Chapter Summaries

Qin Manjiang and Shen Hai listened to Xu Tingfang’s final recording, which linked the Library Lesion to an elderly woman from the Nursing Home, and inferred that she had started Sick Village’s strange events. They searched the second floor for her old room, where Qin Manjiang sensed someone watching him.

• Shen Hai played Xu Tingfang’s recording, revealing that an elderly Nursing Home resident was attacked in the Library restroom after borrowing “Mermaid Flesh,” and that Frog Eggs began appearing there.
• Qin Manjiang and Shen Hai connected the elderly woman’s disappearance, her alcohol purchase, and the spread of the abnormalities, and suspected she had sought a way to prolong her life.
• Qin Manjiang covered the unconscious Yu Ruoli with a quilt, and he and Shen Hai quietly left the third-floor dormitory to search for the elderly woman’s room.
• The two split up on the second floor and checked the residents’ rooms; Qin Manjiang saw a figure on a bed and felt someone watching him when he moved his phone’s light away.

Qin Manjiang and Shen Hai discovered that the nursing home’s residents and food were not what they seemed. Meanwhile, Yu Ruoli awoke in a basement beside a butchered elderly woman and faced the old Director, who asked whether she knew what Mermaid Flesh was.

• Qin Manjiang and Shen Hai found elderly residents appearing in every room they checked, then encountered the old Director as they tried to leave the second floor.
• Qin Manjiang claimed they were looking for food, and the old Director led them to the Back Courtyard Kitchen and gave them bowls of rice topped with meat.
• Qin Manjiang and Shen Hai investigated the pot in the Kitchen and found a finger bone among the braised meat, which made them suspect it was Mermaid Flesh.
• Yu Ruoli woke in a basement filled with meat and body parts, recognized a murdered elderly woman by her silver ring, and saw the old Director approach.
• The old Director asked Yu Ruoli whether she knew what Mermaid Flesh was.

Yu Ruoli discovered that the old Director was turning people into mermaids by feeding them strange meat. After he forced her to eat it, fish scales began growing across her limbs, and she could no longer blink.

• The old Director explained that mermaids were made by turning people into fish and offered Yu Ruoli a bowl of meat.
• Yu Ruoli tried to kick the old Director, but his lower body transformed into a mass of Frog Eggs that crawled up her ankle.
• The old Director made Yu Ruoli eat the meat, and she swallowed it without chewing before he left the basement.
• Yu Ruoli tried to vomit up the meat, but it had already dissolved in her stomach.
• Grayish-white fish scales grew across Yu Ruoli's arms and legs, and she discovered that she could no longer blink.

Qin Manjiang and Shen Hai found Yu Ruoli missing and decided to exploit alcohol’s effect on the frog eggs to attack the old director while searching for her and a hidden room. They separated, with Qin Manjiang seeking Yu Ruoli and Shen Hai investigating the missing granny’s room and testing a conjecture in the courtyard.

• Qin Manjiang and Shen Hai found Yu Ruoli gone from the staff dormitory while Xu Tingfang’s corpse remained, and concluded the director had likely taken her alive or because she was uninfected.
• Shen Hai explained that the director’s restraint might mean he was limited by rules or unable to guarantee victory, and he and Qin Manjiang identified the aggression prohibition as a suspicious rule.
• Qin Manjiang revealed Huoxiang Zhengqi liquid, while Shen Hai produced cooking wine, and they planned to use alcohol against the frog eggs and possibly the director.
• Qin Manjiang went to search for Yu Ruoli while Shen Hai set out to find the missing granny’s room and investigate the Nursing Home’s hidden space.
• Shen Hai questioned why all eight second-floor rooms were occupied, and Qin Manjiang left after warning him to be careful.

Qin Manjiang and Shen Hai investigated the Nursing Home’s hidden layout and realized one of its seven old people might be an impostor connected to the figure in red. As the Old Director released the old people to search for them, they prepared to confront whoever they encountered.

• Qin Manjiang and Shen Hai hid from the Old Director, then went downstairs after hearing him threaten to send people to find them.
• Qin Manjiang planned to lure the old people to the Back Courtyard while Shen Hai searched their dormitories for the room of the first missing old person.
• Shen Hai noticed that the second-floor rooms left enough space for a hidden area, and Qin Manjiang realized the Nursing Home’s layout might have concealed a secret from the start.
• Qin Manjiang and Shen Hai questioned why seven old people remained after one had disappeared, and suspected that a nonhuman figure had taken the missing person’s place.
• Qin Manjiang reconsidered the rule about finding the only good-tempered old person and suspected the Old Director, whose vest was red, might be connected to the figure in red.
• After hearing doors open as the Old Director let the old people out, Qin Manjiang told Shen Hai to attack anyone they encountered.

Qin Manjiang and Shen Hai fought their way through the Nursing Home’s infected old people while searching for a hidden room. After they reunited, Shen Hai began making an eerie sound and told Qin Manjiang to go.

• Qin Manjiang chopped off an old person’s hand in the Kitchen, then used Huoxiang Zhengqi Water to turn it into motionless frog eggs.
• Qin Manjiang spread the Kitchen’s stewed meat across the floor and escaped through a window as three old people rushed in to devour it.
• Shen Hai lured an old person out of the Main Hall with his phone, knocked it down, and used cooking wine to dissolve it into frog eggs.
• Shen Hai mistook Qin Manjiang for an old person and chased him before they recognized each other and decided to search for the hidden room together.
• Shen Hai clutched his neck, made an eerie sound, and told Qin Manjiang to go.

Qin Manjiang realized Shen Hai was pretending to be controlled so he could lead him to the hidden chamber beneath the nursing home. They descended into the room where the Old Director was performing a ritual, and Qin Manjiang confronted him.

• Shen Hai attacked Qin Manjiang while appearing to be controlled, driving him from the first floor to the third.
• Qin Manjiang recognized that Shen Hai’s attacks were guiding him to the storeroom on the third floor.
• Shen Hai revealed that he had been pretending and gave Qin Manjiang his glasses, a single-use item that could reverse-track a curse.
• Qin Manjiang recalled that he had called Shen Hai “Shen Qing” in front of the Director to conceal their real names.
• Qin Manjiang and Shen Hai descended through a hidden opening into the Old Director’s ritual room and greeted him.

Shen Hai and Qin Manjiang exposed the Old Director’s scheme and killed him in the secret chamber, but the Game did not end. The Old Director warned that Yu Ruoli had become a mermaid and claimed only he could save her.

• Shen Hai explained that he had used a single-use item to trace the curse to the Old Director while pretending to be under his control.
• Shen Hai opened a hidden passage beneath the floor, and he and Qin Manjiang found the Old Director standing in a candlelit chamber.
• Qin Manjiang attacked the Old Director, but the wound turned into Frog Eggs and healed; Shen Hai and Qin Manjiang then doused him with cooking wine and Huoxiang Zhengqi Water.
• The Old Director said Yu Ruoli had become a mermaid and would turn into a monster if he died, but Qin Manjiang poured the remaining cooking wine into his mouth.
• The Old Director dissolved into blood and Frog Eggs, yet Qin Manjiang and Shen Hai realized that the Game had not ended.

After the Old Director’s death failed to end the Game, Qin Manjiang and Shen Hai suspected Yu Ruoli had become another link to the Evil God. A chamber filled with rising water and bloody scales trapped them, and Qin Manjiang chose to descend toward Yu Ruoli while Shen Hai pointed out a safer escape route.

• Qin Manjiang and Shen Hai concluded that the Game was continuing because Yu Ruoli might still be connected to the Evil God.
• They opened a hidden chamber and found freezing water and bloody fish scales flowing upward, accompanied by overlapping male and female sobs.
• The rising water trapped the two men, but Qin Manjiang realized they could move toward the chamber opening and told Shen Hai to push the scales aside.
• Shen Hai discovered that they could also break a window and escape to the Front Yard, but Qin Manjiang refused to leave Yu Ruoli behind.
• Qin Manjiang recalled Yu Ruoli’s kindness on Butterfly Island and her drawing of him, then stepped toward the chamber to save her.

Qin Manjiang confronted the transformed Yu Ruoli and used the Doll to erase her longevity ability, sacrificing his affection. Shen Hai’s memories of the woman he lost resurfaced as he left the building, and the Ghost Story announced that Sick Village had been cleared.

• Shen Hai recalled his past with the woman who had cared for him and blamed himself for her death before climbing out the window.
• Qin Manjiang found Yu Ruoli transformed into a crying, fish-scaled creature in the secret room.
• Qin Manjiang removed his mask, reassured Yu Ruoli, and learned through lip-reading that her ability was longevity.
• Qin Manjiang activated the Doll and erased the mermaid’s longevity ability in exchange for his affection.
• Outside, Shen Hai heard the announcement that Sick Village had been cleared.

After clearing the Game, Yu Ruoli chose not to contact Qin Manjiang, while Shen Hai agreed to help him investigate the impostor in Fu City’s [Eye Realm]. Back in Moon City, Qin Manjiang learned that a Hunting Game would take place at Yuelai Hotel and discovered that someone had left the [Spirit Coffin] before the other nine revived Ten Seats.

• Yu Ruoli remembered that Qin Manjiang had saved her, but decided not to call him because he might need to keep his identity secret.
• Shen Hai contacted Qin Manjiang, accepted his proposal as payment for help in the Game, and agreed to investigate the Fu City [Eye Realm] impostor.
• Qin Manjiang returned to Moon City, where Fang Xiu told him that the killer who murdered Yan Yaoling had not been found.
• Dog met Qin Manjiang outside the apartment building and relayed Kong’s invitation to a Hunting Game at Yuelai Hotel that evening.
• Dog told Qin Manjiang that only nine of the Ten Seats had emerged from the [Spirit Coffin], because their boss had opened a coffin and left earlier.

Qin Manjiang and Flower attended a high-society banquet in Moon City to identify a hunter using the gathering as a hunting ground. The chapter left Qin Manjiang meeting Mi Qiao, whom he seemed to know from before.

• Flower explained that Star's divination had revealed a hunt would take place at the banquet, and that Qin Manjiang and his companions needed to find the hunter.
• Dog went to a nearby rooftop to join Kong and stand ready to rescue them.
• Qin Manjiang and Flower entered the banquet, where guests received flowers of different colors, and Flower left to investigate the host.
• Xie Jia introduced Qin Manjiang to Mi Qiao after she approached him, and Qin Manjiang greeted her by remarking on her quick promotion.

Mi Qiao warned Qin Manjiang that Moon City's powerful figures were investigating Jiang Du’s resurrection and that his arrival could get them both killed. At the banquet, Qin Manjiang saw Xinxin onstage and recognized the violinist playing in the moonlight as Lian Yan, the main antagonist of [Ping'an Hospital].

• Mi Qiao told Qin Manjiang to leave Moon City and revealed that she had been sent to investigate whether Jiang Du had returned to life.
• Mi Qiao explained that she had reported Jiang Du failed to awaken and that another soul inhabited his body, but warned that his visit would renew the powerful people’s interest in him.
• Qin Manjiang realized Kong had likely invited him to draw out Moon City's hidden forces, not merely to help Flower find the hunter player.
• Flower told Qin Manjiang that the banquet celebrated a famous violinist’s return, but the lights dimmed before she could finish.
• Qin Manjiang saw Xinxin onstage and recognized the violinist playing by the window as Lian Yan, the main antagonist of [Ping'an Hospital].

At Lian Yan’s banquet, he recognized Qin Manjiang and tried to lead him out, revealing that he had brought Qin’s friend Xinxin back from a photograph. The hotel plunged into darkness before they could escape, and Lian Yan announced that the banquet’s theme was slaughter.

• Lian Yan approached Qin Manjiang, greeted him as an old acquaintance, and asked Flower to leave them alone.
• Lian Yan introduced Xinxin, who stood beside him like a soulless doll; he said he had found her hidden in a photograph and brought her back to the real world.
• Lian Yan grabbed Qin Manjiang’s wrist and urged him to leave, explaining that the banquet was Moon City’s hunting ground and that Qin was a player from Fu City.
• As Lian Yan and Qin Manjiang reached the hotel entrance, the doors slammed shut and all the lights went out.
• Terrified guests screamed as sounds of chewing and tearing flesh filled the darkness, and Qin Manjiang realized the banquet hall seemed to have changed.
• Lian Yan apologized for failing to get Qin out and declared that the banquet’s theme was slaughter.

Qin Manjiang witnessed a supernatural killing spree at the Yuelai Hotel and learned that Lian Yan had altered Moon City's rules to force its Players into a deadly contest. Lian Yan led him toward the rooftop and revealed that he was the one who escaped the Ghost Story of Ping'an Hospital.

• The lights returned at the Yuelai Hotel, where five men with blackened eye sockets killed the women they had pinned down, and another attack began among the fleeing guests.
• The guests found the hotel grounds sealed off by armed forces, while Lian Yan told Qin Manjiang that Xinxin would not attract attention and asked him to go to the rooftop.
• Lian Yan explained that he had altered Moon City's [Eye Realm], leaving forty-nine Players to fight until ten survivors advanced to the next stage.
• Lian Yan said Players with Permanent Items would hunt the others, and Qin Manjiang challenged the fairness of the arrangement.
• In the elevator, Qin Manjiang recalled Lian Yan's name from [Ping'an Hospital], and Lian Yan said that Guan She had been trapped but he, Lian Yan, had escaped.

On a rooftop, Lian Yan explained the Paleontology Research Association’s role in Moon City and its beliefs about the Eye Realm. Qin Manjiang connected the group’s ability to imitate the Eye Realm to Lower River Village.

• Qin Manjiang and Lian Yan looked down from the rooftop and saw armed people trapping banquet guests, including Mi Qiao.
• Lian Yan told Qin Manjiang that Mi Qiao’s organization, the Paleontology Research Association, had powerful members who knew about the Eye Realm.
• Lian Yan warned Qin Manjiang to stay away from Moon City after tonight, then named the organization behind the banquet’s guest invitations.
• Lian Yan explained that the association believed the Eye Realm offered a path to becoming gods and could imitate it by fusing a real village with a ghost story world.
• Qin Manjiang recalled Lower River Village after hearing about the association’s imitation of the Eye Realm.

Qin Manjiang watched an out-of-control player’s power turn a banquet into a massacre, then recognized his sister Qin Manyi among the people escaping the hotel. He feared she might be the player behind the chaos, but the chapter ended with her greeting him as her brother.

• Lian Yan told Qin Manjiang that an out-of-control player’s Permanent Item had activated hunting rules and that he intended to hunt the player.
• Qin Manjiang saw a red car charge the Paleontology Research Association’s blockade, inspiring other guests to flee as the armed guards were overwhelmed by people with black eye sockets.
• Qin Manjiang recognized Qin Manyi getting out of the red car and rushed downstairs, fearing she was the out-of-control player.
• Qin Manjiang and Qin Manyi saw each other at the hotel entrance, and she greeted him as her brother.

Qin Manjiang reunited with Qin Manyi in Moon City, where the Paleontology Research Association attacked them under the Doctor’s orders. Kong obtained the Doctor’s device to force open the [Eye Realm] gates, while revealing that he and Jiang Du shared a hidden goal tied to Moon City’s final stage.

• Qin Manjiang found Qin Manyi at the Yuelai Hotel and pulled her to safety when her Red Car exploded and a helicopter began firing at them.
• The Doctor watched the attack from a motorhome, ordered the gunner not to damage Qin Manjiang, and sent Lin to deliver a device to Yan Xiao.
• The Doctor gave Kong a device that could force open the [Eye Realm] gates after Kong had brought Qin Manjiang to Moon City.
• Kong rejected the Doctor’s claim that he sought revenge on Jiang Du and reflected that their shared goal concerned Moon City’s final stage.
• Kong told Yi Lianhai to survive to the very end, and the Doctor recalled that Jiang Du, Yi Lianhai, and Zuo Xian were the first three people to research the [Eye Realm].

Yi Lianhai recalled how Jiang Du and Zuo Xian discovered the [Eye Realm] twenty years earlier, and how Jiang Du entrusted him with a phone for a future man who resembled him. Convinced that Qin Manjiang was becoming Jiang Du again, Yi Lianhai refused to let Kong interfere, while Qin Manjiang and Qin Manyi encountered the suspicious waitress in the hotel basement.

• Yi Lianhai remembered that he, Zuo Xian, and Jiang Du had discovered the [Eye Realm] before Zuo Xian and Jiang Du became players, and that the two friends later split after glimpsing its truth.
• Jiang Du gave Yi Lianhai a phone and asked him to find a young man who looked exactly like him in Fu City twenty years later; three days after a light rain, Yi Lianhai learned Jiang Du was dead and Zuo Xian was missing.
• Yi Lianhai recalled that the woman who reported Jiang Du's death later opened a bar in Fu City, but he had prioritized watching Qin Manjiang, whom he believed was increasingly becoming Jiang Du.
• Yi Lianhai told Kong not to interfere with him, while Kong recognized the doctor's expertise and importance to the Paleontology Research Association.
• Qin Manjiang carried Qin Manyi into the Yuelai Hotel basement to escape the attack, then encountered the waitress who had given her white tulips and sensed something was wrong with her.

Lian Yan killed the mutated waitress in the underground wine cellar, but her Permanent Item vanished after a mysterious figure appeared. He lifted the lockdown and warned Qin Manjiang to stay below before leaving him and Qin Manyi with more questions about Moon City's Eye Realm Players.

• Qin Manjiang realized the flowers were linked to the mutations and threw away the white tulip in his pocket.
• Lian Yan confronted the waitress, whose neck transformed into a flower, then used shadowy arms to drag her into the darkness and kill her.
• A figure appeared at the cellar entrance, and Lian Yan found that the waitress's Permanent Item had vanished.
• Lian Yan called his allies to lift the lockdown and explained that the Paleontology Research Association had been working with him.
• Lian Yan warned Qin Manjiang to wait before going upstairs, gave him a business card, and left.
• Qin Manyi asked whether Lian Yan was a friend, while Qin Manjiang wondered if he was one of the Ten Seats of Moon City's Eye Realm.