Chapter Summaries

Zhao Xun acquired an amplified Fire Control ability and used it to kill Fan Xiaodan and the others in the apartment, completing the first half of his hidden-mission plan. After suppressing his urge to kill, he prepared to gather food and hide in the mountains before the police arrived.

• Zhao Xun obtained Fan Xiaodan's Fire Control lv3 through Devour, which amplified its flames into samadhi true fire.
• Zhao Xun burned Fan Xiaodan, killed Fan's Mother when she rushed toward her, and then killed Dou Yaohui and Gu Xiaoyun.
• Zhao Xun extinguished the flames and destroyed Fan Xiaodan's scarf, learned she wanted him to visit her mother, and killed Fan Xiaodan after she made her final request.
• Zhao Xun killed Liu Mei and Jiang Shuai, then washed away the blood and calmed his agitation.
• Zhao Xun planned to gather food, leave the apartment before the police arrived, and hide in the mountains for a day to complete his hidden mission.

Zhao Xun evaded the police on the mountain until he completed the dream game and earned the hidden-mission reward. Back on the train, he examined the [Crimson Seal] and decided to postpone upgrading his ability until he cleared another game.

• Zhao Xun gathered food and Gu Xiaoyun's phone, then fled to the mountain when the police arrived early.
• Zhao Xun used primates to scout the mountain and learned that the detachment captain had called for reinforcements and police dogs.
• Zhao Xun evaded the search through the night, then turned into a sparrow to slip through the tightened perimeter.
• Zhao Xun left the dream game after three days and received 200 points, 200 hours of survival time, and the [Crimson Seal] for completing the hidden mission.
• Zhao Xun returned to the train, examined the [Crimson Seal], and calculated that he could not afford to upgrade his ability yet.

Zhao Xun decided to join the next platform game and boarded the [Deep Mansion, Old Dream] game, where players had to find and kill three human-disguised dolls. After receiving the identity of a resident swordsman, he met the maid Chuntao and began probing her for information while giving her a chance to attack.

• Zhao Xun learned from A Jie that the next platform game would begin on October 25 and decided to participate using his ample survival time.
• Zhao Xun slept, prepared food and supplies, and left the train when it stopped at the [Deep Mansion, Old Dream] platform.
• Twenty-five players gathered and learned they had to search the mansion for three dolls disguised as humans, while avoiding indiscriminate or mistaken killings.
• Zhao Xun received the identity of a resident swordsman, along with the traits of carrying a longsword and disliking sweet foods.
• Zhao Xun met the maid Chuntao, let her attend to him, and invited her into his room to question her while leaving himself exposed to test whether she would attack.

Zhao Xun questioned Chuntao about the household and learned that the master and mistress’s headaches and the eldest young lady’s strange behavior had all begun six months ago. He suspected the three might be dolls, but withheld judgment and planned to investigate further before the household banquet and Doctor Zhen’s treatment.

• Zhao Xun asked Chuntao about the family and learned its members, guests, and that Doctor Zhen treated the master and mistress’s recurring headaches once a month.
• Chuntao told Zhao Xun that the master and mistress’s headaches had started six months earlier, and that the eldest young lady had also changed around that time.
• Chuntao said the eldest young lady had stopped tolerating close attendance and had grown distant from her brother, the eldest young master.
• Zhao Xun considered whether the eldest young lady, the master, and the mistress were dolls, but decided to seek more clues and avoid killing the wrong targets.
• Chuntao said the household would hold a banquet for its guests, and Zhao Xun set out for a walk toward the dining hall.

Zhao Xun tested how NPCs reacted when players behaved out of character, then met Instructor Wu, a powerful player who challenged him to spar. The chapter left Zhao Xun apparently examining Instructor Wu while asking how he built his muscles.

• Zhao Xun met the Second Miss and Concubine Liu in the garden and learned that the Second Miss was the mistress's daughter and Cuizhu was Concubine Liu's attendant.
• Zhao Xun's pointed questions made the Second Miss and Concubine Liu struggle to explain their behavior, but their reasonable excuses satisfied the maids and ended their suspicions.
• Zhao Xun concluded that NPC doubts vanished when players gave explanations the NPCs accepted as reasonable.
• Instructor Wu approached Zhao Xun, introduced himself as the martial arts instructor, and provocatively invited him to spar, but Zhao Xun declined and agreed to walk to the Dining Hall with him.
• Zhao Xun noticed coarse hair on Instructor Wu's chest, then patted his muscles and asked how he had built them.

Zhao Xun learned that Instructor Wu had the one-of-a-kind Spatial Movement ability and suspected Wu intended to attack him, so he began looking for ways to discover its limits. At Master Qian's banquet, Zhao Xun questioned Instructor Wu about what he had heard of veteran players and investigated the guests, leaving Master Qian and the renowned physician as leading doll suspects.

• Zhao Xun tried to devour a hair from Instructor Wu and learned that Wu's Spatial Movement lv3 ability was one of a kind and could not be devoured.
• Zhao Xun reasoned that Instructor Wu's ability likely had exploitable restrictions and decided to test it, while suspecting Wu had learned that veteran players joined Platform Games only under pressure.
• Chuntao brought Zhao Xun to Master Qian's banquet, where Master Qian introduced him and invited him to teach his sons swordsmanship alongside Instructor Wu.
• Instructor Wu asked Zhao Xun whether only weak veteran players were forced to join Platform Games, and Zhao Xun's reply made Wu doubt his source of information.
• Zhao Xun identified himself, Instructor Wu, and the tutor as players and Master Qian, Madam Sun's cousin Feng, and the renowned physician as NPCs, then focused his suspicions on Master Qian and the physician.
• Feng praised Master Qian and revealed that the eldest nephew had suffered repeated bumps and bruises over the past two months.

Zhao Xun investigated the Qian household and grew suspicious of Madam Qian and the eldest young lady after learning their behavior had changed about six months earlier. He then tested Instructor Wu and discovered that Wu’s [Spatial Movement] could passively protect him from attacks.

• Zhao Xun learned that the eldest young master had been bumping into things but had refused to explain why, suggesting a hidden clue.
• After the meal, Zhao Xun sent four small primates to watch Master Qian, Madam Qian, the eldest young master, and Doctor Zhen.
• Zhao Xun questioned Chuntao and learned that Madam Qian had become gentler while the eldest young lady had become colder over the past six months.
• Zhao Xun confronted Instructor Wu, who tried to provoke him before attacking him with a punch.
• Zhao Xun thrust a dagger at Instructor Wu, but Wu’s [Spatial Movement] passively moved the blade away and severed it from its hilt.

Zhao Xun tested the limits of Instructor Wu’s defensive ability, then used the [Shackles of Cowardice] to restrain him and suppress his Special Ability. Instructor Wu admitted he was killing Veteran Players for their Special Items because someone had told him they possessed them, leaving Zhao Xun seeking the identity and motives of that informant.

• Zhao Xun repeatedly attacked Instructor Wu with blades and a gold brick, discovering that fatal attacks were diverted while nonfatal blows could land.
• Instructor Wu killed Zhao Xun by removing his leg and head, but Zhao Xun’s final blade attack wounded him as he was attacking.
• Zhao Xun returned unharmed and fastened the [Shackles of Cowardice] around Instructor Wu’s neck, disabling his Special Ability and making him fearful and obedient.
• Zhao Xun questioned Instructor Wu, who confessed he was hunting Veteran Players to obtain their Special Items.
• Instructor Wu said an unidentified person had told him that Veteran Players had Special Items and that killing them would let him take those items.

Zhao Xun killed Instructor Wu after learning that a masked information seller had given him false intelligence, then investigated the Qian household and found Doctor Zhen suspicious. Chuntao confirmed that Doctor Zhen arrived before Master Qian and Mrs. Qian began suffering headaches, leaving Zhao Xun’s theory that the three were dolls unresolved.

• Zhao Xun forced Instructor Wu to describe the masked information seller, concluded the man was likely impersonating Whistle, and killed Instructor Wu to prevent retaliation or exposure.
• Zhao Xun tried to devour Instructor Wu’s Spatial Movement ability, but learned that one-of-a-kind abilities returned to the available pool when their owners died.
• Zhao Xun returned to his room unnoticed and received the primates’ reports: Master Qian and the eldest young master seemed ordinary, while Doctor Zhen lacked medical supplies, smelled of no herbs, and carefully cleaned unfamiliar tools.
• Zhao Xun suspected Doctor Zhen was not a real physician and might be performing a monthly ritual for Master Qian and Mrs. Qian, who he thought could be dolls.
• Chuntao confirmed that Doctor Zhen had arrived six months earlier, before Master Qian and Mrs. Qian began having headaches.

Zhao Xun discovered that the eldest daughter was a puppet wearing the real woman’s skin, killed her, and learned that she had been secretly cutting her hypnotized brother to collect his blood. The next morning, he investigated four murdered servants and suspected that they, too, had been hypnotized before their deaths.

• Zhao Xun learned from Chuntao that Instructor Wu had been murdered and secretly buried, then persuaded her to sleep rather than attend to him that night.
• Zhao Xun transformed into a sparrow and watched the eldest daughter cut her unresponsive brother and collect his blood.
• Zhao Xun cut the eldest daughter’s shoulder, saw wood beneath her skin, and burned the puppet to death, earning points and survival time as the public hunt progress reached 1/3.
• On October 26, Zhao Xun heard that the eldest daughter and four servants had died, and he went to investigate the servants’ deaths.
• Zhao Xun found the four servants’ bodies grotesquely twisted but their faces peaceful, and suspected they had been hypnotized before being tortured.

Zhao Xun identified Doctor Zhen as the dollmaker and hypnotist after searching his room and acquiring his Hypnosis ability. He confronted Doctor Zhen at the eldest young lady’s courtyard, where Doctor Zhen began swinging a crystal pendant in front of him.

• Zhao Xun questioned Chuntao about people who held grudges against the Qian household and learned that Master Qian and Mrs. Qian had reacted strangely calmly to their daughter’s death.
• Zhao Xun suspected Doctor Zhen had hypnotized the household and searched his empty room, finding tools that appeared to be used for making dolls.
• Zhao Xun used a hair from Doctor Zhen to obtain [Hypnosis] and [Puppetry], then replaced [Snake Hair lv3] with [Hypnosis].
• Squirrel Monkey reported that Doctor Zhen took a jar of the eldest daughter’s blood and soaked a pastry in it.
• Zhao Xun encountered Doctor Zhen outside the eldest young lady’s courtyard, and Doctor Zhen began swinging a crystal pendant in front of him.

Zhao Xun hypnotized Doctor Zhen and learned the identities of his remaining dolls and the revenge behind them. Just as Zhao Xun prepared to kill Doctor Zhen, a hidden mission appeared asking him to help the Dollmaker take revenge.

• Zhao Xun overpowered Doctor Zhen's hypnosis, questioned him, and concealed their conversation from the arriving Second Miss.
• Zhao Xun rejected the Second Miss's offer to work together and took Doctor Zhen back to his room.
• Zhao Xun hypnotized Doctor Zhen and learned that the other dolls impersonated Mrs. Qian's male cousin, the third-place imperial examination graduate, and the maid Pingping.
• Doctor Zhen revealed that Master Qian had abandoned him and his mother, and that Mrs. Qian had later arranged his mother's murder.
• Doctor Zhen explained that he had chosen Pingping because she resembled his mother and intended for Master Qian and Mrs. Qian to die at her hands.
• Zhao Xun raised a dagger to kill Doctor Zhen, but a pop-up announced the hidden mission to help the Dollmaker take revenge.

Zhao Xun persuaded Doctor Zhen to accelerate his revenge while keeping Pingping alive to kill Master Qian and Mrs. Qian, then secretly killed the doll Top Scholar. After Chuntao reported several new deaths in the Qian Mansion, Zhao Xun wondered why people had begun blaming ghosts.

• Zhao Xun hypnotized Doctor Zhen into trusting him and persuaded him to have the Second Miss and Eldest Young Master killed before Pingping killed Master Qian and Mrs. Qian.
• Doctor Zhen hypnotized the Second Miss and arranged for her to drown in the Rear Garden pond.
• Zhao Xun confirmed that Top Scholar was a doll, learned how Doctor Zhen made his dolls, and burned Top Scholar to death.
• Chuntao told Zhao Xun that the Second Miss had drowned, Top Scholar had burned to death, and Concubine Liu had been disemboweled.
• Zhao Xun wondered why the mansion residents now suspected ghosts, after initially discussing only who had killed the four manservants.

Zhao Xun confirmed Doctor Zhen had arranged Concubine Liu’s death and prepared with him to kill the Eldest Young Master. At the Eldest Young Master’s Courtyard, Zhao Xun found two player impostors waiting and attacked them with animated candlesticks.

• Zhao Xun sent Chuntao to gather information, then learned from Doctor Zhen that Pingping had killed Concubine Liu under Doctor Zhen’s earlier orders.
• Chuntao reported that Master Qian had placed the dead in coffins in a secluded courtyard, while servants fled the mansion; Zhao Xun spent the afternoon resting and told Chuntao to stay in her room that night.
• Zhao Xun knocked Chuntao unconscious, hid her in the Side Room, and met Doctor Zhen, who said the Qian Couple had begged him after he warned them the Eldest Young Master would die.
• Zhao Xun and Doctor Zhen went to the Eldest Young Master’s Courtyard, where they found the Second Young Master and Third Young Master drinking with the grieving Eldest Young Master.
• The Second Young Master and Third Young Master questioned Zhao Xun about the Doll and Doctor Zhen, and Zhao Xun sent two candlesticks plunging into their backs.

Zhao Xun killed the Second Young Master and Third Young Master, allowing Doctor Zhen to kill the Eldest Young Master and confront the Qian Couple. After Doctor Zhen poisoned Master Qian and Mrs. Qian in revenge for his mother, Zhao Xun received a hidden-mission reward and attacked Pingping, leaving Doctor Zhen demanding an explanation.

• Zhao Xun killed the Second Young Master and Third Young Master, then killed two servants who entered the room.
• Doctor Zhen stabbed the Eldest Young Master, changed into his clothes, and went with Zhao Xun to Mrs. Qian's courtyard.
• Doctor Zhen revealed Pingping's role in his revenge and told the Qian Couple that she had been poisoning their tea for half a year.
• Doctor Zhen ordered Pingping to force the final poisoned tea down Master Qian and Mrs. Qian's throats, and they died in agony.
• Zhao Xun received 50 points, 50 hours of survival time, and the Mimicry Doll for completing a hidden mission, then struck Pingping with fire.
• Doctor Zhen demanded to know why Zhao Xun had attacked Pingping.

Zhao Xun cleared the platform game, returned to the Endless Train, and waited for the monthly ranking and berth reassignment. After reaching rank 128 and joining Su Tiantian in Car 6, he spent 1,000 points to upgrade Devour to level 5.

• Zhao Xun killed Pingping, cleared the game, and received points, survival time, and the Mimicry Doll.
• Zhao Xun returned to the train, learned that veteran Volunteer Scarf had died in a dream game, and checked his points and new item.
• Zhao Xun waited until October 31, when the rankings placed him at 128th and assigned him to Car 6, Compartment 2.
• Zhao Xun told Wu Wei, A Jie, and Qianqian that he was not surprised by the deaths of players from their batch, then left them behind.
• Zhao Xun reunited with Su Tiantian, who said competing with him had become her new source of fun.
• Zhao Xun spent 1,000 points and upgraded Devour to level 5.

Zhao Xun discovered that his [Devour] ability had reached its current level cap and secretly copied Su Tiantian’s one-of-a-kind [Evil Spirit] ability. He prepared to enter the Ghost House Platform Game while Su Tiantian stayed behind to enter a Dream Game instead.

• Zhao Xun reviewed the limits and new one-of-a-kind ability rules for his upgraded [Devour], then decided to join the upcoming Platform Game.
• Zhao Xun told Su Tiantian about a Veteran Player who was misleading new players and asked her to help investigate; he secretly took a strand of her hair.
• Zhao Xun used the hair to acquire Su Tiantian’s [Evil Spirit lv5], which could turn people he had killed into loyal Ghost Servants.
• Zhao Xun bought food and water for the three-day Platform Game and waited for the train to reach the Ghost House platform.
• When the train prepared to stop, Su Tiantian said she would not join the Platform Game because she had to enter a Dream Game first, and Zhao Xun departed alone.

Zhao Xun entered the Haunted House game, where players had to find and kill every ghost, and explored a children’s playroom with an Afro-haired player. He killed a ghost hiding in a bloodstained picture book with Samadhi True Fire and began searching for more ghosts, while the Afro-haired player stayed close to him.

• Zhao Xun entered the pitch-black haunted house and met an Afro-haired player in a children’s playroom.
• Zhao Xun confirmed the Afro-haired man was human, then searched toy boxes marked with numbers and letters up to z.
• The Afro-haired man found a bloodstained picture book, and Zhao Xun recognized the stain as blood.
• The picture book began turning its pages by itself, so Zhao Xun burned it with Samadhi True Fire and killed the ghost inside.
• Zhao Xun began searching the remaining books for ghosts and warned the Afro-haired man not to slow him down.

Zhao Xun and Afro searched the children's playroom, burned several ghosts, and clashed with Father and his companions over clues. In the next room, Zhao Xun destroyed a ghost that dodged his flames, but an armored sculpture attacked him as he searched for more clues.

• Zhao Xun burned the ghosts hidden in two children's books and later killed a child ghost emerging from a bloodstained swing.
• Zhao Xun and Afro finished searching the playroom and told Father, Little Blue, and Little Green that every toy bore numbers or letters, though they did not know what they meant.
• Zhao Xun criticized Father and his companions for waiting instead of searching, then left with Afro and entered the children's bedroom.
• A ghost hiding beneath a bloodstained quilt evaded Zhao Xun's first fireball, but he curved a barrage of flames around to destroy it.
• As Zhao Xun inspected the bedroom's collectibles and toys, an armored sculpture swung its axe at him, and he dodged its attack.

Zhao Xun killed two ghosts in the toy room and kept Father and his followers from taking advantage of the fights. After Father and Little Blue left and Little Green was driven out, Zhao Xun searched the wardrobe for clues.

• Zhao Xun melted the Armored Sculpture with his fire ability and killed it after making sure it was dead.
• Father, Little Blue, and Little Green arrived after the fight, but Zhao Xun ordered them out when he saw through their plan to reap the rewards.
• A shadow ghost attacked Little Green at the doorway, and Father fled with Little Blue while Little Green's weak flames failed to hurt it.
• Zhao Xun saved Little Green by burning the shadow ghost, then discovered it could not enter the Children's Bedroom and killed it.
• Father and Little Blue left, and Zhao Xun dismissed Little Green before searching the wardrobe; he concluded Father's ability was of little use against ghosts.