Chapter Summaries

Princess Anping’s account of meeting Li Mu again described how he refused Huang Zi’s duel and left the Capital, deepening her fascination with him. In the present, Mr. Lu arranged for Yao Sen to travel to the Capital to support Ren Ye’s plans, while Ren Qingning and Ren Daguo prepared to go their own ways after arriving.

• Princess Anping recounted how Li Mu ignored Huang Zi’s challenge, threw his sword onto the arena, and left the Capital with his friends, making her more curious about him.
• Xu Qingzhao finished the account, and the players debated what clues Princess Anping’s unusually long life story contained.
• Mr. Lu asked He the Actor to send Yao Sen to the Capital and support him from outside, hoping to prepare for Ren Ye’s return.
• Ren Qingning told Yan Duoduo that she planned to meet a friend and spend a couple of days away from the group, while Ren Daguo mentioned his own invitation for drinks.
• Boss Dan called someone at the Shanghai airport and ordered them to investigate an actor because his boss was growing impatient.

Xing Tao recounted how Princess Anping fell in love with Li Mu, supported his service as a magistrate, and later learned Wang Tong had forced him to leave after maiming him. After Anping destroyed the Wang Family and learned she had only a year to live, she heard that Li Mu had died defending Shangyu and went to her nine-tiered tomb carrying the Human Emperor Seal and peach cakes.

• Xing Tao narrated Anping's first meeting with Li Mu, when he explained that he had come to the Capital to settle a wine wager and fulfill promises to his dying friend and local orphans.
• Anping persuaded her father to appoint Li Mu magistrate of Shangyu County, and Li Mu accepted after receiving her jade hairpin.
• Li Mu saved Shangyu from floods and later delayed an invading army so its people could escape, while Anping exchanged letters with him and was confined in the palace before her arranged marriage to Wang Tong.
• Wang Tong revealed that he had arranged Li Mu's departure and forced him to lose his right arm, and Anping learned that the Wang Family had murdered Emperor Jingling and planned to assault her.
• Anping allied with her brother and killed Wang Tong and the Wang Family on her wedding day, but her wounds left her with at most a year to live.
• Anping learned that Li Mu had died after challenging Huang Zi and defending Shangyu, then built a nine-tiered tomb and walked toward Qingliang Mountain with the Human Emperor Seal and peach cakes.

After passing a test about Princess Anping, the ten players entered the third trial, where they had to gather wood and cooperate to build Snow-Shelter Coffins before Hai Hour. They realized the Heaven-Character path held the only complete coffin set and that whoever took it could decide who survived; after arguing over who should go, they used a hand game to choose.

• Ren Ye reviewed Princess Anping’s story, focusing on the Human Emperor Seal and Li Mu’s life, before the players moved on to the third level.
• The players answered questions on a stone tablet, opened the Bronze Gate, and entered a snow-covered canyon with ten mountain paths.
• The Star Gate announced that the players had four hours to gather wooden panels and build a connected row of Snow-Shelter Coffins, warning that anyone without a complete coffin would die in the coming storm.
• Ren Ye worked out that the Heaven-Character path had six panels while the other paths had five, making whoever collected its wood pivotal to the group’s survival.
• Liu Ji Shan volunteered for the Heaven-Character path, but the players argued over trust and selection before Xing Tao proposed a hand game.
• After three rounds of the hand game, the players’ attention settled on one person, who mocked them for being childish.

The group split up to gather timber for the second trial, while Ren Ye ran north and discovered a person frozen beneath the ice in the valley. The chapter ended with He the Actor approaching a young man cleaning a theater to ask him for a favor.

• Liu Ji Shan won the vote to take Heaven Character Road, and Ren Ye persuaded the group to honor their agreement and set out without further delay.
• Liu Ji Shan recognized Ren Ye as Li Yan, promised him potential allies, and hurried toward Heaven Character Road.
• The group divided among the mountain paths, and No. 11 told his teammates that he had a clue and planned to try something unusual.
• Ren Ye crossed a suspension bridge, reached the valley, and gathered five pieces of timber shaped like a coffin missing one side.
• Ren Ye spotted a purplish-blue face and blood-red eyes beneath the ice and recoiled in fright.
• He the Actor approached a young man cleaning a theater and asked him for a favor, but the young man answered with a sarcastic question.

Yao Sen agreed to help Mr. He capture two people in the Capital, while Ren Ye discovered that No. 11 had sabotaged his return route by cutting the suspension bridge. No. 11 then attacked Xu Qingzhao to steal her wood, but her hidden Dao body emerged before Xu Niang intervened and suppressed it.

• Yao Sen accepted Mr. He's request to capture two people in the Capital, and Mr. He offered to accompany him and handle the pickup.
• Ren Ye found a corpse frozen in the ice, continued toward the starting point, and discovered that the suspension bridge had been cut and broken.
• No. 11 revealed that he had cut Ren Ye's bridge and planned to steal Xu Qingzhao's wood with help from Scholar, Xing Tao, and Guo Caier.
• Xu Qingzhao dodged No. 11's ambush and beat him, but three more players arrived and surrounded her.
• As the four attacked, Xu Qingzhao's black Dao body emerged, shaking Qingliang Mountain and splitting a peak.
• Xu Niang halted the quake and dispersed the Dao body, warning Xu Qingzhao that the Land of Extreme Cold belonged to her until she claimed it.

After Xu Qingzhao’s powers were suppressed, No. 11 and the others attacked her, but she escaped uphill as the cold wave approached. Back at the starting point, the players returned without No. 2 and No. 5, while Ren Ye remained trapped in the valley with no way across the gorge.

• Xu Qingzhao fought off No. 11, Scholar, Guo Caier, and Xing Tao, then fled up the mountain after injuring her leg and blinding Scholar with snowballs.
• Scholar warned the group that the cold wave was nearing, and No. 11 led them back toward the starting point instead of continuing the chase.
• No. 11, Xing Tao, Guo Caier, and Scholar returned without No. 2 and No. 5 and began building their Snow-Shelter Coffins without explaining what had happened.
• Li Yan feared that Ren Ye and the Princess Consort were dead, but worried that leaving to search for them would expose him as No. 5’s teammate.
• Ren Ye stood in the valley beside five coffin panels, shivering as he tried to find a way across the gorge.

Ren Ye used his cold-resistant leather robe and a makeshift ice-bound bridge to try to cross the gorge and reach his companions. As Xu Qingzhao, trapped outside the sealed coffins and near death, gave up on the mountain path, Ren Ye was still working to save her.

• Ren Ye discovered that his leather robe protected him from the extreme cold and used it to haul the broken bridge back onto the cliff.
• Ren Ye dismantled the bridge and joined four planks with rope supports, then poured water over the joints so the cold would freeze them together.
• Ren Ye chose to risk crossing the gorge because he feared Xu Qingzhao and his other companions were in danger.
• Xu Qingzhao returned to the starting point, found the Snow-Shelter Coffins sealed against outsiders, and realized she was stranded.
• Xu Qingzhao continued up the mountain path until she could go no farther, then closed her eyes and accepted that she might die.

Ren Ye rescued Xu Qingzhao from the freezing mountains, and the two survived the night by sharing the leather robe and using a plan they devised after recognizing a thinking blind spot. At dawn, they appeared at the coffins and brutally attacked No. 11 while the other players watched.

• Ren Ye crashed into a cliff while sliding down the mountain, then wrapped Xu Qingzhao in his leather robe and used body heat, blood, and artificial respiration to revive her.
• Xu Qingzhao helped cover Ren Ye with the robe, and the two discussed how its warmth had kept her alive despite the cold.
• Ren Ye and Xu Qingzhao realized they could exploit a thinking blind spot, but the chapter ended before they explained their plan.
• At sunrise, Tang Feng, Li Yan, and Liu Ji Shan emerged from their coffins and saw Ren Ye and Xu Qingzhao standing nearby, badly frostbitten.
• Ren Ye and Xu Qingzhao raised coffin planks together and repeatedly beat No. 11 as he opened his coffin, while Liu Ji Shan hid inside his own coffin.

Ren Ye and Xu Qingzhao fought Scholar after Ren Ye smashed No. 11, and the confrontation grew into a faction standoff. Liu Ji Shan mistakenly concluded that Ren Ye’s group opposed Prince Huai’s faction and joined them, leaving both sides poised to fight.

• Scholar attacked Ren Ye in rage, but Xu Qingzhao and Ren Ye struck him down before Xing Tao and Guo Caier intervened.
• Li Yan and Tang Feng joined Ren Ye’s side, while Coachman declared for Scholar’s group, creating a four-on-four standoff.
• Coachman tried to persuade Liu Ji Shan to join his side, but Liu Ji Shan used a recognition exchange with Ren Ye and Li Yan to identify them as his supposed allies.
• Liu Ji Shan wrongly decided that Ren Ye’s group opposed Prince Huai’s faction and declared that he would fight alongside them.
• Liu Ji Shan joined Ren Ye’s side and announced that he would take Guo Caier as the fight began.

After the failed clearance triggered reincarnation, the nine surviving players returned to the start with only four Snow-Shelter Coffins available, making cooperation and survival uncertain. Ren Ye’s group debated recruiting Liu Ji Shan, and Ren Ye finally threatened to beat him unless he joined their faction.

• The Star Gate announced that the players had failed, would repeat the cold wave, and could obtain only four sets of coffin timber; the players returned to the starting point as the sun and moon shifted.
• Ren Ye led his group away from the opposing faction, while Xing Tao and Coachman argued over how nine players could survive with only four coffins.
• Ren Ye confirmed that his fur robe protected against the cold wave, and the group discussed faction notifications, Liu Ji Shan’s status, and the limited recruitment slot.
• Xu Qingzhao refused Ren Ye’s offer to use his remaining recruitment slot on her and urged him to use it on Liu Ji Shan instead.
• Ren Ye and the others surrounded Liu Ji Shan, revealed that Ren Ye was Prince Huai, and demanded that Liu join their faction or be beaten.

Ren Ye recruited Liu Ji Shan and devised a plan for all nine players to survive the cold wave by rotating through four Snow-Shelter Coffins. The chapter ended with Ren Ye preparing to assign the rotations as Ren Daguo arrived at the guest hotel and spoke on the phone with Yan Duoduo.

• Liu Ji Shan realized Li Yan had deceived him, then swore loyalty to Ren Ye and joined the Prince Huai Faction.
• Ren Ye sent Liu Ji Shan to bluff the opposing players into believing he had been a Prince Huai spy all along, persuading them to hear Ren Ye's plan.
• Ren Ye arranged for two players from each faction to collect timber on separate mountain roads while he watched the paths; he evaded Scholar and Coachman's attempt to capture him when they doubled back.
• After the players returned with timber and received Star Source Pills, Ren Ye explained that the coffins and his fur robe could warm people, and proposed rotating players through the four coffins during the cold wave.
• Ren Ye insisted the two factions mix their coffin shifts and threatened to intervene if anyone refused to leave; Liu Ji Shan argued with the Martial Artist before Ren Ye began assigning rotations.
• Ren Daguo arrived at the guest hotel and told Yan Duoduo over the phone that he had arrived and wanted to meet her.

While Ren Ye organized teams to endure the cold waves in the Land of Extreme Cold, headquarters ordered Yan Duoduo and Huang Wei to reveal his situation to Ren Daguo and take him to meet someone. Ren Daguo learned that Ren Ye had entered a Star Gate and traveled to another time and place, then arrived with them at a bar where Yan Duoduo said headquarters was above the Capital.

• Ren Ye chose two rotation teams to fight the cold waves while he kept watch.
• Uncle Chen told Yan Duoduo that headquarters had changed its approach and wanted Ren Daguo informed and brought to headquarters.
• Yan Duoduo ordered Huang Wei to explain the truth to Ren Daguo, despite Huang Wei's worry about Ren Ye's wishes and his father's reaction.
• Huang Wei showed Ren Daguo information about Ren Ye, and Yan Duoduo confirmed that Ren Ye had gone through a gate to another time and place.
• Yan Duoduo, Huang Wei, and Ren Daguo went to the Tree Rings bar, where Yan Duoduo said headquarters was above the Capital.

While Ren Ye’s group endured the cold beside the crimson coffins, Xing Tao comforted the grieving Guo Caier, and Li Yan and Tang Feng sought warmth together. Ren Daguo was summoned to Vermilion Bird City, where he met a crimson-robed man who asked how much time he had left.

• Xing Tao kissed Guo Caier, accepted her slap, and held her while promising to help her kill Ren Ye and support her after her mother’s death.
• Tang Feng invited Li Yan with an suggestive look, and the two later huddled together inside a crimson coffin to keep warm.
• Yan Duoduo and Huang Wei sent Ren Daguo through a Star Gate to meet someone in Vermilion Bird City.
• A young New Year’s Watcher guided Ren Daguo through the city to the Moon-Gazing Pavilion, where he climbed the stairs to the top.
• Ren Daguo entered the pavilion, placed a white stone on a Go board, and sat with a crimson-robed man, who asked how much time he had left.

During a lull in the freezing trial, Scholar mourned No. 11 while Ren Ye and Xu Qingzhao grew closer, and Ren Ye reconciled with Liu Ji Shan. The players passed the Second Trial without losses and were sent to the next level, while Ren Daguo remained with headquarters after Huang Wei and Yan Duoduo were dismissed.

• Scholar knelt and wept at the place where No. 11 died, then told Coachman that their camp’s remaining members needed to stick together against outsiders.
• Xu Qingzhao sat beside Ren Ye, accepted his fur robe, and quietly thanked him by calling him Zhu Zigui after he avoided her strike.
• Ren Ye and Liu Ji Shan spoke privately, cleared the air about their past conflict, and discovered they had both been imprisoned in Shanghai.
• The cold wave receded, and the Star Gate announced that all nine players had survived the Second Trial and would enter the next level.
• The young woman in blue told Huang Wei and Yan Duoduo they could leave, while Ren Daguo stayed behind to speak with headquarters.

Ren Ye and the others explored the fourth level of Princess Anping's Tomb, learning about Li Mu's defense of Shangyu County before finding a booklet that recorded an earlier group's similar trials. The discovery left them wondering whether ancient players had entered the tomb before them, and Ren Ye reached into his robes after realizing something.

• Ren Ye's group avoided a fight with Scholar's group and entered the fourth level together.
• The five examined murals describing how Li Mu defended Shangyu County from Zhu Xun's rebel army and helped its residents escape.
• While resting in a burial chamber, Liu Ji Shan found a booklet hidden beneath a rotting desk.
• The booklet recounted an earlier group's experiences in the tomb, including trials resembling the players' own and deaths among its members.
• Ren Ye and the others realized that a group of ancient players had entered before them, and Ren Ye reached into his robes with a sudden realization.

Ren Ye and the others entered the Prince Huai faction’s chamber for the Third Trial, where the Star Gate demanded that each faction sacrifice one living person in a blood pool. As poisonous smoke began filling the chambers, the players faced the choice of whom to kill.

• Ren Ye and Li Yan compared Mr. He’s letter with the booklet from the tomb and realized their accounts of Prince Huai’s expedition matched, though neither knew who had altered the letter.
• The Star Gate ordered each faction to enter its own door, and Xu Qingzhao went alone through the Fence-Sitter door after parting from Ren Ye.
• Li Yan revealed himself as the Court Faction’s Hidden Pawn, swore allegiance to Prince Huai, and joined Ren Ye’s group through the Prince Huai door.
• Ren Ye, Li Yan, Liu Ji Shan, and Tang Feng found three corpses and a blood pool in their sealed chamber before the Star Gate announced that one living person from each faction had to be sacrificed within fifteen minutes.
• Poisonous smoke began seeping into the chambers as Liu Ji Shan searched for another way out and Li Yan proposed a vote; in the Court chamber, Xing Tao, Guo Caier, Scholar, and Coachman also began considering whom to sacrifice.

With the sacrifice deadline closing in, the Court Faction members attacked one another while the Prince Huai Party struggled to choose who would die. Tang Feng stopped Li Yan from killing Liu Ji Shan and offered himself to the Blood Pool, leaving Ren Ye to continue.

• Xing Tao and Guo Caier found weapons, but Coachman and Scholar attacked them when Xing Tao tried to seize a blade, and Scholar struck Guo Caier with an iron rod.
• Tang Feng, Li Yan, Ren Ye, and Liu Ji Shan tested the Blood Pool and drew bone fragments to determine who would be sacrificed.
• Li Yan and Tang Feng pinned Liu Ji Shan down and tried to stab him, while Ren Ye initially remained seated.
• Tang Feng and Ren Ye grabbed the dagger's blade to stop Li Yan, and Tang Feng declared that the New Year's Watchers would protect their own kind.
• Tang Feng stepped to the Blood Pool and offered his blood and life, urging Ren Ye to keep going.

As the factions’ secret-chamber fights reached their breaking point, Xing Tao sacrificed himself to save Guo Caier, while Ren Ye chose to die in the Prince Huai Party chamber. His death permanently closed the tomb’s final level, though the remaining players could still continue the challenge for its original rewards and legacy.

• In the Court Party chamber, Xing Tao and the Coachman fought while the Scholar beat Guo Caier unconscious and dragged her toward the blood pool.
• Xing Tao revealed that Guo Caier’s Mute ability could decide the final battle, then jumped into the blood pool to spare her and was confirmed sacrificed.
• Guo Caier cried out in despair, and the Scholar stopped short of killing her.
• In the Prince Huai Party chamber, Ren Ye told the others he believed unseen forces had guided him, then plunged into the blood pool before the countdown ended.
• The Star Gate confirmed Ren Ye’s sacrifice and announced that the tomb’s final level could never be opened, while the remaining players could still pursue the original rewards and legacy.

Xu Qingzhao rejected the two choices offered to the lone Fence-Sitter and resolved to find a way through the sacrificial trial. In the Prince Huai chamber, Ren Ye’s sacrifice opened a passage, while Li Yan despaired over Prince Huai’s death; meanwhile, Yao Sen received an address connected to Ren Daguo and the New Year's Watchers Headquarters.

• Xu Qingzhao recalled the clues she had gathered and suspected the Star Gate’s rules concealed a third way forward.
• As the countdown ended, Xu Qingzhao chose to face the trial rather than leave or join the Court Faction.
• Ren Ye’s death opened a passage in the Prince Huai chamber, and Liu Ji Shan urged the others to escape the spreading poisonous gas.
• Li Yan despaired because he believed Prince Huai’s death meant they could not reach the final level, so Liu Ji Shan and Tang Feng dragged him into the passage.
• In the Capital, a young woman gave Yao Sen an address where Ren Daguo had entered a Star Gate and warned him it was the New Year's Watchers Headquarters Entrance.
• The young woman discovered that the bartender expected her to pay for Yao Sen’s drink.

Yao Sen watched Ren Daguo while planning how to use his Time Music Box, then followed him to a noodle shop to observe his New Year's Watchers. As Yao Sen's foot became trapped in a drain grate, a truck veered toward him, leaving his fate uncertain.

• Yao Sen recalled how his mistaken decision in Three Years Ago's Contest had killed his wife, brother, and five teammates, and considered the restrictions on his Time Music Box.
• Ren Daguo left the Tree-Ring Bar with six New Year's Watchers, then persuaded them to stop for noodles before returning to headquarters.
• Yao Sen left his SUV and watched Ren Daguo and the Watchers from the street as Ren ate and wrote in a dirty notebook.
• Yao Sen stepped on a rusted drain grate, broke a bar, and got his ankle trapped.
• A truck driver fumbled with his phone and swerved into the side road, where he saw Yao Sen stuck above the drain and approaching at speed.