Chapter Summaries

Qin Manjiang proposed that the Ghost Story’s seven children were fragments of one person’s personality, and that the story might be a delusion shaped by that person’s memories. He concluded that they would have to reach the summit to learn why One entered the snowy mountain.

• Lin Ruonan recounted seeing a colossal Vengeful Ghost beside the summit, and Qin Manjiang questioned what role the burned couple and Spider Woman played.
• Lin Ruonan recalled that the seven children might have left some of their own things in the snowy mountain.
• Qin Manjiang told Xia Nan his theory that there had originally been one child, One, and two mountain natives who rescued him before mistreating him.
• Qin Manjiang suggested that the seven children were parts of One’s personality and that the Ghost Story’s Plot Enactments reflected One’s imagined memories.
• Xia Nan asked why One had entered the snowy mountain, and Qin Manjiang said they would need to go to the summit to find out.

While the group slept, Lin Ruonan and Hu Feifei woke before dawn and went outside the cabin to relieve themselves. Lin Ruonan was attacked by a distorted figure that she suspected was Spider Woman, and the chapter ended as she struggled to reach the cabin.

• Everyone in the cabin unexpectedly fell asleep at the same time.
• Hu Feifei woke Lin Ruonan and asked her to accompany her outside to use the bathroom.
• Lin Ruonan and Hu Feifei left the cabin without waking the two men, then separated around its exterior.
• Lin Ruonan saw a distorted figure behind her, realized Hu Feifei was elsewhere, and shouted that the ghost had appeared.
• The figure grabbed Lin Ruonan by the neck, but she bit its wrist and broke free before stumbling toward the cabin.

Lin Ruonan encountered a horrifying many-legged ghost inside the cabin. Meanwhile, the fake [Abyss] fled alone across the frozen wilderness, searching for the summit’s cave in hopes of discovering his true self, and collapsed inside it.

• Lin Ruonan returned to the cabin after escaping a ghost, but a distorted, many-legged figure appeared beside the fire and confronted her.
• The fake [Abyss] recalled how Doctor Yi had made him as a stand-in using spirit pupils and Jiang Du’s personality data.
• The fake [Abyss] realized the ghost story was [One]’s mental space and believed something at the summit might complete his soul.
• The fake [Abyss] defied Doctor Yi and abandoned the other players to seek the summit alone.
• The fake [Abyss] nearly froze in a blizzard but crawled into a cave and lost consciousness.

After Lin Ruonan died in her sleep, Qin Manjiang and Xia Nan discovered that her invitation had revealed a diary describing [One]'s search for a missing sister and a bizarre realm beyond the snow mountain's summit. The chapter left them puzzling over the diary's revelations when Wu Tiansheng called to them from outside the cabin.

• Xia Nan failed to wake Lin Ruonan, while Hu Feifei huddled in terror and repeated that the creature had returned.
• Lin Ruonan died, bleeding from her eyes, nose, ears, and mouth, and Qin Manjiang found that her invitation had changed.
• Qin Manjiang and Xia Nan read [One]'s diary, which said [One] had entered the mountain to find a younger sister who had vanished while searching for a huge humanoid creature.
• The diary described [One] reaching a strange entrance at the summit and entering a disorienting realm of black peaks, where something watched him and his children multiplied.
• Qin Manjiang and Xia Nan connected the missing sister to Spider Woman and the enormous creature, then heard Wu Tiansheng calling from outside the cabin.

Qin Manjiang and Xia Nan found the injured Wu Tiansheng, whose account of being attacked in a dream made Qin Manjiang suspect that Xia Nan might be connected to Lin Ruonan’s death. The four survivors resumed their climb toward the summit and discovered a person inside a snow cave.

• Wu Tiansheng told Qin Manjiang and Xia Nan that someone who looked like Chen Xin had attacked him, and that he had dreamed of being struck again before waking with a bleeding head.
• Qin Manjiang stopped Xia Nan from treating Wu Tiansheng and ordered the group to leave, suspecting that dreams and real injuries were connected and questioning whether Wu Tiansheng had lied.
• Qin Manjiang invited Hu Feifei to continue toward the summit, and she chose to go with the group.
• Qin Manjiang led Xia Nan, Hu Feifei, and Wu Tiansheng up the mountain, leaving Lin Ruonan’s body in the cabin.
• The group found a snow cave with a human figure inside.

The group found Wu Tiansheng in a snow cave, where he recounted how Chen Xin had attacked him after discussing the possibility that [One]'s consciousness was among the [Seven Children]. Qin Manjiang realized Wu Tiansheng had independently reached the same conclusion he had, leaving him unsure whether Wu Tiansheng or [Abyss] carried [One]'s consciousness.

• Qin Manjiang woke [Abyss], shared the recovered energy bars, and asked Wu Tiansheng what had happened with Chen Xin.
• Wu Tiansheng recounted finding Mom's corpse in a cabin and hearing Chen Xin theorize that the [Seven Children] might include [One]'s primary consciousness.
• Wu Tiansheng attacked Chen Xin with a wooden club, but Chen Xin dodged and struck him before fleeing the cabin.
• Wu Tiansheng said he escaped, sheltered in a snow cave, and later found the group's cabin.
• Qin Manjiang considered whether Wu Tiansheng was lying and whether he, rather than [Abyss], was the vessel for [One]'s consciousness.

Qin Manjiang stayed behind with [Abyss] and discovered that he was a being created by Jiang Du who was struggling to understand his own identity. Meanwhile, Chen Xin climbed the mountain and realized [One] could move between the [Seven Children], leaving him determined to warn the others.

• Hu Feifei, Xia Nan, and Wu Tiansheng continued toward the summit while Qin Manjiang stayed behind with the sleeping [Abyss].
• Qin Manjiang revealed he knew [Abyss] was pretending to be asleep and asked why he had taken the supplies; [Abyss] said he had set off alone to give the most promising person a chance to succeed.
• Qin Manjiang asked whether [Abyss] belonged to the Old Ten Seats, but [Abyss] denied it and identified himself as Abyss.
• When Qin Manjiang mentioned Jiang Du, [Abyss] clutched his head and questioned who he was, and Qin Manjiang offered to give him a name.
• Chen Xin reached the foot of the mountain and concluded that [One] could move between the [Seven Children], so any of them could be [One].

In the Snow Cave, Qin Manjiang and [Abyss] discussed [Abyss]'s lack of a name and the voice that had guided him. They concluded that they were inside [One]'s mental world and decided to reach the summit to uncover the memories [One] was avoiding.

• Qin Manjiang told [Abyss] that he deserved a name, and [Abyss] realized he wanted one for the first time.
• Qin Manjiang suspected Kong had arranged for the Paleontology Research Association to create [Abyss] as his replacement in Fu City's [Eye Realm].
• [Abyss] told Qin Manjiang that an unfamiliar voice had compelled him to leave the team and head for the summit alone.
• Qin Manjiang concluded that [One]'s consciousness was inside them and was driving the [Seven Children] toward death to become whole again.
• Qin Manjiang and [Abyss] reasoned that their altered memories were ones [One] could not face, and they set out to uncover them.

Xia Nan grew more suspicious of Wu Tiansheng and questioned whether Hu Feifei’s strange behavior was genuine. When Spider Woman appeared near the slope, Hu Feifei calmly walked toward it, leaving Xia Nan wondering why she and Qin Manjiang had both approached the ghost.

• Xia Nan examined Wu Tiansheng’s head wound and concluded that his account of being attacked from behind by Chen Xin did not fit the injury or his likely actions.
• Xia Nan considered whether Hu Feifei was affected by a ghost’s ability or pretending to be mad, while remaining uncertain about her changing behavior.
• Snow began falling, and Xia Nan spotted Spider Woman emerging near the slope where Wu Tiansheng had gone.
• Xia Nan pulled Hu Feifei behind a snowy slope, but she pointed out that their footprints revealed their hiding place.
• Hu Feifei asked Xia Nan to release her, then walked toward Spider Woman without showing fear.

Qin Manjiang and Abyss reasoned that changing the plot brought them closer to the true memories and Spider Woman, while [One]'s consciousness tried to prevent that. They met Chen Xin on the mountain, learned that [One] had possessed Wu Tiansheng, and Qin Manjiang suggested Spider Woman might be [One]'s younger sister.

• Qin Manjiang and Abyss concluded that [One] embellished the seven children's memories and that plot changes drew Spider Woman closer to them.
• Abyss reasoned that they needed to alter the plot and overcome their fear to approach Spider Woman and the true memories.
• Qin Manjiang and Abyss encountered Chen Xin, who said he had escaped Wu Tiansheng after discovering that [One]'s consciousness controlled him.
• Chen Xin recounted how touching Mom's corpse transferred a lingering chill from him to Wu Tiansheng, and said he suspected [One] was a victim rather than the ghost.
• Qin Manjiang told Chen Xin about Spider Woman and suggested she might be [One]'s younger sister.

Hu Feifei recalled how [One]'s consciousness had protected her from the giant ghost's deadly mental curse, and approached Spider Woman believing she was the Path to Survival. Spider Woman killed Hu Feifei in front of Xia Nan.

• Hu Feifei realized [One]'s consciousness had entered her after she stepped on a corpse and had later taken the giant ghost's curse in her place.
• Hu Feifei concluded that approaching Spider Woman could wake [One] and the [Seven Children] from their distorted mental world.
• Hu Feifei remembered Xia Nan instinctively pulling her to safety and reflected that players should not become numb to others' suffering.
• Hu Feifei walked toward Spider Woman as Xia Nan watched from behind a snowy slope.
• Spider Woman raised her head and severed Hu Feifei's head, leaving Xia Nan staring at her dying gaze.

After Hu Feifei was killed by Spider Woman, Xia Nan fled and continued searching for a way to survive. Meanwhile, Qin Manjiang told Chen Xin and Abyss that they were inside overlapping mental worlds and dreams, with Wu Tiansheng as the dreamer of their current world.

• Xia Nan saw Hu Feifei's severed head and suspected Wu Tiansheng had triggered the plot that brought Spider Woman there.
• Xia Nan urged Wu Tiansheng to split up, then fled when Spider Woman appeared where he had been hiding and seemed to pursue him.
• Xia Nan reasoned that approaching Spider Woman was part of the survival path, but touching it had killed Hu Feifei, so he considered climbing to the summit.
• When the snow stopped, Qin Manjiang saw the text appear on his Invitation and concluded that Hu Feifei had died.
• Qin Manjiang told Chen Xin and Abyss that they were not real people and theorized that the seven players occupied simultaneous, nested mental worlds, with Wu Tiansheng dreaming the world they were in.

Qin Manjiang told Chen Xin that the snow revealed how [One] monitored their thoughts in a mental world, and that Hu Feifei’s death had created a brief chance to act. He revealed his connection to [Abyss] and urged Chen Xin to help ensure the Fu City players died in the Ghost Story Game rather than the real world, while warning that the sealed, unusually dangerous curse could bring unpredictable threats.

• Qin Manjiang argued that the snow stopped after Lin Ruonan and Hu Feifei died because their emotions had ceased, and that the pauses concealed the players’ thoughts from [One].
• Chen Xin rejected Qin Manjiang’s detached attitude toward Hu Feifei’s death and began to walk away.
• Qin Manjiang removed the White Mask, revealing that his face matched [Abyss]’s, and told Chen Xin that [Abyss] was a brother whose fate was linked to his.
• Qin Manjiang warned that two outsiders might be behind the disappearances of Fu City players and said they should die in the Ghost Story Game, trusting Yan Xiao’s promise to protect everyone in Fu City’s Eye Realm.
• Qin Manjiang resolved to have the group face Spider Woman or [One] soon because the Ghost Story contained an unusually powerful vengeful ghost that had sealed all item effects.

Qin Manjiang, Chen Xin, and Abyss discussed how to use [One]'s possession of a player to reach Spider Woman, and Chen Xin reasoned that a different kind of death might allow players to survive. They realized Abyss had drawn [One] in by touching his own skin, leaving them to question whether his body was already a corpse.

• Qin Manjiang explained that finding [One]'s host and making the host approach Spider Woman seemed impossible, so he proposed killing players until only one remained, while sparing Wu Tiansheng.
• Chen Xin confirmed that touching a corpse had caused [One] to possess him and suggested that players might survive if Qin Manjiang killed them instead of Spider Woman.
• Qin Manjiang questioned where Wu Tiansheng's path to survival was and asked whether [One] had been inside Abyss when Abyss acted on a sudden thought.
• Chen Xin asked whether Abyss had touched a corpse at the time, and Abyss revealed that he had wiped snow from his eyes with his bare hand.
• Qin Manjiang and Chen Xin realized Abyss may have drawn [One] in by touching himself and wondered whether Abyss's body was a corpse.

After the group realized Abyss’s body could host [One]’s consciousness, [One] transformed into a powerful Vengeful Ghost and pursued Qin Manjiang and Chen Xin. Xia Nan, fleeing separately, considered how to trap [One] inside his own body so they could approach Spider Woman.

• Abyss removed his gloves and touched his eyes, allowing [One]’s consciousness to enter his body as Wu Tiansheng regained control and fled uphill from Spider Woman.
• [One] realized Qin Manjiang and Chen Xin had seen through his disguise, transformed Abyss into a towering Vengeful Ghost, and began hunting them.
• Qin Manjiang and Chen Xin fled in different directions, while [One] pursued Qin Manjiang and suspected he was being lured away from the others.
• Qin Manjiang continued running downhill as he considered that Abyss’s body had truly been a corpse.
• Xia Nan stopped to rest and reasoned that the Players might need to carry [One]’s consciousness within them to pass through Spider Woman, but he did not know how to imprison it in his body.

Xia Nan was left hanging from a snowy cliff after a terrifying roar distracted him, while Qin Manjiang revealed that he had baited [One] into possessing him. [One] entered Qin Manjiang’s body, where a flippant voice welcomed him.

• Xia Nan, Chen Xin, and Wu Tiansheng heard a piercing roar from down the mountain, and Xia Nan hurried toward the summit.
• Xia Nan slipped on loose snow at a ledge and ended up dangling over a cliff, unable to see or safely call to anyone who might pass.
• [One] chased Qin Manjiang along remote, dangerous routes until Qin Manjiang stopped and took a piece of flesh from his jacket.
• Qin Manjiang touched the flesh and taunted [One], who was pulled into Qin Manjiang’s body as his ghost form returned to Abyss’s appearance and collapsed.
• A flippant voice greeted [One] from inside Qin Manjiang’s body.

Xia Nan was rescued by Wu Tiansheng, but Spider Woman continued pursuing them up the mountain. Xia Nan drew the ghost toward himself while Wu Tiansheng raced for the summit, leaving their chances of survival dependent on whether he could reach it in time.

• Wu Tiansheng pulled Xia Nan up from the cliff, and Xia Nan asked why a ghost had appeared behind him.
• Wu Tiansheng warned that Spider Woman was approaching, and the two saw her climbing steadily toward them.
• Xia Nan split from Wu Tiansheng and ran left to draw Spider Woman away while Wu Tiansheng headed right toward the summit.
• Wu Tiansheng stripped off his bulky clothes and vowed to reach the summit within fifteen minutes.
• Xia Nan waited for Spider Woman to notice him, then ran left to keep her focused on him and give Wu Tiansheng time.

Qin Manjiang explained how [One] possessed people and argued that a terrifying being on Snow Summit was the true threat behind the spirit world. He stalled [One] to keep him from returning to Wu Tiansheng, then called on Chen Xin to switch bodies and restrain him.

• [One] entered Qin Manjiang's body but found he could not take absolute control, while Jiang Du awakened inside Qin Manjiang.
• Qin Manjiang deduced that [One] moved between people when they touched corpses and that Wu Tiansheng was his permanent vessel.
• Qin Manjiang explained that [One] had used Hu Feifei and others to start the plot, and that Spider Woman was the exit while [One] was its key.
• Qin Manjiang revealed his belief that a being on Snow Summit had shaped the spirit world and was the true terror awaiting [One] outside it.
• [One] realized Qin Manjiang was stalling him, and Qin Manjiang called to Chen Xin to switch and keep [One] locked up.

Qin Manjiang escaped after [One] took control of Chen Xin, while Xia Nan used an avalanche to stop Spider Woman’s pursuit. Xia Nan survived being buried in the snow, but Spider Woman’s fate remained unknown.

• [One] took control of Chen Xin, but fell when Chen Xin’s tied shoelaces bound his feet, giving Qin Manjiang and Abyss time to escape.
• Spider Woman chased Xia Nan as he tried to draw her away from Wu Tiansheng, who was heading for the snowy summit.
• With Spider Woman closing in and his strength spent, Xia Nan slid down a steep snowy slope and stopped without suffering major injuries.
• Xia Nan noticed the snow trembling and shouted to trigger an avalanche that buried Spider Woman and swept over him.
• After the avalanche stopped, Xia Nan freed his chest enough to breathe and survived beneath the snow.

Wu Tiansheng raced to the summit while Qin Manjiang, Abyss, Chen Xin, and Xia Nan took turns holding [One] back to buy him time. He scaled the sheer cliff and reached the glowing point at the route’s endpoint, hoping to escape in time to save Xia Nan.

• Wu Tiansheng heard Xia Nan scream and rushed toward the summit cliff, while the others focused on delaying [One].
• Qin Manjiang, Abyss, Chen Xin, and Xia Nan successively took on the task of keeping [One]'s consciousness contained so Wu Tiansheng could continue.
• Wu Tiansheng climbed the cliff, overcame a crosswind, and pulled himself over the final ledge despite his exhaustion.
• Wu Tiansheng spotted a basketball-sized point of light at the center of the summit and crawled toward it, hoping to reach Xia Nan before it was too late.