Recaps

Xu Yi discovered that the woman he thought was Zhong Xueran had become a terrifying ghost, while his own legs withered and two apparitions trapped him in the dark. Elsewhere, Bai Hongdan revealed to Qin Manjiang that she knew about the Eye Realm, and Yu Qinghuan began trembling in the car.

• Xu Yi found Zhong Xueran missing and used his surveillance footage to see her walk toward the refrigerator.
• Xu Yi found a cold, unrecognizable woman curled inside the refrigerator; when she grabbed his arm, he tried to flee.
• Xu Yi's legs withered, leaving him unable to stand, as the woman crawled from the refrigerator and an inhuman shadow appeared beside her.
• Bai Hongdan told Qin Manjiang that she had discovered the Eye Realm and believed it had entered a final settlement phase.
• Qin Manjiang suspected Bai Hongdan had learned the truth from a former player and questioned Nie Yunzhen about her connection to that source.
• Yu Qinghuan suddenly drew up her legs and began trembling in the car.

Qin Manjiang realized that the ghost was carrying out a resurrection ritual using female players as vessels and male players as sacrifices, while his body continued to wither. As a shadow dragged Xu Yi away, Zhong Xueran woke and used a bell to make them both vanish.

• Qin Manjiang saw Shen Hong’s face and heard her plead not to die as his body shriveled.
• Qin Manjiang told Bai Hongdan that the players were caught in a resurrection ritual and urged her to leave after dropping them off in Wenshui District.
• Qin Manjiang suggested Bai Hongdan visit Qiao Family Village and asked her to do him a favor there.
• A twisted shadow dragged Xu Yi through the corridor while Zhong Xueran followed in an altered state.
• Zhong Xueran winked at Xu Yi, grabbed him, and rang a bell that made them both disappear.

Fan Cheng's [delusion doppelganger] explored Wenshui District and discovered that the bride's ghost seemed to be standing directly behind him, invisible except for her shadow. Qin Manjiang, Nie Yunzhen, and Yu Qinghuan arrived as Fan Cheng began to fear the ghost might also be following his real body.

• Fan Cheng reached Wenshui District ahead of Qin Manjiang and sensed a powerful sinister presence as he walked its deserted avenue.
• A lock of hair touched Fan Cheng's finger, and he saw flashes of a red figure whenever he tried to turn around.
• Fan Cheng noticed the bride's shadow pressed against his own and realized the ghost might have been beside the players all along.
• Fan Cheng wondered whether the ghost was also following his real body, and fear replaced his confidence.
• Qin Manjiang, Nie Yunzhen, and Yu Qinghuan arrived in Wenshui District, where Fan Cheng connected the area to Shen Hong, Liu Junyan, and the Old Locust Tree.

Zhong Xueran told Xu Yi the Red Wedding Sedan’s curse originated with Shen Hong, whose father and husband became obsessed with making wedding dresses and eventually flayed her alive for material. She revealed that Shen Hong’s corpse was buried beneath the Old Locust Tree at Huai'an Residential Complex.

• Zhong Xueran explained that she had seen the vengeful ghost’s memories after becoming her and brought Xu Yi to Huai'an Residential Complex.
• She recounted how Shen Yi taught his wedding-dress craft to his apprentice Liu Junyan, who was set to marry Shen Hong.
• As the wedding approached, Shen Yi and Liu Junyan grew increasingly unstable while obsessively making separate wedding dresses for Shen Hong.
• Shen Hong burned their unfinished dresses, but both men continued behaving strangely and later refused to take her to a hospital when she fell ill.
• Shen Yi and Liu Junyan repeatedly removed Shen Hong’s skin and used it to make a wedding dress, until she died.
• Zhong Xueran said Shen Hong’s flayed corpse had been buried beneath the Old Locust Tree.

Yu Qinghuan's visions revealed that the ominous fabric used for Shen Hong's wedding dress had driven Shen Yi and Liu Junyan mad. Shen Hong died trying to escape and return the fabric to Wenshui District, and the two men came to their senses too late.

• Fan Cheng saw a woman in red behind Nie Yunzhen, while Nie Yunzhen saw a ghost behind Fan Cheng; Qin Manjiang realized the players were experiencing different haunting effects.
• Yu Qinghuan clutched her head and said she was seeing images of Shen Hong, Shen Yi, and Liu Junyan.
• Shen Hong remembered that her father and husband had changed after working with fabric for her wedding dress, which had come from Wenshui District.
• Shen Hong crawled toward the courtyard to seek help, but Liu Junyan dragged her back and Shen Yi cut away more of her skin.
• Shen Hong died after murmuring “Wenshui District,” and Shen Yi and Liu Junyan regained their senses and cried out that they could still put the wedding dress on her.

Fan Cheng decided to investigate the places linked to Shen Hong and Liu Junyan in search of the wedding dress that might be the source of the ghost story. He left for their last residence carrying Qin Manjiang’s permanent doll, while Qin Manjiang stayed behind with the unconscious Yu Qinghuan.

• Yu Qinghuan fainted after describing visions in which Shen Hong died at Huai'an Residential Complex, leaving Qin Manjiang and Fan Cheng with conflicting details about the couple’s history in Wenshui District.
• Fan Cheng reasoned that Liu Junyan may have prolonged Shen Hong’s life by putting her in the wedding dress made from eerie fabric, and that the dress could be at their last residence or her burial site.
• Fan Cheng chose to investigate alone that night, believing he needed to change the course that had led the previous round’s players to die shortly after the game began.
• Qin Manjiang received Xu Yi’s message confirming that No. 39, Wenshui District, was Shen Hong and Liu Junyan’s last residence, while Zhong Xueran’s visions had led to Shen Hong’s burial place.
• Qin Manjiang gave Fan Cheng his permanent doll, which could warn him and interfere with a vengeful ghost’s abilities, and Fan Cheng set out for No. 39.

Fan Cheng entered Shen Hong and Liu Junyan's home to search for the troublesome [Wedding Dress], but discovered a desiccated corpse and was attacked by it. The corpse crushed his wrist, and Fan Cheng saw something horrifying in the full-length mirror.

• Fan Cheng broke into Shen Hong and Liu Junyan's house using his [Delusion Doppelganger] and found rows of red wedding dresses.
• Fan Cheng noticed a deathly pale face near the stairs and discovered it belonged to a shriveled corpse.
• The corpse grabbed Fan Cheng's wrist, and he snapped its arm before trying to flee.
• A disembodied hand kept gripping Fan Cheng and crushed his wrist, leaving him in intense pain.
• Fan Cheng looked into the full-length mirror and turned deathly pale at what he saw.

Qin Manjiang discussed the Ghost Story Game and his connection to Jiang Du, who revealed that Qin Manjiang was his Permanent Item. Jiang Du explained how his original Permanent Item, a doll called [I], became a living child who later entered another city’s Ghost Story Game and awakened the same item.

• Qin Manjiang realized that his and Yu Qinghuan’s transformations were linked and might reveal the game’s hidden rule.
• Qin Manjiang asked Jiang Du about ghost stories, and Jiang Du described them as a game controlled by higher beings.
• Jiang Du warned Qin Manjiang to follow the original logic of [Wedding Dress] and avoid damaging his body.
• Jiang Du explained that his Permanent Item, the doll called [I], absorbed his emotions and became a living baby.
• Jiang Du said he sent the child away, and that after growing up and joining a Ghost Story Game, the young man awakened another doll called [I].

Jiang Du revealed his fears about the doll [I] and urged Qin Manjiang to look for the force that kept the ghost from killing players outright. Qin Manjiang realized the wasting curse was meant to transform the female players into the Bride, and that the ghost might have to lift it for them to survive.

• Jiang Du told Qin Manjiang that he had also been adopted and had received the doll [I] as a Permanent Item, leaving him unsure whether he was a continuation of its previous holder or the doll itself.
• Jiang Du warned Qin Manjiang to focus on the immediate threat and find what limited the ghost’s power, then vanished after telling him not to let the body become unusable.
• Qin Manjiang reconsidered the players’ predicament and reasoned that Fan Cheng and Nie Yunzhen might need to act on each other’s Vengeful Ghosts.
• Qin Manjiang concluded that the curse affecting him, Yu Qinghuan, Xu Yi, and Zhong Xueran could only be dispelled by the ghost that cast it.
• Qin Manjiang realized the curse was not meant to kill the players but to sacrifice the male players’ life force to transform the female players into the Bride.

Xu Yi and Zhong Xueran were surrounded by mysterious figures at the Old Locust Tree, while Fan Cheng realized a Vengeful Ghost could kill through clothes and fled the Apartment in his underwear. The chapter left Xu Yi urging Zhong Xueran to climb the tree and Fan Cheng searching for somewhere without fabric to hide.

• Xu Yi told Zhong Xueran to leave him because his bad luck might endanger her, but she refused to go until she learned why she was becoming like the Female Ghost.
• Rain began falling heavily at the Old Locust Tree, and lightning revealed silent figures surrounding Xu Yi and Zhong Xueran.
• Xu Yi shoved Zhong Xueran and shouted for her to climb the tree.
• Fan Cheng woke after his [Delusion Doppelganger] died when its clothes tightened around it and crushed it.
• Fan Cheng concluded that clothes and quilts could serve as mediums for the Vengeful Ghost, stripped down to his underwear, and ran from the Apartment to find somewhere without clothes.

Fan Cheng realized the Vengeful Ghost used clothing to track and attack its victims, then stripped naked to evade it. After the ghost vanished into its red down jacket, unseen hands seized his neck.

• Fan Cheng saw a red down jacket drift toward his hiding place and concluded the Vengeful Ghost had found him.
• Fan Cheng hid in a concrete pipe as rain began, then tried to warn the others that clothing could serve as the ghost's medium.
• Fan Cheng spotted the ghost's pale legs at the pipe's entrance and fled into the rain.
• Fan Cheng removed his underwear and watched the ghost lose track of him, then saw it disappear into the red down jacket.
• Fan Cheng felt a pair of long, thin hands press against his neck.

Xu Yi and Zhong Xueran struggled to escape the vengeful ghosts rising beneath the Old Locust Tree. They both reached the branches, but a ghost grabbed Zhong Xueran’s ankle as more hands reached for them.

• Dozens of skeletal male ghosts crawled from the ground and surrounded Xu Yi and Zhong Xueran.
• Zhong Xueran urged Xu Yi to climb, but he told her to escape along the branches and leave him behind.
• Zhong Xueran climbed down and helped Xu Yi reach a branch by letting him step on her shoulders.
• Xu Yi pulled Zhong Xueran up toward the branch as ghosts closed in below.
• A ghost seized Zhong Xueran’s ankle, while a mass of ghostly hands reached up toward them.

Xu Yi searched for a way to rescue Zhong Xueran from the ghosts beneath the Old Locust Tree, while she tried to divert them with the Three Pure Ones Bell. The chapter ended with Zhong Xueran still trapped and Chen Zhiyuan confiding in Yan Xiao as his condition worsened.

• Xu Yi considered using his three unused One-Time Items but realized none could directly save Zhong Xueran except the dangerous Nuo Opera Mask.
• Xu Yi recalled that wearing the Nuo Opera Mask could make him a ghost if he failed to remove it within three minutes.
• Zhong Xueran threw the Three Pure Ones Bell away, drawing most of the ghosts toward it.
• Zhong Xueran discovered that the ghost gripping her ankle had not been distracted and remained focused on her.
• Chen Zhiyuan watched the storm and told Yan Xiao things he might soon forget, while Yan Xiao took notes.

Yan Xiao learned that Zhong Xueran’s self-destructive nature predated the game, while Chen Zhiyuan’s mind and memories continued to deteriorate. As Xu Yi rescued Zhong Xueran with the Nuo Opera Mask, they faced a horde of ghosts with only three minutes to escape before he might never remove it.

• Chen Zhiyuan told Yan Xiao that Zhong Xueran had long harbored a desire to die, and that helping others in the game had given her a sense of purpose.
• Chen Zhiyuan said he wanted more people to live, though he feared he would forget that promise; Yan Xiao left and called a middle-aged man, who agreed to help Fu City’s players in exchange for their spirit pupils.
• Zhong Xueran let go of the Old Locust Tree, but Xu Yi caught her and put on the Nuo Opera Mask to save her from the vengeful ghost dragging her down.
• Xu Yi severed the ghost’s arm, caught Zhong Xueran, and carried her toward the courtyard gate as dozens of faster, more aggressive ghosts surrounded them.
• Zhong Xueran realized the Old Locust Tree seemed to suppress the ghosts and feared Xu Yi would be trapped in the mask if they could not escape within three minutes.

Xu Yi carried the injured Zhong Xueran through a courtyard of Vengeful Ghosts while the Nuo Opera Mask’s three-minute limit ran down. Realizing they could not escape Old Town on foot, Xu Yi told her to call a car, but Zhong Xueran refused and asked him to put her down.

• Zhong Xueran reconsidered Xu Yi’s joking persona as she realized how serious and physically strong he was.
• Xu Yi carried Zhong Xueran past the Vengeful Ghosts and out of the courtyard, while she suspected the creatures might be controlled corpses rather than ghosts.
• Zhong Xueran saw that they had little time left and could not walk out of Old Town before the mask’s power wore off.
• Xu Yi struggled to tell Zhong Xueran to call a car, but she closed her eyes and said it was too late and asked him to put her down.

As Xu Yi carried Zhong Xueran through Old Town, she reflected on her family’s cursed inheritance and began to trust his determination to save her. When the Nuo Opera Mask’s safe-use time ran out, Xu Yi let it root into his flesh rather than remove it, continuing onward at the cost of his life so Zhong Xueran could reach safety.

• Zhong Xueran remembered that the Three Pure Ones Bell and Single Pure Bell came from her family’s cursed inheritance, and that she had entered the Ghost Story World to avoid passing it on.
• Xu Yi continued carrying Zhong Xueran through the rain and told her to trust him, so she ordered a ride to pick them up in Old Town.
• As the mask’s remaining safe-use time dwindled, Zhong Xueran felt protected by Xu Yi and gradually realized what he planned to do.
• When the safe-use time ended, Xu Yi kept walking instead of removing the Nuo Opera Mask, whose black nails pierced his flesh and began drawing blood.
• Zhong Xueran understood that Xu Yi had chosen to let the mask kill him so his continued steps could carry her toward life.

Qin Manjiang concluded that Liu Junyan was using curses as part of a ritual to revive Shen Hong, and that the ghosts were being ordered to drain and transform players rather than kill them outright. Meanwhile, Fan Cheng accepted help from a stranger named Xiao Shen, whose identity remained uncertain.

• Qin Manjiang reasoned that the ghosts’ failure to kill players suggested they were controlled by Liu Junyan, who might still be alive and seeking to revive Shen Hong.
• Qin Manjiang realized that players who avoided places connected to the Ghost Story could delay attacks, while teamed players faced a faster ritual that could kill them before the game officially began.
• Fan Cheng, caught naked in the rain, turned and punched at a man who had approached him with an umbrella.
• The man offered Fan Cheng shelter and a ride, and introduced himself as Xiao Shen.

Qin Manjiang realized Liu Junyan was likely behind the Ghost Story’s anomalies, then learned Xu Yi was trapped in the Nuo Opera Mask while protecting Zhong Xueran. Zhong Xueran desperately tried to remove it as Xu Yi carried her through Old Town, leaving their survival uncertain.

• Qin Manjiang concluded that finding and dealing with Liu Junyan was the key to ending the Ghost Story.
• Qin Manjiang called Xu Yi, received no answer, and then learned from Zhong Xueran that Xu Yi had worn the Nuo Opera Mask for more than three minutes.
• Zhong Xueran explained that gaunt Vengeful Ghosts had surrounded them near the Old Locust Tree while they searched for Shen Hong’s corpse.
• Qin Manjiang told Zhong Xueran to remove the mask because Liu Junyan’s orders, not the mask, were stopping the ghosts from attacking.
• Zhong Xueran tore at the mask despite its spikes piercing her hands, while Xu Yi carried her forward, unconscious and covered in blood.

Qin Manjiang pieced together the ghost story and contacted Yan Xiao to rescue Xu Yi and Zhong Xueran, then warned Fan Cheng that Liu Junyan might still be alive. Fan Cheng realized the driver helping him was Liu Junyan, whose grotesquely moving neck raised doubts about whether he was still human.

• Qin Manjiang called Yan Xiao and asked him to pick up the possibly injured Xu Yi and Zhong Xueran in Old Town, warning him to bring medical supplies.
• Qin Manjiang messaged Fan Cheng with his deductions, and Fan Cheng reported that only Shen Yi's body had been at Shen Hong and Liu Junyan's last residence.
• Qin Manjiang concluded that Liu Junyan was missing and might be carrying out a ritual to bring Shen Hong back to life at the game's official start time.
• Qin Manjiang grew suspicious of the man driving Fan Cheng and asked whether he had questioned why Fan Cheng was naked.
• Fan Cheng realized the driver, who had introduced himself as Xiao Shen, was Liu Junyan, and saw another face moving beneath the flesh of his neck.

Fan Cheng fled Liu Junyan’s car after causing a crash, but a ghostly woman stopped him and he lost consciousness. In Old Town, Zhong Xueran removed the Nuo Mask from Xu Yi’s face and discovered he was dead, yet he still took another step while carrying her.

• Liu Junyan calmed the ghostly woman emerging from his neck and the car seat, but Fan Cheng attacked him and yanked the steering wheel.
• The car crashed into the guardrail and central divider, and Fan Cheng escaped while Liu Junyan appeared unconscious.
• Fan Cheng crawled across the rain-soaked road, but an unfamiliar woman’s face appeared behind him and he lost consciousness.
• Zhong Xueran tore the Nuo Mask from Xu Yi’s face, damaging her hands in the process.
• Zhong Xueran found that Xu Yi had died, but he took another step forward while still carrying her.

Xu Yi remembered how Xiao Li became his friend at the Orphanage, gave him candy, and urged him to live happily before dying from cancer. In the present, he recalled her words as Zhong Xueran tried to save him, but Yan Xiao pulled her away and drove off with Xu Yi while corpses closed in.

• Xu Yi recalled losing his parents in a car accident and becoming withdrawn and afraid of rain at the Orphanage.
• Xiao Li stood up to Xu Yi when he bullied the other children, then gave him candy and became his friend.
• Xiao Li urged Xu Yi to attend school, but he shoved her during a storm and she collapsed.
• An Orphanage mom told Xu Yi that Xiao Li had cancer and had been abandoned by her family; Xiao Li urged him to smile and live happily before being rushed into the hospital.
• Remembering Xiao Li's words during a rainy Game, Xu Yi recognized that Zhong Xueran was like his former self.
• Yan Xiao pulled Zhong Xueran away from Xu Yi, put Xu Yi's body in the car, and drove away as corpses approached.

Qin Manjiang realized the players’ survival chances were worsening as Liu Junyan’s ritual to resurrect Shen Hong progressed, and that they needed to stop it quickly. As he struggled to find a way, Nie Yunzhen asked how Liu Junyan knew the ritual could resurrect Shen Hong.

• Qin Manjiang inferred that the ritual’s final stage would make the game unwinnable and that each player’s curse progressed independently.
• Qin Manjiang concluded that the players’ best chance to stop the ritual was within the current day.
• Nie Yunzhen found Qin Manjiang watching the storm and asked what was troubling him.
• Qin Manjiang explained that he could not find a way to halt the ritual, despite Yu Qinghuan’s transformation and his own loss of life force.
• Nie Yunzhen asked how Liu Junyan knew the ritual could resurrect Shen Hong.

Qin Manjiang realized Liu Junyan’s resurrection ritual had come from the wedding dress and questioned whether it would truly revive Shen Hong. Meanwhile, Liu Junyan tortured Fan Cheng to make a new outfit for Ahong, while Zhong Xueran begged Yan Xiao to save Fan Cheng, and Yan Xiao said Fan Cheng was already dead.

• Qin Manjiang concluded Liu Junyan had the wedding dress and began questioning why he had gone to find Fan Cheng.
• Fan Cheng woke in a basement with Liu Junyan removing his skin while keeping him conscious and preparing to make clothes for Ahong.
• Liu Junyan said the new clothes would let Ahong come back to life and that they would be together forever.
• Zhong Xueran urged Yan Xiao to stab a scalpel into Fan Cheng’s heart and promised to win the Game within thirty minutes.
• Yan Xiao told Zhong Xueran that Fan Cheng was already dead.

Yan Xiao left Zhong Xueran behind after telling her Xu Yi had been saving himself, while Qin Manjiang prepared to investigate the ongoing ritual. The chapter ended with Qin Manjiang realizing that the sleeping Yu Qinghuan’s face might not be her own.

• Yan Xiao told Zhong Xueran that Xu Yi was dead and had been saving himself, then drove away with Xu Yi’s corpse and left her in the rain.
• Qin Manjiang asked Nie Yunzhen to use her Shared-Fate Lock on Yu Qinghuan, but Nie Yunzhen revealed that she had already locked onto Qin Manjiang.
• Qin Manjiang sent Nie Yunzhen to dig beneath the Old Locust Tree and check for Shen Hong’s corpse and whether it wore a wedding dress.
• Qin Manjiang decided to search the place where Liu Junyan might be hiding while the ritual continued.
• Qin Manjiang looked at the sleeping Yu Qinghuan and wondered whose face she was wearing.

Qin Manjiang realized that the visions of Shen Hong’s past came from another person’s perspective, suggesting someone unseen had been present when the ghost story began. When Yu Qinghuan transformed, he accepted Jiang Du’s deal for help, and Jiang Du revealed her original face by cutting away the ghostly layer covering it.

• Qin Manjiang questioned whether Shen Hong had ever existed and asked Yu Qinghuan whether her visions had been from Shen Hong’s perspective.
• Yu Qinghuan said the scenes included Shen Yi, Shen Hong, and Liu Junyan, leading Qin Manjiang to conclude that someone else’s perspective had gone unnoticed.
• Yu Qinghuan convulsed and transformed into a stranger’s ghostly face, leaving Qin Manjiang unable to help her.
• Jiang Du offered to save Yu Qinghuan in exchange for one hour of control over Qin Manjiang’s body each day, and Qin Manjiang agreed.
• Jiang Du took control, used a fruit knife to peel away the ghostly face covering Yu Qinghuan, and revealed her bloodied original face.