Chapter Summaries

In Fu City, Huai'an Residential Complex had become famous because its old locust tree was believed to bring lovers lasting unity. Qin Manjiang’s friends gathered at Clear Pupil Bar and revealed that the Ghost Story [Wedding Dress] had begun affecting the real world on a large scale.

• Huai'an Residential Complex became a popular destination after the old locust tree gained a reputation as an Acacia Tree.
• Qin Manjiang welcomed Xu Yi, Zhong Xueran, Chen Zhiyuan, Mei Sijun, Yan Xiao, Xia Nan, Qiao Ziruo, Liu Jingqing, and Yu Ruoli to Clear Pupil Bar.
• Qiao Ziruo told Qin Manjiang she wanted to speak with him later, while Xia Nan greeted him warmly as “Brother Qin.”
• Shen Hai arrived at the bar and insisted on being served as a customer.
• Chen Zhiyuan warned the group that a Ghost Story was affecting the real world, and Shen Hai identified it as [Wedding Dress].

Chen Zhiyuan’s group planned to investigate the Acacia Tree, which they suspected was connected to a mutation of the [Wedding Dress] Ghost Story, while Xia Nan revealed that several abnormal killers had appeared in Fu City. The chapter ended with Xia Nan showing the group a photo of a man who looked like Qin Manjiang, suggesting the killers were searching for him.

• Chen Zhiyuan and Xu Yi told Qin Manjiang that the Acacia Tree in the south of the city had become popular, and they suspected it was linked to the [Wedding Dress] Ghost Story.
• Xu Yi, Liu Jingqing, Qiao Ziruo, Yan Xiao, and the others agreed to visit the tree the next afternoon, while Qin Manjiang reluctantly accepted that he was going too.
• Chen Zhiyuan asked Xia Nan to explain the second matter, and Xia Nan reported a string of murders and disappearances involving several unusually powerful killers.
• Xia Nan told the group that the killers were looking for someone, then showed them a photo of a man who looked like Qin Manjiang.

Xia Nan asked Qin Manjiang and the others to help lure out murderous players from other cities, and Qin Manjiang recognized that Xia Nan had returned. The group prepared to visit the South City Old Locust Tree, while Xia Nan privately resolved to return control of his body to its original owner.

• Xia Nan told Qin Manjiang that Officer Zhou wanted to use him as bait to draw out the people killing and eating victims in Fu City, and Qin Manjiang asked whether they were the ones he had let out.
• After Xia Nan nodded, Qin Manjiang welcomed him back, and the two agreed to talk about Xia Nan's disappearance once the matter was settled.
• Xia Nan revealed that the killers might have Spirit Pupils, prompting Shen Hai, Xu Yi, Yan Xiao, Zhong Xueran, and Mei Sijun to volunteer to help.
• Xia Nan limited the group and told everyone to rest before their trip to the South City Old Locust Tree the next day.
• After leaving the Clear Pupil Bar, Xia Nan silently promised to give the body back to Xia Nan after borrowing it for a little while.
• Back at the bar, Qiao Ziruo held Qin Manjiang by the wrist and cried, leaving him confused as Lin Ci watched.

Qin Manjiang took Qiao Ziruo to Qiao Family Village after she dreamed that her deceased grandmother could not hold on much longer, just as her father arranged to move the grave. At the village, Zhao Fengchuan and Lin’s experiment appeared to create a Ghost Story, and the excavation reached the coffin before someone ordered the diggers to stop.

• Qiao Ziruo told Qin Manjiang that she had dreamed of her grandmother and learned her father planned to move the grave, so Qin Manjiang and Mei Sijun drove her toward Qiao Family Village.
• Zhao Fengchuan questioned Qiao Liang about his daughter, then dismissed him from the car.
• Zhao Fengchuan and Lin watched as an old Taoist began the grave-relocation rites, while Lin reported that a device was absorbing spirit pupils and accumulating malice.
• A sudden chilling wind blew away the Soul-Summoning Banner, but the workers began digging despite the Taoist’s alarm.
• The diggers reached the coffin, and a voice from behind the crowd called for them to stop.

Qin Manjiang and Mei Sijun arrived as Qiao Ziruo found her grandmother’s grave desecrated and the old Taoist warned that the dead woman could become a calamity. Mei Sijun explained the danger and told Qin Manjiang that Zhong Xueran’s family was connected to Taoist knowledge, leaving Qin with questions about her bell and background.

• Zhao Fengchuan and Lin left the crowd after spotting Qin Manjiang, saying the ghost stories had been prepared for him.
• Qiao Ziruo rushed toward her grandmother’s exposed remains, but the old Taoist restrained her and warned her to stay away.
• The crowd discovered that the skeletal remains still had intact eyeballs, and panic spread as people cried that the grave was haunted.
• The old Taoist said Qiao Ziruo’s grandmother had spirit pupils and that her poplar coffin had left her vulnerable to evil influences.
• Mei Sijun explained to Qin Manjiang that ghost stories and Taoist knowledge had been passed down through generations.
• Mei Sijun revealed that Zhong Xueran came from a family with Taoist connections and urged Qin Manjiang to ask her about the Three Pure Ones Bell.

After Qiao Ziruo’s grandmother’s grave was disturbed, the old Taoist gathered her bones and explained that her lost soul might return that night. Qiao Ziruo feared the soul might no longer be her grandmother, while Qin Manjiang resolved to resist the Eye Realm’s control as they headed to her former home.

• Qin Manjiang stopped the old Taoist from leaving and demanded a way to deal with Qiao Ziruo’s grandmother’s remains.
• The old Taoist realized Qin Manjiang, Mei Sijun, and Qiao Ziruo all had Spirit Pupils and wondered whether the Eye Realm legend was true.
• The old Taoist used red silk and thread to gather the bones, then told Qiao Ziruo to place soil from beneath the coffin with them so her grandmother’s soul might return.
• Qiao Ziruo asked what would happen if the soul did not return, and the old Taoist warned that a vicious soul might emerge.
• Qiao Ziruo suspected her grandmother might already have been corrupted, but kept the fear to herself as she followed the old Taoist toward her former home.
• Qin Manjiang followed with Mei Sijun and resolved to resist the Eye Realm’s calculations.

Qin Manjiang and Mei Sijun learned from the old Taoist that the Eye Realm Key could create a ghost story space anchored in reality, and that the Zhong family had once preserved secrets about the Eye Realm. The old Taoist’s account connected Little Chongyang Temple to Zhong Xueran’s ancestors, while Qin Manjiang remained unable to use the Eye Realm himself.

• Qin Manjiang asked the old Taoist whether people had souls after death, and the old Taoist said people with eyes like theirs did.
• The old Taoist prepared a mourning hall for Qiao Ziruo’s bones while Qin Manjiang and Mei Sijun wondered how he recognized their Spirit Pupils.
• Qin Manjiang tried to activate the Eye Realm but found it still would not respond to him.
• The old Taoist identified the object as the Eye Realm Key and explained that using it during an anomaly created a separate realm anchored in reality.
• The old Taoist said Little Chongyang Temple had recorded secrets of the Eye Realm and that its keepers had been surnamed Zhong.
• Qin Manjiang and Mei Sijun realized that the Zhong family’s descendants were trapped in the Eye Realm.

As Zhong Xueran grew anxious about visiting the area where [Wedding Dress] was located, Xu Yi called her on behalf of Qin Manjiang and Mei Sijun, then confronted her about hiding her despair behind an energetic persona. He left her silent after urging her to stop imitating Yang and admit that she was struggling.

• Zhong Xueran reflected on the distortions in her vision and her unease about going to the area where [Wedding Dress] was located the next day.
• Xu Yi called Zhong Xueran and said Qin Manjiang and Mei Sijun had questions for her, while he, Miss Qiao, and the two callers might be unable to return the next day.
• Xu Yi recalled how Zhong Xueran had helped him during his first multiplayer Ghost Story, [Corpse Transformation].
• Xu Yi told Zhong Xueran that he had seen her crying behind a tree and believed she was burning herself out while pretending to be cheerful.
• Xu Yi urged Zhong Xueran not to imitate Yang or seek meaning through others, and she remained silent.

Qin Manjiang, Mei Sijun, and the Old Taoist tried to stop a Vicious Soul from returning through Qiao Ziruo’s grandmother’s bones. The bones stopped moving, but Qiao Ziruo disappeared, and the [Eye Realm] announced that the Ghost Story had taken shape.

• The Old Taoist’s Eternal Lamp went out as a freezing wind blew into the mourning hall, and he suspected the bones were not Qiao Ziruo’s grandmother’s.
• Water and mist formed throughout the hall, and the Old Taoist recognized the phenomenon as a Vicious Soul trying to return to life.
• Qin Manjiang and Mei Sijun held down the skull and spine while the Old Taoist threw a tuft of flame into the skeleton’s chest, stopping the bones from thrashing.
• Qin Manjiang discovered Qiao Ziruo had vanished and asked the Old Taoist where she had gone.
• Qin Manjiang summoned the [Eye Realm], which reported that [Ghost Story: Soul Return] had taken shape.

Qiao Ziruo returned to Qiao Family Village in a strange, gray world and found a red coffin waiting at her home, unable to remember who had died. Qin Manjiang and Mei Sijun found her alive outside the courtyard as [Eye Realm] announced the Ghost Story “Soul Return.”

• Qiao Ziruo rode an empty country bus toward Qiao Family Village, where a silent funeral procession carrying a red coffin crossed the road.
• Qiao Ziruo got off beneath strange scarlet sunlight and passed a black dog that watched her without barking.
• Qiao Ziruo wandered through the gray village, asked an old man for directions to Qiao Liang's house, and followed his guidance home.
• Qiao Ziruo found a red coffin in her courtyard and touched it, still unable to remember who was inside.
• Qin Manjiang saw a new Ghost Story appear in [Eye Realm], while Mei Sijun found Qiao Ziruo alive outside the courtyard fence.
• [Eye Realm] displayed the title “Soul Return” and the words, “Death here, life there; the person departs, the soul returns.”

After Qin Manjiang, Mei Sijun, and Qiao Ziruo failed to meet them, Xia Nan led the other Players to Huai'an Residential Complex in the old town. The group arrived at the eerie courtyard beneath the old locust tree, where Xu Yi briefly saw Zhong Xueran in a wedding dress reflected in a car mirror.

• Xia Nan and seven other Players drove south after Qin Manjiang, Mei Sijun, and Qiao Ziruo failed to show up.
• Shen Hai noticed birds flying without flapping their wings, and Yan Xiao identified them as dead things.
• The group reached Huai'an Residential Complex, where vendors and visitors moved quietly beneath the old locust tree.
• Liu Jingqing handed out Red Strings, and Xu Yi took one while watching Zhong Xueran.
• Xu Yi saw Zhong Xueran wearing a red wedding dress with pupil-less eyes in a car mirror, but she looked normal when he turned to her.

Qiao Ziruo encountered her grandmother in a strange, deserted courtyard and was led toward the house, while Qin Manjiang, Mei Sijun, and an old Taoist discovered that her soul had been pulled into a new Ghost Story called Soul Return. The old Taoist rang a Three Pure Ones Bell to try to wake her before dawn.

• Qiao Ziruo embraced her grandmother, who told her to stay with her and claimed a distant relative had died.
• Qiao Ziruo noticed her grandmother was ice-cold and left no footprints in the flour-covered main room before vanishing into incense smoke.
• Qin Manjiang and Mei Sijun found that Qiao Ziruo had fallen unconscious and that a Ghost Story named Soul Return had formed around the courtyard.
• The old Taoist explained that Qiao Ziruo's soul had been taken and that they had to bring it back before dawn.
• The old Taoist shook a Three Pure Ones Bell over Qiao Ziruo, hoping to wake her.

Mei Sijun and Old Taoist planned to enter Soul Return Night to find Qiao Ziruo after the Three Pure Ones Bell failed to bring her back. Qiao Ziruo wandered through the village, ate an offering, inhaled incense, and fled from an apparition before jolting awake beside Qin Manjiang.

• Old Taoist explained that the Three Pure Ones Bell could summon a Soul Return Ghost but could not free Qiao Ziruo, and Mei Sijun proposed using Yellow Springs Opera to reach her soul.
• Qiao Ziruo heard faint ringing and was drawn toward the coffin, but Grandma warned her not to touch anything in the death-haunted place.
• Hungry, Qiao Ziruo ate a steamed bun from the offering plate, spat it out in disgust, then followed the incense smoke into the main hall.
• Qiao Ziruo mistook a paper figure for Grandma, realized she was alone, and ran from the courtyard before Grandma caught her wrist and told her it was time to eat.
• Qiao Ziruo's elbow struck Qin Manjiang in the stomach as she awoke beside him, while Mei Sijun and Old Taoist planned for Mei Sijun and Qin Manjiang to enter Soul Return Night.

Xu Yi and the others entered the old courtyard beneath the pagoda tree, where most of the group fell into a trance of hopeful emotions. When Xu Yi touched two names carved into the trunk, he saw a vision of a groom climbing the tree over a field of twisted corpses and recognized Home Flower among them.

• Xu Yi warned the group that he had seen Zhong Xueran in a wedding dress in the car mirror, but their checks revealed no visible abnormalities.
• Xu Yi and Zhong Xueran entered the courtyard and joined the others beneath the pagoda tree.
• The tree drew most of the visitors into a trance, while Xu Yi and Chen Zhiyuan remained aware; Chen Zhiyuan said he sensed other people's emotions.
• Chen Zhiyuan showed Xu Yi the names Liu Junyan and Shen Hong carved into the tree trunk.
• Xu Yi touched the carvings and saw a vision of a groom climbing the tree above twisted corpses, including one he recognized as Home Flower.

The Infinite Eye Realm began the [Wedding Dress] Ghost Story and selected five players, including Xu Yi, Nie Yunzhen, and Zhong Xueran. As the selection seemed to end, the largest pupil pulled Qin Manjiang out of [Soul Return] and revealed Abyss.

• The Infinite Eye Realm summoned the players, but Qin Manjiang, Mei Sijun, and Qiao Ziruo remained trapped in [Soul Return].
• The fifth Spirit Pupil announced [Wedding Dress], requiring players to survive for six hours at Huai'an Residential Complex three days later.
• The pupils selected Xu Yi, Fan Cheng, Nie Yunzhen, Yu Qinghuan, and Zhong Xueran for the Ghost Story.
• After the smaller pupils stopped moving, the largest pupil turned toward the void and pulled Qin Manjiang out of [Soul Return].
• Qin Manjiang appeared in the Infinite Eye Realm, cursing, as the name Abyss appeared above his head.

Qin Manjiang was pulled into [Wedding Dress] before he could finish [Soul Return], so he asked Mei Sijun to take over while he prepared for the new ghost story. As Xu Yi and Zhong Xueran left the old district, they saw a bridal sedan chair cross the road, suggesting [Wedding Dress] could affect the real world before it officially began.

• Qin Manjiang found himself back in the Qiao family's courtyard after the Infinite Eye Realm selected him for [Wedding Dress], leaving him unable to return to [Soul Return].
• Qin Manjiang called Mei Sijun and asked him to handle [Soul Return] and help a woman, but Mei Sijun told him to focus on finding players for [Wedding Dress].
• The Old Taoist urged Mei Sijun to enter the realm where Miss Qiao was, and Mei Sijun questioned why the Taoist was present without a spirit pupil.
• Xu Yi and Zhong Xueran discussed why the previous players had died within thirty minutes and considered whether [Wedding Dress] was a rule-based ghost story.
• Xu Yi stopped the car when he and Zhong Xueran saw eight faceless men carrying a bright red bridal sedan chair across the road as a suona played.
• Xu Yi sped out of the old district, and he and Zhong Xueran wondered whether the sedan chair was evidence that [Wedding Dress] could affect the real world before it began.

After Zhong Xueran developed vivid red lips, Xu Yi suspected she was already being haunted and took her away from the old district. Meanwhile, Fan Cheng saw a bridal sedan chair and then a female ghost outside his door before [Wedding Dress] had begun, and heard the ghost laugh.

• Xu Yi noticed deep crimson rouge on Zhong Xueran's lips and realized she seemed to have been affected by a Vengeful Ghost.
• Xu Yi decided to take Zhong Xueran home because something was wrong with the old district.
• Fan Cheng heard a suona and saw eight men carrying a red bridal sedan chair toward his door through the peephole.
• Fan Cheng convinced himself the apparition was an illusion and waited until the suona stopped.
• Fan Cheng looked through the peephole again and saw a female ghost in a red wedding dress standing outside his door.
• The female ghost laughed eerily outside Fan Cheng's door.

Qin Manjiang reunited with Li Xijiu, now inhabiting Xia Nan, and learned that Nie Yunzhen wanted to join him for the [Wedding Dress] ghost story. As Qin Manjiang chose Yu Qinghuan as his partner, Yu Qinghuan encountered two ghostly wedding processions closing in on her from both ends of the street.

• Qin Manjiang met Li Xijiu outside Clear Pupil Bar, but Li Xijiu signaled that he could not explain where he had been while Jiang Du might be listening.
• Nie Yunzhen told Qin Manjiang she wanted to speak with the person inside his body, then offered her [Fortune and Misfortune Pendulum]’s guidance that a man and a woman should act together for the [Wedding Dress] ghost story.
• Qin Manjiang declined Nie Yunzhen’s offer and told Li Xijiu that getting close to her would only hurt her; he chose to contact another woman as his partner.
• Yu Qinghuan hurried home as a suona played and saw eight figures carrying a red sedan chair approach along the street.
• Yu Qinghuan turned to flee and discovered another group of eight figures carrying a red sedan chair at the other end of the sidewalk.

Fan Cheng encountered the Wedding Dress Vengeful Ghost at his home before the Game began, and Nie Yunzhen concluded that a man and a woman had to face it together. The ghost infiltrated Fan Cheng’s bedroom through the moving coat rack, and his call with Nie Yunzhen cut off as she rushed to his address.

• Fan Cheng heard the ghost outside his door, panicked at a moving quilt, and found nothing beneath it when he attacked it.
• Fan Cheng told Nie Yunzhen that the ghost was outside his home, and she said Xu Yi and Zhong Xueran had encountered it in a bridal sedan chair.
• Nie Yunzhen explained that a man and a woman working together appeared necessary to keep the ghost from approaching, then set out for Fan Cheng’s address.
• Fan Cheng sensed danger in his bedroom and realized the coat rack moved with him, revealing that the ghost had gotten inside.
• Fan Cheng told Nie Yunzhen that the ghost had entered, and their call disconnected as she hurried to reach him.

Yu Qinghuan was trapped in the Two-Way District with a Wedding Dress Vengeful Ghost pursuing her, until Qin Manjiang learned of her danger and rushed to help. Qin Manjiang entered the district alone while Li Xijiu stayed behind, urging him to keep going.

• Yu Qinghuan fled through the empty Two-Way District as eight ghostly carriers pursued her Red Wedding Sedan, and she realized she could not escape the area.
• Yu Qinghuan answered Qin Manjiang's call and told him a ghost was chasing her; he promised to reach her within ten minutes.
• Qin Manjiang and Li Xijiu drove toward the district, and Qin Manjiang recalled that the Wedding Dress Vengeful Ghost could cross into the real world.
• Qin Manjiang had Li Xijiu drop him at an intersection, warned him not to approach, and ran into the dark district holding [I].
• Li Xijiu watched Qin Manjiang leave, then closed his eyes and murmured that he could not lose.