Recaps

The group spent the night wondering whether others had entered the strange city before them, then awoke to find Han Yimo impaled by a huge black sword. As Qi Xia suffered a sudden bout of pain, the survivors realized Han Yimo had been murdered and the killer might be among them.

• Lin Qin persuaded Qi Xia to stay inside as darkness fell, and he thought of escaping to reunite with Yu Nian'an.
• Qiao Jiajin asked whether other participants might be in the city, and Qi Xia considered whether the shop assistant had arrived through the doors earlier.
• Officer Li questioned Doctor Zhao about how the malnourished shop assistant could have given birth, but Doctor Zhao could not offer a definite answer.
• A loud bell woke the group, and they found Han Yimo pinned to the floor by a huge black sword.
• Han Yimo died after trying to warn Qi Xia about the Seven Black Sword, and Qi Xia collapsed with a sudden headache.
• Xiao Ran pointed out that Han Yimo had been murdered, leading the survivors to suspect the killer was still among them.

After Han Yimo was found impaled by the Seven Black Sword, Qi Xia challenged the suspicion against him and then claimed he had killed Han Yimo. He left the Convenience Store with Qiao Jiajin, Tiantian, and Lin Qin, but Xiao Ran stopped them to demand the four 'Dao'.

• Zhang Chenze questioned Qi Xia about Han Yimo's death, and Qi Xia pulled the enormous sword from the ground to examine it.
• Qi Xia found the name Seven Black Sword engraved near the hilt and wondered why Han Yimo had mentioned it despite not being able to see the inscription.
• Xiao Ran accused Qi Xia of killing Han Yimo, while Qi Xia and Qiao Jiajin challenged her reasoning.
• Qi Xia admitted to killing Han Yimo and walked out of the Convenience Store, followed by Qiao Jiajin, Tiantian, and Lin Qin.
• Xiao Ran ran after the four and demanded that they hand over the four 'Dao' the group had won.

Qi Xia refused Xiao Ran and Doctor Zhao’s demand for two of his remaining Dao, and threatened to expose Doctor Zhao by inventing a story about Han Yimo’s death. Officer Li rejected Xiao Ran’s claim but accepted one Dao from Qi Xia, leaving the group’s conflict unresolved.

• Qi Xia said he had only three Dao left because he had traded one for fishing gear, and Xiao Ran demanded that he return two to her team.
• Tiantian, Qiao Jiajin, and Lin Qin challenged Xiao Ran’s demand, while Qi Xia refused to hand over any Dao to people who planned to wait out the games.
• Doctor Zhao claimed the Dao belonged to everyone, so Qi Xia accused him of saying they should let Han Yimo die, then admitted he had made up the accusation.
• Xiao Ran began to suspect Doctor Zhao, while Officer Li said Qi Xia had earned the Dao and did not owe the team a share.
• Qi Xia gave Officer Li one Dao to hold, saying it would make the two he kept seem clean, but Officer Li stayed with the group.

Qi Xia and the others investigated the bell and the vanished message in the square, while Officer Li chose to make the Convenience Store his base. An old man who claimed the answer was to bet one’s life recognized that Qiao Jiajin had already met Celestial Dragon and left warning that they could not win.

• Lin Qin warned Officer Li that the crazed shop assistant was the prime suspect in Han Yimo’s death and that his teammates might not be trustworthy, so he decided to use the Convenience Store as his base.
• Qi Xia led Lin Qin, Qiao Jiajin, and Tiantian to the square to investigate the bell that had rung when Han Yimo died.
• The group found the display blank and recalled its earlier message, “I heard the Echo of Calamity Summoning,” but Qi Xia said they lacked enough information to understand it.
• A withered old man appeared and told Qi Xia that the answer was to bet his life, then tried to grab him.
• The old man realized Qiao Jiajin had already met Celestial Dragon and walked away, muttering that they could not defeat him and that the Chinese Zodiac had returned.

Qi Xia questioned Lin Qin’s reasons for following him, then joined Qiao Jiajin as they searched for a game. They found Human Rat’s warehouse trial, and Tiantian entered it despite saying that escaping no longer mattered to her.

• Qi Xia told Lin Qin that he wanted to escape and return to his wife, Yu Nian'an, but Lin Qin refused to leave him.
• Qiao Jiajin reaffirmed his partnership with Qi Xia, while Tiantian wondered whether returning to her old life was worth escaping for.
• The group found Human Rat, who explained that one player could pay one Dao to search her warehouse for another Dao within five minutes.
• Tiantian paid the admission fee and entered the warehouse as Human Rat began the trial.

Tiantian failed Human Rat’s five-minute “Seeking the Way” game, and Qi Xia realized the rules held more risk than the group had assumed. He chose to play again, betting his life.

• Tiantian overturned the shelves and boxes, then searched the dark room but failed to find the Dao.
• Tiantian guessed that the Dao might be hidden inside one of the cans, but Human Rat declared the challenge over.
• Qiao Jiajin proposed trying again, but Qi Xia stopped him and asked Human Rat to repeat the rules.
• Human Rat revealed that the room had reset and explained that playing “Seeking the Way” cost one Dao, with one Dao hidden inside for five minutes.
• Qi Xia agreed to play again and said he was betting his life.

Qi Xia wagered his life in Human Rat’s search game and found the Dao hidden on her before the game could properly begin. After Human Rat fled, Vermilion Bird stopped her and enforced the wager, but Qi Xia asked him to spare her, and Vermilion Bird let her go.

• Qi Xia wagered his life to enter Human Rat’s search game, alarming Lin Qin and Qiao Jiajin.
• Qi Xia took a Dao from Human Rat’s pocket and explained that the Dao in the room would disappear when the door closed.
• Qi Xia revealed that Human Rat had known Tiantian failed because no Dao could remain in the closed room, and deduced that the rodent clue pointed to something hidden in a mouth.
• Human Rat shoved Qi Xia aside and ran, but Vermilion Bird appeared and stopped her.
• Qi Xia told Vermilion Bird he only wanted Dao and did not want Human Rat’s life, so Vermilion Bird released her.

Qi Xia watched Vermilion Bird kill Human Rat after Qi Xia won their wager, then learned the masked game organizers were participants too. As Human Rat died, she gave Qi Xia her Dao, and he suddenly suffered a splitting headache.

• Human Rat thanked Qi Xia, but Vermilion Bird stabbed her, removed her mask, and revealed she was a teenage girl.
• Qiao Jiajin shouted at Vermilion Bird for killing Human Rat, while Qi Xia realized his wager had cost the girl's life.
• Vermilion Bird recognized Qi Xia, Qiao Jiajin, Lin Qin, and Zhang Lijuan, then threatened Qi Xia and vanished after declaring he was destined to die there.
• Human Rat gave Qi Xia her Dao and died, saying everyone was a participant and she wished she had never worn the Rat mask.
• Lin Qin asked Qi Xia if he was okay, and Qi Xia suddenly clutched his head and cried out in pain.

Qi Xia concluded that the strange land enforced rules designed to keep participants from killing one another, and he proposed testing its games to earn enough Dao to escape. He left the group with a plan to take turns gathering clues before he bet his life, then split their winnings.

• After recovering from another headache, Qi Xia discussed the rules and administrators with Lin Qin, Tiantian, and Qiao Jiajin.
• Qi Xia proposed killing other people to obtain their Dao, and Qiao Jiajin, Lin Qin, and Tiantian each refused.
• Qi Xia revealed he had been testing their values and said he would abandon anyone willing to kill for Dao.
• Qi Xia reasoned that the administrators acted like referees who allowed people to die in games but prevented them from killing each other.
• Qi Xia proposed that the group test the games, gather clues, and eventually have him bet his life, splitting their Dao winnings until they reached three thousand six hundred.

Qi Xia and his companions traveled deeper into the ruined city, where Lin Qin’s unfamiliarity with flyers raised their suspicions about her. They met a wary man who invited them to join a game for Dao.

• Tiantian told Qi Xia that she was cooperating only to claim her share of the Dao and might betray him, and Qi Xia accepted the arrangement.
• Qi Xia, Qiao Jiajin, Lin Qin, and Tiantian ventured deeper into the city and encountered more natives and Animal Masks.
• A native dropped a worn flyer, and Lin Qin’s admission that she had never seen one made Qi Xia and the others question who she was.
• A bespectacled man called to Qi Xia’s group, referred to them as “Normal People,” and offered to earn Dao together by playing a game.

Qi Xia and his companions joined a group preparing to enter Earth Ox’s game, which promised a large Dao reward for those who cleared it. As the group waited for its twentieth player, Qi Xia overheard someone warn that the game could be deadly, and a scarred man approached.

• A bespectacled man invited Qi Xia, Qiao Jiajin, Lin Qin, and Tiantian to join an ox game, and Qi Xia agreed to investigate.
• Earth Ox explained that each player had to pay one Dao to enter and that every player who cleared the game would receive Dao equal to the number who cleared it.
• Qi Xia suspected the game would test physical strength, while Qiao Jiajin joked about proving himself and getting Qi Xia to call him boss.
• The group waited at nineteen players as Four-Eyes and a middle-aged man discussed the missing twentieth participant.
• Qi Xia overheard the middle-aged man say he did not want to die without knowing why, then saw a scarred, bare-chested man approach.

Qi Xia and his companions paid to join Earth Ox’s twenty-person game, only to be split into two teams by a random assignment. Qi Xia and Qiao Jiajin entered the yellow team’s arena while Tiantian and Lin Qin joined the green team, and the chapter ended as the yellow team entered an enclosed arena with an iron plate and a ten-minute countdown.

• A burly man arrived and paid one Dao to join the game, and Qi Xia and his companions paid four Dao to participate.
• Earth Ox led the twenty participants underground and announced a random team assignment, separating Qi Xia and Qiao Jiajin from Tiantian and Lin Qin.
• The lights assigned Qi Xia and Qiao Jiajin to the yellow team and Tiantian and Lin Qin to the green team.
• Earth Ox said each team would play independently and that anyone surviving ten minutes without elimination would pass, but he did not explain what game they would face.
• Qi Xia and Qiao Jiajin followed the yellow team down to an enclosed arena, where they saw a round iron plate and a countdown clock set to ten minutes.

Qi Xia and Qiao Jiajin faced a huge black bear in a sealed arena, where playing dead proved fatal. They decided to use the iron plate for protection, and Qiao Jiajin began distracting the bear while Qi Xia moved to retrieve it.

• The gate opened, revealing an enormous black bear, and the arena sealed behind it.
• Qi Xia warned everyone that playing dead would not stop a hungry black bear, but several contestants ignored him.
• The bear killed a woman who had played dead, causing the other contestants to scatter.
• Qi Xia told Qiao Jiajin to distract the bear while he retrieved the iron plate from the center of the arena.
• Qiao Jiajin approached and taunted the bear, which rose onto its hind legs and roared at him.

Qi Xia searched for a way to use the iron plate while Qiao Jiajin kept the bear occupied, but the other participants fought over the plate instead of working together. With Qiao Jiajin cornered and the group in chaos, Qi Xia realized he had to act before the bear killed him.

• Qiao Jiajin fled from the charging bear while Qi Xia examined the rusted iron plate and found no obvious mechanism or clue.
• Old Lu knocked Qi Xia aside, moved the plate into a corner, and hid behind it alone.
• A young woman and the bespectacled young man crowded behind the plate, drawing the others into a fight over the only apparent shelter.
• The participants abandoned the plate and brawled while the bear cornered Qiao Jiajin and attacked him again.
• Qi Xia realized Qiao Jiajin would die unless he intervened.

Qi Xia devised a way to use the iron plate to shield the group from the black bear, with Qiao Jiajin controlling it and Qi Xia directing him. When the middle-aged man and Glasses tried to interfere, Qi Xia used threats to force them to obey, leaving the group under his control as the bear approached.

• Qi Xia called Qiao Jiajin over after finding a plan, while Qiao Jiajin punched the black bear and dodged its attacks to buy time.
• Qi Xia told Qiao Jiajin to brace the iron plate and roll it in response to directions from Qi Xia, who would watch the bear from behind him.
• Qi Xia called on the others to stop fighting and gather behind the plate so he could protect everyone.
• Old Lü tried to take the plate, but Qi Xia grabbed him by the throat and ordered him to stand behind them.
• When Glasses edged closer, Qi Xia threatened his injured eye with the broken lens, and Glasses agreed to follow Qi Xia's orders.

Qi Xia organized the group behind an iron plate and used Qiao Jiajin as the “mother hen” to keep the black bear at bay. The bear’s charging attack overturned the plate, leaving Qi Xia and Qiao Jiajin pinned beneath it.

• Qi Xia threatened the group into following his lead and explained his plan using the roles of eagle, chicks, and mother hen.
• Qiao Jiajin braced the iron plate against the black bear’s attacks while the group stayed in formation behind it.
• Qi Xia guided the group as the bear circled them, and he warned that the bear’s retreat was a setup for a running charge.
• Qi Xia and Qiao Jiajin braced for the charge, but the middle-aged man abandoned the group and ran away.
• The bespectacled young man tried to steer the plate, but the black bear’s charge sent the line flying and pinned Qi Xia and Qiao Jiajin beneath the overturned plate.

After the black bear knocked Qi Xia and Qiao Jiajin down, the group restored their defensive formation while Old Lü was left exposed. Qi Xia drew the bear’s attention and weakened its attacks, saving Old Lü, while the skinny guy with glasses promised that he and Old Lü would give Qi Xia their “Dao” if they survived.

• Qiao Jiajin and Qi Xia recovered enough to brace the iron plate again as the black bear shook off the collision.
• The skinny guy with glasses tried to take Qiao Jiajin’s place but could not hold up the iron plate, so Qiao Jiajin resumed the position.
• The black bear moved between Old Lü and the group, and the skinny guy with glasses decided to risk his life to save him.
• Qi Xia stopped the skinny guy and demanded both men’s “Dao” in exchange for keeping them alive; the skinny guy agreed and handed over his sneakers.
• Qi Xia struck the black bear’s back and nose with the sneakers, drawing its attention and weakening its assault on the iron plate.
• Qiao Jiajin and the others blocked the bear’s weaker attacks, and Old Lü escaped back to the group.

Qi Xia and Qiao Jiajin’s iron-plate defense collapsed when the black bear pulled the barrier down, leaving them exposed and injured. With fewer than twenty seconds left, Glasses drew the bear away from Qi Xia, but it chased him as he repeatedly stumbled and fell.

• The black bear stopped attacking the iron plate and ate the dead woman while Qi Xia’s group waited for the game to end.
• With time running short, the black bear charged again, climbed over the plate, and pulled it down despite Qi Xia and Qiao Jiajin’s efforts to hold it up.
• The black bear struck at Qi Xia, who could not get up, while Qiao Jiajin attacked it and was thrown aside by a blow to the abdomen.
• Glasses decided to save Qi Xia and provoked the black bear, which turned away from Qi Xia and chased him.
• Glasses ran from the bear, repeatedly falling and struggling back to his feet.

Qi Xia and Qiao Jiajin’s group survived the black bear game, then waited anxiously for the other team to return. Zhang Shan, Tiantian, and Lin Qin emerged with all ten teammates alive, and Zhang Shan revealed that he had fought the bear by throwing its severed forelegs onto the floor.

• The timer reached zero, and the black bear was sucked through the doorway, ending the game and saving Little Glasses and the others.
• Qi Xia and Qiao Jiajin returned to the chair room with nine survivors and worried about Tiantian and Lin Qin’s team.
• Earth Ox said the other team’s game should have ended, but the group waited several minutes without seeing them return.
• Zhang Shan emerged from the doorway covered in wounds, followed by Tiantian, Lin Qin, and all ten of their teammates.
• Zhang Shan dropped two bloody black bear forelegs onto the floor, revealing that he had fought the bear.

Qi Xia confronted Zhang Shan over the Dao his friends had promised to hand over, then launched a surprise attack while Zhang Shan was still injured. Zhang Shan blocked Qi Xia’s blows and prepared to fight back.

• Lin Qin and Tiantian told Qi Xia and Qiao Jiajin how Zhang Shan had killed the black bear with an iron plate, though the bear had badly wounded him.
• Lin Qin explained that Zhang Shan had delayed returning because he made the others smash off the bear’s arms for food.
• Zhang Shan, Little Glasses, and Old Lü approached Qi Xia, and Zhang Shan challenged him over his treatment of his friends.
• Qi Xia demanded that Zhang Shan hand over the Dao, then kicked a chair into his knees and attacked him with it.
• Zhang Shan blocked the chair and a broken chair leg with his arms and forehead, then declared that he would stop holding back.

Qi Xia’s attack on Zhang Shan failed, and Qiao Jiajin stepped in to fight him instead. After a prolonged grappling match, Qiao Jiajin trapped Zhang Shan in a choke, but neither man could break free or force the other to yield.

• Qi Xia charged Zhang Shan and attacked him from atop a chair, but Zhang Shan blocked his punches and twisted him off.
• Zhang Shan tried to attack Qi Xia again, but Qiao Jiajin stopped him and called Qi Xia his brain and himself his fist.
• Qiao Jiajin and Zhang Shan traded blows before Qiao Jiajin took him down and nearly secured an armbar.
• Zhang Shan broke free of the armbar and fought back, but Qiao Jiajin swept him and locked him in a rear naked choke.
• Zhang Shan protected his neck with one hand, leaving both men trapped in a stalemate as Qiao Jiajin urged him to give up.

After Earth Ox broke up Zhang Shan and Qiao Jiajin’s fight, Zhang Shan gave Qi Xia the promised Dao and invited him and Qiao Jiajin to join a group seeking escape. Qi Xia refused, but Zhang Shan’s claim that people had escaped made him question whether escape was possible after all.

• Earth Ox pulled Qiao Jiajin and Zhang Shan apart and threw them to opposite sides of the room.
• Zhang Shan approached Qi Xia and Qiao Jiajin again, gave Qi Xia thirty-eight Dao, and explained that he was honoring the bet.
• Zhang Shan and Little Glasses invited Qi Xia and Qiao Jiajin to join their group and try to escape, but Qi Xia refused.
• Qi Xia challenged the idea that a group could escape because he believed only one person could get out, then realized no one had actually told him that.
• Zhang Shan said he believed they could escape because they had seen people who escaped.

Qi Xia accepted part of Zhang Shan’s haul and received food and Dao before leaving with his group. He refused to let a surviving young woman join them, suspecting she wanted their Dao, and asked his companions to lend him theirs.

• Zhang Shan offered to share information about someone who may have escaped if Qi Xia joined his group, then gave him a map to their base.
• Qi Xia returned half the Dao he had taken, sparing Little Glasses, and Zhang Shan gave the group a bear arm to discard.
• Earth Ox handed Qi Xia and his companions their rewards, while the young woman asked to join them after claiming her teammates had died in the Interview.
• Qi Xia refused the young woman, and Qiao Jiajin followed him after noticing his warning; the woman stayed behind with Earth Ox and said Zhang Shan could not be allowed to stay.
• Qi Xia explained that the woman might be targeting their Dao, then asked his companions to let him use theirs.

Qi Xia divided the group’s Dao evenly, and the four survivors searched an abandoned city for a way to cook the bear’s arm. At a restaurant, they unexpectedly met Xiaoxiao, who supplied water and a lighter, and the group began making bear meat soup.

• Qi Xia divided ninety-six Dao among himself, Qiao Jiajin, Lin Qin, and Tiantian, giving each of them twenty-four.
• The group searched for cooking supplies until they found an abandoned restaurant with a pot.
• Tiantian encountered Xiaoxiao in the kitchen, where Xiaoxiao showed them clean water and lent them a lighter.
• Qiao Jiajin built a makeshift stove while Tiantian and Xiaoxiao prepared water and Qi Xia cleaned the bear’s arm; Qiao Jiajin chopped the meat into the pot.
• As the bear meat soup boiled, Qiao Jiajin and Tiantian argued about whether eating bear paw was illegal, and Qiao Jiajin revealed he barely knew what the Internet was.

Lin Qin, Tiantian, Qiao Jiajin, and Qi Xia discovered they came from different years, but agreed to focus on escaping rather than investigating why. They ate the bear meat to keep up their strength, though Qi Xia found the bear paw especially disgusting.

• Tiantian questioned Qiao Jiajin about his birth year, and he said he was born in 1979 and that it was 2006.
• Lin Qin revealed she came from 2068, Tiantian said she came from 2019, and Qi Xia said he came from 2022.
• Qi Xia urged the group to prioritize escaping and searching for Dao instead of trying to uncover the cause of their different timelines.
• Tiantian served everyone bear meat, and Qi Xia waited until Xiaoxiao ate before tasting his portion.
• Qi Xia and Lin Qin disliked the greasy, gamey meat, while Qiao Jiajin and Tiantian ate heartily.
• Qi Xia tried the bear paw and found it even fattier and more foul-tasting than the other meat.