Chapter Summaries

Qin Manjiang arrived at Guanyin Flat Lake on the final day and was transported twenty years into the past when the Guanyin Flat Lake challenge began. He appeared beneath the statue as villagers trapped by a deadly winter welcomed a naked young woman into their house.

• Qin Manjiang reached Guanyin Flat Lake after Yan Xiao, Zhong Xueran, and Nie Yunzhen warned him to be careful.
• At midnight, a damaged Guanyin statue rose from the lake, and Qin Manjiang was swept twenty years into the past as the Guanyin Flat Lake challenge began.
• In Guanyin Village, the Village Chief found that a sudden cold snap had split the ground and destroyed the only road out.
• The villagers gathered to discuss their isolation and dwindling supplies when someone knocked on the door.
• The villagers pulled a naked young woman inside, while Qin Manjiang appeared beneath the Guanyin statue and felt its gaze upon him.

Qin Manjiang arrived in Guanyin Village twenty years before its submersion and met a mute woman who seemed strangely familiar to him. After posing as her boyfriend to protect her and secure shelter at the Guanyin Temple, he asked whether she knew him, and she shook her head.

• Qin Manjiang entered a village house and found a nearly naked young woman whom he felt he recognized.
• Qin Manjiang claimed the woman was his girlfriend to explain her condition and protect her from the villagers' stares.
• The village women arranged for Qin Manjiang and the woman to stay in the Guanyin Temple.
• The woman repeatedly took Qin Manjiang's hand as they walked to the temple, and Qin Manjiang let her hold it.
• Qin Manjiang asked the mute woman whether she knew him, and she shook her head.

Qin Manjiang witnessed a Pale Ghostly Entity devour villagers in Guanyin Village and followed the villagers’ method of hiding in darkness beneath the quilts. An old man fleeing the ghost reached the Guanyin Statue and begged the Bodhisattva to save him, while Qin Manjiang and the woman hid nearby.

• Qin Manjiang heard villagers cry that there was a ghost and ran toward an old house, where a Pale Ghostly Entity was eating a villager.
• A young man charged into the house to save his father, but the ghost killed him and threw his head outside.
• Qin Manjiang fled to the Guanyin Temple, locked the door, and hid beneath a quilt with the woman as the villagers extinguished their lights and stayed silent.
• An old man chased his runaway food through the freezing village and, while fleeing the ghost, fell to his knees before the Guanyin Statue and begged for help.

Qin Manjiang restrained the mute woman while a ghost roamed outside, while the Old Village Chief and Zhao Laoda searched their house for Bai Gu’s note. Zhao Laoda found it and escaped a blood-filled drawer, but he and his father fought over the paper as they fled.

• Qin Manjiang pinned down the struggling woman and waited for the ghost outside to leave.
• Old Zhao and Zhao Laoda argued over Bai Gu’s warning note and searched for it in the dark.
• Old Zhao and Zhao Laoda discovered bloody handprints and blood pouring from a drawer.
• Zhao Laoda reached into the blood, found the paper, and saw pale arms emerge from the drawer.
• Old Zhao and Zhao Laoda fled the house and wrestled over the paper outside as the blood and arms vanished.

Qin Manjiang hid in Guanyin Temple as a Vengeful Ghost entered, but the mute woman with him fed it one of her fingers and drove it away. After hearing Zhao Laoda call out Bai Gu’s name as another ghost pursued him and Old Man Zhao, Qin Manjiang asked the woman if she could save him when he called for help in his mind, and she nodded.

• Qin Manjiang and the mute woman hid beneath a quilt as hoof-like footsteps stopped outside Guanyin Temple and the Vengeful Ghost entered.
• When the woman suddenly got up, Qin Manjiang tried to flee, but she glowed, snapped off her little finger, and fed it to the ghost, which grew and vanished into the darkness.
• Qin Manjiang found that the woman's finger had disappeared without leaving a wound.
• Outside the village, Old Man Zhao and Zhao Laoda spotted the enlarged, four-eyed Vengeful Ghost pursuing them.
• Zhao Laoda shouted that Bai Gu had given him something to save his life, and Qin Manjiang recognized Bai Gu’s name as Bai Yang’s father.
• Qin Manjiang asked the woman if she could save him when he called for help in his mind, and she nodded.

Old Man Zhao and Zhao Laoda used bloodstained paper figures to distract the Vengeful Ghost, while Qin Manjiang witnessed the ghost and the Village Chief being swept into a strange funeral procession. After returning to Guanyin Temple, Qin asked the woman if she was Guanyin, and Old Man Zhao realized the danger Bai Gu had warned him about might have arrived early.

• Old Man Zhao gave Zhao Laoda a paper figure, and the two men made bloodstained copies of themselves that held the Vengeful Ghost’s attention while they escaped.
• Qin Manjiang found fog, eerie music, and a funeral procession containing the Village Chief, a man resembling his descendant, and the Vengeful Ghost.
• Qin returned safely to Guanyin Temple and asked the woman whether she was Guanyin.
• Old Man Zhao told Zhao Laoda that the woman was the threat Bai Gu had warned them to watch for, then spotted a possible way out on the paper in Zhao Laoda’s hand.

Qin Manjiang questioned whether the silent woman was Guanyin and worried that feeding her fingers to the Man-Eating Evil Ghost would make it stronger, while he remained trapped in [Guanyin Flat Lake]. Meanwhile, Old Zhao severed his own finger and ordered Zhao Laoda to help him draw something on the floor.

• Qin Manjiang considered the woman's identity, the ghost's evolution, and how he could escape [Guanyin Flat Lake] before falling asleep.
• Zhao Laoda questioned why the village ignored the disappearances of children and elders and the ghosts that appeared after Old Zhao brought back the Guanyin Statue.
• Zhao Laoda read the paper Bai Gu had left behind and recognized its strange verses as resembling the God Cult's doctrines.
• Old Zhao snatched the paper, hurried home, and severed his index finger with a cleaver.
• Old Zhao picked up his severed finger and told Zhao Laoda to help him draw something on the floor.

Old Zhao used a bloody ritual to summon God's Apostle, believing it could stop Guanyin from emerging early. After the ritual seemed to succeed, he ordered Zhao Laoda to repair the road and arrest Qin Manjiang, whom he accused of wanting to steal the village's treasure; meanwhile, Qin Manjiang dreamed of an unidentified woman who told him it was the third time.

• Old Zhao drew a ritual array with his bleeding finger and instructed Zhao Laoda to place the severed finger in its center.
• Old Zhao chanted the ritual words, and a cold presence entered the kitchen as the finger spun within the array.
• The array swallowed the finger, the oppressive presence vanished, and Old Zhao believed God's Apostle had accepted his request.
• Old Zhao told Zhao Laoda to repair the road so he could meet Bai Gu and to arrest Qin Manjiang at daybreak because he would steal the village's treasure.
• Qin Manjiang dreamed of an indistinct woman who told him, "You... this is the third time."

Qin Manjiang escaped the house with the mysterious woman after suspecting he had visited Guanyin Flat Lake before and lost his memories. He confronted Zhao Laoda on the outskirts of the village and proposed that they work together to investigate what had happened.

• Qin Manjiang woke from a dream about a third encounter and wondered whether his memories of Guanyin Flat Lake had been erased.
• Qin Manjiang spotted several furtive figures near the Guanyin Statue, woke the mysterious woman, and escaped with her through the back window.
• Qin Manjiang decided to investigate the Guanyin Statue first because the road to the reservoir was blocked.
• Zhao Laoda arrived with four young men, found the house empty, and left to repair the road while the young men watched him eerily.
• Qin Manjiang stopped Zhao Laoda outside the village and accused him of making a noise to warn him, then suggested they work together.

Qin Manjiang allied with Zhao Laoda, who suspected Bai Gu and his own father were connected to disappearances in Guanyin Village. As they headed toward the reservoir, Zhao Laoda realized the missing villagers seemed to belong to the generations before and after those still living, then revealed that a Great Tomb lay beneath the village.

• Qin Manjiang told Zhao Laoda that he opposed Bai Gu, and Zhao Laoda admitted that his son and younger brother had gone missing after his father brought a Guanyin statue to the village.
• Zhao Laoda agreed to take Qin Manjiang to a place that required two people to open, then led him and the silent woman along a hidden mountain path toward the reservoir.
• Zhao Laoda said Bai Gu's money had quieted villagers' objections to the Guanyin statue, then realized that most villagers' parents and children had disappeared, leaving their generation behind.
• Qin Manjiang and Zhao Laoda looked down at Guanyin Village and saw that its shape resembled a grave.
• Zhao Laoda revealed that a Great Tomb lay beneath the village.

Qin Manjiang followed Zhao Laoda to the reservoir, where they discovered a bloated corpse that appeared to move. Zhao Laoda recognized it as his missing younger brother and pulled it from the water, while Qin Manjiang saw hatred on the Mysterious Woman’s face.

• Zhao Laoda told Qin Manjiang that the current villagers had settled in an abandoned village built over a huge tomb.
• Zhao Laoda led Qin Manjiang and the Mysterious Woman up to the reservoir, where employees had spotted a floating corpse.
• Zhao Laoda recognized the corpse as his missing younger brother and jumped into the water to retrieve him.
• The corpse’s limbs twitched and its face showed expressions as Zhao Laoda hauled it closer, horrifying the onlookers.
• Qin Manjiang looked to the Mysterious Woman and saw venomous hatred on her face.

Qin Manjiang watched dozens of missing villagers’ corpses rise from the reservoir, including a body that looked like him, before the mysterious woman revealed herself as Zuo Xian. She recognized him as Jiang Du, claimed he had traveled to the future to save the present, and welcomed him back.

• Dozens of corpses rose from the reservoir, and Zhao Laoda’s brother turned into a pile of bones when dragged ashore.
• Qin Manjiang saw a corpse resembling himself mouth the words “Death was too kind,” but the mysterious woman denied that it was him.
• The woman spoke, identified herself as Zuo Xian, and led Qin Manjiang away before the police and Bai Gu arrived.
• Zuo Xian told Qin Manjiang that she had briefly borrowed his father’s body and given him his name.
• Zuo Xian called Qin Manjiang Jiang Du and said he had paused his time, traveled to the future, and returned to save the present.

Yi Lianhai told Mei Sijun that their world was a false, enclosed realm and claimed the Bai family controlled the [Eye Realm] while its master slept. He left Mei Sijun facing a forced experiment intended to test how his ability to attract positive emotions could be used with Spirit Pupils.

• Yi Lianhai explained that the world was like a farm confined to Fu City and Moon City, though its inhabitants were real.
• Yi Lianhai claimed that the master of the [Eye Realm] had fallen asleep and that the [Eye Realm] Game was man-made.
• Mei Sijun read a family record from Zhong Xueran’s family that identified the Bai family as the God Servants controlling the [Eye Realm].
• Yi Lianhai said that leaving the [Eye Realm] did not mean returning to the real world and that ghosts were collections of negative human emotions inhabited and amplified by Spirit Pupils.
• Yi Lianhai refused to explain what Spirit Pupils were unless Mei Sijun agreed to cooperate with an experiment.
• Yi Lianhai chose Mei Sijun as a vessel for attracting positive emotions and proposed an experiment in blasphemy.

Qin Manjiang followed Zuo Xian away from the dam as she insisted he was Jiang Du and explained that Guanyin Village contained an [Embryo] sought by them and Bai Gu. The chapter left them heading underground, with Qin Manjiang still trying to understand whether he could escape this world.

• Zuo Xian welcomed Qin Manjiang as Jiang Du, but he insisted that he was Qin Manjiang and needed to clear the Ghost Story to return to the real world.
• Zuo Xian claimed that Qin Manjiang himself was driving the Ghost Story, not the [Eye Realm], and said she was a bodiless soul borrowing the Guanyin Statue’s incarnation.
• Zuo Xian explained that Guanyin Village was abnormal before the statue arrived and that beings like the [Eye Realm] imprisoned this world while it nurtured others of their kind.
• Zuo Xian said she, Bai Gu, and Jiang Du had come for the [Embryo], and suggested they could kidnap Bai Gu to learn more about the Guanyin Statue.
• Zuo Xian asked about Qin Manjiang’s doll, then pointed below the dam and said they were going underground.

During Guanyin Village’s Monthly Celebration Day, the Old Village Chief’s allies prepared a horrifying offering by sealing a needle-covered old man inside a pig. Meanwhile, Qin Manjiang and Zuo Xian reached a cave in the Back Mountain that led to a tomb beneath the village, where they intended to look for the [Embryo].

• The villagers prepared food offerings for Guanyin’s monthly celebration as the cold that followed the Outsiders’ arrival disappeared.
• In an underground chamber, Old Man Zhao and the Old Village Chief gutted a pig, stuffed a bound, needle-covered old man inside it, and ordered the villagers to roast it.
• The villagers complained about Old Man Zhao’s authority after he left, with one describing him as a rat the size of a person.
• Zuo Xian told Qin Manjiang she had only recently borrowed the Guanyin Incarnation’s body, leaving him confused about the dream and the Guanyin Fragment.
• Zuo Xian led Qin Manjiang to a cave in the Back Mountain and explained that it was an entrance to a tomb beneath Guanyin Village.
• Qin Manjiang suspected the tomb held the source of the village’s strangeness and wondered whether the Corpse Pool from his dream lay inside.

Qin Manjiang followed Zuo Xian into a cave filled with human remains and discovered that a shattered Guanyin Phantom had appeared behind him. When he demanded to know what they might face in the tomb, Zuo Xian revealed that the [It] gestating there could be the master of the [Eye Realm].

• Qin Manjiang followed Zuo Xian into the dark, damp cave, where they found human skeletons huddled against the walls.
• A shattered Guanyin Phantom appeared behind Qin Manjiang, startling Zuo Xian, who asked where it had come from.
• Qin Manjiang questioned why the dead had pressed themselves against the walls, and Zuo Xian said they had feared the [It] in the tomb.
• Qin Manjiang demanded information about the embryo of [God] and insisted that Zuo Xian tell him what she needed him for before they went farther.
• Zuo Xian disclosed that the [It] gestating in the tomb might be the master of the [Eye Realm].

Zuo Xian explained that the Bai family used the Eye Realm and its players to gather Spirit Pupils and aligned emotions, while arguing that the world was a dead, closed loop. Qin Manjiang realized the doll [I] may have been part of a much older plan to accumulate emotions across generations, and wondered who had first owned it.

• Zuo Xian told Qin Manjiang that Moon City suspected the Eye Realm's creator was dead and that its humanlike rules suggested human interference.
• Zuo Xian revealed that she and Yi Lianhai had sought transcendence through Spirit Pupils and emotion, and that Yi Lianhai had found a way to enter the Eye Realm through another Backend.
• Zuo Xian said the Bai family had controlled the Eye Realm since ancient times and sent a family member into each game to guide players toward shared emotions.
• Qin Manjiang connected Bai Yang's role in Fu City's Eye Realm to the Bai family's effort to shape players' emotions.
• Qin Manjiang remembered the doll [I] and suspected that generations of Qin Manjiang and Jiang Du had been used to accumulate emotions, then wondered who had first owned the doll.

Bai Gu arrived at Guanyin Village with Little Yang and led the villagers underground, where he learned that the woman who had appeared was a valuable part of the Guanyin rather than an offering. In the passage, Bai Gu forced Little Yang to confront his fear of the dead and abruptly slapped him, leaving the boy bewildered.

• Bai Gu arrived at Guanyin Village with Little Yang, whom he introduced as his descendant, and Old Man Zhao prepared a roasted pig for the trip underground.
• Bai Gu noticed that a woman had appeared recently, then told Old Man Zhao she was the Guanyin's valuable fruit and scolded him for letting her escape.
• Old Man Zhao opened the hidden passage behind the Guanyin Statue, and Bai Gu, Little Yang, the villagers, and the roasted pig descended into the dark tunnel.
• Little Yang saw skeletal remains and clung to Bai Gu, who questioned him about his fear of the dead.
• Bai Gu slapped Little Yang to the ground, and the boy stared up at him, unable to understand what he had done wrong.

Qin Manjiang used the Guanyin Phantom to open the mysterious stone door, revealing a place that appeared to be the [Eye Realm]. Meanwhile, Zhao Laoda returned to Guanyin Village and found himself trapped in the fog with the man-eating ghost.

• Zuo Xian asked Qin Manjiang to use his Guanyin Phantom to open the stone door, and he pressed his hand against it.
• The Guanyin Phantom enveloped Qin Manjiang, and its remaining left eye opened as the stone door began to break apart.
• Zuo Xian reflected that Jiang Du had escaped the repeating timeline by giving up his immortality and splitting himself into opposing extremes, and she recognized Qin Manjiang as the man from twenty years in the future.
• Qin Manjiang retched blood as his perception of the world twisted, then the door opened and he realized the place beyond it seemed to be the [Eye Realm].
• Zhao Laoda returned toward Guanyin Village after finding villagers' bodies in the reservoir, including his younger brother.
• A man-eating ghost appeared in the fog near Zhao Laoda, and he discovered that he could no longer retreat.

Zhao Laoda returned to Guanyin Village and found its residents transformed into grotesque ghosts, but a helicopter rescued him at the last moment. The young man who saved him introduced himself as Yi Lianhai.

• Zhao Laoda found that the mechanism behind the Guanyin Statue did not work and encountered Qingzi, whose body had been taken over by something monstrous.
• When Qingzi lunged at him, Zhao Laoda smashed the child's face with a stone, but Qingzi rose again with its limbs bent backward.
• Zhao Laoda saw the villagers gathered in the mist as ghosts and realized he was surrounded.
• A helicopter swept away the mist and lowered a rope ladder, allowing Zhao Laoda to escape the ghosts.
• The young man who had rescued Zhao Laoda climbed down and identified himself as Yi Lianhai.