Chapter Summaries

Bo Yi realized the players had to help their worshipped Maiden defeat the Maiden Statue, and he found a way to weaken their enemies by restoring the villagers to fish. After cutting the arms from the statue, he discovered one pair that emitted no black mist and suspected they were behind the temple’s mind-clearing effect.

• Bo Yi decided the players had to help their Maiden win and used the liquid that restored shriveled arms to turn a transformed villager back into a fish.
• The players splashed the liquid on the villagers and held them back as their Maiden’s fight against the Maiden Statue began to turn around.
• Bo Yi climbed the Maiden Statue and cut off its many arms, releasing black mist that drifted toward a corner of the temple.
• Bo Yi found a pair of arms that emitted no mist and recalled that the temple’s mind-clearing effect might come from the Maiden Statue’s hair, leading him to suspect the arms did not belong to it.

Bo Yi returned the aquatic Maiden’s severed arms to her, allowing her to destroy the Maiden Statue and reveal the exit. Back in his laboratory, he accepted the black fish Mitian had brought, but by the next night Bo Yi and the fish had all disappeared.

• Bo Yi rejected Mitian’s offer to take the aquatic Maiden’s arm and threw it to the Maiden, returning her lost arms.
• The Maiden mourned the returned arms, then walked to the Maiden Statue and began destroying it as her extra arms fell away.
• Chu Youyi spotted the exit, and the players fled the temple; Bo Yi saw the Maiden draped over the statue before leaving through the white light.
• Bo Yi returned to his laboratory, where Mitian brought him the surviving black fish from the instance.
• Bo Yi agreed the fish could be useful to his researchers and led Mitian to put them away.
• By the next night, Bo Yi and the fish had disappeared.

Mitian learned that the Anomaly Safety Bureau had taken Bo Yi and the black fish specimens, then tracked Bo Yi to the Scientific Research Institute. After discovering that Bo Yi had been locked in a soundless, lightless room, Mitian attacked the researchers responsible.

• Mitian found researchers at the Research Institute worrying that the Anomaly Safety Bureau had taken Bo Yi and his black fish specimens.
• Mitian learned the Bureau's location and promised to bring Bo Yi back, then discovered that Bo Yi was not being held there.
• Mitian questioned the researchers confined at the Bureau and learned that Bo Yi might have been taken to the Scientific Research Institute.
• Mitian infiltrated the Scientific Research Institute and heard researchers say they had locked Bo Yi in a lightless, soundless room.
• Mitian grabbed one researcher by the throat and used his red-eyed stare to terrify the other, declaring that Bo Yi was his.

Bo Yi escaped the Scientific Research Institute’s dark cell and found reports suggesting its people had not changed. Mitian arrived amid the institute’s wreckage to find him, and Bo Yi offered his neck after Mitian wondered where to leave a mark.

• Bo Yi used a wire hidden beneath his skin to unlock the dark cell, then disguised his absence with his research uniform.
• Bo Yi avoided the cameras, broke into an office, and began reading freshly printed reports.
• An explosion shook the Scientific Research Institute, triggering alarms and leaving the corridor in ruins.
• Bo Yi encountered Mitian, who said he had searched for him and worried that he was hurt.
• Mitian wondered aloud where to leave a mark, and Bo Yi bared his neck and asked, “Where?”

After rescuing Bo Yi from the Scientific Research Institute, Mitian carried him away, but discovered an electric device embedded in the back of his neck. When Bo Yi said they needed to escape the institute’s control range, Mitian opened a new Mist game instance, leaving them on the verge of entering it.

• Bo Yi tolerated Mitian’s closeness as the two prepared to leave the institute, and Mitian wondered whether Bo Yi had changed his mind about him.
• Bo Yi warned that security patrols were approaching and pulled Mitian toward an exit, but Mitian offered to destroy the area; Bo Yi refused because he still had a use for the institute’s people.
• Mitian carried Bo Yi into the air as institute personnel spotted them and gave chase.
• Bo Yi groaned in pain, and Mitian found an electric device embedded in the back of his neck; Bo Yi stopped him from removing it, warning that he would not survive.
• After Bo Yi confirmed that the device could not reach him outside its control range, Mitian opened a Mist game instance, which announced that all seven player slots were filled.

Bo Yi entered the “Home Visit” instance, where the players were tasked with investigating why Xu Jingqi did not return to school after her sick leave. As the group entered a fog-shrouded apartment block, someone with an eerie voice approached Bo Yi from behind.

• Bo Yi appeared on an old street and followed a huge player to meet the other players.
• Bo Yi found five players gathered outside a decaying apartment block, including frightened newcomers and a veteran who seemed amused by the situation.
• The huge player warned that fog was rolling in and urged everyone to get inside the apartment block.
• A panicked newcomer ran into the fog and vanished, and a bloodcurdling scream followed.
• Bo Yi lagged behind because of his injuries, then heard an eerie voice behind him ask why he had not waited.

Bo Yi entered the apartment building with Mitian, who had disguised himself in the body of a dead player. The other players recognized Mitian as someone who had supposedly died in the black fog, and one of them recognized Bo Yi as the “researcher.”

• Mitian approached Bo Yi in a mangled body, but Bo Yi recognized him and told him to put himself back together.
• Mitian repaired the body and helped support Bo Yi as they walked toward the apartment building.
• Bo Yi heard the players struggling to get directions from the hard-of-hearing gatekeeper about Xu Jingqi.
• The players noticed Mitian and were shocked that he had survived the black fog, so Bo Yi said he had helped the badly injured newcomer.
• A female player approached Bo Yi, and another player recognized him as the “researcher.”

Bo Yi led the players into Xu Jingqi’s apartment building after easily persuading the old man that they were her teachers. As they climbed toward room 404, Jiang Miaoyi asked how he had managed it, and Bo Yi revealed that the old man had changed his attitude because everyone had finally arrived.

• Jiang Miaoyi explained that players called Bo Yi “Researcher” because he had once explored strange dungeon objects while wearing a white research coat.
• A burly player insulted Bo Yi, but the timid-looking Mitian defended him before Ning Ran stopped the man from starting a fight.
• Bo Yi told the old man that the group had come to visit their sick student Xu Jingqi, and the old man directed them to room 404.
• The players entered the dim, cluttered apartment building and climbed the stairs, wondering why the old man had treated them differently.
• Jiang Miaoyi asked Bo Yi for his trick, and he explained that the old man had changed his attitude because he and Mitian had been the last to arrive.
• Mitian asked Bo Yi to call him Xiao Tian, giving Bo Yi another bout of goosebumps.

Bo Yi and the other players visited Xu Jingqi’s cramped apartment and learned that her mother had filled their home with parenting books and trophies. They were led to Xu Jingqi’s tiny bedroom, where the overwhelming stacks of schoolwork left the visitors stunned.

• Ning Ran and the other players found apartment 404 and were welcomed inside by Xu Jingqi’s mother.
• Bo Yi examined the mother’s heavily annotated parenting books and praised her efforts to raise Xu Jingqi.
• Bo Yi looked at photographs of Xu Jingqi winning awards, while the miniature evil god reacted jealously beside him.
• Xu Jingqi’s mother explained that her daughter was still bedridden, then agreed to let the players visit her.
• The players entered Xu Jingqi’s cramped bedroom and saw it crowded with test papers, textbooks, and reference books.

The players visited Xu Jingqi and saw how severely ill and emaciated she was, while her mother insisted she stay tightly covered and blamed her husband for refusing to seek treatment. The mother left the players alone with Xu Jingqi to discuss her studies, but warned them that she must remain under the quilt or she would never recover.

• Xu Jingqi's mother forced her arm back beneath the quilt and told her to endure the heat and behave so she could get better.
• Bo Yi sat beside Xu Jingqi, noticed the quilt was wet, and saw how gaunt she looked.
• Xu Jingqi's mother claimed local doctors could not identify the illness and accused Xu Jingqi's father of refusing to take her to a major hospital.
• Ning Ran arranged for the players to speak with Xu Jingqi alone by saying they wanted to ask about her studies.
• Xu Jingqi's mother left to make lunch, warning the players to keep Xu Jingqi under the quilt and prevent even a draft from reaching her.

Bo Yi and the others searched Xu Jingqi’s room for clues about why she had not returned to school after her sick leave, while Xu Jingqi repeated that her body felt awful. Ma Xiaochen tried to peek beneath her blanket and was struck by a sudden, searing pain.

• Bo Yi questioned Xu Jingqi about when she became sick and where she felt unwell, but she gave only vague, repeated answers.
• Bo Yi began looking for medical records, and Jiang Miaoyi and Ning Ran joined him in searching the room.
• Xiong Qianshan dismissed the value of finding test results, so Ning Ran sent him to look for clues in the living room.
• Jiang Miaoyi, Ning Ran, and Xu Kexin left to search elsewhere while Bo Yi studied Xu Jingqi’s report cards.
• Ma Xiaochen secretly lifted the corner of Xu Jingqi’s blanket and screamed as a searing pain struck his hand.

Ma Xiaochen was scalded after Qiqi’s mother entered Xu Jingqi’s room, and Bo Yi suspected her muttering about waste had a deeper meaning. As the players considered whether the food was safe, Mitian interrupted Bo Yi before he could taste it, claiming his stomach hurt.

• Qiqi’s mother entered the room and Ma Xiaochen emerged covered in hot soup, while she apologized for the dirty quilt and murmured that it was a waste.
• Bo Yi led Mitian out, and Jiang Miaoyi and Ning Ran questioned what Qiqi’s mother had meant by calling it a waste.
• Mitian stepped on Ma Xiaochen’s hand while Bo Yi inspected the blisters on his back and repeated Qiqi’s mother’s words.
• Qiqi’s mother returned with an empty soup basin and said the players would have to wait for the soup.
• Bo Yi inspected the dishes and reached for a leafy green, but Mitian bumped into him, dropped his chopsticks, and said his stomach hurt.

Bo Yi and Mitian avoided eating Qiqi's mother's dishes by claiming Mitian had a stomachache, and Mitian persuaded her to let the players stay in empty rooms nearby. The chapter ended with Bo Yi suggesting that Qiqi's mother had already achieved what she had cooked the meal for.

• Mitian pretended to have a stomachache, and Bo Yi helped him away from the dining table.
• Qiqi's mother flew into a rage when Bo Yi refused her food, but Mitian calmed her by asking for plain rice and hot water.
• Mitian said Bo Yi would share his rice, while Ning Ran and Jiang Miaoyi tried to claim stomachaches but backed down when Qiqi's mother confronted them.
• Mitian asked Qiqi's mother for an empty room to rest in, and she happily left to prepare rooms for all the players.
• Jiang Miaoyi and Ning Ran wondered why Qiqi's mother had let them stop eating, and Bo Yi said she had already achieved what she wanted with the meal.

Bo Yi discovered that Qiqi's mother had put incense ash in the food to make the group sick and keep them in Room 404, though her reason for wanting them to stay remained unknown. While the others went out to look for clues, Ma Xiaochen stayed behind and encountered a little girl emerging from a bedroom.

• Bo Yi showed Ning Ran and Jiang Miaoyi incense ash in the water, and Jiang Miaoyi found it in the food as well.
• Bo Yi explained that Qiqi's mother had added the ash to make them sick and keep them from leaving, but he did not know why she wanted them to stay.
• Bo Yi left Room 404 to search for clues, followed by Mitian, Xiong Qianshan, Ning Ran, Jiang Miaoyi, and Xu Kexin.
• Ma Xiaochen stayed behind, fell asleep on the sofa, and woke to the sound of a pencil rolling across the floor.
• Ma Xiaochen touched the pencil and saw a little girl standing by a half-open bedroom door, asking him to teach her a question on a blank test paper.

Bo Yi and Mitian questioned a neighbor about the disturbances and arguments in Xu Jingqi’s household. When they returned to apartment 404, they learned that Ma Xiaochen was dead.

• Bo Yi heard a brief scream while he and Mitian knocked on doors in the building, but continued searching for residents.
• A woman in apartment 304 complained that Xu Jingqi had been banging on her bedroom wall at night and said the noise had begun after fierce arguments upstairs.
• The woman recalled that Xu Jingqi’s parents argued about the father’s absence, the girl’s schoolwork, and whether to go to a hospital or see a doctor.
• Bo Yi and Mitian returned to apartment 404, where they found Xu Kexin trembling in the corridor and Ning Ran told them Ma Xiaochen was dead.

Bo Yi examined Ma Xiaochen’s death scene and found a bloodied pencil and a test paper bearing Ma Xiaochen’s name, while Qiqi’s mother acted as though the body was not there and brought medicine to Qiqi. That night, Bo Yi woke to knocking and realized someone was under his covers.

• Bo Yi examined Ma Xiaochen’s body and found a shattered depression in his skull that appeared to have been caused by a sharp object.
• Bo Yi found a bloodied pencil and a blood-soaked math test paper under the coffee table, with Ma Xiaochen’s name written on it.
• Qiqi’s mother brought a bowl of medicine to Qiqi’s room and told the teachers their apartments were ready.
• Ning Ran told Bo Yi the medicine smelled fishy and faintly of blood, and Bo Yi suggested watching how Qiqi’s mother made it.
• The players settled into apartments 401, 402, and 403, and Bo Yi went to sleep with Mitian in his apartment.
• Bo Yi woke to late-night knocking and froze when he realized someone was under his covers.

Bo Yi endured what he thought was a creature creeping over him, only to discover Mitian was teasing him and checking his health. As Bo Yi tried to leave the bed, Mitian grabbed him and pinned him down.

• Bo Yi froze as a cold, human-shaped presence beneath the covers wound around his ankle and crawled up his body.
• Bo Yi threw back the covers and pinned the presence when it lifted his shirt and tried to slip inside.
• Mitian revealed himself, joked with Bo Yi, and said his other body had another use.
• Mitian watched Bo Yi get up and assessed that his pain had nearly disappeared.
• Bo Yi reached for the door, but Mitian seized his hand and pinned him to the bed.

Bo Yi and Mitian hid as an unseen visitor drove a bloodstained nail through the wall beside Bo Yi’s bed, revealing that the knocking had been striking the nail. After the visitor pulled it out, Bo Yi peered through the hole and came face-to-face with a pair of bloodshot eyes.

• Mitian pinned Bo Yi to the bed and silenced him when footsteps approached outside their room.
• A long, bloodstained nail emerged through the wall beside Bo Yi’s head as the rhythmic knocking resumed.
• Bo Yi realized the knocking was striking the nail and pushed Mitian away while the visitor continued hammering.
• The knocking stopped, and the visitor pulled the nail out; Bo Yi waited before checking the hole in the wall.
• Bo Yi looked through the hole and met the cloudy, red-veined eyes of the visitor outside.

Bo Yi discovered how Qiqi’s Mom had prepared hidden holes in the players’ rooms and examined Mitian’s corpse, then saw what appeared to be Xu Jingqi running through the hallway. As he investigated the footsteps downstairs, someone shoved him toward the stairs.

• Mitian stopped Bo Yi from staring through the hole, and Qiqi’s Mom left after urging him to sleep.
• Bo Yi found clay around the hole and discovered matching hidden spots in Mitian’s room, concluding that Qiqi’s Mom had prepared holes in the players’ walls beforehand.
• Bo Yi examined the corpse in Mitian’s room and confirmed that its head wound matched Ma Xiaochen’s.
• Bo Yi saw a barefoot girl who looked like Xu Jingqi running down the hallway, but she vanished when the lights flickered.
• Bo Yi followed the footsteps toward the stairs, where a pair of small hands shoved him forward.

Bo Yi's search for the figure that tried to push him down the stairs came to nothing, and he was woken the next morning by Qiqi's mother insisting on cleaning the apartment. After she left his room almost immediately without changing anything, Bo Yi wondered what she had really come to do.

• Bo Yi saw a small figure behind him on the stairs, but his attempt to grab it failed, and both the figure and the little girl's footsteps vanished.
• Mitian covered Bo Yi's ears to quiet Qiqi's mother's pounding and then returned to his room to get dressed.
• Qiqi's mother entered Bo Yi's apartment with cleaning supplies and insisted on tidying the rooms despite his protests.
• Jiang Miaoyi told Bo Yi that Qiqi's mother had spent an hour cleaning her group's apartment and mentioned waking with pain at the crown of her head.
• Qiqi's mother emerged from Bo Yi's room within minutes, and he found the handprints Mitian had left on the sheet still untouched.