Chapter Summaries

Wei Yanchi confessed his feelings to Xie De, who left his response ambiguous as they explored the snowy maze and discussed The Shining. They met Beiwei, who warned them that a ghost was chasing her inside the hotel.

• Wei Yanchi apologized for his behavior in the previous world and told Xie De he loved him, while Xie De stayed silent before saying Wei Yanchi was already following him.
• Wei Yanchi and Xie De wandered through the maze, discussing westward expansion, Native American history, and the film The Shining.
• Wei Yanchi told Xie De that he had encountered Yue Xiamo and the boy from the film.
• Beiwei ran toward the maze and warned Xie De and Wei Yanchi that something in the hotel was chasing her.
• Beiwei explained that a hoarse-voiced figure appeared in her mind whenever she was about to sleep and that she had seen its shadow chasing her.

Xie De and Anbers cornered Beiwei in the hotel maze and persuaded her to accept treatment, while Wei Yanchi attacked the male lead of The Shining and took Yue Xiamo away. Wei Yanchi revealed intimate details about Yue Xiamo’s past, prompting her to recognize him.

• Xie De led Beiwei to the red elevator, where she saw a flood of blood and then black mist surrounding Xie De and Anbers, and fled.
• Anbers explained that Beiwei was his patient and needed treatment, while Xie De told him not to rush after frightening her.
• Beiwei fled through the maze from a black cat until Xie De found her and offered treatment; she took his hand.
• Wei Yanchi attacked the deranged male lead of The Shining with an axe, then pulled Yue Xiamo away from the scene.
• Wei Yanchi recited details about Yue Xiamo’s appearance, home, and deceased best friend, and Yue Xiamo recognized him and threatened to punch him.

Su Qian, Zuo Shenghang, and Orion explored a deserted town inside an illusion and nearly fought before Hu Songlin used an angel's eye to bring its paper-like residents to life. Hu Songlin then encountered a white-haired man who recognized him, though Hu Songlin did not remember knowing him.

• Su Qian and Zuo Shenghang met after emerging from the river and entered the town to search for the illusion's owner.
• Su Qian and Zuo Shenghang found the town's identical houses and realized it resembled a Toy House.
• Su Qian and Orion argued with a man from the Laboratory, while Zuo Shenghang failed to persuade them to cooperate.
• Hu Songlin appeared unnoticed, turned an angel's eye, and made the paper-like townspeople emerge and gather around him.
• Hu Songlin walked into the stream and was greeted by a white-haired man with green eyes and a black cat, but Hu Songlin asked whether they knew each other.

Xie De followed Hu Songlin to a remote mountain village and discovered Hu Songlin had built the illusion with an Angel's Eyeball. After Xie De knocked the eyeball away and the village vanished, Coal Ball snatched it and ran downhill, where the town had become chaotic.

• Xie De watched factions clash in town and wondered why Hu Songlin seemed unaware that the world was an illusion.
• Hu Songlin invited Xie De to a mountain village that came alive with wax-figure villagers as they entered.
• Xie De fired at Hu Songlin, who revealed he knew the world was fake and used an Angel's Eyeball to control it.
• Xie De used an electric discharge to knock the Angel's Eyeball from Hu Songlin's hands, causing the village and town to become dilapidated again.
• Hu Songlin told Xie De he wanted to stay because no one there ignored him, while Coal Ball grabbed the eyeball and ran down to the now-lively town.

The Club and the Laboratory resumed fighting while Orion and Ying Lin tracked the Illusion’s owner and encountered Coal Ball carrying the Angel’s Eye. Xie De took the eye and, with 455, realized that the Club and Laboratory likely restrained each other because of Experimental Subject No. 1.

• The Club and the Laboratory fought destructively as Orion and Ying Lin scanned the area and found three approaching heat signatures southeast of town.
• Orion and Ying Lin found Coal Ball carrying the Angel’s Eye, but Scheid shot at them before Ying Lin could approach the cat.
• Scheid arrived with Hu Songlin, and Coal Ball brought the eyeball to Xie De while Orion and Ying Lin’s attacks repeatedly failed.
• Xie De took the Angel’s Eye and learned from 455 that it could keep an Illusion’s owner trapped inside their own Illusion.
• Xie De and 455 reasoned that the Club and Laboratory avoided lethal attacks because they mutually deterred each other, possibly through the Laboratory’s Experimental Subject No. 1.

Xie De tried to keep Hu Songlin safe as the Laboratory and the Club attacked them inside the illusion. Hu Songlin’s resolve brought rain that washed away the poison gas, and Wei Yanchi appeared beside Xie De as Hu Songlin walked toward town.

• Orion and Xi Yijiu arranged a drone bombing against Xie De and the others, while Ying Lin proposed that Xie De cooperate with the Illuminati in exchange for technological help.
• The drone bombing failed to kill Xie De, who shot Orion in the shoulder as Orion and Ying Lin fled.
• Club poison gas drifted toward Xie De and Hu Songlin, but Xie De stayed behind rather than leave Hu Songlin alone.
• Xie De urged Hu Songlin to find meaning in existing, and Hu Songlin stood and spoke as rain began washing away the poison gas.
• Hu Songlin walked toward town, and Wei Yanchi appeared beside Xie De with an umbrella and offered help.

Wei Yanchi broke Xie De and Juelu free from their illusions, while Yue Xiamo learned about Mr. 39’s failed revolution. The group regrouped in the Desert Ancient City as a severe dust storm approached.

• Wei Yanchi used the angel eyeballs to shatter the illusion, freeing Xie De and waking Yue Xiamo and Juelu.
• Juelu angrily recalled how Wei Yanchi had humiliated her in the illusion, then noticed Beiwei was missing.
• Yue Xiamo and Juelu found Mr. 39 scouting the ancient city, and Juelu explained that Viscount Scheid had failed to save the Grand Duchy of Er'yue in Year 1739.
• Xie De asked 455 to contact their teammates after 455 failed to reach the Laboratory through its signal towers.
• At the Laboratory’s vehicle, Mena treated Orion’s wound and told him to leave, while Orion warned her about the Martial Arts Hall and the Instance’s forces.
• Ant announced that an exceptionally severe dust storm would arrive in ten minutes.

Xie De and his companions took shelter from a deadly sandstorm, and Xie De brought them into Mr. 39’s castle. There, Huang Zhuowang reunited with Beiwei as Emma quietly watched the new guests.

• Wei Yanchi identified a human skull as the cause of the city’s illusions and said the treasure was likely in the Ancient Library.
• Xie De sheltered with Zuo Shenghang, Huang Zhuowang, the Witch, and Yue Xiamo as the sandstorm began, while Coal Ball remained with Hu Songlin in the library.
• The sandstorm broke through the house’s wall, and Xie De used another solution to move the group out of danger.
• Huang Zhuowang landed in Mr. 39’s castle, where Beiwei explained that the Viscount had brought them in to take shelter.
• Emma told Beiwei that she disliked the new guests and warned her to be quiet because the Viscount was resting.

Xie De endured the pain caused by bringing players into his domain and tried to rest while 455 sought a way to ease it. Later, Wei Yanchi confronted him about his injured hand, and Xie De revealed his mechanical prosthetic before fleeing their flirtatious exchange.

• Xie De took painkillers and injected Analgesic to numb his arm, then asked 455 to find out whether the domain’s pain could be reduced.
• Xie De ordered Emma to quiet the unconscious NPCs attacking the players, and the domain fell silent.
• Xie De found Wei Yanchi playing the piano and agreed to show him around the Castle.
• Wei Yanchi asked about Xie De’s right hand, so Xie De removed his glove and revealed his mechanical prosthetic.
• Wei Yanchi admitted he wanted to help Xie De and said he was courting him, prompting Xie De to pull away and leave.

455 asked 730 to reduce Xie De’s pain, then revealed information about the Main God System and admitted it had destroyed the system to escape. 730 investigated the Book of Creation and left 455 classified as a threat, though it agreed to keep placating it.

• 455 asked 730 to lower Xie De’s pain perception threshold, and 730 agreed.
• 730 questioned 455 about its origins, and 455 described the Main God System’s worlds, energy, and goal of becoming a heavenly dao.
• 730 brought 455 to the Laboratory’s Experimental Subject No. 1, the Book of Creation, and asked what it knew about the world’s plot and ending.
• 455 explained that it had stolen incomplete plot information from the world’s consciousness and that events no longer matched it.
• 455 admitted it had escaped by releasing a system virus that brought the Main God Space to a standstill, and 730 classified 455 as dangerous.

Xie De and 455 cleared the air about 455’s past and why it chose him, then learned that Experimental Subject No. 1 was the Book of Creation. After a brief rest with the others, Xie De resumed the expedition.

• 455 admitted that it had escaped the Main God Space and crippled the Main God System, and Xie De revealed he had already suspected something was off.
• 455 explained that it chose Xie De because he could enter Instances and take it into the Otherworld, and the two expressed gratitude for their partnership.
• 455 told Xie De that Experimental Subject No. 1 was the Book of Creation, the origin of their world, which 730 said no one was allowed to study.
• Xie De joined the others downstairs as they rested and chatted, then announced that the expedition would continue.

Xie De followed Coal Ball through the library and was drawn into an illusion that replayed his past instances. After recognizing and rejecting the illusion’s traps, he wondered whether killing the people who appeared in it meant he had killed himself, then reached an oasis.

• Xie De followed Coal Ball into a dark passage in the library, where a familiar monastery appeared before him.
• Xie De resisted the monastery illusion, shooting the fake Zhao Junhao, Zeng Huan, Pearl, Qiu Shanyi, and Liang Renhuai as their scenes replayed.
• Xie De and 455 realized the illusion was testing him by recreating past instance dangers and memories.
• In a Factory illusion, Xie De shot the fake Li Luohan and Fang Jueshan, then recognized that his actions resembled the scene in which Wei Yanchi had killed him.
• Xie De wondered whether he had just killed himself, followed Coal Ball onward, and came upon an oasis.

Xie De and Wei Yanchi discovered that the oasis and the desert city were formed from the body and blood of a Shen Mother, and that a young Shen held the treasure needed to reclaim the Instance. They learned they had to resolve the mother’s lingering obsession and take the little Shen to the Eastern Sea, while other organizations might pursue its Shen Pearl.

• Xie De found Hu Songlin unconscious in the oasis and coaxed a frightened little red Shen out of the water with Coal Ball.
• Wei Yanchi identified the creature as a Shen that could create illusions, while 455 confirmed its Shen Pearl was the Instance’s treasure.
• 455 explained that the Shen Mother’s body had become the city, her blood had formed the oasis, and the little Shen had been born after her death.
• Xie De learned that the group had to resolve the Shen Mother’s obsession and return the little Shen to the Eastern Sea, while guarding it from the mother’s haunting and rival organizations.
• Wei Yanchi released a trace of True Dragon aura to tease the little Shen, startling it and Coal Ball, and apologized when Xie De confronted him.

Xie De and his allies fought Mena and the Laboratory after the organization ambushed them on their way to Magic City. A sudden shift in space transported both sides to a sinister wilderness, where Emma and Beiwei appeared and Xie De ordered them killed.

• Xie De and his companions planned a long journey to Magic City while Hu Songlin remained trapped in the Oasis illusion.
• Mena ambushed Xie De's group and demanded the treasure, prompting 455 to summon backup and warn them about the Laboratory's anti-illusion equipment.
• The Witch, Zuo Shenghang, Xiao Jiejun, Yue Xiamo, and Huang Zhuowang joined the fight against Mena and the Laboratory's mercenaries.
• Xie De fought Mena with a blade while 455 guided him, and Ant warned that space was changing as the Laboratory suffered casualties.
• The battlefield went dark and shifted to an eerie forest, where Emma and Beiwei appeared and Xie De ordered them killed.

Silas rejected Orion’s plan to attack the special space and asked Ant to contact system 455, while Mena and the Laboratory Squad struggled to escape the ghosts inside Xie De’s domain. After ordering Emma to leave one survivor, Xie De heard Wei Yanchi suggest recruiting his master from the Martial Arts Hall for the Shen Dragon mission.

• Silas refused Orion’s proposal to use suppressive fire and a nuclear blast, then asked Ant to contact system 455.
• Mena led the Laboratory Squad through the misty domain as Emma’s ghosts attacked them, and Xie De told Emma to leave someone alive.
• Xie De sent the injured teammates to seek treatment from Wei Yunmo, while Wei Yanchi stayed behind to speak with him.
• Wei Yanchi suggested asking the Martial Arts Hall for information about legendary creatures and inviting his master and senior fellow disciple on the Shen Dragon mission.
• Xie De asked Wei Yanchi’s master’s age and remarked that the sixty-year-old must be in excellent health.

Xie De’s group negotiated for the Laboratory’s equipment and information after defeating its team, then left the Desert by helicopter. Wei Yanchi told his master he had found Shen and was taking it to the Eastern Sea.

• Wei Yanchi asked Xie De if he would need help later, and Xie De told him not to interrupt his conversation with 455.
• Wei Yunmo delivered medicine to Xie De and exchanged hostile remarks with Wei Yanchi, who teased him about being jealous.
• Xie De instructed 455 to demand helicopters, information about the Laboratory’s personnel and abilities, advanced weapons, and the Laboratory’s withdrawal in exchange for Mena.
• Mena complained to Silas about the losses and damage to her psychic sensitivity as two helicopters carrying Xie De’s group flew away.
• Wei Yanchi read his master’s group chat, then told him he had found Shen and was taking it to the Eastern Sea.

Xie De and the others continued across the Gobi Desert after using Hu Songlin’s access privileges to make the Club stand down. They headed for the Club Base Branch to catch a plane to Magic City, while Shen Mother continued pursuing them.

• Su Qian and the Club blocked the group’s route, but a high-priority message revealed Xie De’s authority, and she let both cars pass.
• Huang Zhuowang and Juelu wondered about the relationship between the Instance Faction and the Club, while Xie De laughed and left Wei Yanchi’s question unanswered.
• Coal Ball sensed Shen Mother watching the cars through the illusion and huddled beside Xie De.
• Xie De told Wei Yanchi they were heading to the Club Base Branch to catch a plane to Magic City and return Little Shen to the Eastern Sea.

Xie De visited Wei Yanchi’s Taoist temple in Magic City and met his senior fellow disciples and their master, Priest Liu. Priest Liu eagerly asked to see the legendary shen, and Xie De let Little Shen out as the story ended with the priest’s gaze fixed on it.

• Xie De and his companions followed Wei Yanchi through an alley to the Taoist temple, where Zhang Ninde welcomed them.
• Xu Zhouluo privately warned Wei Yanchi about staying close to Xie De, and they discussed their senior fellow disciples.
• Priest Liu arrived with Zhang Mingqi and eagerly greeted Xie De, asking to see the shen he had found in the Instance.
• Xie De let Little Shen out to divert Priest Liu’s attention, and the priest stared at the legendary creature with excitement.

Xie De and the others set sail aboard the Explorer to investigate the Eastern Sea, while Wei Yanchi and Zhang Mingqi discussed his attachment to Mr. 39. The crew encountered a vast, freezing bank of mist, and Juelu warned that danger might lie ahead.

• Zhang Mingqi gave Wei Yanchi Five Emperor Coins and warned him about the Shen Mother's resentment, then told him she would collect his body if he died.
• Taoist Liu arranged the group's supplies and passage, and Xie De's team boarded the survey ship Explorer and headed out to sea.
• Wei Yanchi told Xie De about his childhood trips searching for merfolk, and Zhang Mingqi called him away before he could follow Xie De inside.
• A vast bank of freezing mist appeared ahead of the ship, and Juelu drew The World reversed and warned that danger might be coming.

As the ship entered a fog-bound sea, Coal Ball warned Xie De that a humanlike monster was lurking outside and watching the passengers. Xie De ordered the ship to turn back, while Wei Yanchi learned that Zhang Mingqi was upset over the memory of her third senior brother, who had died fourteen years earlier.

• Zhang Mingqi and Wei Yanchi placed Evil-Repelling Talismans around the ship as it entered the fog, while Juelu explained to Zuo Shenghang how she had ended up on the United Nations' blacklist.
• Coal Ball rushed back to Xie De and warned him about something in the fog, and Wei Yanchi translated the warning as a hungry humanlike monster held back by the talismans.
• Xie De went to the wheelhouse, heard the captain argue with Daoist Liu over whether to continue, and ordered the ship to turn back.
• Daoist Liu followed Xie De to keep persuading him, while Zhang Ninde recalled how their deceased third senior brother used to keep their master in line.
• Wei Yanchi asked Zhang Ninde why Zhang Mingqi seemed upset, and Zhang Ninde said she was remembering their third senior brother, who had died fourteen years earlier.