Recaps

Qin Manjiang discovered that his memento appeared as a locked Permanent Item, then joined the Ten Seats at Catface Café to discuss the sudden Ultimate Game. As the group questioned his connection to the absent Evening Primrose, Mei Sijun revealed that he had dreamed about the Southern Branch Troupe.

• Qin Manjiang checked his game interface, found Pupil Realm (Fucheng) listed as a locked Permanent Item, and received Yang's call inviting him to a meeting.
• Yang learned that Nie Yunzhen was with Qin Manjiang, and the Ten Seats gathered at Catface Café to discuss the Ultimate Game.
• Qin Manjiang and Nie Yunzhen arrived, and Shen Hai introduced himself to Nie Yunzhen, who ignored his offered handshake.
• Chen Zhiyuan and Dense Forest questioned Qin Manjiang about his possible connection to Evening Primrose, but Qin Manjiang denied knowing anything.
• Yang redirected the group to the coming Ultimate Game, and Mei Sijun said he had dreamed about the Southern Branch Troupe.

Mei Sijun told the group about his dream of the Southern Branch Troupe and explained the dangerous customs of yin opera. He revealed that his family owned the troupe’s former opera house, where the group was due to go in three days, and Yang ended by pointing out an unusual omission in the game’s instructions.

• Mei Sijun recounted his dream of the Southern Branch Troupe a hundred years earlier, ending as its leader Zhao Qigong prepared to choose one of six newcomers for a merchant.
• Mei Sijun explained that the troupe was taboo because it accepted yin opera engagements and did not worship protective gods, then described the performance’s strict rituals and rules.
• Mei Sijun said that the troupe’s specialty, Farewell My Concubine, could still be heard at midnight in old Fu City opera houses, according to stories from his elders.
• Mei Sijun revealed that his family owned the Southern Branch Troupe’s old opera house at its western outskirts residence, which his family kept empty apart from monthly cleanings.
• Yang asked why neither the Opening Lines nor the game requirements had mentioned the word “game.”

After the players gathered to discuss the Ghost Story, Qin Manjiang confronted Nie Yunzhen about her mysterious origins and decided to keep his distance. He reconsidered after realizing she had no memories or familiarity with the world and brought her home.

• The players agreed to explore separately while staying in contact, and Dense Forest offered his Permanent Item for communication.
• Qin Manjiang asked Nie Yunzhen who she was and reflected on her connection to [Eye Realm] and his own unusual behavior around her.
• Qin Manjiang told Nie Yunzhen to contact him in three days and walked away, warning her not to follow him.
• Qin Manjiang reconsidered after seeing Nie Yunzhen remain alone in the mist, realizing he might be the only familiar person in her world.
• Qin Manjiang returned to Nie Yunzhen and told her to come home with him until she regained her memory.

Qin Manjiang and Nie Yunzhen reached the river near the Southern Branch Troupe, where they and Mei Sijun and Yang witnessed a ghost opera performed by ghosts. When the singing stopped, rotting corpses began climbing out of the river.

• Qin Manjiang and Nie Yunzhen followed Mei Sijun's directions through the mist to a river marked by footprints.
• Qin Manjiang and Nie Yunzhen spotted lantern-lit boats carrying paper effigies and masked boatmen on the river.
• Nie Yunzhen caught Yang as he approached, and Yang warned Qin Manjiang and Nie Yunzhen that the figures aboard the boats did not look human.
• Mei Sijun identified the scene as a ghost opera and explained that the ghosts were singing The Unicorn-Pouch.
• When the singing stopped, Yang dragged Mei Sijun toward higher ground as Qin Manjiang and Nie Yunzhen fled from corpses emerging from the river.

Mei Sijun recognized the ghosts’ opera as a contest between rival stages, but a third ghostly performance trapped him, Yang, Qin Manjiang, and Nie Yunzhen between merging rivers. Qin Manjiang drowned, and his corpse surfaced as the others watched from the water.

• Mei Sijun tried to approach the river to study the Southern Branch Troupe’s Dead-Person Opera, but Yang restrained him.
• The corpses on the bank sang The Unicorn-Pouch in opposition to the paper figures on the boats, and Mei Sijun identified their performance as a contest between rival stages.
• A female ghost began singing Searching Mount Yin, and Mei Sijun warned that she would drag them to the underworld.
• Two identical rivers appeared around the group and merged, pulling all four into the water as the boats and masked rowers surrounded them.
• Mei Sijun warned everyone not to look at the rowers’ faces, while Yang pulled him and Nie Yunzhen close but could not reach Qin Manjiang.
• Qin Manjiang sank beneath the water, and his corpse later floated to the surface before Yang, Mei Sijun, and Nie Yunzhen.

Qin Manjiang awakened in the body of a frail troupe member called Xiao Qi aboard the Southern Branch Troupe’s boat, where the crew fought off water ghosts with music and opera. After the danger passed, he realized Xiao Qi might be one of the six new talents from Mei Sijun’s dream, and learned the troupe was traveling to perform Yellow Springs Opera.

• Qin Manjiang woke after drowning in an unfamiliar body aboard a Southern Branch Troupe boat and kept quiet to avoid revealing himself.
• The Old Drummer warned him not to speak during the midnight hour, as ghosts had emerged around the boat.
• Water ghosts climbed the boat’s sides, so the troupe played instruments and a woman sang “Searching Mount Yin” to keep them from boarding.
• The boatman announced that they had nearly escaped the haunted waters, and the Old Drummer told Qin Manjiang to learn Yin Opera from his sworn sister.
• Qin Manjiang connected Xiao Qi to the six new talents in Mei Sijun’s dream, and the Old Drummer revealed they were going to perform Yellow Springs Opera.

Qin Manjiang learned that the Southern Branch Troupe had to perform a Yellow Springs Opera in a Vengeful Ghost’s territory, while Mei Sijun discovered he had possessed Lin Yanqing and was expected to sing for the ghost. The troupe found its curtain attendant Old Liu dead aboard the boat as it continued toward its destination.

• The Old Drummer explained to Qin Manjiang that Yellow Springs Opera meant performing in the ghosts’ territory, and warned that refusing the invitation would bring something worse than the water ghosts.
• Qin Manjiang realized the troupe had angered a Vengeful Ghost and rested as the fleet continued down the river.
• Mei Sijun, inhabiting Lin Yanqing’s body, recognized that he would have to perform the Yellow Springs Opera because he was the troupe’s strongest singer.
• Mei Sijun smelled a corpse and called for help, prompting Zhao Qigong and the troupe members to search Lin Yanqing’s room.
• Zhao Qigong’s people found Old Liu’s corpse, and Chen Xiangkui questioned whether the troupe should continue toward the ghost’s territory.

Mei Sijun pondered whether his group had traveled back a hundred years or entered a ghostly dream as the Southern Branch Troupe journeyed through the Reed Marsh. The troupe encountered a towering paper ship bearing its own name, and the Ten Seats realized the ghost behind their ordeal seemed capable of thought.

• Mei Sijun considered how to identify himself to the others and reflected on the lost traditions of Yin Opera, Ghost Opera, and Yellow Springs Opera.
• Mei Sijun surveyed the troupe’s boats and duties, estimating that his group of eleven could make up a substantial part of the troupe.
• A shout of “A Ghost Ship is coming!” woke Qin Manjiang and alarmed the musicians aboard his boat.
• Zhao Qigong recognized the silent, towering white vessel as a Paper Boat, while Chen Xiangkui said the haunting woman was forcing them to perform Yellow Springs Opera.
• Paper Boys and Girls lining the Paper Boat welcomed the troupe in unison, and Qin Manjiang and the hidden Ten Seats sensed that the ghost had thoughts.

The Southern Branch Troupe reached a corridor of paper figures that forced them toward a mysterious well, while Qin Manjiang escaped the Old Drummer’s control and reunited with Mei Sijun. The troupe stopped at the well, unsure whether the ghost expected them to jump in and perform.

• Zhao Qigong ordered the troupe to dock and prepare to perform for the ghost, while the Old Drummer subdued Qin Manjiang and had him tied up.
• The troupe landed and found two rows of paper figures that shouted for them to perform as they marched onward.
• Qin Manjiang recognized Mei Sijun as his sworn older sister, and Mei Sijun intervened to stop the Old Drummer from taking him back.
• Qin Manjiang introduced himself to Mei Sijun as Abyss, and the two quietly confirmed they were from the Modern Era.
• The paper figures led the Southern Branch Troupe to a deep well and ordered them to go inside.

The troupe prepared to perform for the female ghost after she killed He Zhongping for trying to flee. As Qin Manjiang and the others investigated the troupe, the original Lin Yanqing appeared to surface through Mei Sijun’s body.

• The Paper Boy and Girl killed He Zhongping when he tried to escape, and Zhao Qigong ordered the troupe to change costumes, apply makeup, and perform for the ghost.
• Qin Manjiang reunited with Yang and Nie Yunzhen, and they realized only the four people who fell into the water had appeared in this place.
• The three agreed to investigate the female ghost’s life and meet again after learning more, while Qin Manjiang stayed near Mei Sijun.
• Mei Sijun, dressed as Miss Lin, sang from “The Unicorn-Pouch” while arranging her hair, and Qin Manjiang recognized the opera.
• Miss Lin’s resentful presence emerged through Mei Sijun’s body and asked Qin Manjiang whether he agreed that she could not remain unmoved by her older sister’s death.

Qin Manjiang and the troupe descended into a well, where a ghost clung to his back and repeatedly said it was thirsty. He answered as if it were an ordinary person, but the ghost then said it was hungry.

• Zhao Qigong warned the costumed troupe members that they were no longer themselves once they looked the part, then led them into the well.
• Qin Manjiang warned Yang and Nie Yunzhen that Mei Sijun’s original consciousness was unstable and told them not to speak to him on their own.
• Lin Yanqing called Qin Manjiang to descend with her, and the troupe lowered them into the well on ropes.
• An icy ghost appeared on Qin Manjiang’s back and said it was thirsty, causing his mouth and lips to dry out with each repetition.
• Qin Manjiang promised to find the ghost water at the bottom of the well, and the ghost stopped saying it was thirsty and said it was hungry instead.

Qin Manjiang reached the bottom of the well with the Vengeful Ghost on his back, then followed Lin Yanqing into the underground passage after the ghost vanished. Yang descended last, suspecting the troupe’s conformity was tied to the killings and worrying that the other players might belong to the ghost’s faction.

• Qin Manjiang reached the well’s bottom, where two paper greeters appeared and invited him along a path through the darkness.
• Qin Manjiang asked the paper figures for food or drink, and the Vengeful Ghost left his back as Lin Yanqing suddenly appeared beside him.
• Lin Yanqing led Qin Manjiang through the underground passage and asked whether he understood opera, pointing out that he was playing Xiao Qi.
• Yang stayed behind as the troupe members hurried into the well, then reasoned that collective conformity might explain the actor’s revenge.
• Yang descended into the well and considered whether the other players belonged to the Well-Jumping Actor faction and what the Southern Branch Troupe’s clearance conditions might be.

Lin Yanqing exposed Qin Manjiang’s poor imitation of Xiao Qi and pressed him to explain who he was and who occupied her body. Qin Manjiang claimed they were Taoists borrowing bodies to resolve the haunting, and Lin Yanqing asked him to help fulfill the Vengeful Ghost’s wish and free her soul.

• Lin Yanqing identified Qin Manjiang’s flaws as an imitation of Xiao Qi and asked who he was and who was inside her body.
• Qin Manjiang wondered whether the ghost story was a dream and considered whether Lin Yanqing might be connected to the Vengeful Ghost.
• Qin Manjiang told Lin Yanqing that his senior brother was inside her and claimed they had borrowed the troupe members’ bodies to make unnatural things disappear.
• Lin Yanqing rejected the idea that Heaven followed the Tao, arguing that the Vengeful Ghost’s suffering and its perpetrators’ survival were unjust.
• Lin Yanqing asked Qin Manjiang to help the Vengeful Ghost get her wish and free her soul.

At the bottom of the well, Lin Yanqing told Qin Manjiang the tragic story of Li Yunxiu, a yin-yang person who joined the Southern Branch Troupe to pay for his adoptive monk’s treatment. Mei Sijun returned to consciousness and recognized the well’s surroundings as a replica of the Opera House, while Qin Manjiang learned that male dan performers could lose themselves in their roles.

• Lin Yanqing led Qin Manjiang to a pavilion at the bottom of the well and explained that Li Yunxiu had been abandoned at birth because he was a yin-yang person.
• Lin Yanqing said a monk raised Li Yunxiu, who later joined the Southern Branch Troupe after Troupe Leader Zhao Qigong offered money to buy him.
• Lin Yanqing challenged Qin Manjiang to free someone from suffering, then froze as Mei Sijun returned to consciousness in her body.
• Qin Manjiang told Mei Sijun that the other troupe members were missing, and Mei Sijun recognized the well’s space as a copy of the Opera House at the Mei Family Old Residence.
• Mei Sijun explained that male dan performers could lose track of whether they were acting or living as women.

Chen Zhiyuan and the others arrived at the Mei family’s Southern Branch Troupe and heard eerie singing that seemed to connect the present to the past. Meanwhile, Qin Manjiang and Mei Sijun encountered a bleeding opera performer singing “Searching Mount Yin” on the path below the well.

• The old woman at the residence confirmed that the Mei family had arranged for Chen Zhiyuan and the others to stay, while Xu Yi said he had seen four people floating high on the river and guessed they might be in another timeline.
• Shen Hai and Dense Forest proposed that the group had been divided between the present and a hundred years in the past, and that they needed to establish contact with the other side.
• Yan Xiao heard strange singing from the opera house, and the group recognized it as “Searching Mount Yin” before fresh drops of blood appeared along the gravel path.
• Qin Manjiang and Mei Sijun stepped onto a gravel path below the well, where a bleeding young opera performer appeared and involuntarily sang “Searching Mount Yin.”

Mei Sijun and Qin Manjiang discovered that the gravel path concealed performers through a theatrical illusion, while the other players searched for a way through it. Shen Hai, Xu Yi, and Yan Xiao each entered by different routes, and Dense Forest proposed that taking on a role might reveal how to proceed.

• Mei Sijun explained that the hidden performers and changing scenery came from the theatrical technique Changing Scenery with Each Step, and he and Qin Manjiang realized the missing troupe members were concealed along the path.
• Qin Manjiang felt an unseen presence tap his arm, while Xu Yi and Zhong Xueran discussed the strange effect and the players noticed bloodstains covering the gravel path.
• Shen Hai entered the path, disappeared, and warned the others that they should stay silent because sound could draw the ghost's attention.
• Xu Yi stepped onto a different route and vanished immediately, then Yan Xiao entered the path and disappeared after two steps.
• Dense Forest suggested that the players should take on roles to enter the troupe's opera house and asked the remaining players to examine the bloodstains.

Qin Manjiang, Mei Sijun, and the others identified opera-role markings on the stones and chose roles suited to their personalities to enter the Opera House. With all eleven roles apparently assigned across the two groups, Dense Forest realized the real performance was about to begin.

• Mei Sijun explained that the marked stones represented opera roles, and Qin Manjiang chose chou while Mei chose sheng.
• Zhong Xueran and her companions found seven stones marked for dan roles, and Dense Forest identified the ghost as a qingyi.
• Dense Forest matched roles to the group, including qingyi for Chen Zhiyuan, huadan for Xinxin, and laodan for himself.
• Dense Forest reasoned that the two groups’ roles complemented each other and that the ghost story had assigned them according to their temperaments.
• After the others entered the stone path, Dense Forest stepped onto the laodan stone and concluded that the real show was about to begin.

Qin Manjiang explored the well-bottom Opera House and encountered Zhao Qigong, who asked him to help find a Jade Cicada belonging to the dead person who had jumped into the well. The chapter left Qin Manjiang suspecting Zhao Qigong knew far more about the ghost story than he should.

• Qin Manjiang and Mei Sijun discovered that they occupied separate spaces but could hear one another, and they agreed to stay cautious about voices in the darkness.
• Qin Manjiang followed the gravel path to the Opera House and hid when he heard someone approaching.
• Zhao Qigong appeared in Qin Manjiang’s space and mistook him for Xiao Qi before questioning his identity.
• Qin Manjiang pretended to be frightened, convincing Zhao Qigong to pull him up and tell him to follow instructions.
• Zhao Qigong said he wanted Qin Manjiang to help find his Jade Cicada, which the person who jumped into the well had held in their mouth.

Separated across different roles and time periods in the Southern Branch Troupe Opera House, Yang and Zhong Xueran discovered they could hear each other and interact with objects in different ways. As they tried to understand the connection, a featureless ghost in red opera robes appeared onstage and came down toward Yang.

• Zhong Xueran entered the Opera House in the modern era and heard a chair creak in an apparently empty space.
• Yang found Mei Sijun’s stone marker, followed the gravel path in the painted-face role, and heard a chair creak inside the Opera House.
• Qin Manjiang, Xinxin, and Chen Zhiyuan also heard the sound in their separate spaces, and Qin Manjiang suspected that the spaces were connected.
• Zhong Xueran touched a chair that Yang could see but could not touch, and she and Yang realized they could hear each other across different times and spaces.
• Yang sensed danger and prepared to leave, but a featureless Vengeful Ghost in red opera robes appeared on the stage and came down toward him.

Yang survived the Red-Robed Vengeful Ghost by realizing it could not touch him, while Zhong Xueran escaped its attack with the Three Pure Ones Bell. After speaking with Nie Yunzhen, Yang questioned whether the players had truly traveled through time and possessed other bodies.

• Yang deduced that the Red-Robed Vengeful Ghost could not harm him but could attack Zhong Xueran in the modern era, and he warned her to use the Three Pure Ones Bell.
• Zhong Xueran rang the bell and vanished just before the ghost snapped at her, while the ghost's claws passed through Yang before it dissolved into blood and disappeared.
• Yang concluded that players in the past and present had to cooperate because they could see and touch different things across the overlapping spaces.
• Yang spoke with Nie Yunzhen and realized Zhong Xueran had heard his original voice, despite his current body having a different voice.
• Yang began to suspect that the players had not actually traveled through time and entered other people's bodies.

After using the Three Pure Ones Bell, Zhong Xueran teleported to the Back Courtyard and met Xu Yi, who explained that the bell revealed a map of the ghost story. They discussed the past and the well before Xu Yi showed her an upright coffin and asked whose it was.

• Zhong Xueran used the Three Pure Ones Bell, glimpsed a map of [Yellow Springs Opera], and teleported to the Back Courtyard.
• Zhong Xueran found Xu Yi rummaging through a room and told him she had been chased by a ghost into a time a hundred years in the past.
• Xu Yi said the well was still at [Southern Branch Troupe] and suspected Doctor and Player might have gone down it.
• Xu Yi said they needed to learn how the ghost killed and why it had become a ghost.
• Xu Yi revealed that the object in the corner was an upright coffin and asked Zhong Xueran whose it was.

Zhong Xueran and Xu Yi investigated the coffin linked to Zhao Qigong and realized the troupe leader might not be an ordinary living person. Meanwhile, Qin Manjiang was taken backstage by Zhao Qigong and asked to retrieve a Jade Cicada guarded by the Vengeful Ghost.

• Zhong Xueran told Xu Yi she recognized Yang by his voice, and Xu Yi questioned how Yang's soul could have reached the past while keeping his original voice.
• Xu Yi showed Zhong Xueran an elegy inside a coffin addressed to Brother Qigong, and she recognized its handwriting from the Southern Branch Troupe's plaque.
• Xu Yi suggested Zhao Qigong may have faked his death or may never have been a normal living person, and Zhong Xueran decided to warn Yang and the others.
• Zhao Qigong led Qin Manjiang backstage after the Vengeful Ghost shrieked, then explained that a Jade Cicada was hidden there while the ghost was away.
• Qin Manjiang spotted the faintly glowing Jade Cicada but feigned fear and asked Zhao Qigong why he would not retrieve it himself.

Qin Manjiang escaped Zhao Qigong and discovered that the five Jade Cicadas might be sealing a soul. When he and Xu Yi touched one through their linked space-times, they realized they could cooperate to collect all five.

• Qin Manjiang punched Zhao Qigong and fled to the Back Courtyard rather than retrieve the Jade Cicada for him.
• Qin Manjiang reasoned that the Jade Cicadas might be suppressing a soul and questioned whether the underground Southern Branch Troupe was an illusion.
• Qin Manjiang found an upright coffin and saw a red-glowing Jade Cicada inside as Xu Yi searched the corresponding coffin in the modern-day Southern Branch Troupe.
• Qin Manjiang and Xu Yi touched the Jade Cicada at the same time and heard each other across the two space-times.
• Qin Manjiang told Xu Yi about the five Jade Cicadas, and the two agreed to try to collect them all.

Xu Yi and Qin Manjiang discovered that holding the Jade Cicada together let them interact across time, then fled when a Red-Robed Vengeful Ghost appeared in Qin Manjiang’s era. Qin Manjiang devised a plan based on the Jade Cicada’s shifting visibility and tangibility, and they prepared to try it.

• Xu Yi and Qin Manjiang tested the Jade Cicada and found that touching it switched whether it was visible or tangible in each era.
• Xu Yi and Qin Manjiang held the Jade Cicada together, allowing them to carry it and feel each other’s movements across time.
• Xu Yi and Qin Manjiang headed toward the west wing to search for another Jade Cicada.
• A Red-Robed Vengeful Ghost emerged from the floor in Qin Manjiang’s era, and he pulled Xu Yi into a run.
• Xu Yi told Qin Manjiang how Zhong Xueran had escaped a ghost using Instant Teleportation, and Qin Manjiang proposed using the Jade Cicada’s shifting properties to evade the ghost.

Qin Manjiang and Xu Yi used the Jade Cicada to evade a Vengeful Ghost as they ran toward the west wing, while Mei Sijun encountered ghosts in the east wing and was chased by one wearing Lin Yanqing’s appearance. The chapter left Mei Sijun stunned to find he could see both Qin Manjiang and Xu Yi at once.

• Qin Manjiang and Xu Yi repeatedly let go of and caught the Jade Cicada to switch its state and avoid the Vengeful Ghost while heading toward the west wing.
• Mei Sijun entered the [Southern Branch Troupe] and saw a woman who called him Xiaoqing before disappearing beside a glowing Jade Cicada.
• Mei Sijun failed to touch the Jade Cicada, then encountered a faceless Vengeful Ghost that transformed into Lin Yanqing.
• Mei Sijun fled through a window, but the Vengeful Ghost pursued him until the soft ground made him fall.
• Qin Manjiang and Xu Yi arrived while tossing and catching the Jade Cicada, realized they were in the east wing, and spotted Mei Sijun as Lin Yanqing.
• Mei Sijun saw Qin Manjiang and Xu Yi and wondered why he could see them both.