Chapter Summaries

Long Zang’s group entered Peach Blossom Town and heard the innkeeper’s tale of Taozi and the Peach Blossom Immortal, who supposedly preyed on people outdoors after dark. After footsteps drew Midnight outside and the innkeeper transformed into a host for a Peach Blossom on a Human Face, the group faced proof that the town’s supernatural threat was real.

• Long Zang showed his Court of Judicial Review token to persuade the frightened innkeeper to let the group into the inn.
• The innkeeper told how Taozi and the scholar died after her father sold her to a brothel, and how townspeople blamed the Peach Blossom Immortal for taking anyone who wandered outside at night.
• A wind and strange footsteps sounded outside, and Midnight kicked open the inn door, but Yin Chao and the others saw no one in the deserted street.
• After the group returned inside, the innkeeper angrily demanded that they believe his warning, then his neck twisted and roots and a peach blossom emerged from his mouth.
• A Peach Blossom on a Human Face bloomed across the innkeeper’s face as Yin Chao and the others witnessed its formation.

Yin Chao saved the innkeeper by ripping a Peach Blossom on a Human Face from his throat, but the man later died after eating its poisonous roots. After falling asleep beside Midnight, Yin Chao witnessed a memory of Liang Chen’s childhood and learned how his parents had treated him as a monster.

• Yin Chao pulled the Peach Blossom on a Human Face from the innkeeper’s throat, and the old man woke up.
• The innkeeper became delirious, ate the poisonous roots, and died before Yin Chao could stop him.
• An Nian scolded Liang Chen for trying to eat the roots, while Midnight dragged him away.
• The group buried the innkeeper and settled into the inn for the night.
• Yin Chao dreamed of Liang Chen’s mother calling him a monster and his father, Liang Shi, abandoning them.
• Yin Chao saw a nurse praise the young Liang Chen as a good boy while he read an anatomy book at the psychiatric hospital.

Liang Chen spoke with his mother, who arranged for someone to take him from the psychiatric hospital the next day. That night, a fire engulfed the hospital, and Liang Chen watched a burning person emerge from a room.

• Liang Chen crushed an ant between the pages of his book and wondered what it would be like for a human body to be crushed.
• A nurse helped Liang Chen call his mother after the number on his crumpled slip of paper no longer worked.
• Liang Chen's mother told him she missed him and arranged for someone to pick him up the next afternoon.
• Liang Chen told the nurse that his mother was sending someone to take him home, and the nurse cautioned him to be careful.
• A fire broke out at the psychiatric hospital while Liang Chen slept, and he saw a person emerge from a room engulfed in flames.

Liang Chen escaped a deliberate fire at the psychiatric hospital with the nurse, whose horror at his reaction made him seem like a stranger to her. That night, a man sent by his mother took him away and explained his parents’ history, leaving Liang Chen excited by what he heard about his own origins.

• The nurse pulled Liang Chen away from a burning patient, then called the police as the fire spread through the locked hospital dormitory.
• Liang Chen called the suffering patients’ ordeal an exquisite experience, frightening the nurse, who fled from him when an ambulance arrived.
• Fire engines arrived late, and only a handful of people escaped the burning dormitory.
• A man sent by Sun Yan collected Liang Chen that night and told him how Sun Yan had secretly given birth to him after Liang Shi refused to accept her into the Liang Family.
• Liang Chen agreed that his parents’ story made sense and happily wondered what it was like to have immoral and vile blood in his veins.

Liang Chen arrived at the Liang Family estate after Butler Qian drove him there, and the mistress revealed her hostility toward him and her claim that he was responsible for the Psychiatric Hospital fire. The chapter left Liang Chen facing her direct accusation about the deaths in the fire.

• Liang Chen recognized Butler Qian as the man who had arranged the fire at the Psychiatric Hospital and impersonated Sun Yan's pickup.
• Butler Qian brought Liang Chen to the Liang Family main residence, where a maid insulted him and led him to the mistress.
• The mistress initially feigned warmth toward Liang Chen, then pinched him, shoved him down, and declared that only her son could inherit the Liang Family.
• The mistress mistook Liang Chen for his father, raged about his supposed infidelity, and Liang Chen calmly said he was not his father.
• The mistress admitted she had arranged the fire and told Butler Qian to avoid Liang Chen's room, then asked whether the dying victims knew they suffered because of him.

Liang Chen unsettled the mistress during their first meeting, then learned why the Liang Family wanted custody of him. That night, private investigator Moon Shadow entered his room, and Liang Chen eagerly asked how to become an investigator.

• Liang Chen praised the mistress’s murderous eyes and her fire show, provoking her into tearing a jade earring from the maid and giving it to him as a first-meeting gift.
• Liang Chen threw the earring away, and Butler Qian explained that the mistress wanted to prevent Sun Yan from taking Liang Chen because he was Liang Shi’s only child and heir.
• Liang Chen went to sleep in the Liang Family mansion, where Moon Shadow entered his room to investigate him.
• Liang Chen introduced himself to Moon Shadow and asked how someone became a private investigator.

Moon Shadow rescued Liang Chen from a gunmen’s massacre at the Liang Family estate and took him with her, while the newspapers blamed a maid for helping the attackers. Yin Chao woke as the dream ended.

• Liang Chen told Moon Shadow he wanted to become a private detective because he found her dangerous life exciting.
• Moon Shadow sensed blood, hid Liang Chen beneath the bed, and a gunman fired into the empty bed before leaving.
• Liang Chen asked about the gun, and Moon Shadow explained the difference between firearms and cold weapons.
• Moon Shadow spotted armed men in the courtyard, suspected an inside accomplice, and led Liang Chen out through a window.
• Newspapers reported the Liang Family massacre and showed a maid being arrested, then Yin Chao woke from the dream.

Yin Chao woke to find the town restored and his companions missing from everyone else’s memories, then discovered its people worshipped the Peach Blossom Immortal. After resisting a shopkeeper’s attempt to make him worship, he recognized her as Broken Jade, who seemed not to know her own name.

• Yin Chao found the old man alive, while the man and Xu Yuan remembered only Yin Chao and Xu Yuan arriving at the inn.
• Yin Chao saw that Peach Blossom Town had become bustling and learned from a shopkeeper that people everywhere worshipped the Peach Blossom Immortal.
• The shopkeeper tried to bewitch Yin Chao into offering incense and kneeling before the Peach Blossom Immortal, but he resisted and threw the incense away.
• Yin Chao recognized the shopkeeper as Broken Jade from the peach-blossom mark on her neck.
• Broken Jade repeated her name in confusion and said hearing it made her feel as though she had heard it in a dream and made her heart ache.

Yin Chao discovered that Peach Blossom Town’s residents had no names and that a girl in the Peach Immortal Temple could affect his memories. After he forgot his own name, the temple bell drew him, Xu Yuan, the proprietress, and the townspeople into the peach grove, where the people began turning into hanging corpses.

• Yin Chao pulled a Peach Blossom on a Human Face from the proprietress and crushed it, freeing her from its grasp.
• Xu Yuan arrived and failed to recognize the Peach Blossom on a Human Face, leading Yin Chao to suspect his memories had been altered.
• The proprietress led Yin Chao and Xu Yuan to the Peach Immortal Temple and explained that no one in Peach Blossom Town had a name.
• A girl in the temple statue spoke into Yin Chao’s mind about witnessing the birth of a new god.
• After leaving the temple, Yin Chao realized he had forgotten his own name, while Xu Yuan’s expression turned blank and unnatural.
• A bell rang, drawing everyone into the peach grove, where vines and Peach Blossoms on a Human Face transformed the townspeople into hanging corpses.

Yin Chao confronted the Peach Blossom Immortal, who declared she was born of desire and slaughter, then saw a vision revealing how seven women were murdered and their deaths disguised as the work of the Peach Blossom Immortal. The vision ended with a peach blossom growing over one corpse’s mouth.

• Yin Chao resisted the Peach Blossom Immortal, and his power caused the vines and central peach tree to wither.
• The Peach Blossom Immortal moved to a nearby tree and told Yin Chao that believers received slaughter in return for their desire.
• Yin Chao saw Xiao Xiao, Broken Jade, and five other young women hanging from trees, all strangled and without peach blossoms in their mouths.
• A younger madam from the Yao Cai House and a cross-eyed man discussed the seven women, whom Zhang San had forced himself on.
• The cross-eyed man shoved a branch down a corpse’s throat and claimed the deaths could be blamed on the Peach Blossom Immortal.
• After the madam fled, a peach blossom rapidly grew over the corpse’s lower face.

Yin Chao learned how the Peach Blossom Immortal was created from people’s fears, faith, and desires, then rejected her attempt to tempt him. He and his companions fought her in the Peach Blossom Woods, and Yin Chao burned the great peach tree as the mental world began to collapse.

• The Peach Blossom Immortal killed the squint-eyed man, and the madam spread the invented legend that made Peach Blossom Town fear and worship her.
• The Peach Blossom Immortal told Yin Chao how belief and offerings had brought her into being, then tried to draw him close, but he saw through her plan.
• The Peach Blossom Immortal attacked Yin Chao and his companions with living peach trees, while Feng Fangfeng, Anna, and Ghost Baby fought them off.
• Yin Chao approached the enormous peach tree and burned it with the Long-Handled Lamp, leaving the Peach Blossom Immortal in anguish as her mental world shattered.
• Yin Chao heard the Peach Blossom Immortal ask why people created gods only to destroy them, insisting she had only been fulfilling her duty.

After the Peach Blossom Immortal’s defeat, Yin Chao woke from a dream and learned how the group had uncovered Wang Daman and exposed Yao Cai House. The players returned to the capital, where Yin Chao reunited with Qing He and learned she had opened a pastry shop and taken in abandoned children.

• Yin Chao woke after two days unconscious and hugged Midnight, claiming the Peach Blossom Immortal’s dream had frightened him.
• Long Zang told Yin Chao that the group had found Wang Daman’s body in the Peach Garden and that the madam of Yao Cai House had confessed to being controlled by the Peach Blossom Immortal.
• Yin Chao told the others about his dream, and the group set off for the capital without discussing whether to leave the instance.
• Yin Chao spotted Qing He at a sugar figurine stall and bought every figurine, taking the one she had been about to receive.
• Qing He told Yin Chao and the others that she had used his money to take over a pastry shop and had taken in children from poor families.

Yin Chao left the Peach Blossom Immortal Instance, where people continued worshipping despite the murders being solved, and learned that No. 028 was his son. Before he could contact Yin Rui and Shang Yi about their unexpected grandson, Bai Yu told him that players were trapped in their Instances.

• Peach blossoms fell over the Capital, and more people knelt to worship the Peach Blossom Immortal despite the case being solved.
• Yin Chao said goodbye to Xu Yuan and exited the Instance World, leaving Feng Fangfeng, Anna, and Little Black Cat behind until he could send them back.
• No. 028 appeared and claimed he had created the Peach Blossom Immortal; Yin Chao called him a love-starved child, and No. 028 angrily denied that Yin Chao was his father before fleeing.
• Yin Chao considered telling Yin Rui and Shang Yi that No. 028 was their grandson, but Bai Yu called to report that Luo and other players were trapped in their Instances.
• Yin Chao told Bai Yu to wait and headed for the square.

Yin Chao learned that people were still alive inside the instances and sought the message received by Moqi Xinsi. After revealing that he was the Evil God behind Moqi Xinsi’s scroll, Yin Chao asked him to hide his identity and share the message.

• Bai Yu told Yin Chao that no one else had returned from an instance on time, but a Wanqi Guild member had sent out a message.
• Yin Chao learned that Moqi Xinsi had the message but had refused to share it, and went to find him in the square.
• Yin Chao used the black scroll to summon Moqi Xinsi, who recognized him as the Evil God and rushed to worship him.
• Yin Chao asked Moqi Xinsi to conceal his identity and tell him what the message said.

Yin Chao learned that Jin Zi was trapped in an instance where ghost monsters had begun killing without restraint, and a message in her notebook suggested she had seen her dead lover, Zhao Qing. When an SS-Rank instance called Rebirth appeared, Yin Chao decided to enter it, and Bai Xu volunteered to join him.

• Moqi Xinsi told Yin Chao that the Evil God had chosen him and shared Jin Zi's warning about the instance.
• Moqi Xinsi gave Yin Chao Jin Zi's notebook, where he read about the survivors trapped with murderous ghost monsters.
• Yin Chao saw new writing appear in the notebook saying, "I saw you," and concluded Jin Zi had seen Zhao Qing.
• A screen announced the SS-Rank instance Rebirth, and Yin Chao decided to enter it.
• Moqi Xinsi called for volunteers to join Yin Chao, and Bai Xu raised his hand.

Yin Chao accepted Lin Erba as the fifth participant, and the group entered the SS-rank instance Rebirth. While working as a police officer in an ash-covered town, Yin Chao picked up Leo and encountered a girl the children feared as a devil.

• Moon Shadow and Moqi Xinsi joined Yin Chao, and Lin Erba claimed the final place despite the crowd's objections.
• Yin Chao teased Lin Erba about his timid persona before the five entered the SS-rank instance Rebirth.
• Yin Chao arrived in a decaying town as a police officer and agreed to pick up Leo for his mother.
• Yin Chao contacted the other players by radio and arranged to meet them at the school.
• Yin Chao met Leo and saw a pale, black-and-white girl whom Leo called a devil, while Teacher Andy did nothing to correct him.

Yin Chao and Lin Erba discovered that the ruined world was separated from the school grounds, where monsters could not enter. As the two sought safety inside the school, Yin Chao asked about the girl he had seen, but Lin Erba called her Alinka instead of Elena.

• After Andy said Elena had survived a fire that killed her parents, Yin Chao waited outside the school with Leo and could not reach the others by walkie-talkie.
• Lin Erba contacted Yin Chao from another location, and they realized the Instance had separated them into parallel spaces.
• A siren sounded, the ash rose, and Yin Chao’s hand turned into a toad-like monster’s as the streets transformed into a ruin filled with monsters.
• Lin Erba revealed his monstrous form, killed a monster with his claws, and led Yin Chao into the school, where the monsters could not enter.
• Yin Chao asked Lin Erba about Elena, but Lin Erba said the girl’s name was Alinka.

Yin Chao and Lin Erba entered a decaying school corridor where blood poured from the walls and flooded the floor. They found a kneeling girl in a classroom, and Yin Chao stopped Lin Erba from approaching her.

• Yin Chao spotted black clothing near the school gates and led Lin Erba toward it.
• Yin Chao and Lin Erba entered the dark corridor, where red blood seeped from the tiled walls and rose above their shoes.
• Lin Erba stopped at a classroom door, and Yin Chao kicked it open.
• Yin Chao and Lin Erba saw a little girl kneeling before a cross as blood flooded into the classroom.
• Yin Chao grabbed Lin Erba and told him to stay back.

Yin Chao encountered the dead Yang Fan in the school as blood and worms spread through the corridors, before an alarm restored the school to normal. He returned Leo home and accepted the boy’s mother’s invitation to dinner, but noticed that her house looked uninhabited and that she had no groceries.

• A bloodied girl spoke of opening the gates to the human world for demons, then collapsed, and Yang Fan appeared, unaware that he had died.
• Yin Chao and Yang Fan found white worms covering their shoes as the corridor filled with blood, but an alarm sounded and the hallway returned to normal.
• Yin Chao greeted a tongueless Elena, then met Teacher Andy and took Leo from her.
• Yin Chao followed Leo home, delivered him to his mother, and asked her to treat him to dinner.
• Yin Chao noticed the woman’s tidy home had no fruit or groceries, and she avoided answering his questions.

Yin Chao escaped the time-shifting town by reaching the archives, where Bai Xu pulled him into the basement. There he met Jin Zi and watched her reunite affectionately with a tall, thin man.

• Yin Chao questioned Leo's mother about Elena, Ms. Andy, and a nearby volcano, briefly triggering a magma-like transformation before she returned to normal.
• Yin Chao left Leo's home as an alarm announced that the parallel worlds were overlapping, and Bai Xu contacted him over the radio from the town archives basement.
• Yin Chao deduced that the radio connected players who were close together, spotted the archives, and ran toward its door as the ruined world appeared.
• Bai Xu pulled Yin Chao inside just before monsters and the ruined world overtook the street, then Jin Zi introduced herself as a member of the Wanqi Guild.
• A tall, thin man emerged from the basement darkness, and Jin Zi embraced him as he kissed her forehead.