Qingjiu,” leaving Chu Qingjiu inwardly wanting to kill someone.

Chu Qingjiu learned the rules of the survival-game instances and entered the Hundred Ghosts Night Parade with seven other players. At the Xu Family mansion, the players began their investigation while Chu Qingjiu concealed his plan to kill Qi Wu and regain his Puppet Threads.

• Liu Peng explained the instance rules to Chu Qingjiu and introduced the players waiting in the safe house.
• The system announced the Hundred Ghosts Night Parade instance, where the players could survive three days or attempt the dangerous task of summoning Wang Peiling's soul.
• Qi Wu brought Zhang Yaoyao downstairs, and the players left the safe house for the Xu Family mansion.
• The Xu Family's head steward welcomed the eight players and led them inside to change into suitable clothes.
• Qi Wu helped the frail Chu Qingjiu walk, while Chu Qingjiu revealed that he intended to kill Qi Wu and recover his Puppet Threads.

Chu Qingjiu entered the Hundred Ghosts Night Parade dungeon as a player after Qi Wu severed his Puppet Threads and defeated him. He learned how his restricted puppet-control ability worked and planned revenge on Qi Wu, but Qi Wu’s affection for him remained at zero.

• Qi Wu helped the exhausted Chu Qingjiu sit down, and Chu Qingjiu claimed he had heart trouble while insisting he would not die.
• Chu Qingjiu recalled how Qi Wu found his hidden Throne beneath the players’ starting point and severed his Puppet Threads, freeing the ten smaller dungeons.
• After Qi Wu cleared the dungeon, the injured Puppeteer accepted the administrator’s punishment and received Personal System 01, which explained his affection-based puppet control.
• Chu Qingjiu became a player and entered the Hundred Ghosts Night Parade dungeon, hoping to control Qi Wu, who was using the alias Wu Qi.
• Chu Qingjiu noticed that Qi Wu’s affection for him had stayed at zero since they met.

Chu Qingjiu attended a meeting at the Xu residence, where Master Xu claimed Peiling had died of illness and warned everyone away from the rear courtyard. Chu Qingjiu suspected Xu Zhijie was being controlled and left the other players with the misleading suggestion that he was possessed.

• Chu Qingjiu accepted rubbing alcohol and cotton swabs from Qi Wu to soothe the itching caused by his mourning garment.
• Master Xu told the eight players that Peiling had died of illness and asked them to cooperate with her Seventh-Day Rite.
• Xu Zhijie began to deny that Peiling had died of illness, but Master Xu sharply cut him off and took him away.
• Master Xu warned the players not to enter the rear courtyard, and Chu Qingjiu asked whether Xu Zhijie acted strangely around midnight.
• Qi Wu pressed Chu Qingjiu to share what he knew, so Chu Qingjiu suggested Xu Zhijie might be possessed while privately hoping the players would follow the false lead.

The players entered the Xu Family rear courtyard to investigate the forbidden residence, where Chu Qingjiu warned Zhang Yaoyao not to touch the spirit tablets. She accidentally knocked one over, leaving the group facing the consequences.

• Chu Qingjiu claimed he was a paper-effigy craftsman, while Qi Wu questioned whether the calluses on his hands matched that work.
• Liu Peng led the players to the locked rear courtyard, and Qi Wu helped them climb over its wall using a table.
• The players split into groups, with Qi Wu, Chu Qingjiu, Liu Peng, and Zhang Yaoyao exploring the largest building together.
• The group found eight newly placed spirit tablets facing away from them in the abandoned building.
• Zhang Yaoyao reached toward a spirit tablet as if entranced, and Chu Qingjiu warned her not to touch it, but she startled and knocked it over.

Zhang Yaoyao accidentally knocked down a spirit tablet, and Qi Wu hid it after claiming it was his. As Qi Wu and Chu Qingjiu searched the ancestral hall, Qi Wu discovered that the tablet bore Chu Qingjiu’s name, while their inspection of the West Room ended with the door slamming shut after they found an evil Buddha statue.

• Zhang Yaoyao knocked down a spirit tablet, and Qi Wu said it bore his name before hiding it in his clothes.
• Qi Wu and Chu Qingjiu stayed behind in the ancestral hall while Liu Peng took Zhang Yaoyao to inspect the East Room.
• Chu Qingjiu suspected Qi Wu might be hiding his real name, but Qi Wu privately saw that the tablet was inscribed with Chu Qingjiu’s name.
• Qi Wu followed Chu Qingjiu to the West Room, where they found a dusty statue of the Rakshasi, one of the Twelve Evil Buddhas.
• After Qi Wu wondered aloud whether all twelve evil Buddhas were gathered there, the temperature dropped and the room’s door slammed shut.

Chu Qingjiu and Qi Wu searched the rooms with the others, learning that they needed to find King Yama to retrieve Xu Zhijie's lover's spirit. After Qi Wu teased Chu Qingjiu on their way out, Chu Qingjiu suspected the mastermind controlling Xu Zhijie was using his missing Puppet Threads.

• Chu Qingjiu gave in when Qi Wu cried, and they searched the remaining rooms, finding Evil Buddhas but not King Yama.
• Qi Wu and Liu Peng explained that the group would need to retrieve Xu Zhijie's lover's spirit and erase the name from the Book of Life and Death to prevent the Underworld Soldiers from reclaiming it.
• The eight compared clues and learned Qi Wu would likely be attacked after midnight, so Qi Wu suggested returning with Chu Qingjiu that night.
• Qi Wu helped the group climb back over the wall, then flirted with Chu Qingjiu and claimed he had fallen in love with him at first sight.
• Chu Qingjiu suspected the mastermind controlling Xu Zhijie was using his missing Puppet Threads and resolved to find them.

Qi Wu and Chu Qingjiu returned to the guest quarters after exploring the Xu Residence, where they prepared for a suspicious banquet marking the Seventh-Day Rite. Qi Wu arranged to share Chu Qingjiu’s room and planned to stage a rescue so Chu Qingjiu would think better of him.

• Qi Wu led the group back and lied to the head steward that they had avoided forbidden areas of the Xu Residence.
• The head steward took them to the guest quarters and announced a six o’clock banquet for the deceased’s Seventh-Day Rite.
• Qi Wu persuaded Chu Qingjiu to share a room, then tied his hair and briefly felt his attraction to him intensify before suppressing it.
• Chu Qingjiu left after telling Qi Wu they were strangers, and Qi Wu stopped pretending to cry once he was alone.
• Qi Wu placed Chu Qingjiu’s memorial tablet at the head of their bed and went to seek a ghost, hoping to rescue Chu Qingjiu and win his favor.

Chu Qingjiu questioned Xu Zhijie and discovered that Lin Xueru, the ghost possessing him, had died after a vengeful woman in red cursed the Xu Family. He learned the family had suffered multiple deaths and that the ghost might be tied to a banyan tree in the sealed rear courtyard.

• Chu Qingjiu visited Xu Zhijie and found him possessed by a female ghost.
• Lin Xueru revealed that she had been the youngest young master's wife and described how she and the eldest young master's wife died after falling ill.
• A vengeful ghost in red attacked Chu Qingjiu, who caught her hand and realized she was targeting the Xu Family.
• Lin Xueru said the woman in red had appeared beneath a banyan tree in the rear courtyard, which had been sealed two years earlier.
• Lin Xueru explained that she had chosen to die so the youngest young master could live.
• Chu Qingjiu learned that the Xu Family's second son had been paralyzed, the third had drowned, and the youngest remained gravely ill.

Chu Qingjiu questioned Lin Xueru, then discovered that Xu Zhicheng had been using his Puppet Threads to control Xu Zhijie. He pressured Xu Zhicheng to explain the Xu Family’s connection to the woman who died two years earlier, and Xu Zhicheng finally agreed to talk when Chu threatened Mozhu.

• Lin Xueru trusted the Red-Robed Vengeful Ghost’s promise that Xu Zhijie would recover by the next day.
• Chu Qingjiu visited Xu Zhicheng and found his Puppet Threads hidden beneath the skin of Xu Zhicheng’s hand.
• Chu Qingjiu reclaimed the Puppet Threads and asked Xu Zhicheng why he had been controlling Xu Zhijie.
• Xu Zhicheng said he was atoning for the Xu Family’s debt to the woman who died two years earlier, but refused to explain further.
• Chu Qingjiu threatened Mozhu, prompting Xu Zhicheng to agree to tell him what he wanted to know.

Chu Qingjiu learned why Xu Zhicheng had sought Wang Peiling’s ghost and returned to his room with the Puppet Threads, where he discovered Qi Wu had put his own memorial tablet by the bed. As the ghost gate’s opening approached, Qi Wu found Xu Zhicheng’s book beneath Chu Qingjiu’s pillow and teased him about it.

• Xu Zhicheng explained that the Red-Robed Vengeful Ghost wanted Wang Peiling’s soul in exchange for sparing the Xu Family.
• Chu Qingjiu learned that recovering the Puppet Threads had improved his health and reflected on his former role as an instance final boss.
• Chu Qingjiu discovered that the memorial tablet at his bedside bore his own name and resolved to see what ghost it would attract that night.
• Qi Wu entered and tried to placate Chu Qingjiu, who refused to engage with him.
• Qi Wu found Xu Zhicheng’s book beneath Chu Qingjiu’s pillow, opened it, and laughed as he teased Chu Qingjiu about what he liked to read.

Qi Wu flirted with Chu Qingjiu and asked to pursue him, while Chu Qingjiu remained composed and rejected him for being too young. Chu Qingjiu's coughing fit left him resolved to recover all the Puppet Threads as soon as possible.

• Qi Wu teased Chu Qingjiu, leaned close, and tested whether Chu Qingjiu expected him to kiss him.
• Qi Wu drank from Chu Qingjiu's cup, and Chu Qingjiu calmly allowed it before asking him to return the explicit book to the second young master.
• Qi Wu asked whether Chu Qingjiu had ever been in a relationship, then confessed that he wanted to pursue him.
• Chu Qingjiu said he did not like children and called Qi Wu too young, prompting Qi Wu to insist that he was twenty-five.
• Chu Qingjiu began coughing violently and thought he needed to recover all the Puppet Threads as soon as possible.

Chu Qingjiu discovered that Qi Wu’s blood eased the pain caused by the Red-Robed Vengeful Ghost, then joined the other players at a banquet in the Xu Family Mansion. The players ate ghost offerings and wore red cords as the hall filled with unseen ghosts.

• Chu Qingjiu bit Qi Wu’s arm during a sudden bout of pain, and Qi Wu’s blood eased the yin energy tormenting him.
• Chu Qingjiu learned Qi Wu’s birth date and concluded that his strong yang constitution could repel ghosts.
• At the banquet, Chu Qingjiu recognized the red cords and food as Ghost Festival taboos but chose not to warn the other players.
• Qi Wu asked Chu Qingjiu to tie his red cord around his wrist, while the other players wore their own cords and ate the offerings.
• As the players ate and funeral music played, Chu Qingjiu noticed the rice at the empty tables turning black, revealing that unseen ghosts were eating in the hall.

At a ghostly dinner, Chu Qingjiu realized the players who ate the food had attracted the ghosts, while Qi Wu admitted he knew the danger and trusted in his strength. Qi Wu escorted Chu Qingjiu back to his room, unaware that a male ghost was following them.

• Zhang Yaoyao grew uneasy at the eerie dinner, and Liu Peng reassured her that no one would die on the first day.
• Qi Wu stared at Chu Qingjiu and admitted that he knew the meal was meant for ghosts but believed his strength would protect him.
• Chu Qingjiu warned the others to be careful and decided not to expose Qi Wu's recklessness, then left for his room.
• Qi Wu took Chu Qingjiu back, offered him a jacket when the cold wind made him cough, and a male ghost followed them, drawn by Chu Qingjiu's scent.

Chu Qingjiu and Qi Wu watched their first livestreams, where ghosts recognized Chu Qingjiu as the former Puppeteer and tipped him Ghost Money. As the Ghost Gate’s opening hour approached, the ghost attached to Qi Wu’s red cord began to stir.

• Chu Qingjiu changed out of his mourning clothes and put on Qi Wu’s track jacket.
• At eleven, Chu Qingjiu saw his livestream audience greet him as the Puppeteer, and he worried Qi Wu might discover his identity.
• The ghosts tipped Chu Qingjiu a stack of Ghost Money, which he put in Qi Wu’s jacket pocket before ending his livestream.
• Qi Wu watched Chu Qingjiu quietly, then crouched before him and said he wanted his attention.
• As the Ghost Gate neared its opening hour, the ghost following them through Qi Wu’s red cord began to stir.

A Ghost Courtesan possessed Chu Qingjiu and provoked an intimate encounter with Qi Wu while Chu Qingjiu fought to regain control. After Chu Qingjiu destroyed the ghost and used Qi Wu’s blood to dispel the chilling yin energy, he pushed Qi Wu away and blamed him for attracting the ghost.

• The Ghost Courtesan followed Qi Wu and Chu Qingjiu into their room and possessed Chu Qingjiu while he was distracted.
• The possessed Chu Qingjiu kissed Qi Wu, and the livestream was suspended for suspected sexual content.
• Chu Qingjiu used his Puppet Threads to tear apart the Ghost Courtesan’s soul while Qi Wu kissed him and held him down.
• Chu Qingjiu bit Qi Wu’s lip and used his blood to melt the yin energy inside his body.
• Chu Qingjiu shoved Qi Wu away and told him he had used his looks to get Qi Wu’s blood because the Red Thread on Qi Wu’s wrist had attracted the ghost.

Chu Qingjiu rejected Qi Wu’s advances after kissing him to obtain blood, while elsewhere in the Xu residence, guests wearing Red Threads were followed by ghosts. Zhao Yang removed his Red Thread and was possessed by a Vengeful Ghost, which attacked Wang Hao as Liu Peng fled.

• Qi Wu accused Chu Qingjiu of willingly selling his body, then cried and offered to help him, leaving Chu Qingjiu to regard him coldly.
• Zhao Yang, Liu Peng, and Wang Hao noticed sinister cold gusts in their room and realized Chu Qingjiu had not worn a Red Thread.
• Zhao Yang secretly removed his Red Thread, believing it had attracted the ghosts following them.
• A Vengeful Ghost possessed Zhao Yang and attacked Wang Hao, while Liu Peng ran for the door.
• The possessed Zhao Yang pierced Liu Peng through the heart as Liu Peng tried to escape.

After Qi Wu went to stop the Vengeful Ghost that killed Wang Hao, Chu Qingjiu investigated the rear courtyard and planned how to enter Ghost City. The chapter ended with Chu Qingjiu finding disturbed soil beneath the banyan tree and asking Qi Wu to dig up a corpse.

• Chu Qingjiu identified the creature that killed Wang Hao as a Vengeful Ghost and warned Qi Wu that the Red Thread marked him as prey.
• Qi Wu followed the bloody footprints to protect Zhang Yaoyao while Chu Qingjiu went to the rear courtyard.
• Chu Qingjiu found the ancestral hall brightly lit and reasoned that the missing Evil Buddha statue and Ghost Gate were inside.
• Qi Wu returned quickly, and he and Chu Qingjiu entered the rear courtyard together.
• Chu Qingjiu found disturbed soil beneath the banyan tree and told Qi Wu to dig up a corpse.

Chu Qingjiu used Qi Wu to lure out the Red-Robed Vengeful Ghost and persuaded her to enter Ghost City with him so they could find Wang Peiling's ghost before the Xu Residence's people. After she drained his yang energy, Qi Wu caught the collapsing Chu Qingjiu and vowed to go with him, while Chu Qingjiu secretly planned to take Qi Wu's yang energy as repayment for the past.

• Qi Wu dug up the corpse beneath the banyan tree, accidentally striking bone and bringing the Red-Robed Vengeful Ghost out.
• Chu Qingjiu revealed that he needed the ghost's help to reach Ghost City and find Wang Peiling's ghost before the Xu Residence's people.
• The Red-Robed Vengeful Ghost agreed to let Chu Qingjiu live if he survived and drained his yang energy to suppress her yin energy for entering Ghost City.
• Chu Qingjiu collapsed against Qi Wu and told him to stay behind, promising a reward if he returned alive.
• Qi Wu refused to let Chu Qingjiu go alone, and Chu Qingjiu privately planned to make Qi Wu give him his yang energy as repayment.

Chu Qingjiu, Qi Wu, and the Red-Robed Vengeful Ghost entered Fengdu Ghost City to find Wang Peiling's soul, planning to let the Xu Residence's search party reveal her. Their presence drew the attention of a powerful Fiend Ghost, which began chasing them.

• Qi Wu absorbed the Red-Robed Vengeful Ghost's yin energy and supported the weakened Chu Qingjiu into the Ancestral Hall.
• Chu Qingjiu returned his memorial tablet to its place, offered King Yama a thick stack of Ghost Money, and opened the gate to Ghost City.
• Chu Qingjiu, Qi Wu, and the Red-Robed Vengeful Ghost entered Ghost City and waited for the Xu Residence's search party to flush out Wang Peiling's soul.
• A Fiend Ghost detected the living scent leaking from Qi Wu's Extreme Yang Body and pursued Chu Qingjiu and Qi Wu.
• The ghosts fled the street, leaving Chu Qingjiu, Qi Wu, and the Red-Robed Vengeful Ghost facing the Fiend Ghost.