Chapter Summaries

Qin Manjiang and Qin Manyi drove to her boss’s seafood shop, where Qin Manyi asked for her brother to be given a place to stay. The boss agreed after seeing him asleep, but his arrival stirred memories of someone from her past.

• Qin Manjiang wondered why he felt no appetite for Qin Manyi and suspected it was because she belonged to Moon City’s Eye Realm.
• Qin Manyi drove Qin Manjiang through Moon City without a license, and they bickered until he fell asleep in the van.
• Qin Manyi told her boss about the trouble at Yuelai Hotel and asked if Qin Manjiang could stay in the shop.
• The boss saw Qin Manjiang sleeping in the van and allowed him to stay in the empty room at the back of the shop.
• The boss reflected that Qin Manjiang’s return reminded her of someone from the past, though she knew he was not that person.

Yan Xiao recalled the stormy night when Chen Zhiyuan used Yang’s phone to make the Continuation Pen write a possible future, then asked Yan to record it. After Chen survived the pen’s cost but forgot what he had written, Yan left determined to help every player in Fu City survive.

• Yan Xiao woke in Fu City and saw that his reflection seemed to flicker, reminding him that his time was running out.
• During the [Wedding Dress] storm, Chen Zhiyuan asked Yan Xiao to record what the Continuation Pen produced after he used Yang’s phone as a clue.
• Chen Zhiyuan dictated a possible future involving the Eye Realm, Zuo Xian, Yang, Fu City, and a costly effort to keep the world going.
• Chen Zhiyuan nearly died from using the pen, but Yan Xiao gave him Adrenaline and stabilized him.
• Chen Zhiyuan later forgot what he had written and spoke of worrying about Zhong Xueran and wanting more people to survive.
• Yan Xiao left in the rain and called a doctor, asking for every player in Fu City to be kept alive.

After half a month of quiet in Moon City, Qin Manjiang learned that his impostor was searching for two players from another era and heard that Spirit Pupils might fuel uncanny powers and ghost stories. A new round of the Ghost Story Game began, and Qin Manjiang prepared to leave for the next scenario.

• Shen Hai told Qin Manjiang that his Permanent Item had revealed two players from another era in Fu City's [Eye Realm], and that [Qin Manjiang] was likely searching for them.
• Qin Manjiang discussed Hunters and Spirit Pupils with Qin Manyi, who said Hunters gained the Spirit Pupils of players they killed and that an organization in Moon City was collecting them.
• Qin Manyi revealed that her boss had been asking about Qin Manjiang's personality and habits, leading him to conclude she was checking whether he was Jiang Du.
• Qin Manjiang suddenly felt the familiar palpitations and panic that signaled a new ghost story, then told Qin Manyi he was going to see some ghosts.

The players returned to the Eye Realm and learned that ghosts had begun targeting them in the real world. The seventh Ghost Story, “Seven Children,” began with the pupils selecting Professor as its first participant.

• Qin Manjiang noticed that only twenty-odd players had returned to the Eye Realm, and the others suspected the masked Professor because of the bloodstains on his apron.
• Nie Yunzhen told the players that several companions had lost contact after ghosts targeted them in the real world, prompting speculation about who was behind the disappearances.
• The seventh Ghost Story appeared with the title “Seven Children,” a cryptic message, and no time limit.
• The Eye Realm’s pupils focused on Professor, who was marked in red as the first participant.
• Qin Manjiang realized that he had not been selected this time and wondered whether his earlier involvement had been an unusual insertion into a game.

The Eye Realm selected seven players for the [Seven Children] Ghost Story, assembling a lineup that other players considered unusually reliable. Qin Manjiang realized that the fake [Abyss] had been chosen alongside him as [Professor], leaving their confrontation inside the Ghost Story uncertain.

• The Eye Realm selected Li Xijiu, Lin Ruonan, Chen Xin, Wu Tiansheng, and Hu Feifei after [Professor].
• The players admired the strong lineup, which included capable teammates known for reliability and skill.
• The seventh selection was [Abyss], the impostor, and Qin Manjiang recognized that he would face him in the same Ghost Story.
• Shen Hai, Yan Xiao, and Yu Ruoli looked to Qin Manjiang with concern, while most players celebrated the lineup.

Qin Manjiang experienced the life of Xiao Qi, a child raised by abusive adoptive parents and forced to steal with six other children in snowy Fu City. After the children planned their escape and set fire to the house, Qin Manjiang woke in the snow, realizing he was Xiao Qi.

• The seven chosen players were transported into the Ghost Story: Seven Children, set in Fu City in 2007.
• Qin Manjiang dreamed of Xiao Qi, a boy who endured beatings and was forced to steal for his adoptive parents.
• When one of the seven children fell ill in the snow, Xiao Qi returned from another neighborhood with meat buns and injuries.
• The children planned to flee their abusive home after revealing that they had set a fire, drugged and restrained their adoptive parents, and taken the money.
• The adoptive parents' house burned down as they screamed threats from the flames.
• Qin Manjiang awoke in the snow and realized he was Xiao Qi.

Qin Manjiang entered the Ghost Story [Seven Children] as Xiao Qi and teamed up with Wu Tiansheng, who was playing A-Si, to find the meeting place. They met Hu Feifei and pieced together their invitations into half a route map before discovering a corpse in the snow.

• Qin Manjiang woke in a snowstorm with an invitation that said the twelve-year pact was over and the group should meet at the old place.
• Qin Manjiang met Wu Tiansheng, and they identified themselves as Xiao Qi and A-Si before setting off in the direction they had both been facing.
• Wu Tiansheng helped Qin Manjiang travel through the storm, and they found Hu Feifei along the way.
• Qin Manjiang noticed that the golden patterns on their invitations fit together, and he, Wu Tiansheng, and Hu Feifei assembled half of a route map.
• Hu Feifei spotted a pale, withered face emerging from the snow at her feet.

Wu Tiansheng, Hu Feifei, and Qin Manjiang found a mummified corpse with Wu Tiansheng’s face and suspected the players were reenacting the children’s deaths. The two groups followed their invitation maps and reunited in the snow, where Xia Nan identified himself as Xiao Ba, leaving the group to wonder whether an eighth child had existed.

• Wu Tiansheng, Hu Feifei, and Qin Manjiang found a mummified corpse bearing Wu Tiansheng’s face and discussed whether the players were reenacting the children’s deaths.
• Qin Manjiang used the invitations’ glowing map to determine their route, and the three continued toward a possible meeting point.
• Xia Nan, Chen Xin, Lin Ruonan, and [Abyss] followed another snowy road, while Xia Nan felt that Qin Manjiang treated him like a stranger.
• The two groups reunited in the blizzard and introduced the characters they were playing.
• Xia Nan said he was Xiao Ba, and Qin Manjiang wondered whether someone was lying or whether an eighth child had existed.

After assembling the invitations into a route map, Qin Manjiang and the others found themselves compelled to act out conversations as if following a script. The group learned that the seven had returned to the mountain twelve years after escaping the Demon Cave, but their present-day relationships were strained.

• Wu Tiansheng suggested assembling the invitations, and the group formed a complete route map pointing toward a door-shaped symbol.
• After the map was completed, Hu Feifei, Chen Xin, Lin Ruonan, and Qin Manjiang began speaking and moving as though controlled by a script.
• Lin Ruonan told Qin Manjiang that the group had no supplies and warned him to obey her, hinting that he was good at deceiving people.
• Abyss asked Wu Tiansheng to leave the others behind and travel with him, but Wu Tiansheng refused; Xia Nan agreed to go with Abyss.
• The players realized they could resist their prescribed actions, but doing so triggered an overwhelming sense of being watched and threatened.

The seven players regrouped on the freezing mountain and agreed to cooperate despite their characters’ conflicting interests. After sharing clues about their roles and past schemes, they decided they would have to alter the story’s automatic enactments when those threatened someone, even if doing so might trigger danger.

• Hu Feifei broke the silence after the feeling of being watched faded, and all seven players agreed to cooperate.
• Lin Ruonan revealed that Xiao San had urged Xiao Qi to repeat something they did twelve years ago, while Qin Manjiang said Xiao Qi was skilled at deception and suspected they had once gotten someone killed for supplies.
• Wu Tiansheng explained that A Er had planned to take A-Si to a small cave and abandon the others, but A-Si refused and A Er later recruited Xiao Ba to steal the remaining supplies.
• Hu Feifei revealed that Xiao Wu hated and feared Xiao Liu, and Chen Xin confirmed that Xiao Liu harbored ill will toward Xiao Wu.
• Chen Xin linked the opening’s choice between change and death to the automatic enactments, and Lin Ruonan urged everyone to change the plot when the next enactment threatened them.

The group debated how fate and the ghost story’s fixed plot worked, and Qin Manjiang proposed changing what they could without disrupting unavoidable events. As they assessed their scarce supplies and difficult mountain route, the second plot sequence began.

• Abyss asked the group for ideas about the ghost story’s worldview, and Wu Tiansheng and Lin Ruonan debated whether fate was predetermined.
• Qin Manjiang proposed distinguishing unavoidable constants from changeable variables and suggested preparing around fixed plot events rather than directly disrupting them.
• Hu Feifei supported the compromise of adding variables when possible and stopping a plot sequence only when that proved too difficult.
• Lin Ruonan revealed that the group had ten energy bars, while Wu Tiansheng warned that food, water, hypothermia, and the long climb threatened them.
• Hu Feifei spotted someone nearby, and the second plot sequence began.

A-Si and Xiao Liu followed the plot to investigate a figure and became trapped on a snowy mountain path, while Qin Manjiang and the others escaped the enactment only to encounter a terrifying creature. The chapter ended with both groups facing danger on the mountain.

• A-Si and Xiao Liu followed the figure into the snow, but the plot continued past the point where they expected to regain control.
• A-Si and Xiao Liu reached a path bordered by cliffs, and Chen Xin refused to move until Wu Tiansheng persuaded him that the way forward had not yet proved dangerous.
• Qin Manjiang, Abyss, and Lin Ruonan refused to follow the plot's order to investigate, ending the enactment state.
• Qin Manjiang and the others saw a gaunt figure in a white dress with a mass of legs beneath it, then fled up the mountain.

Qin Manjiang and the others searched for shelter on the snow-covered mountain while trying to avoid changing the plot and drawing the vengeful ghost closer. When the group resisted a proposal to split up, [Abyss] chose to leave alone, putting himself in immediate danger.

• Qin Manjiang and the others noticed that the vengeful ghost had disappeared and continued through the snow to find a campsite.
• Xia Nan warned Hu Feifei not to eat snow directly and explained how to warm packed snow between layers of clothing.
• The group’s plot triggered again, revealing that Xiao San remembered a nearby hunter’s cabin but not its exact location.
• [Abyss] proposed splitting up to search, but Xia Nan rejected the plan and urged everyone to stay together.
• [Abyss] announced that he would go alone and walked into the wind and snow.

Qin Manjiang and the others realized [Abyss] had deliberately escaped the group, stolen their energy bars, and manipulated the plot to draw the Vengeful Ghost after them. They reached the Hunter's Cabin and found supplies, while Qin Manjiang suspected [Abyss]'s plan might backfire.

• Lin Ruonan pointed out the Hunter's Cabin's location, then discovered the energy bars were missing and accused [Abyss] of taking them.
• Qin Manjiang spotted the Vengeful Ghost close behind them, and the four fled toward the Hunter's Cabin.
• Lin Ruonan led the group to the cabin, where they found a stove, firewood, matches, and dried meat, then Xia Nan barred the door.
• Qin Manjiang explained that [Abyss] had broken free during the plot enactment, stolen the energy bars, and used the others to keep the Vengeful Ghost occupied while he headed for shelter alone.
• Qin Manjiang said [Abyss]'s strategy might end up backfiring.

After becoming lost in a snowstorm, Chen Xin rested while Wu Tiansheng went ahead to search for a route. Chen Xin reflected on the strange behavior of [Abyss] and [Professor] and questioned whether the memories and scenes in [Seven Children] accurately reflected what had happened.

• Chen Xin and Wu Tiansheng became lost on a dangerous, snow-covered mountain trail as darkness approached.
• Wu Tiansheng cleared a rock for Chen Xin to rest and went ahead alone to look for a way forward.
• Chen Xin used his unusual ability to focus and recalled how players could escape a ghost story by looking beyond its plot logic.
• Chen Xin suspected that [Abyss] was not human because his expressions seemed repeated and mechanical.
• Chen Xin noticed that [Professor] shared some of [Abyss]'s habits, but performed them more naturally.
• Chen Xin questioned whether the players' shared memories of the seven children fleeing their adoptive home were reliable.

Chen Xin questioned the distorted memories of the seven children and wondered why they had come to Snow Mountain. Wu Tiansheng led him to a cabin, where they found the corpse of the woman their roles knew as their mother.

• Chen Xin reconsidered the children’s memories of escaping their abusive adoptive parents and questioned why Snow Mountain had become their reunion place.
• Wu Tiansheng stopped Chen Xin from walking toward a cliff and led him through the snow to a cabin.
• Chen Xin noticed that Wu Tiansheng’s footprints returning from the cabin were disordered, suggesting something inside had shaken him.
• Wu Tiansheng opened the cabin door and showed Chen Xin the corpse of a woman their roles knew as their mother.

Chen Xin and Wu Tiansheng discovered that the woman’s corpse had been mutilated, leading Chen Xin to suspect the Seven Children’s memories had concealed what really happened on Snow Mountain. In another cabin, Xia Nan warned the group not to eat the dried meat they had found.

• Chen Xin examined the woman’s corpse and asked Wu Tiansheng to turn it over so they could look for injuries.
• Wu Tiansheng found that the flesh on the woman’s back had been removed, leaving cavities beside her spine.
• Chen Xin proposed that the Seven Children had shared sanitized memories and that they might have been on Snow Mountain from the beginning, not in a city or old courtyard.
• Wu Tiansheng asked why the woman’s back had been stripped of flesh, and Chen Xin suggested a ritual or murder for her flesh as possible explanations.
• Qin Manjiang, Xia Nan, Lin Ruonan, and Hu Feifei inspected another cabin and found supplies, a stove, and dried meat.
• Hu Feifei wanted to make soup from the meat, but Xia Nan gravely warned the group not to eat it.

Xia Nan identified the dried meat in the cabin as human flesh, and the four players tried to make sense of its connection to the snow mountain and the seven children. After Lin Ruonan and Hu Feifei went outside, Spider Woman appeared at the cabin door.

• Xia Nan identified the meat as human flesh that had been deliberately cut from a shoulder blade at least a week earlier.
• The group wondered whether the cabin's owner had killed someone or whether the meat belonged to the owner, and Hu Feifei recalled that seven children had come to the mountain twelve years ago.
• Hu Feifei boiled snow for water while Qin Manjiang told everyone to rest in shifts and conserve their strength.
• Xia Nan proposed that he and Hu Feifei take the first watch and Qin Manjiang and Lin Ruonan the second, but Lin Ruonan chose the second watch and took Hu Feifei outside before dark.
• After Lin Ruonan and Hu Feifei had been gone for several minutes, the stove flames flickered in a gust of wind, and Qin Manjiang and Xia Nan saw Spider Woman standing in the doorway.

Qin Manjiang realized the Spider Woman’s appearances might be tied to changes in the plot, not an original storyline, and chased it into the blizzard before losing its trail. Back at the cabin, Lin Ruonan recounted how she and Hu Feifei had seen a colossal skeletal figure beside the summit, leaving Hu Feifei in a vacant, terrified state.

• Qin Manjiang questioned whether the events of [Auto-Enactment] were truly the [Original Plot] and inferred that [Abyss] had the ability to trigger plot changes.
• The Spider Woman retreated from the cabin, and Qin Manjiang ran after it while warning Xia Nan not to follow.
• Qin Manjiang counted fourteen legs on the Spider Woman and suspected its appearances were forced by plot changes, but the blizzard erased its tracks and he returned to the cabin.
• Lin Ruonan and Hu Feifei returned to the cabin looking terrified, and Lin Ruonan began describing what they had seen.
• Lin Ruonan and Hu Feifei saw the storm abruptly stop and moonlight reveal a gigantic skeletal figure gripping the summit; after the storm returned, Lin Ruonan found Hu Feifei’s face twisted and vacant.

After Lin Ruonan recounted seeing a gigantic Vengeful Ghost on Snow Mountain, Qin Manjiang proposed that the Ghost Story might be a delusion created by a dying person named [One], with the Seven Children representing parts of his personality. The group still needed to reach the summit to discover why [One] entered Snow Mountain.

• Lin Ruonan told Qin Manjiang and Xia Nan about the terrifying scene she and Hu Feifei had witnessed.
• Qin Manjiang asked Lin Ruonan what Xiao San meant by saying there was no turning back after entering Snow Mountain, and she recalled that they had left some things of their own there.
• Qin Manjiang and Xia Nan discussed the Spider Woman, the burned couple, and the Seven Children, and Qin Manjiang suggested there might originally have been only one child, [One].
• Qin Manjiang theorized that the Seven Children were parts of [One]'s personality and that the Ghost Story's Plot Enactment shaped his memories.
• Xia Nan asked why [One] had entered Snow Mountain, and Qin Manjiang said they would have to reach the summit to find out.