Chapter Summaries

Su Bai awoke in the real world eleven years in the past, in his frail high school body, and realized his mother was still alive. As he headed for the hospital, a strange repeating storefront and an eerily empty street gave way to an ordinary, bustling night.

• Su Bai woke in the rain and realized the red moon was gone and the date on a nearby screen was eleven years earlier.
• Su Bai recalled his mother’s illness, Su Xuan’s gambling and disappearance, and his own decade surviving the Nightmare World.
• Su Bai recognized his old neighborhood and concluded that his mother was still alive, so he set out for the hospital.
• Su Bai noticed the same empty storefront with a faded double-happiness character at successive intersections but kept walking toward the hospital.
• A passing car startled Su Bai, and the street suddenly filled with people, traffic, and open shops as the strange storefront vanished.

Su Bai returned eleven years to the past and reached the hospital where his mother was alive, but a Nightmare World invitation pulled him into the Route 444 Last Bus game before he could see her. He recognized the scenario as an almost impossible first game and wondered whether his return had affected the supernatural marriage contract he had once used.

• Su Bai found no trace of the strange shop and went to Honghuai City First People's Hospital, where he learned his mother was still alive.
• A ghostly security guard attacked Su Bai through the elevator mirror, but a bride in red appeared in his reflection and tore the black mist apart.
• As Su Bai neared his mother's room, the Nightmare World began its countdown and transported him into a game.
• The Nightmare World explained the Route 444 Last Bus rules: fewer than ten passengers were relatively safe, but ten or more would end the game and trap everyone aboard.
• Su Bai recognized Route 444 Last Bus as a nearly impossible scenario for new players and recalled surviving it before through desperate use of supernatural power and a marriage contract item.

A frightened boy and a nightclub girl tried to understand the survival game aboard Route 444, while a burly man warned them that the other passengers might be supernatural. Su Bai sat quietly at the front, considering his chances of clearing the game again.

• The boy in pajamas noticed the eerie passengers, including a bride in red with a hole in her chest, and tried to convince himself he was dreaming.
• The nightclub girl told the boy that people had been disappearing and asked what he had seen in the back of the bus.
• The burly man said that, apart from himself, the girl, and the boy, the other passengers might be special passengers.
• The burly man described the white-cheongsam woman's hands as thin sheets of paper with red-painted fingernails, while she continued smiling beside him.
• Su Bai listened from the front of the bus and considered his chances of clearing the game again.

Qin Ge, Wan Shasha, and Zhang Yibu discovered a bloodied bride among the special passengers as the game began on Route 444. At the Community Hospital stop, a weeping nurse boarded, bringing the bus to nine passengers, while the driver reacted strangely to Su Bai.

• Qin Ge, Wan Shasha, and Zhang Yibu saw a bride with a gaping chest wound in the last row and counted eight passengers aboard.
• The three newcomers exchanged names as the game officially began and the bus accelerated toward Community Hospital.
• The driver turned to stare at Su Bai, then seemed frightened before announcing the Community Hospital stop in a flustered voice.
• A crying nurse boarded and stirred painful memories in the passengers until the driver told her to be quiet.
• The nurse moved down the aisle and sat beside Zhang Yibu, bringing the bus's passenger count to nine as it continued toward Commercial Street.

On the Route 444 Last Bus, Su Bai saw a mysterious shop from his past repeatedly appear in the mist and nearly succumbed to its beckoning. He recognized the voice’s vow as the words on a supernatural marriage contract he had signed, realizing that the contract’s other party had come for him.

• Su Bai sensed the faint power of the Red Moon and longed to clear the game so he could return to the hospital and see his mother.
• A childlike voice lured Su Bai toward a shop bearing a faded double happiness character, and he nearly decided to leave the bus before Wan Shasha’s voice snapped him out of it.
• Wan Shasha, Zhang Yibu, and Qin Ge discussed Su Bai’s school uniform and wondered whether he could help them clear the game.
• Su Bai decided he should talk honestly with the newcomers, but the shop appeared again whenever he looked outside the bus.
• The shop’s double happiness character turned bright red as a voice recited the vow from Su Bai’s supernatural marriage contract, and he realized the other party had come for him.

Su Bai realized that the Marriage Contract still marked him as betrothed to a powerful eldritch entity, whose eerie shop had appeared outside the bus. Before leaving to answer her call, he warned the other passengers not to get off at the final stop.

• Su Bai recalled how he had used the Marriage Contract to escape a vicious ghost and understood that the entity's mark had survived his return to the past.
• The Route 444 driver announced Commercial Street and treated Su Bai with wary respect because of the entity behind him.
• Su Bai rose and walked toward the rear door, drawing the attention of Wan Shasha, Zhang Yibu, and Qin Ge.
• Su Bai noticed the Ghost Bride in the last row and studied the three passengers as they remained silent.
• Su Bai turned to the trio and warned them not to get off at the final stop.

Su Bai entered the eerie Mist Shop after getting off the Route 444 Last Bus, where a child identified him as the betrothed of the shop’s master. The child said the shop was Su Bai’s betrothal gift and that time was stopped inside, leaving Su Bai to learn more about his unseen fiancé.

• Su Bai warned the trio not to get off at the final stop before leaving the Route 444 Last Bus at Commercial Street Stop.
• Su Bai saw that the shop following him had been restored and entered it after the child beckoned him inside.
• The child greeted Su Bai as the master's betrothed and explained that the master had stopped time in the shop.
• Su Bai corrected the child for calling him “madam,” but the child proposed calling him “boss” and said the shop was his gift from the master.

Su Bai learned that the Mist Shop was a gift from his supernatural betrothed and that entering it had bound his power to the shop’s. Xiao Wu explained how stocking the shop with special merchandise would strengthen them, leaving Su Bai to consider what the empty shop could sell.

• Su Bai questioned Xiao Wu about the shop and learned that the child had been assigned to serve him.
• Xiao Wu explained that Su Bai’s power was bound to the Mist Shop’s power and that both would grow together.
• Xiao Wu showed Su Bai a jar of white sand that represented their power and said stocking the shelves would increase it.
• Xiao Wu described how ordinary objects in the nightmare could gain special powers and become useful items for players.

Su Bai learned that the Mist Shop could turn ordinary items into supernatural merchandise by sealing ghosts inside them, and that his left-hand mark could also return him to the shop. The mark favored evil ghosts that fed on fear, leaving Su Bai with a way to capture them when they were frightened, though he wondered whether using it would make him more like a ghost.

• Xiao Wu explained that items exposed to the Red Moon could develop special abilities, but such merchandise was rare.
• Xiao Wu told Su Bai that his left-hand mark let him seal a supernatural entity inside an ordinary item, creating shop merchandise and increasing his strength.
• Xiao Wu revealed that Su Bai could use the mark to open any handled door and return to the Mist Shop from the Nightmare World or human world.
• The mark’s instructions appeared in Su Bai’s mind and explained that it favored evil ghosts, especially when they were filled with fear and despair.
• Su Bai realized that he could capture a powerful evil ghost by touching it while it was frightened, then wondered if the mark would gradually turn him into an evil ghost.

Su Bai learned about Xiao Wu’s abilities and the Mist Shop’s supplies, then asked about meeting A Xi again on the Route 444 Last Bus. Xiao Wu reassured him that his original puzzle pieces and their memories remained with him, while Xiao Wu’s final words hinted at a deeper connection between them.

• Xiao Wu explained that he could watch the Mist Shop, open its door when Su Bai called, and search for information about nightmares and supernatural entities.
• Xiao Wu’s search revealed Su Bai’s Vengeful Ghost Puzzle ability and the epithets attached to him, and Su Bai questioned why the information described him as twenty-nine when he was eighteen.
• Su Bai agreed to let Xiao Wu stay in the shop, and Xiao Wu described Su Bai’s room and the storeroom, which could produce ordinary goods.
• Su Bai asked whether encountering A Xi again on the Route 444 Last Bus would affect the puzzle piece inside him, and Xiao Wu said the original puzzle pieces and their precious memories remained with Su Bai.
• After Su Bai left, Xiao Wu turned transparent, said they had finally met, and disappeared, leaving behind a small black yarn doll.

Su Bai returned to the Route 444 Last Bus after preparing at the Mist Shop, carrying new power and the Ghost Bride A Xi’s obsession to stay alive. When he recognized Zhang Yibu as the missing son of a woman who had once helped his mother, he began considering whether he could save him.

• Su Bai took a string of twelve ghost-vessel beads from Xiao Wu and reflected on how his past encounter with the Ghost Bride had made her his first Vengeful Ghost Puzzle piece.
• Su Bai recalled that A Xi had spared him and urged him to stay alive, and that the ghosts whose powers he borrowed carried the same obsession.
• Su Bai left the Mist Shop and returned to the bus, where Wan Shasha and the others greeted him with relief.
• The driver shuddered at Su Bai’s return, while Zhang Yibu recognized him as the son of his mother’s friend.
• Su Bai remembered that the woman had helped care for his mother and had searched for her missing son, and realized Zhang Yibu might be that son who had died in a nightmare game.
• Su Bai wondered whether saving Zhang Yibu might bring happiness to his mother.

Su Bai joined Qin Ge, Zhang Yibu, and Wan Shasha on the Route 444 Last Bus and heard Qin Ge explain how the authorities learned about the Nightmare World. As the bus continued to Happy Neighborhood Stop, Qin Ge asked Su Bai again to reveal who he was and why they must not get off at the final stop.

• Su Bai reviewed the ghosts aboard the bus, then sat between Zhang Yibu and Qin Ge.
• Qin Ge said that a coded letter from a dead author had revealed the Nightmare World, its games, and the traits granted to those who cleared their first game.
• Qin Ge explained that the authorities used the letter's clues to investigate strange incidents and send volunteers into the Nightmare World, including himself.
• The woman in the white qipao turned completely into a paper figure and seemed to move closer to Qin Ge before the bus doors closed.
• Qin Ge pressed Su Bai to identify himself and explain why the passengers could not get off at the final stop.

Su Bai explained the Nightmare World’s beginner-game protections and survival rules to Qin Ge and the other newcomers, disguising his knowledge as lessons from his dead brother. He urged them to identify the game’s protagonist and question the driver, who finally responded when Su Bai invoked the Ghost Bride’s presence.

• Su Bai told Qin Ge that his dead brother had taught him about the beginner area’s protective fog, Traits, and the need to survive the first game.
• Su Bai warned Qin Ge not to get off at the final stop and explained that players should find the protagonist and bring their story to an end.
• Wan Shasha guessed that the bus driver was the protagonist, while Su Bai also considered the Ghost Bride in the last row and suggested questioning the driver for information.
• Su Bai addressed the driver through the rearview mirror, and the driver replied that it was an honor to serve his passengers.

Su Bai meditated to gather the Red Moon power in his body while Wan Shasha and Zhang Yibu questioned the driver. After learning about the passengers and the route’s final stop, the group continued toward Lovers' Lake Station with Ghost Village ahead.

• Su Bai chose to meditate and explore the power within his body while Wan Shasha and Zhang Yibu chatted with the driver.
• The Route 444 Last Bus passed Happy Home Station, and the suited passenger got off, leaving seven passengers aboard.
• Wan Shasha reported that the suited man was unemployed, an old woman searched for her missing grandson, and the nurse was linked to the Community Hospital.
• Wan Shasha said the driver used to raise cattle and claimed the paper woman had floated in through the open window rather than boarding normally.
• Zhang Yibu told the group that Ghost Village was the last stop, and Su Bai warned them not to get off there by invoking his dead brother’s prophecy.

Su Bai deduced that the Route 444 Last Bus was carrying the Ghost Bride to a wedding feast in Ghost Village, while two drowned ghosts boarded at Lovers' Lake. As the bus neared its final stop, the Ghost Bride struggled against invisible chains, and the driver sighed.

• Su Bai questioned the driver and inferred that the bus's main story involved taking the Ghost Bride to Ghost Village for a wedding feast.
• Two drowned ghosts boarded at Lovers' Lake and announced that they were heading to Ghost Village for the feast.
• The male drowned ghost asked Su Bai about his partner, and the driver angrily restrained him and ordered both ghosts to the first row.
• Su Bai explained that the bus had once been an ox cart and reassured Zhang Yibu that the passengers could stay aboard instead of getting off at Ghost Village.
• As the bus approached its final stop, the Ghost Bride struggled against invisible chains binding her, then fell still again.

Su Bai and the trio reached Ghost Village, where the villagers drew the Ghost Bride’s shadow off the bus and invited the passengers to a wedding feast. The bus escaped with the real bride still aboard, but Su Bai knew the second round would bring the true crisis.

• Su Bai learned from the driver that the Ghost Bride, A Xi, was reluctant to reach Ghost Village, then watched the bus pass fields of moving scarecrows and a lake filled with reaching hands.
• At Ghost Village, the two water ghosts got off, leaving seven passengers aboard, while dozens of motionless villagers gathered outside without boarding.
• A gust from the village provoked the Ghost Bride, and a translucent double was pulled from her body and walked off the bus as the villagers accepted her as the bride.
• A hoarse villager invited the passengers to join the wedding feast, but Su Bai and the trio stayed aboard as the driver sped away.
• The villagers realized the bride was fake and shouted after the bus, while Su Bai recognized that the first round had only begun and the real collapse would start in the second.

After the Route 444 Last Bus passed through the fog and returned to Community Hospital Stop, Su Bai realized that the bus was no longer protected from hostile spirits. As the White Qipao Paper Figure began transforming beside Qin Ge, Su Bai approached the silent nurse and asked her to cry.

• The Route 444 Last Bus left Ghost Village, traveled through the fog, and announced Community Hospital Stop as its next destination.
• Qin Ge noticed the White Qipao Paper Figure’s hand becoming three-dimensional as it touched his shoulder, while the Driver stayed silent.
• Su Bai explained that the Ghost Bride’s power had once kept other spirits from attacking, but her actions in Ghost Village had exposed her weakness and left the bus unsafe.
• Su Bai approached the bloodied nurse, who had boarded earlier and was still crying silently, and asked her to have a good, hard cry.

Su Bai made the Nurse cry, hoping her sorrow would awaken the Ghost Bride, A Xi. As the crying stirred painful memories and strengthened the Bride’s reaction, White Qipao turned toward Su Bai and the Nurse.

• Su Bai threatened the Nurse into crying, and she asked why he did not cry despite the many cracks in him.
• The Nurse unleashed grief-filled sobs, and Su Bai warned the others to cover their ears.
• Su Bai watched White Qipao and the Ghost Bride, hoping the Nurse’s cries would awaken A Xi.
• A Xi trembled and struggled as the cries affected her, while White Qipao turned toward Su Bai and the Nurse.
• Su Bai was overwhelmed by memories of his brother’s betrayal, his mother’s death, and the people who had died or betrayed him in the Nightmare World.

Su Bai witnessed the Ghost Bride A Xi’s past and realized that her silver bells and chains had been cruel restraints. As the Driver raced toward the Ghost Village, Su Bai stopped Wan Shasha and the others from getting off, then approached the rampaging bride as his reflection changed into her.

• Su Bai saw memories of A Xi’s life outside the bus, including her separation from her mother and the villagers beating her while the bells on her veil rang.
• The Driver announced the Ghost Village as the final stop and declared that he had waited a long time for this day as A Xi regained her memories and humanity.
• Wan Shasha relived her childhood abandonment and longed to return to her father, then panicked when she learned the bus was heading to the Ghost Village.
• Su Bai warned Wan Shasha, Zhang Yibu, and Qin Ge that the villagers still needed ingredients for their feast and would use anyone who got off the bus.
• Su Bai walked toward A Xi as his reflection in the window appeared dressed as the Ghost Bride.

Su Bai used the Vengeful Ghost Puzzle to awaken the Ghost Bride, freeing A Xi to take revenge on Ghost Village. After capturing the White Qipao Paper Figure, he headed toward the burning village, where Qin Ge questioned his abilities.

• Su Bai resonated with A Xi and transformed into the Ghost Bride to pull her free of her chains.
• The Driver announced Ghost Village as the last stop, and A Xi descended from the bus as the village's dark figures tried to board.
• A Xi drove the villagers into flames, leaving a clear path through the burning village.
• Su Bai seized the White Qipao Paper Figure, weakened it, and absorbed it into the Mist Shop brand and Blood-Red Bead Bracelet.
• Su Bai recovered his appearance and moved toward the bus door as Qin Ge asked whether his brother had taught him those abilities in a dream.