Chapter Summaries

Su Bai and the others discovered that the Happy Hotel’s strange creatures, rather than the hotel itself, ran the games and took turns playing family members and waiters. When they were discovered in a hidden room, the Female Ghost Waiter and a horde of resentful ghosts attacked them.

• Su Bai and the others examined photographs and realized the hotel’s strange creatures had staged the games by rotating between family and waiter roles.
• Su Bai noticed unfinished game cards and old waiter uniforms in a hidden, messy room.
• The Female Ghost Waiter argued that the house had promised to help the ghosts find real family, while the Zombie Waiter insisted that they were family to one another.
• An elderly strange creature noticed someone outside, and the Female Ghost Waiter rushed through the door to confront Su Bai and the others.
• Ghostly creatures emerged from the corridor’s walls and carpet, surrounded Su Bai and the others, and bore down on them with murderous intent.

Su Bai and Zhi Yuan fought off the approaching Ghost Creatures with help from the Green Snake and White Snake Grandma. White Snake Grandma restored the exhausted Green Snake, while Zhi Yuan struggled to face the enormous snake only he could see.

• Zhi Yuan woke the exhausted Green Snake, who transformed into a giant python and swallowed several Ghost Creatures.
• White Snake Grandma emerged in a burst of white light and devoured the remaining Ghost Creatures, driving the others into retreat.
• White Snake Grandma approached Zhi Yuan and asked him to crouch so she could reach the Green Snake.
• Zhi Yuan froze in terror because he saw a gigantic white snake instead of the kindly old woman Su Bai described.
• White Snake Grandma stroked the Green Snake, restoring her energy and delighting her.

Su Bai and his companions entered a hidden corridor in the Inn after Grandma White drove back the Strange Creatures. The Inn sealed their way out, and Su Bai concluded it was trapping them to protect the creatures it had taken in.

• Grandma White returned to the Vengeful Ghost Puzzle after helping Su Bai and the Green Snake, while Zhi Yuan confirmed Xiao Qing was recovering.
• Su Bai led Liang Yuyan, Zhi Yuan, and Wu Heng through a doorway into a corridor larger than the visible Inn.
• Wu Heng opened another door and found a second corridor, while the entrance behind them vanished and became a wall.
• Su Bai found no passage-forming nodes in the wall and said the Inn itself was trapping them to protect the Strange Creatures.
• Zhi Yuan connected the Inn's actions to the game's rule against harming its family, and Wu Heng set off, saying he could tear down the walls.

Wu Heng led Su Bai, Zhi Yuan, and Liang Yuyan through the Inn’s walls to reach the Eerie hidden in its depths and end the nightmare at its source. They found the ghosts, who revealed that many Strange Creatures considered the Inn their home and begged the group not to destroy it.

• Wu Heng kicked through the walls, leading the group into a dark, empty space beyond the corridors.
• Zhi Yuan lit a lighter, and Wu Heng explained that he could sense the Eerie and intended to reach their hiding places by breaking through the labyrinth.
• Zhi Yuan told Liang Yuyan that Miss Tan and the others were in danger, so the group continued deeper into the Inn.
• Wu Heng announced they were close, and a ceiling bulb appeared as ghostly shadows filled the walls and sealed the holes behind them.
• A female ghost asked why Wu Heng wanted to wipe them out, then demanded that he destroy the Inn so they could leave.
• The other shadows protested that the Inn was their home, and Su Bai asked why they could not touch it.

Su Bai realized that the Happy Hotel’s Strange Creatures saw one another and the Inn as family, and that the Inn had allowed their games because they made the creatures happy. He and Wu Heng turned the remaining Strange Creatures into hostages, hoping the Inn would release the human Players to protect them.

• The Strange Creatures accused the Happy Hotel of lying about helping them find loving families.
• Su Bai argued that the creatures had already become family to one another and explained that the photographs showed their happiness when Players lost the games.
• Su Bai concluded that the Inn cherished the Strange Creatures and had tolerated the games because they enjoyed them.
• Su Bai summoned a Giant Hound, and Wu Heng declared that the Strange Creatures were hostages.
• Su Bai and the others gambled that the Inn would release the human Players to protect its remaining family.

Su Bai forced the Inn to compromise by using the hostages, the Strange Creatures they consumed, and Little Fire’s blue flames as leverage. He reunited with Tan Ying and the others on the fourth floor, where Ai Qing’s face had been restored but Liu Yongzhi lay unconscious and badly injured.

• Su Bai sensed Little Fire’s location and set blue flames burning inside the Inn to strengthen his bargaining position.
• The Inn collapsed the walls around Su Bai and the others, ending the maze and revealing the second-floor corridor.
• Su Bai led Liang Yuyan and the others upstairs to check on Tan Ying and the rest of the group.
• Su Bai noticed ghostly silhouettes appear and vanish from the walls as they climbed.
• Su Bai found Tan Ying, Chi Yan, Li Feiwen, Ai Qing, and the unconscious Liu Yongzhi on the fourth floor, with Liu Yongzhi still missing an arm and bleeding severely.

Su Bai and the others reunited after making a deal with the Inn, and learned how Ai Qing recovered her face and Liu Yongzhi collapsed from the contract's backlash. Just as they waited for confirmation that the game was over, the Inn began to crack and rumble.

• Su Bai told Tan Ying and the others that the disappearance of the ghostly creatures was probably connected to a deal they had made with the Inn.
• Chi Yan explained that Ai Qing had used her ability to control the Strange Creature following her and take back her face, while Tan Ying praised her courage.
• Tan Ying and Chi Yan reported that Liu Yongzhi had collapsed in agony and was barely breathing after his contract's backlash surged through him.
• Li Feiwen and Zhi Yuan said they could not be sure the game was over until they heard the Administrator's voice.
• Xiao An appeared in the wall, begged to be with his Mommy, and was dragged back inside before finishing his cry.
• The Inn shook violently as enormous cracks spread through its walls and floors.

The Happy Hotel collapsed and vanished, ending the Family Special Event early and leaving Su Bai and the players in an empty clearing beneath the Red Moon. As the others chose where to go next, Su Bai stayed behind to speak with Wu Heng.

• The Happy Hotel began dissolving, and Su Bai, Wu Heng, Tan Ying, and the other players fell through the collapsing building as Tan Ying slowed their descent with her shadow ability.
• The players landed in an empty clearing, and Su Bai concluded that the Happy Hotel had left with the Strange Creatures it called its family.
• Tan Ying and the other players exchanged Real World contact details while Su Bai considered why the hotel had compromised and departed.
• The Administrator announced that the Happy Hotel was closing for renovations and that the Family Special Event had ended early, then offered the players a choice between the Nightmare World and the Real World.
• Tan Ying and the others disappeared after making their choices, while Su Bai asked the Administrator to wait so he could speak with Wu Heng.

After the game scenario ended, Su Bai confronted Wu Heng about his Doll body and his connection to the Strange Creature using Su Xuan’s body. Wu Heng confirmed he had become a Player, hinted that things would soon improve, and disappeared, leaving Su Bai to return to the Real World.

• Su Bai and Wu Heng remained alone beneath the Red Moon after the other Players left the scenario.
• Wu Heng revealed his featureless Doll face, and Su Bai asked whether the Strange Creature in Su Xuan’s body had inspired him to become a Player.
• Wu Heng confirmed that he had successfully gained Player status through his Doll body and admitted he struggled to make a face for himself.
• Wu Heng explained that he and Su Xuan avoided drawing the watchers’ attention to Su Bai, then said things would get better soon before vanishing.
• Su Bai chose to return to the Real World to deal with the Mutation in Qingliu City.

Qingliu City, once known for its peaceful lakes and gardens, had become eerily deserted after monsters appeared and attacked residents. Rumors and a circulating video showed that wounded people were transforming into monsters, while the city remained under restrictions and cordons.

• Qingliu City’s residents contrasted their relaxed city with bustling neighboring Honghuai City.
• Qingliu City lost its warmth and vitality, and cordons appeared across its streets and parks.
• Residents learned that monsters had appeared and that some people attacked by them had transformed into monsters.
• A secretly circulated video showed an injured man developing scales around his wound and repeatedly complaining of thirst and itching.

A secretly recorded video showed an injured person developing gray scales, suffering from worsening hunger and uncontrollable itching, and losing awareness. Before leaving a warehouse to find food, they apologized and tried to send the recording to a friend while they could still remember being human.

• The injured person joked with the person filming before their condition worsened and the camera operator left.
• Alone in the recording, the injured person scratched at their wounds as scales spread across their body and their fingernails changed.
• The injured person said their lucid periods were growing shorter and that the food in the warehouse had not eased their hunger.
• The injured person decided to leave the warehouse to find food and apologized repeatedly.
• The injured person said they would try to send the video to a friend before becoming completely monstrous.

As rumors about Qingliu City’s mutations spread, most residents dismissed the hidden video and believed the lockdown was an operation against terrorists. A local squad waited near Qingliu University for the special squad from Honghuai City, and one member noticed an unfamiliar shop across the street.

• The hidden video spread through Qingliu City, but rumors about terrorists persuaded most residents to dismiss the monsters as special effects.
• The Relevant Authorities eased travel restrictions and deployed trained teams to maintain order and screen residents.
• Three plainclothes squad members near Qingliu University complained that they had been told to meet the special squad from Honghuai City without being given clear orders.
• The men questioned why their superiors trusted Qin Ge’s mixed group of students, office workers, programmers, and an auntie more than their own trained squad.
• One squad member noticed a shop across the street that had not been there during their previous patrol.

Three plainclothes officers investigated the unfamiliar Mist grocery store on Qingliu City’s deserted college street and found its peaceful, carefully arranged interior unlike anything outside. The store’s handsome owner appeared, leaving the officers stunned by his unexpected presence.

• The three plainclothes officers noticed the newly appeared Mist grocery store and decided to investigate.
• The officers entered the shop and found its calm interior filled with groceries, books, curios, plants, and a lounging black cat.
• The young team member admired the sofa, and the captain cautioned him that it might not be for customers.
• The store owner invited the officers to sit and rest, then emerged from behind the counter.
• The officers stared at the striking young owner, surprised that he did not match their image of a grocery storekeeper.

Su Bai welcomed three unusually trained customers into the Mist Shop and served them fruit tea while trying to learn about them. Just as they praised the tea, cries for help sounded outside.

• Su Bai watched the three customers approach through the Projector and suspected they were not ordinary passersby.
• Su Bai explained that he had moved the Mist Shop to Qingliu City while leaving his sick mother, Lin Wan, at home.
• Su Bai invited the three customers to sit and offered them afternoon tea.
• The team members tasted Su Bai's fruit tea, praised it, and asked whether they could buy some.
• Cries for help came from outside the shop before the captain could question the tea's unusual taste.

Su Bai followed a disturbance into an alley and found three plainclothes officers restraining a gaunt man. After recognizing Qin Ge’s name, the officers agreed to bring the man into Su Bai’s Mist Shop, where they could question him away from the gathering crowd.

• Three plainclothes officers rushed out of the Mist Shop after hearing a cry for help, while Su Bai finished his tea and told Little Black Cat to watch the shop.
• Su Bai followed the scent of fruit tea to an alley, where he found the officers struggling to restrain a gaunt man who had been shouting for help.
• Su Bai offered to let the officers question the man in his shop, but the captain initially refused to involve him.
• Su Bai mentioned Qin Ge, and the officers’ reactions revealed that they knew the name.
• With pedestrians gathering nearby, the captain agreed to take the struggling man into the Mist Shop.

Su Bai and three officers brought Lin Wei into the sealed Mist Shop, where he recounted being attacked by a monster after meeting a friend who had promised to repay a long-standing debt. The officers heard that the creature fled back into the shadows when Lin Wei reached the street, while the bite on his thigh still hurt.

• The captain and two officers disguised their escort of Lin Wei as helping a drunk and brought him into the Mist Shop.
• Su Bai sealed the shop from the outside and synchronized its time with the Real World.
• The captain showed Lin Wei and Su Bai the officers’ credentials and asked Lin Wei to explain what had happened.
• Lin Wei said a former friend who owed him tens of thousands of yuan had called and invited him to meet at a secluded place.
• Lin Wei recounted that a bloodied, torn-clothed monster attacked him, bit his thigh, and fled into the shadows when he reached the street.

Su Bai questioned Lin Wei about the monster and took precautions while an officer treated his wound. When grayish-black scales were found growing around it, the captain concluded Su Bai knew what was happening.

• Su Bai asked Lin Wei whether the monster had scales, but Lin Wei could only recall blood and admitted he had been too frightened to notice.
• Su Bai warned the officers to wear gloves before treating Lin Wei’s wound, fearing the monster’s blood could spread an infection.
• An officer examined Lin Wei’s leg and discovered grayish-black scales growing around the deep, unhealed wound.
• Lin Wei cried out when the officer touched and tugged at the scales, which appeared to have grown directly from his leg.
• The captain confronted Su Bai, certain that he knew something about the scales.

Su Bai offered the plainclothes officers information about Lin Wei’s scales in exchange for a favor. The captain agreed to help contact Qin Ge and his companions, leaving Su Bai confident they would meet.

• The captain asked Su Bai why scales had appeared on Lin Wei’s legs, and Su Bai joked that Lin Wei might be descended from mermaids before acknowledging the officers’ concerns.
• Su Bai said he would only share his valuable information in exchange for a price, and the captain agreed to hear his terms.
• Su Bai asked the captain to contact Qin Ge and his companions, explaining that he knew Qin Ge but lacked his contact information.
• The captain said his assignment might let him reach the special squad, though they could refuse to meet, and Su Bai insisted they would meet once Qin Ge was contacted.

Su Bai told the officers that the monsters in Qingliu City were humans transformed by a deliberate process, and explained how the mutations spread. The captain agreed to share information with him, while Lin Wei feared he would become a monster and the possibility emerged that all of Qingliu City was a testing ground.

• Su Bai persuaded the captain that learning where the monsters came from was essential, and the captain agreed to hear what he knew.
• Su Bai explained that his information came from a reliable friend and described how scales, itching, and rotting wounds afflicted abnormal humans.
• Su Bai said that a bite victim could become a mutant if the wound contacted a mutant’s blood or bodily tissue, frightening Lin Wei.
• Su Bai reported that captured mutants blamed masked people who had injected them with an unusual drug.
• The captain realized the outbreak might be a planned operation, and Su Bai suggested that Qingliu City could have become a testing ground.

Su Bai warned three plainclothes officers that monsters in Qingliu City could infect their victims and were likely being created by someone. The officers left to contact Qin Ge and the Special Squad, while Su Bai kept Lin Wei at the shop as a sample for his investigation.

• Su Bai told the officers that monster attacks could infect victims and that someone was likely creating the monsters.
• The captain vowed to find and eliminate the threat, but Su Bai urged the officers to leave the investigation to the Special Squad and protect Qingliu City's ordinary residents.
• The captain agreed to contact someone who could reach Qin Ge and took his officers outside to get a better phone signal.
• Su Bai kept the terrified Lin Wei at the shop, intending to question him about the fish-scaled monsters.