Chapter Summaries

Lin Yi was drawn into Painter No. 3’s Nameless Painting, where a vast, eye-like world and its whispers nearly trapped him before he escaped. After reading Painter No. 3’s warning in The Crime of Faceless, Lin Yi watched the paintings fade and glimpsed a figure resembling Liangzi in the final image.

• Lin Yi examined the Nameless Painting, heard it declare that it saw him, and was pulled into its world of mirrored whirlpools and a Black Sun.
• Lin Yi endured whispers from the Abyss that burrowed into his mind, then escaped the painting by recognizing his weightlessness as a way to wake.
• Lin Yi found Painter No. 3’s final message identifying the Nameless Painting as The Crime of Faceless and warning its reader to die of old age as a human.
• Lin Yi realized Painter No. 3 had written the warning before the collection was assembled, then reopened the volume and found most paintings had vanished.
• Lin Yi saw the last fading painting briefly form the image of a hooded, capped figure that resembled Liangzi.

Lin Yi struggled to explain why Painter No. 3’s old painting seemed to show Wei Liang, then encountered books filled with dangerous dreams and contamination in the Bookshelf Area. Jin Jiuyao later showed Lu Zhao a stack of blank books that Lin Yi had appeared to read, leaving Lu Zhao with a troubling clue.

• Lin Yi questioned whether Painter No. 3 had glimpsed the future after seeing Wei Liang’s outline in The Crime of Faceless, and considered whether the painter’s dreams had crossed time.
• Lin Yi read several uncanny books, fell through Layers after seeing a forbidden rune matrix, and recognized Night Erosion as a deliberate contamination trap.
• Lin Yi gained a new understanding of life and death as an alternating cycle at the boundary of dreams, then left the Bookshelf Area carrying several volumes of hentai manga.
• Jin Jiuyao brought Lu Zhao, Chen Bing, and Chen Xue the books Lin Yi had read, but the books appeared completely blank to them.
• Jin Jiuyao described Lin Yi’s intense expressions while reading, and Lu Zhao reacted as though he had noticed something significant.

Lu Zhao explained that the disappearing books were likely Edicts, or Yin-Yang Books, and suspected their information vanished as soon as the books were opened. As the group prepared to return to the Dormitory, Lin Yi considered using the books to learn more, but his plans were complicated by the dangerous Corridor and his remaining obligations.

• Lu Zhao and Jin Jiuyao explained how Edicts used layers to transmit information across Campus, and Lu Zhao theorized that the yin books lost their contents after being opened.
• Jin Jiuyao speculated that the books might be intended for anomalous beings such as Lin Yi, but Lu Zhao ordered him to prioritize the mission and sent Chen Xue to supervise him.
• Lin Yi brought books to Wei Liang, who discovered that their text disappeared and blamed the phenomenon for blank spots in his manga.
• Lin Yi overheard Lu Zhao's explanation of Edicts and wondered whether he could use the books to obtain information through Lu Zhao and the others.
• Lin Yi checked the time and weighed his remaining plans to speak with Head Teacher 040 and meet Wei Shan, while the rain worsened outside and the Corridor remained dangerous.

As the abnormal rain intensified, Lin Yi prepared to leave the library and noticed Jin Jiuyao was trying to approach him for a book. Lin Yi engineered a book swap that gave Jin Jiuyao two books he wanted, while Jin Jiuyao and Chen Xue later wondered why the exchange had gone so smoothly.

• Lin Yi asked Wei Liang if he would brave the abnormal rain with him, and Wei Liang promised to pray for his safety while helping him return the books.
• Jin Jiuyao followed Lin Yi to the Bookshelf Area as Chen Xue warned him not to act recklessly.
• Lin Yi chose Dream of the End and Reflection of the North Star, intending to steer Jin Jiuyao toward the potentially dangerous books.
• Jin Jiuyao approached Lin Yi and traded Confessions of a Dream Diver for Dream of the End, then accepted Reflection of the North Star when Lin Yi offered it.
• After Lin Yi left, Chen Xue questioned how Jin Jiuyao had known the book concerned dreams, and Jin Jiuyao revealed he had prepared books related to many branches of occult studies.

Chen Xue was struck by a supernatural force after opening an old book, and the group reconsidered whether Lin Yi truly existed. Lin Yi left to meet Teacher Lin, while Chen Bing stayed behind to question Wei Liang and ended up knocking him down after he mistook her for Lin Yi.

• Chen Xue opened an old book depicting a Grinning Angel, became statue-like, and could not release the stone book until Chen Bing awakened her.
• Chen Xue warned Lu Zhao not to read Dream of the End or Reflection of the North Star, and Jin Jiuyao sensed evil Supernatural Power in her hand.
• Chen Xue argued that Lin Yi existed because he knew the recent Bounty, prompting Lu Zhao and Jin Jiuyao to reconsider their assumptions.
• Lin Yi left the classroom to speak with Teacher Lin and planned to meet Wei Liang and Wei Sang afterward.
• Chen Bing sat beside Wei Liang while he read, and he mistook her for Lin Yi, groped her, and was struck with an elbow.
• Wei Liang realized Chen Bing was Lin Yi's classmate after she told him who she was.

Chen Bing returned from speaking with Wei Liang without learning anything useful, while Lu Zhao considered negotiating with the Head Teacher as the Campus’s distortions failed to reset. Lin Yi left the classroom and found himself surrounded by the Forest of the Dead’s Steles, which began chanting a corrupted version of his identity and location.

• Chen Bing explained that Wei Liang’s name was Wei Liang, that Xiao Zi was Lin Xiao Zi, and that Wei Liang had warned her nobody staying in the classroom would survive the night.
• Lu Zhao described how parts of the Campus remained distorted after Abnormal Weather and proposed discussing cooperation with the Head Teacher.
• Lin Yi checked the clock at 19:56, opened the classroom door, and stepped into the storm before the door sealed behind him.
• Lin Yi found the doorplate blank, accidentally tore off the handle, and realized he was surrounded by the Forest of the Dead’s Steles.
• The Forest of the Dead’s Steles chanted Lin Yi’s student number and falsely claimed he was on the Pebble Road to the Dormitory Building as the storm distorted their voices.

Lin Yi realized the Forest of the Dead's Steles was using a time vortex and his identity chant to anchor his location and infiltrate the classroom. He left Group B Class 2 and interrupted the Steles' chant with a different student's identity, though their attack had begun again around him.

• Lin Yi saw a version of himself carrying Wei Liang on the Pebble Road and realized their encounter connected his present to the distorted events of May 8.
• The Forest of the Dead's Steles' chanting drove Lin Yi toward madness until the Law-Crafting Master's laugh and Mystical Runes appeared alongside the Ouroboros Ring.
• Lin Yi recognized that the time vortex was a form of Time Exile and realized his watch still showed 19:56, leaving him uncertain whether the experience had been real or imagined.
• After the Fog's phantom face vanished behind the classroom door, Lin Yi deduced that the Steles used his chant to anchor his location and invade the classroom.
• Lin Yi rushed out of the Group B Class 2 classroom, confirmed its room sign, and shouted Song Rentou's identity and destination to interrupt the Steles' chant.

Lin Yi escaped the Forest of the Dead's Steles by deceiving it with Song Rentou's identity, then sought refuge in Head Teacher 040's office. As Head Teacher 040 warned him about the dangers of returning to the Dormitory and asked about the four newcomers, Lin Yi wondered whether she had anticipated a conflict.

• Lin Yi used Song Rentou's identity to confuse the Forest of the Dead's Steles, then anchored himself back to his own identity with his Student ID.
• Lin Yi reached Head Teacher 040's office as the Forest of the Dead's Steles closed in, and Head Teacher 040 pulled him inside and shut the door.
• Head Teacher 040 told Lin Yi that returning to the Dormitory in the abnormal weather carried less than a thirty percent chance of safety and warned him not to accept a Security Guard's help if he insisted on going there.
• Lin Yi refused to stay and said he still intended to return to the Dormitory that night.
• Head Teacher 040 asked Lin Yi what he thought of the four newcomers, and Lin Yi wondered whether she had foreseen that he might clash with them.

Lin Yi told Head Teacher 040 that Lu Zhao’s team was unstable because Jin Jiuyao, Chen Xue, and Chen Bing had all been contaminated, and he explained how his shadow may have brought Grinning Angels into the classroom. Head Teacher 040 considered how to give the four a chance to survive the Gray Fog Invasion, but ruled out pairing them with Lin Yi, who warned that they might die even faster with him.

• Lin Yi described Lu Zhao as the team’s commander and reported that Jin Jiuyao, Chen Xue, and Chen Bing had been contaminated, though Lu Zhao appeared unaffected.
• Lin Yi deduced that Chen Bing had been attacked by the Forest of the Dead’s Steles after leaving the classroom, and told Head Teacher 040 that Jin Jiuyao and Chen Xue may have encountered Grinning Angels brought in by his shadow.
• Head Teacher 040 concluded that Lu Zhao’s group likely came from the Realm of God and worried that the contaminated students could die whether they stayed in the classroom or went to the Dormitory, Gymnasium, or with the Security Guard.
• Head Teacher 040 explained that the seven-day limit was a cognitive safeguard against prolonged exposure to Campus, and Lin Yi confirmed that Lu Zhao’s group’s survival did not lie in the classroom.
• Head Teacher 040 considered having Lin Yi take Lu Zhao’s group to the Dormitory, but decided they were not fit to team up with him, and Lin Yi warned that they might die faster by following him.

Lin Yi left the Teaching Building with Wei Liang and Wei Shan to travel through the storm, relying on Wei Shan’s eerie umbrella and the Streetlamp Poles for safety. As they headed across the Campus, strange sounds and creatures followed them through the rain.

• Head Teacher 040 advised Lu Zhao’s group to stay near Streetlamp Poles and let Lin Yi leave after counting their meeting as his evening check-in.
• Lin Yi found Wei Liang and Wei Shan waiting in the Corridor, where the Forest of the Dead's Steles had vanished; Head Teacher 040 reacted with alarm when she noticed Wei Shan.
• Lin Yi, Wei Liang, and Wei Shan left the Teaching Building, with Wei Shan carrying an umbrella he said he had borrowed.
• The three crossed the rain-soaked Campus toward a Streetlamp Pole as Impersonator Sculptures and Night-Walking Species followed through the fog.
• Wei Liang complained that the umbrella did not cover them all and suggested they switch places with Wei Shan.

As Lin Yi, Wei Liang, and Wei Shan crossed the stormy campus, Grinning Angels began dragging Lin Yi into his shadow. Lin Yi realized their grasping arms were physical and summoned the Big Steel Saw to attack them.

• Lin Yi learned that Lu Zhao and the others had left the classroom and, according to Wei Shan, had drawn filthy things into the rain.
• Lin Yi sensed something was wrong as the storm grew quiet, and Wei Shan warned that something was emerging beneath their feet.
• Lin Yi discovered that Grinning Angels had spread through his shadow and were gripping his ankles, pulling him into it.
• Wei Liang’s questions helped Lin Yi realize that the angels gripping him were physical, so Lin Yi tried to pry their arms loose.
• The angels grabbed Lin Yi’s arm and dragged him harder into the shadow, but Wei Shan held him in place as Lin Yi summoned the Big Steel Saw and cut into an angel’s arm.

Lin Yi escaped the Grinning Angels by sawing off the arms gripping his legs, then discovered his wounds could regenerate and that his saw had absorbed some supernatural power. He and Wei Shan and Wei Liang encountered the Forest of the Dead’s Steles surrounding Lu Zhao and his companions, and Wei Shan prepared the severed Grinning Angel arms to help them.

• Lin Yi sawed through the Grinning Angels’ arms while growing increasingly frenzied, then calmed when Little Girl appeared on his shoulder and vanished.
• Wei Shan helped Lin Yi remove the severed hands, tearing away flesh; Lin Yi realized his pain was cognitive feedback and watched his legs regenerate.
• Wei Shan collected the severed arms, while Lin Yi noticed disturbing faces in Wei Shan’s umbrella before they continued onward.
• Wei Liang spotted a strange crowd of human-shaped forms ahead, and Lin Yi recognized it as the Forest of the Dead’s Steles.
• Wei Shan said the Forest of the Dead’s Steles had pursued Lu Zhao and the others, then began processing the Grinning Angel arms to use against them.

Lin Yi, Wei Shan, and Wei Liang approached the streetlamp pole surrounded by the Forest of the Dead's Steles, while Lu Zhao's group fled toward the Dormitory after a Grinning Angel targeted Chen Xue. The Steles turned toward Lin Yi's trio when Chen Xue shouted for help, leaving Lin Yi reaching for his weapons.

• Wei Shan made hooks and daggers from severed Grinning Angel arms and warned Lin Yi not to let killing turn him into slaughter.
• Lin Yi's trio approached the Teaching Building-025 streetlamp pole and spotted Lu Zhao's group trapped inside the Forest of the Dead's Steles.
• About half an hour earlier, Lu Zhao read the Dream of the End and Reflection of the North Star, suffered supernatural effects, and realized a Grinning Angel had targeted Chen Xue.
• Lu Zhao led his group into the storm, where they encountered Wei Shan and the Steles pursuing a different target, then began navigating toward the Dormitory using their map and abilities.
• Chen Xue called out for Lin Yi and Wei Liang to help, causing the Forest of the Dead's Steles to turn toward Lin Yi's trio.

Lu Zhao and the others were caught in the Forest of the Dead’s Steles as its chanting impaired their minds, while a Grinning Angel’s shadow appeared behind Lu Zhao and Chen Xue. After Lu Zhao killed an Impersonator Classmate with a mystical Fire Axe, the survivors reached a streetlamp’s light, where Jin Jiuyao began muttering an unfamiliar word as the steles closed in.

• Lu Zhao saw the Grinning Angel’s shadow behind Chen Xue, realized the call had lured him into looking back, and urged everyone toward the Dormitory.
• The chanting and fog slowed Lu Zhao, Chen Bing, and Chen Xue, while Jin Jiuyao used his identity anchor to resist the voices and noticed the Forest of the Dead’s Steles surrounding them.
• Jin Jiuyao tackled Lu Zhao to snap him out of his trance, and Lu Zhao woke, seized the Fire Axe, and attacked what he believed was the Grinning Angel.
• Lu Zhao and the others restrained Jin Jiuyao and pinned an Impersonator Classmate with the Fire Axe, whose mystical runes eroded it as the steles advanced.
• The three reached the illuminated area beneath Teaching Building-023’s streetlamp and planned to hold out until dawn, while the unconscious Jin Jiuyao convulsed and muttered “lyset.”

Lin Yi, Wei Liang, and Wei Shan escaped through the Forest of the Dead's Steles by pretending they could not see it, then reached Chen Xue and Lu Zhao's group beneath a streetlamp. Lin Yi considered letting the four follow them, and a possible solution occurred to him.

• Jin Jiuyao awakened and announced that someone was coming, and Chen Xue spotted Lin Yi and Wei Liang approaching before shouting for help.
• Wei Liang ran into the Forest of the Dead's Steles while acting as if it were an invisible wall, and Lin Yi copied him and attacked an Impersonator Classmate.
• Wei Shan stabbed and tore open the Forest of the Dead's Steles, allowing Wei Liang and Lin Yi to pass through before he forced his way out as the gap began to heal.
• Chen Xue asked Lin Yi to let her group follow, while Wei Shan warned her and Lin Yi weighed whether helping them would hinder the trio.
• Lin Yi decided he might allow the four to follow at a distance and had an idea for how to do so.

Lin Yi led Lu Zhao, Jin Jiuyao, Chen Bing, and Chen Xue away from the Streetlamp Pole at Teaching Building-023, using a mystical-rune chain to guide them through the Forest of the Dead's Steles. They reached the Streetlamp Pole at Teaching Building-001, where Lin Yi ended the escort and refused to continue with them.

• Jin Jiuyao, Lu Zhao, Chen Bing, and Chen Xue agreed to follow Lin Yi and his group, who used an iron chain made from Lin Yi's palm rune to guide them.
• As they left the Streetlamp Pole at Teaching Building-023, Lin Yi sensed that Lu Zhao was the most contaminated, while Jin Jiuyao's unusual fervor suggested Lin Yi himself might be his source of contamination.
• Lin Yi realized the Forest of the Dead's Steles was steering them toward a trap, so he redirected the group and cut through its barrier with Wei Shan's help.
• Lin Yi's group and Lu Zhao's group pushed through the storm and reached the Streetlamp Pole at Teaching Building-001; Chen Xue recognized the imposing figure she had glimpsed as resembling the Security Guard.
• Lin Yi dissolved the chain and told Lu Zhao's group that he would take them no farther, then narrowed his eyes when Lu Zhao asked why.

Lin Yi led Wei Liang and Wei Shan into the more dangerous Dormitory Building area while Chen Xue and her companions remained beneath a Streetlamp Pole, where the Grinning Angel trapped them in a deadly curse. As Lin Yi pressed on to rescue Maozi, Wei Liang began shutting down and the storm intensified, leaving their Umbrella close to failing.

• Lin Yi warned Chen Xue, Lu Zhao, and the others that following him into the Dormitory Building area was dangerous, then suggested they wait or head to the Gymnasium before leaving with Wei Liang and Wei Shan.
• The Grinning Angel appeared near the Streetlamp Pole, and Chen Xue, Lu Zhao, and Chen Bing became trapped in its influence; Lu Zhao mistook Chen Xue for the Angel and killed her with his Fire Axe.
• After dying, Chen Xue’s will became the Grinning Angel and entered a repeating curse in which she tried to warn her former self, only for Lu Zhao to kill her again; she realized Jin Jiuyao had never been there.
• Lin Yi and Wei Shan realized that the goggled Jin Jiuyao he remembered had been dead, and Wei Shan said Lu Zhao would kill the others before the Grinning Angel killed him.
• Wei Liang began losing awareness and told Lin Yi to take him to the Dormitory Building if he stopped responding; Lin Yi continued toward the Dormitory to rescue Maozi rather than turn back.
• A lightning flash revealed Grinning Angels crossing between Layers and a fleeting phantom resembling the Proto-Type Ashes Apostles, while Wei Shan warned that their Umbrella might not withstand the worsening storm.

Lin Yi and Wei Shan struggled through the storm toward the Dormitory Building, where Wei Shan discovered that the road had been stretched and Grinning Angels were emerging from Lin Yi’s shadow. Lin Yi realized Wei Liang’s unconscious state had removed a suppression on the Angels, and he fled with Wei Liang on his back as the danger closed in.

• Lin Yi and Wei Shan’s umbrella shattered, and the Forest of the Dead's Steles transformed it into Impersonator Classmates while arguing over the identity of the person it wanted to devour.
• Lin Yi and Wei Shan continued toward a Streetlamp Pole but realized they had walked for a minute without getting closer.
• Wei Shan sensed the ground and discovered that the road’s distance had been stretched, while Grinning Angels appeared in Lin Yi’s shadow and beside him.
• Wei Shan tried to anchor the ground with Grappling Hooks, but they failed to pierce it, so he ordered Lin Yi to run with Wei Liang.
• Lin Yi carried Wei Liang and inferred that Wei Liang’s unconsciousness had let the Grinning Angels emerge freely, then sprinted ahead with him.

Lin Yi and Wei Shan raced toward the Dormitory Building while Grinning Angels and the Forest of the Dead's Steles closed in, only to find the supposed building was actually the enormous Forest of the Dead's Steles. As Lin Yi fought to cut through it, he recognized a connection between the Alien Angels, their physical sizes, and the Snake Nest.

• Lin Yi carried Wei Liang through the rain as Grinning Angels and the Forest of the Dead's Steles pursued him.
• Lin Yi mistook the Forest of the Dead's Steles' glowing eyes for the Dormitory Building's lights, then discovered it stood in his way.
• Wei Shan caught up with Lin Yi, took the Mystical Runes, and formed a Baseball Bat before they charged toward the Forest of the Dead's Steles.
• The Forest of the Dead's Steles intercepted Lin Yi's dagger and twisted into a vast, writhing mass as its chanting disrupted his Cognition.
• Lin Yi used the Mystical Rune Big Steel Saw to cut a humanoid gravestone, then recognized a connection between the Forest of the Dead's Steles, Alien Angels, physical size, and the Snake Nest.

Lin Yi escaped the Forest of the Dead's Steles with Wei Liang while Wei Shan stayed behind to hold off the creatures pursuing them. On the way to the Dormitory Building, a Proto-Type Ashes Apostle trapped Lin Yi and forced him to gouge out his eyes, after which he began to understand its fragmented words.

• Lin Yi realized that the Forest of the Dead's Steles might be a fragment of a larger, unique life form, then cut an opening through it with the Mystical Rune Big Steel Saw.
• Wei Shan stayed behind to draw the Forest of the Dead's Steles and the Grinning Angels away while Lin Yi carried Wei Liang toward the Dormitory Building.
• The Grinning Angels fed on Wei Shan's Supernatural Power, but he seized one and attacked it, declaring, "Hey... I... saw... you!!"
• Lin Yi hurried toward the Dormitory Building, but the Proto-Type Ashes Apostle appeared in the sky and pinned him in distorted ground beneath its crushing pressure.
• As the Proto-Type Ashes Apostle compelled Lin Yi to turn his head toward it, he gouged out his eyes to avoid looking at it or closing them.
• Lin Yi heard understandable fragments in the Apostle's voice, including words about notes, a key, a compass, being lost, finding something, and light.