Chapter Summaries

Xu Tingfang realized that every book in the Library was an identical copy of Sick Village Records. At the Medical Station, Yu Ruoli faced a patient calling her Doctor and suspected that accepting the title would violate the rules.

• Xu Tingfang decided to rearrange books to attract the Library Administrator, but discovered that every book was identical and titled Sick Village Records.
• Yu Ruoli entered the Medical Station and activated the Spirit Medium Sketchbook, which slowly drew a single crooked line.
• A patient called for a doctor from the corridor and asked Yu Ruoli to change its dressing.
• Yu Ruoli stayed silent as the patient approached, then realized it might be trying to make her accept the title Doctor despite the rule that there were no doctors in the Medical Station.

Yu Ruoli avoided answering a strange patient by pretending to call for a doctor, but their eyes met as he retreated. Outside Sick Village Supermarket, Shen Hai used the rules to summon a sales assistant and offered his Permanent Item, the pocket watch, in exchange for help buying toilet paper.

• Yu Ruoli shouted that she was looking for a doctor, prompting the patient to retreat while keeping his head turned toward her.
• Yu Ruoli looked toward the corridor and met the patient's gaze.
• Shen Hai studied the supermarket rules and decided not to enter without figuring out how to pay.
• Shen Hai laid his belongings outside the entrance and called for a sales assistant to help him buy toilet paper.
• The sales assistant asked for the pocket watch, and Shen Hai offered it in exchange for help.

Qin Manjiang entered the Nursing Home, where two infected elderly residents blocked his route, and began planning how to get past them. In the Library, Xu Tingfang opened a copy of Sick Village Records and read an account of the Nursing Home’s first abnormalities.

• Qin Manjiang saw an elderly resident covered in writhing black granules in the courtyard and hurried inside when the man stirred.
• Qin Manjiang noticed contradictions in the Nursing Home’s rules and found another granule-covered resident wandering in the lobby, blocking the routes through the building.
• Qin Manjiang considered hiding and provoking the two residents into fighting, but worried that the plan might put him in danger.
• Xu Tingfang found shelves filled with identical copies of Sick Village Records and opened one, postponing her plan to leave the Library.
• Xu Tingfang read a record describing the village’s spreading sickness, the Nursing Home’s missing resident, a red-clothed figure on the second floor, and black granules growing on the residents.

Xu Tingfang read a diary describing Sick Village’s transformation after an elderly nursing-home resident disappeared, and learned that the black particles were eggs that alcohol could trigger into monstrous creatures. The diary ended as its author encountered a gigantic, eye-covered hand emerging through the fog, leaving Xu Tingfang facing a new clue about the village.

• Xu Tingfang identified the fog, black particles, and nursing home as clues to Sick Village’s transformation after an elderly resident disappeared.
• The diarist recorded how infected villagers attacked others and how the village used alcohol to disinfect public facilities.
• A doctor gave liquor to an infected nurse, causing black eggs to hatch and turn her into a monster; the doctor died, and other infected people transformed and fled into the fog.
• The diarist joined four others in an attempt to escape, but every route led them back to the village’s Public Toilet.
• The diarist returned home intending to kill themselves, then saw a gigantic hand covered in eyes part the fog.

Xu Tingfang discovered clues in Sick Village Records suggesting the Library was a lesion that had been disinfected to prevent possession by Frog Eggs. As she tried to leave and get help from the Library Administrator, someone grabbed her from behind and told her not to move.

• Xu Tingfang found that the rest of Sick Village Records was blank and connected the Library’s disinfection notice to the danger of Frog Eggs.
• Xu Tingfang suspected the Library was a lesion and realized the six locations in the book matched the places assigned to the six players.
• Xu Tingfang emptied a shelf of Sick Village Records and hid nearby to see whether the books would move on their own.
• The Library Administrator began returning the books, and Xu Tingfang prepared to approach him for help leaving the Library.
• Someone grabbed Xu Tingfang from behind, covered her mouth, and quietly warned her not to move.

Shen Hai appeared in the Library and stopped Xu Tingfang from approaching the supposed Administrator. He helped Xu Tingfang realize that the figure carrying four separately floating books was not human, then asked how she knew about the Supermarket.

• Shen Hai quietly intercepted Xu Tingfang in the Library and led him to an open window to talk.
• Shen Hai explained that after clearing the Supermarket, he could no longer see the village fog and had come to inspect the nearby Library.
• Shen Hai warned Xu Tingfang that the figure picking up books might not have been the Administrator and reminded him that Sick Village was in the real world.
• Xu Tingfang suggested that Sick Village’s fog and daylight might be caused by powers that altered what people could perceive, and Shen Hai agreed the idea made sense.
• Shen Hai asked how many books the figure had carried, prompting Xu Tingfang to realize that four books floating in different directions could not have been held by a human.
• Shaken, Xu Tingfang thanked Shen Hai, who asked how he had learned about the Supermarket.

Xu Tingfang told Shen Hai about the book Sick Village Records, which only she seemed able to see, and he used its account of six special locations to identify the Nursing Home as the likely center of the village’s mystery. Shen Hai left to investigate, while Xu Tingfang chose to remain in the Library and search for its hidden lesion.

• Xu Tingfang discovered that the bookshelves had changed and told Shen Hai about the black-covered Sick Village Records she had seen.
• Shen Hai suggested that different players might perceive different things and searched the Library entrance for a tourist map.
• Shen Hai found that five special locations formed a five-pointed star around the Nursing Home and decided to go there.
• Shen Hai explained how Xu Tingfang could leave the Library area and encouraged her to look for its lesion.
• Xu Tingfang resolved to stay in the Library and search for the lesion.

Shen Hai investigated the Supermarket, found evidence of a forgotten Nursing Home resident, and discovered that Xu Tingfang had Frog Eggs on her skin that could not be wiped away. He realized she was already being influenced and left her unaware that she might be infected.

• Shen Hai found that the Supermarket's staff were dead and covered in Frog Eggs, and he discovered that a black thread parasite attacked him from the manager's corpse.
• Shen Hai recovered the Supermarket's account book, which recorded that an old man from the Nursing Home had bought a case of booze on credit, though none of the staff remembered him.
• Shen Hai entered the Library through an open window and found Xu Tingfang moving books, with Frog Eggs scattered across her neck and chin.
• Shen Hai tried wiping the Frog Eggs from Xu Tingfang with a handkerchief, but they remained, so he chose not to tell her and concluded she needed to escape Sick Village quickly.

Qin Manjiang entered the Nursing Home by asking for a tour and let Director Zhang lead him inside. As the surroundings darkened and Zhang asked his name, Qin Manjiang gave him a false one: Qin Se.

• Qin Manjiang returned to the entrance and loudly called for the director, prompting two residents with frog-egg-covered faces to charge at him.
• An old man in a gray vest stopped the residents, introduced himself as Director Zhang, and invited Qin Manjiang inside for a tour.
• Qin Manjiang noticed Zhang’s shadow had four long arms and accepted his invitation, suspecting Zhang could not or would not attack him directly.
• Director Zhang led Qin Manjiang through the dim, blood-scented lobby and urged him to stay overnight because it was getting dark.
• When Director Zhang asked his name, Qin Manjiang claimed his name was Qin Se.

Qin Manjiang toured the Nursing Home and uncovered signs that its residents and staff were not normal, while Director Zhang insisted that everyone must stay there after dark. Shen Hai arrived, and Qin Manjiang left the Nursing Home with him to find their friends, where Shen Hai asked what to call him.

• Director Zhang warned Qin Manjiang that the village became dangerous at night and urged him to bring his friends to the Nursing Home.
• Qin Manjiang toured the Nursing Home, finding six elderly residents covered in Frog Eggs and learning that the staff had supposedly taken leave.
• After the fog cleared, Qin Manjiang decided to wait and see whether other players would arrive, and Shen Hai called out from the gate.
• Qin Manjiang interrupted Shen Hai before he gave his name and introduced him as Shen Qing to Director Zhang.
• Qin Manjiang and Shen Hai left to gather their friends, and Shen Hai asked Qin Manjiang what he should call him.

Shen Hai told Qin Manjiang that the village was dead and that the missing old man from the Nursing Home was the key to the mystery. They found Yu Ruoli alive but unconscious, and Qin Manjiang carried her as they continued.

• Shen Hai explained that the village had no living residents outside the Nursing Home and shared what he had learned from Sick Village Records and the Supermarket account book.
• Qin Manjiang and Shen Hai considered whether the villagers had involuntarily or subconsciously forgotten the missing old man.
• Qin Manjiang and Shen Hai found Yu Ruoli collapsed at a fork in the road and confirmed that she was still alive.
• Shen Hai said Yu Ruoli was mentally exhausted and would likely recover after sleeping.
• Qin Manjiang hoisted Yu Ruoli over his shoulder, and he and Shen Hai discussed carrying her to find Xu Tingfang.

As night and the fog closed in, Qin Manjiang considered the village’s strange layout while Shen Hai went into the Library to retrieve Xu Tingfang. Shen Hai found her distraught over the frog eggs spreading across her neck, transferred some of them onto himself, and ordered her to obey him as he vowed to clear the ghost story before they hatched.

• As darkness fell, the fog returned with eerie sounds, and Shen Hai decided to enter the Library alone while Qin Manjiang waited outside with Yu Ruoli.
• Qin Manjiang connected the six players’ locations forming a pentagram, with the Nursing Home at its center, to the frog eggs and suspected the village was governed by an out-of-control evil god.
• Shen Hai searched the Library for Xu Tingfang and found her crying in the women’s restroom after she saw the frog eggs covering her neck.
• When Xu Tingfang resisted leaving with him, Shen Hai pulled several frog eggs from her neck and placed them on his own.
• Shen Hai told Xu Tingfang he would clear the ghost story before the eggs hatched and ordered her to do as she was told.

Shen Hai helped Xu Tingfang escape the Library, but the group became lost in the Night Fog while trying to return to the Nursing Home. They were separated by a strange displacement, leaving Qin Manjiang alone outside a public toilet with Yu Ruoli.

• Xu Tingfang tricked the Library's Administrator into letting her leave by pretending she had forgotten to return a book.
• Shen Hai and Xu Tingfang found Qin Manjiang carrying Yu Ruoli, and Qin Manjiang noticed frog-egg-like growths on both their necks.
• Qin Manjiang warned that darkness would fall before they could reach the Nursing Home, so the group linked themselves together with his scarf and entered the fog.
• Qin Manjiang handed the lead to Shen Hai, and Xu Tingfang reported faint breathing and wet footsteps nearby.
• Xu Tingfang bumped into something sticky, while Shen Hai realized no one seemed to be holding the scarf's middle.
• Qin Manjiang reached for a railing and found himself separated from Shen Hai and Xu Tingfang outside a public toilet.

Qin Manjiang reached the Public Toilet area while carrying Yu Ruoli and realized the rules sign mixed real rules with traps. After identifying the false rules, he prepared to enter the toilet and test his interpretation.

• Qin Manjiang tried to walk away from the Public Toilet with Yu Ruoli, but the fog sent them back to the entrance.
• Qin Manjiang examined the rules sign and noticed that “Extremely dangerous” was written in red and that several rules contradicted one another.
• Qin Manjiang concluded that the sign contained both true and false rules, using clues from the other areas to reason out which rules were false.
• Qin Manjiang identified the rules about footsteps, flushing, and leaving after using the toilet as false, leaving five rules he believed were genuine.

Qin Manjiang cleared the Public Toilet by finding Du Bi'an dead, investigating the strange noise, and merging with his own shadow before escaping. He carried Yu Ruoli into the fog, while Shen Hai and Xu Tingfang encountered Luo Chengyou and found themselves at Nine-Bend Alley Lane.

• Qin Manjiang found Du Bi'an dead in a stall and dragged his body outside the Public Toilet.
• Qin Manjiang waited for a strange noise, followed the footsteps, and merged with his shadow when it opened a stall door.
• Qin Manjiang escaped the Public Toilet and confirmed that the fog remained after he cleared the area.
• Yu Ruoli woke briefly, recognized Qin Manjiang only as the mysterious Professor, then fainted again after seeing Du Bi'an's corpse.
• Qin Manjiang carried Yu Ruoli on his back and followed a path deeper into the fog.
• Shen Hai and Xu Tingfang saw the bloodied Luo Chengyou as the fog dispersed and the sign for Nine-Bend Alley Lane appeared.

Shen Hai studied Luo Chengyou’s crushed corpse and the ambiguous rules for Nine-Bend Alley, then discovered Xu Tingfang had entered the alley without him. Xu Tingfang heard a voice claiming to be Shen Hai and was urged to come back, leaving her to consider whether the rules allowed it.

• Shen Hai examined Luo Chengyou’s corpse and inferred that the alley’s walls could squeeze together; slime from the “Frog Eggs” suggested Luo Chengyou had touched them without becoming infected.
• Shen Hai analyzed the rules against feeling the walls with one’s hands, stopping, and looking back, and considered that their wording might conceal traps or a way to uncover the alley’s secret.
• Shen Hai noticed Xu Tingfang was missing and wondered whether she had entered Nine-Bend Alley while he was thinking.
• Xu Tingfang realized Shen Hai had disappeared, memorized the rules, and entered the alley to catch up with him.
• A voice claiming to be Shen Hai called from behind Xu Tingfang and told her to return, arguing that looking back and turning around were different; Xu Tingfang considered trying it.

Xu Tingfang was tricked into seeing a monster impersonating Shen Hai and fled deeper into the alley, where she became trapped in a narrowing passage. Before deliberately breaking the rule and being crushed, she recorded what she had discovered about the Lesion so Shen Hai and the others might learn it.

• A monster disguised as Shen Hai tricked Xu Tingfang into turning around, and she saw its true form and ran.
• Xu Tingfang realized that seeing the monster had allowed it to enter the alley and chase her.
• She chose the narrow middle branch to escape, but the passage kept shrinking until she could neither go forward nor return.
• Xu Tingfang recorded the Lesion's location and her Library discoveries on her phone, hoping the recording would survive.
• Xu Tingfang stopped walking and was crushed by the alley walls.

Shen Hai discovered that Nine-Bend Alley’s entrance and exit were the same and that a monster was using Xu Tingfang’s appearance to lure people deeper inside. He rescued Xu Tingfang’s corpse and crushed the monster’s fallen eyeball, leaving the confrontation at the alley entrance.

• Shen Hai entered Nine-Bend Alley backward and saw a monster form as Xu Tingfang at the entrance, with Sick Village Nursing Home visible behind it.
• Shen Hai realized the alley looped back on itself and that the monster tried to lure people away from the real exit.
• Shen Hai approached the monster and spotted Xu Tingfang’s corpse embedded in its body.
• Shen Hai pulled Xu Tingfang’s corpse free and caught it before it fell.
• Shen Hai stomped on the monster’s fallen eyeball and told it not to pick it up.

Shen Hai and Qin Manjiang returned to the Nursing Home with Xu Tingfang dead and Yu Ruoli unconscious, where they discussed the evil god behind the village’s outbreak. Qin Manjiang revealed that he wanted Shen Hai’s help retrieving his Eye Realm backup and said he shared Shen Hai’s desire to bring the Eye Realm down.

• Shen Hai cleared Nine-Bend Alley by walking through the monster at its entrance, then found Xu Tingfang’s phone had fallen from her hands.
• Qin Manjiang and Shen Hai met outside the Nursing Home, carrying Yu Ruoli and Xu Tingfang respectively, and the director let them in.
• The director led them to a staff dormitory, where Shen Hai laid Xu Tingfang’s corpse down and Qin Manjiang placed Yu Ruoli on another bed.
• Qin Manjiang and Shen Hai agreed that an evil god, rather than a ghost or virus, was ravaging the village, and Shen Hai proposed that a player become infected to study it.
• Qin Manjiang confronted Shen Hai about hating the Eye Realm and asked him to help retrieve the backup phone held by Qin Manjiang’s other self in Fu City’s Eye Realm.
• Qin Manjiang told Shen Hai that he wanted to bring the Eye Realm down, just as Shen Hai did.

Qin Manjiang explained to Shen Hai that he was a consciousness created as a vessel for Jiang Du’s resurrection and had shaped his personality by imitating people around him. After realizing Shen Hai also wanted [Eye Realm] destroyed forever, Qin Manjiang prepared to tell him his plan, beginning with dealing with an out-of-control Evil God.

• Shen Hai told Qin Manjiang he had come to the wrong person, then asked who Qin Manjiang really was.
• Qin Manjiang revealed that Jiang Du had created his body as a vessel for resurrection and that he had imitated Jiang Du, Yang, Xu Yi, Yan Xiao, Mei Sijun, Chen Zhiyuan, Zhong Xueran, and Shen Hai while forming his own personality.
• Qin Manjiang said he had finally discovered who he was and what he wanted after waking in Yan Xiao's clinic following Wedding Dress.
• Qin Manjiang told Shen Hai he knew Shen Hai wanted [Eye Realm] and the God behind it destroyed, and Shen Hai asked to hear his plan.
• Qin Manjiang agreed to explain the plan after they sent off an out-of-control Evil God.