Zhong Xueran

Biodata

Background / History

Zhong Xueran earned no Spirit Pupils in her first Multiplayer Mode game, recalling that she had been completely lost throughout it. By the events of Sick Sheep, she holds the Tenth Seat and possesses an exclusive Permanent Item, the Three Pure Ones Bell. She notes that the Ten Seats are usually assigned to Challenge Mode and generally have much better survival prospects in Multiplayer Mode than ordinary players 36 39.

She entered Xianyang Village six days before Qin Manjiang and Liu Jingqing. Posing as an out-of-town student willing to work for food and lodging, she gained access to the village and investigated its Sheep Transformation Festival. She discovered that the wealthy families controlled the Immortal Sheep through human vessels, shifting the cost of their wishes onto those victims 32.

Appearance

• Clothing: A white shirt and faded jeans during her rescue of Qin Manjiang and Liu Jingqing 31.
• Hair: Initially braided; later falls loose in waves down her back. She ties it back while preparing her escape plan 24 31 36.
• Glasses: Previously wore round glasses, which are absent when she reveals her identity 31.
• Apparent age: Liu Jingqing judges her to be no older than Qin Manjiang; her exact age is not given 24.
• Expressions: Frequently smiles, winks, and teases others, including during dangerous situations 31 32.

Personality

Zhong Xueran presents herself as cheerful, confident, and playful. She proudly demonstrates her Permanent Item and enjoys teasing Qin Manjiang about his code name, Abyss. Her friendliness also extends to practical responsibility: she rescues him and Liu Jingqing because she had sent them scouting, and later arranges medical treatment for Liu Jingqing 32 39.

Her survival instincts are pragmatic and sometimes ruthless. She rejects the idea that stealing the Village Chief’s protective brush makes her responsible for his death, pointing instead to the villagers’ murders. At the Chen family home, she cuts a woman’s neck and threatens her windpipe to obtain information. Although she accepts Qin Manjiang’s escape plan, she refuses to leave her survival entirely in someone else’s hands 32 36 37.

Her confidence is challenged when Liu Jingqing’s wish resolves a danger that her own carefully reasoned wish could not. Accustomed to treating herself as the player who should solve the game, she realizes that the other participants have their own ideas and are struggling for their lives—not merely playing supporting roles 38.

Her sunny manner does not necessarily reflect emotional well-being. When she warns Qin Manjiang against trusting ghosts, her tone becomes unusually somber. Qin later interprets her apparent lack of fear as a possible sign of self-destructive tendencies; this is his assessment, not a confirmed diagnosis 47 48.

Abilities & Skills

Three Pure Ones Bell

Her exclusive Permanent Item provides instant teleportation within a Ghost Story Game 32.

• Transports up to three people to any location within the game’s boundaries 32.
• Can activate once per game; the bell can only ring when that ability is used 36.
• Rescues Qin Manjiang and Liu Jingqing from Li Rong in the Village Chief’s courtyard 31 32.
• After activation, can briefly confuse vengeful ghosts because an exclusive Permanent Item functions almost as an extension of its owner 36.
• She throws the used bell away to divert the pursuing Black Sheep; it returns when the game ends 36.

Ghost Story Analysis

Zhong Xueran combines knowledge of game items with deductions about supernatural rules 33 36.

• Identifies the Evil Curse Pendant from He Jian’s description and explains how its possession effect entangled Green Vine with Chen Ping’s death 33.
• Deduces that Chen Ping inherited wish-granting power, while Li Rong collects the payment for wishes through death 36.
• Determines that only the Immortal Sheep’s vessel and the person it selects have a legitimate right to make wishes 36.
• Engineers her own selection by presenting the real Chen Ping with a single name slip bearing her name 37.
• Her protective wish fails to account for the possibility that the original Immortal Sheep does not belong to Xianyang Village 38.

Infiltration and Coercion

• Gains acceptance in Xianyang Village through a work-for-lodging cover story 32.
• Exploits the disrupted ritual to steal the controlling brush from the Village Chief’s house 32.
• Forces a Chen family woman to reveal the Immortal Sheep’s location through a knife threat 37.

Physical Endurance and Emergency Response

• Maintains good stamina through dedicated training; estimates she can sustain the escape pace for twenty to twenty-five minutes at her limit 34 36.
• Supports Liu Jingqing while running, slows to accommodate her, and advises her not to disrupt her breathing by talking 34.
• Uses an SUV and rescue rope to pull Yang and Chen Zhiyuan out of Guanyin Lake, then drives the group away 48.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Three Pure Ones Bell — exclusive Permanent Item used for teleportation and, after activation, as a ghost-decoy 32 36.
• Writing Brush / Immortal Sheep Seal — stolen from the Village Chief. Zhong claims it protects its holder from the Immortal Sheep’s supernatural abilities and allows control over it. She hands it to Liu Jingqing, who uses it to break the Silent Domain 32 34 36.
• Small knife — carried in her jeans pocket and used during the interrogation at the Chen family home 37.
• Name slip — prepared to secure her selection as the person entitled to make a wish 37.
• Car / SUV — provides transport for the Guanyin Lake investigation and powers the rope rescue 47 48.

Relationships

• Qin Manjiang / Abyss — fellow Sick Sheep survivor. She teases him, follows his escape arrangements while pursuing her own solution, and later connects him with players interested in meeting him. She brings him into the search for Yang after learning that a ghost is repeating his names 32 34 36 46.
• Liu Jingqing / Pond Fish — fellow survivor whom she rescues, assists during the chase, and entrusts with the writing brush. Liu’s wish saves Zhong from the transformed Chen Ping; afterward, Zhong takes her to Doctor for treatment 31 34 38 39.
• He Jian — temporary ally at the Chen family home. He agrees to guard her while she completes the selection ritual and is killed by Li Rong before she finishes her wish 37.
• Doctor — trusted acquaintance and highly skilled physician. She takes the critically injured Liu Jingqing to him rather than a hospital and reports the successful surgery to Qin Manjiang 39.
• Yang — First Seat whom she strongly defends as a good person who has helped many players. She joins the effort to find him and helps rescue him from Guanyin Lake 46 48.
• Chen Zhiyuan — Fifth Seat and partner in the Guanyin Lake investigation; she helps pull him ashore after he enters the corpse-filled water 47 48.
• Xin Danchen — civilian accompanying the investigation. Zhong moves her away from the lake during the emergency and later advises her to keep her distance from the players 48.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Sick Sheep

• Village guide and concealed player: Appears as Xiao Ran and shows Qin Manjiang and Liu Jingqing around the village, then disappears before revealing her real identity during their rescue 24 26 31.
• Investigation: Explains the festival’s sacrificial purpose and reveals that she stole the controlling brush 32.
• Silent Domain escape: Gives Liu Jingqing the brush and draws the Black Sheep away. Rather than continue running indefinitely, she uses her bell as a decoy and pursues the right to make a wish 34 35 36.
• Selection ritual: Finds the real Chen Ping at the Chen family home and ensures that he draws her name 37.
• Protective wish: Wishes that, beginning one second later, nothing in Xianyang Village can harm outsiders in any form. The pursuing ghosts withdraw, but Chen Ping transforms into a giant black sheep that still threatens her 38.
• Rescue and clearance: Liu Jingqing’s wish causes Li Rong to attack Chen Ping and Green Vine, allowing Zhong to escape. Qin Manjiang subsequently defeats the original Immortal Sheep and clears the ghost story 38.
• Aftermath: Receives two Spirit Pupils, compared with five each for Qin and Liu. She brings Liu to Doctor and explains Spirit Pupil rewards, Challenge Mode, and the notorious Ping’an Hospital to Qin 39.

Guanyin Lake

• Recruitment: Relays Yang’s messages about a ghost repeating “Abyss” and “Qin Manjiang,” prompting Qin to join the investigation 46.
• Investigation: Travels with Qin, Chen Zhiyuan, and Xin Danchen to the submerged Guanyin Village. She cautions Qin that a ghost is no longer the person it once was 47.
• Emergency rescue: When Yang emerges as Exploration Mode ends, she protects Xin Danchen and uses the SUV to haul Yang and Chen Zhiyuan ashore 48.
• Escape: Drives the group away and warns Xin Danchen that association with the players brings misfortune 48.