Chapter Summaries

Bo Yi returned with Xu Jingqi’s father, revealing that he had been the old gatekeeper in the security office and bringing him back at Xu Jingqi’s request. Xu Jingqi accepted the reunion as Bo Yi offered her father to her, and she thanked him as red tears fell.

• Jiang Miaoyi and Ning Ran waited for Bo Yi while Xiong Qianshan fought Qiqi's Mom.
• Bo Yi returned carrying the old gatekeeper, and Qiqi's Mom and Xu Jingqi watched him from the doorway of Room 404.
• Bo Yi revealed that the old gatekeeper was Xu Jingqi's father and challenged his claim that he had stayed to care for his family.
• Xu Jingqi's father begged Bo Yi not to hand him to Huang Lifen, but Bo Yi said Xu Jingqi had been waiting for him.
• Bo Yi presented Xu Jingqi with her father, and she smiled, giggled, and thanked her teacher as red tears fell.

Bo Yi and the others discovered Xu Jingqi had been healthy and learned that the old gatekeeper was her father, but a knife-wielding man attacked them as they tried to leave. Bo Yi escaped after the mysterious newcomer sacrificed himself, promising they would meet again.

• Bo Yi showed the group Xu Jingqi’s medical report, which said she had no abnormalities, and explained how he had realized the old gatekeeper was her father.
• Bo Yi said he had seen Xu Jingqi waiting by the security office for her father, and the group prepared to leave the Instance.
• A middle-aged man dressed like the old gatekeeper came out of Room 404 with a knife and chased Bo Yi, Jiang Miaoyi, Ning Ran, and Xiong Qianshan downstairs.
• As the man’s blade fell toward Bo Yi, the newcomer stepped in front of him and took the knife wound.
• The newcomer pushed Bo Yi into the exit’s white light and told him not to worry, saying they would meet again.

Bo Yi waited anxiously for Mitian while hiding the research materials Mitian had taken from the Scientific Research Institute in his black mist. As the Anomaly Safety Bureau’s searches failed, a meeting of researchers revealed a director who closely resembled Bo Yi.

• Bo Yi waited two days for Mitian to return, growing restless as he kept watching the pattern on his laboratory wall.
• A researcher told Bo Yi that someone had repeatedly entered the laboratory and moved things without appearing on surveillance footage.
• Bo Yi refused to report the break-ins, knowing the research materials were safe in Mitian’s black mist and deciding to make the intruders think they were still hidden in his Research Institute.
• Old Xu argued with a tall, thin researcher at a conference about failing to find the materials until the Director ordered them to stop.
• The Director, an older man in a white lab coat, was revealed to resemble Bo Yi.

The Scientific Research Institute's leaders met to discuss the stolen Human Body Project documents and their suspicions about Bo Yi. They feared he had found a way to evade the chip in his body, and decided to send him a document to keep him in check.

• The director and his assistant told the meeting that Human Body Project documents had gone missing and that Bo Yi was their preliminary suspect.
• The assistant revealed that Bo Yi's chip signal had abruptly disconnected three times, while surveillance footage of his disappearance had been corrupted.
• The leaders feared Bo Yi might have found a way to evade the chip, which they saw as their last means of controlling him.
• The director ruled out giving Bo Yi the chip's information, and the group decided to send him a document instead.
• Someone arrived at Bo Yi's laboratory and called through the door to tell him the Scientific Research Institute had sent something over.

Bo Yi entered the Mist Instance Double Happiness as one of fifteen veteran players invited to the Kang Residence for a wedding banquet. After choosing a room, he discovered that the clear liquid in its teapot smelled like liquor.

• Bo Yi entered the Kang Residence and learned that the Instance objective was to attend the wedding banquet.
• He met fourteen other veteran players waiting in the courtyard.
• The steward welcomed the guests on behalf of the master, who was occupied with wedding clothes, and led them to rooms.
• Bo Yi chose a room and inspected its furnishings.
• Bo Yi poured clear liquid from the cold teapot and realized it smelled like liquor.

Bo Yi questioned a servant at the Kang Residence, then went into town to learn why Master Kang was marrying again despite having eighteen concubines. He discovered that Master Kang’s previous wives had all died within a year, and the locals said no children lived in the residence; Bo Yi was left with more questions about the upcoming wedding.

• Bo Yi learned that the Kang Residence had only wine, and that guests were forbidden from entering the concubines’ rear courtyard and Master Kang’s study.
• Bo Yi left the residence and went to a street tea stall to ask locals about Master Kang’s wedding.
• Two women told Bo Yi that at least a dozen of Master Kang’s formal wives had died within a year of marrying him.
• The women said Master Kang remained popular because he was wealthy, handsome, and reputed to make exceptional wine.
• When Bo Yi asked how many children lived at the Kang Residence, the women hesitantly said they did not think Master Kang had any.

Bo Yi investigated the Kang Family Distillery and learned that the Kang Residence’s previous wives had all died after falling ill, while its concubines’ children had died young. He discovered the distillery denied selling a stronger-smelling wine, then heard that Boss Wang’s daughter was betrothed to the Kang Residence’s master and stopped to listen.

• Bo Yi learned that the Kang Residence had no surviving children born to wives, and that its previous wives had all reportedly fallen ill and died.
• Bo Yi visited the Kang Family Distillery, where a merchant’s unusually fragrant wine and the shop assistant’s insistence that the distillery sold only one kind of wine aroused his suspicion.
• Bo Yi found people congratulating Boss Wang on his daughter’s betrothal to the master of the Kang Residence and heard a man object that she was being sold.
• Bo Yi stopped when the man’s friend revealed that he liked Miss Wang and her marriage to the master had already been settled.

Bo Yi gathered gossip about Miss Wang’s situation, then confronted Huang Xiaolu and his two teammates when they demanded his clues. After Bo Yi beat them, Huang Xiaolu planned to retaliate.

• Bo Yi learned that Miss Wang had been promised to a wealthy man before Master Kang intervened and resolved the dispute.
• Huang Xiaolu, Sun Da, and Sun Er confronted Bo Yi and demanded to know what he had learned from the NPCs.
• Bo Yi offered to share his clues only in exchange for something, and Sun Da tried to attack him.
• Bo Yi defeated all three men and returned to his room, feeling less irritated about someone’s disappearance.
• Huang Xiaolu told Sun Da and Sun Er that they would not let the matter slide and whispered instructions to them.

Bo Yi attended dinner at the Kang Residence, where the handsome Master Kang served guests an excessively salty feast. Bo Yi slipped away without eating, and Sun Da noticed his disappearance.

• A servant led Bo Yi to the dining room after he questioned why the concubines received cold meals.
• Bo Yi sat apart from Huang Xiaolu's trio, and the guests gathered to meet Master Kang.
• Master Kang welcomed the guests and served steaming dishes, which one player found painfully salty.
• Bo Yi inspected the food, decided not to eat, and quietly left the dining room.
• Sun Da spotted Bo Yi's empty seat and urgently told Huang Xiaolu that the pretty boy was gone.

Bo Yi overheard Boss Huang remind Master Kang that he was owed the next batch of wine, then saw a servant’s report upset Master Kang and decided to investigate where he had gone. That night Bo Yi followed the remembered route, unaware that Huang Xiaolu and his two men were trailing him, as faint opera singing reached him.

• Huang Xiaolu scolded Sun Da and Sun Er for losing track of Bo Yi, but they could not say when he had disappeared.
• Bo Yi hid and overheard Boss Huang ask Master Kang for the promised wine, which Boss Huang said his ailing father needed to save his life.
• After Boss Huang left, a servant reported something to Master Kang that darkened his expression, and Master Kang headed away while Bo Yi memorized his direction.
• Bo Yi slipped out of his room late that night and set off to follow Master Kang’s route.
• Huang Xiaolu woke Sun Da and Sun Er, and the three followed Bo Yi, hoping to steal whatever clue he found.
• Bo Yi walked past red lanterns and swaying red silk as a faint strain of opera singing drifted toward him.

Bo Yi and the three men watched a woman sing opera in the mansion’s rear courtyard, where they discovered she was a ghost with her mouth sewn shut. The three men panicked and became unable to flee, while Bo Yi watched their strange reaction from a tree.

• Bo Yi climbed a tree to watch the rear courtyard, and Huang Xiaolu, Sun Da, and Sun Er followed him there.
• The three men hid nearby and watched a woman in an old opera costume sing beneath the red lanterns.
• The woman turned around, revealing her enormous belly, lifeless face, and mouth sewn shut as her song continued.
• Sun Da fell over, Sun Er froze, and Huang Xiaolu tried to urge them to run.
• Bo Yi looked toward the commotion and saw the three men trembling, frozen, and struggling on the ground.

Bo Yi watched Huang Xiaolu and his two companions flee from the ghostly woman and climb his tree to escape. When Bo Yi refused to help Huang Xiaolu, Huang Xiaolu grabbed his clothes and shoved him off the branch.

• The woman vanished from the backyard and appeared above Huang Xiaolu, frightening him and attacking with her clawed hand.
• Sun Da and Sun Er dragged Huang Xiaolu out of the woman’s reach, and Huang Xiaolu noticed Bo Yi watching from a tree.
• As the woman chased them, Huang Xiaolu led Sun Da and Sun Er to Bo Yi’s tree and climbed up to escape.
• Huang Xiaolu asked Bo Yi to help him onto the branch, but Bo Yi refused to touch his dirty hand.
• Huang Xiaolu grabbed Bo Yi’s clothes and shoved him off the branch.

Huang Xiaolu pushed Bo Yi from a tree to distract the opera-singing woman, then escaped to his room with Sun Da and Sun Er. Bo Yi was left trapped in the rear courtyard, surrounded by eighteen grotesque women.

• Huang Xiaolu shoved Bo Yi from the branch, and Bo Yi twisted in midair to prepare for the landing.
• An opera-singing woman’s sleeve struck Bo Yi and hurled him into the rear courtyard as Huang Xiaolu and his men fled.
• Huang Xiaolu, Sun Da, and Sun Er returned safely to their room, where Huang Xiaolu scolded Sun Da for drinking nearly all the water.
• Seventeen women emerged from the courtyard rooms and closed in on Bo Yi while the opera-singing woman’s sleeve remained wrapped around his neck.
• Bo Yi saw another opera-costumed woman blocking the rear gate and realized he was surrounded.

Bo Yi fought off the women in the courtyard until he fell into a wine vat, after which they suddenly became terrified of him and fled into their rooms. He was left wondering what had frightened them and decided to return to change his soaked clothes before searching for clues.

• Bo Yi escaped the opera-costumed woman's sleeve, provoking her scream and sending the other seventeen women lunging at him.
• Bo Yi noticed the women's injuries and was scratched, causing the women to grow more frenzied at the sight of his blood.
• Bo Yi retreated to the wine vat, dodged a sleeve, and fell into the vat while trying to evade another attacker.
• Bo Yi climbed out of the vat, and the women backed away in fear before fleeing into their rooms and slamming the doors.
• Bo Yi wondered what had made the women afraid and decided to return to change his wet clothes.

Bo Yi investigated Sun Da’s death and confirmed his body had been drained of blood, while Huang Xiaolu’s reaction hinted that he had believed Bo Yi was dead. As Master Kang announced a room search, the players realized someone else was missing and found another corpse behind a closed door.

• Bo Yi found Sun Da shriveled and bloodless in Huang Xiaolu’s room, and confirmed there was no blood when he cut the corpse.
• Bo Yi examined the room’s mostly empty teapot and found that it contained liquor.
• Huang Xiaolu called Bo Yi a ghost, then dodged explaining why he had thought Bo Yi was dead.
• Master Kang announced that a thief had stolen items from the manor and that the guests’ rooms would be searched.
• The players noticed that one guest was missing, rushed to the last closed room, and discovered a corpse on the bed.

Bo Yi investigated a second player who had died like Sun Da, but found no clear link between the deaths and the wine in the teapots. When Master Kang used the search for a stolen item to inspect the players, Bo Yi realized he was looking for something and noticed women hurrying toward the rear courtyard.

• Bo Yi examined the dead player's room and found that the teapot was still mostly full of wine.
• Bo Yi checked the other players' teapots and found that their wine levels did not explain why the dead player had died.
• Master Kang ordered his servants to search the players' rooms, then asked to inspect the guests themselves for a stolen item.
• A servant examined Bo Yi's hands but found no scar where an NPC had cut him the day before.
• Bo Yi noticed several middle-aged women carrying supplies as they hurried toward the rear courtyard.

Bo Yi secretly entered Master Kang's study and discovered something inside an unusual wine jar. Meanwhile, Huang Xiaolu and Sun Er told Master Kang that Bo Yi had visited the rear courtyard, but Master Kang realized they had witnessed the same events.

• Bo Yi avoided the guards at the rear courtyard and slipped into Master Kang's study while it was nearly unattended.
• Bo Yi opened an unusual wine jar between the bookcases and stared inside in shock.
• Sun Er overheard Master Kang asking whether the guests had damaged anything after something happened in the rear courtyard the previous night.
• Sun Er told Huang Xiaolu what he had heard, and they decided to inform Master Kang that Bo Yi had visited the rear courtyard.
• Huang Xiaolu described Bo Yi's visit to Master Kang, who asked how the two men knew about it and suggested they had seen it too.

Bo Yi discovered a hidden compartment in the study containing multiple genuine identity documents for Master Kang, each with different personal details. The documents revealed that Master Kang was already in his sixties despite appearing to be in his thirties.

• Bo Yi investigated the unusual red liquid in a wine jar, then heard two agonized screams outside.
• Master Kang approached the study, so Bo Yi hid behind a bookcase.
• Bo Yi found a movable floorboard and uncovered a hidden compartment containing an old wooden box.
• Bo Yi opened the box and found several genuine identity documents bearing Master Kang’s face but different details.
• Bo Yi calculated Master Kang’s age from the oldest document and realized he was already well into his sixties.

Bo Yi hid in Master Kang’s study while examining his identity documents and overhearing a conversation about wine made from fresh ingredients. After Master Kang left, Bo Yi realized someone had found him hiding behind the bookcase.

• Bo Yi found that Master Kang had repeatedly changed his identity and moved to a new place every few years.
• Master Kang entered the study, but a servant’s arrival interrupted his approach to the bookcase.
• The servant told Master Kang that fresh ingredients for the wine were ready, and Master Kang ordered jars distributed to customers.
• Master Kang postponed drinking wine until night and left with the servant to inspect the ingredients.
• Bo Yi discovered someone peering at him through a gap in the bookcase and heard them call him a pretty little mouse.

Bo Yi discovered that Master Kang had been searching for blood after Master Kang identified his blood as the taste he had been seeking. The chapter ended with Master Kang ordering the servants to take Bo Yi to the distillery’s back courtyard so he could brew wine himself.

• Master Kang confronted Bo Yi after finding the wooden box and ordered a servant to kill him.
• Bo Yi dodged the servant’s knife, escaped the two NPCs restraining him, and suffered a shallow cut on his cheek.
• Master Kang recognized Bo Yi’s blood, mixed a drop into ordinary wine, and excitedly declared it was the taste he had been seeking.
• Bo Yi realized Master Kang had searched the players for wounds because his blood had flavored the wine during the previous night’s fight.
• Master Kang ordered the servants to take Bo Yi to the distillery’s back courtyard so he could brew the wine himself.