Chapter Summaries

Bai Gu used his divine power to reveal the giant eye and tried to force the entities around it to emerge, but the attempt left him badly wounded. Qin Manjiang saw that the eye belonged to the White Pupil God, whose other face resembled his own.

• Bai Gu used "Ascend to Heaven" and revealed the giant eye above the Eye Realm, restoring the hallucinating people’s senses but leaving many injured.
• Bai Gu gathered the light around himself and continued confronting the eye as it opened wider, while the Guanyin Phantom protected Qin Manjiang from its terror.
• Bai Gu told the hidden entities to come out, then unleashed a burst of light that sent him and Qin Manjiang crashing toward the ground.
• The Guanyin Incarnation caught Qin Manjiang, while Bai Gu hit the ground and stared upward in horror.
• Qin Manjiang saw the enormous White Pupil God stretched across the sky and realized its half-open eye had a pure-white pupil like Bai Gu’s.
• The God turned its double-faced head, revealing a twisted face that looked like Qin Manjiang.

Qin Manjiang tried to escape as a gigantic monster bearing his face awakened above Guanyin Village, while the Guanyin Incarnation and Yi Lianhai reacted to it. Yi Lianhai proposed killing the god and reminded Qin Manjiang that he had a god inside him too.

• The Guanyin Incarnation repeatedly flew toward the monster, and Qin Manjiang stopped her before dodging a tentacle that blasted the ground.
• Qin Manjiang learned that the face the Guanyin Incarnation saw was her own, then headed for the exit and revived Yi Lianhai.
• Yi Lianhai rejoiced at seeing the god, so Qin Manjiang tackled him out of the way of another tentacle strike.
• Yi Lianhai and Qin Manjiang discussed whether the White Pupil God had changed after its defeat by Red Pupil.
• Yi Lianhai proposed that they kill the awakening god and reminded Qin Manjiang that he had a god inside him.

Qin Manjiang realized the red-pupiled eyeball could connect the present White Pupil God to the enormous Spiral Pupil watching him in Fu City's [Eye Realm] twenty years later. He set aside his fear and agreed to become the Guanyin Incarnation’s vessel so they could attack the God.

• Yi Lianhai showed Qin Manjiang the red-pupiled eyeball and proposed using Qin Manjiang as a vessel to carry it to the White Pupil God.
• Qin Manjiang recalled Li Xijiu throwing an eyeball into the Giant Ghost's mouth during the [Seven Children] Ghost Story and wondered whether it was the same one Yi Lianhai held.
• Qin Manjiang deduced that the White Pupil God had escaped Guanyin Village and hidden inside the enormous Spiral Pupil in Fu City's [Eye Realm], where only he could see Its true form.
• Yi Lianhai noticed Qin Manjiang sweating and called him back from his thoughts.
• Qin Manjiang told Yi Lianhai he was ready to begin and asked what he needed to do.

Qin Manjiang and Yi Lianhai escaped the underground cavern with the Guanyin Incarnation and prepared to try to kill the White Pupil God before it awakened. The Guanyin Incarnation revealed her name as Nie Yunzhen, leaving Qin Manjiang shocked by her apparent connection to someone he knew.

• Qin Manjiang and Yi Lianhai fled the cavern with the Guanyin Incarnation, while Qin Manjiang resolved to stop the White Pupil God from awakening and prevent the red-and-white Spiral Pupil from appearing in the future.
• The three reached Guanyin Village, where Yi Lianhai ran off to retrieve his equipment and told Qin Manjiang to wait by the Guanyin Statue.
• Qin Manjiang worried that Yi Lianhai's plan to use him as a vessel for the Guanyin Incarnation's power could harm her, but chose to continue in hopes of changing the future.
• Qin Manjiang asked the Guanyin Incarnation whether she had a name, and she wrote three characters in the moonlight.
• Qin Manjiang read the name as Nie Yunzhen and reacted with disbelief, thinking of the woman who had awakened in the Coffin.

Yi Lianhai used the Glass Cabinet to draw the Guanyin Incarnation’s power into Qin Manjiang, warning that she would disappear afterward. Before the process could be completed, the White Pupil God awakened and began emerging from the ground.

• Yi Lianhai brought the Glass Cabinet and sent four employees to evacuate Guanyin Village, telling them to find Zuo Xian at Lin Ci’s place if he failed.
• Qin Manjiang entered the Glass Cabinet, and the Guanyin Incarnation joined him after he beckoned her inside.
• Yi Lianhai activated the device, and the Guanyin Incarnation panicked as Qin Manjiang learned she would disappear after giving him her power.
• Yi Lianhai announced that the White Pupil God had awakened as thunder, rain, and strange light engulfed the village.
• The ground collapsed and an enormous head emerged, leaving Qin Manjiang, the Guanyin Incarnation, and Yi Lianhai stunned.

Qin Manjiang tried to stop Yi Lianhai’s Ascension Ritual when he learned it would erase the Guanyin Incarnation, but the ritual pushed her to the brink as a giant black hand descended. Jiang Du helped Qin Manjiang preserve the last fragment of her, and the resulting ascended being stopped the hand before killing Yi Lianhai.

• Qin Manjiang demanded that Yi Lianhai release him and stop the Ascension Ritual, but Yi Lianhai activated the equipment and forced the ritual to continue.
• A giant black palm descended toward them as the Guanyin Incarnation cracked apart, and Qin Manjiang tried to break out of the equipment while holding her.
• The Guanyin Incarnation spoke of the past, present, and future before most of her body crumbled, so Qin Manjiang called out to Jiang Du.
• Jiang Du emerged from a coffin in the Eye Realm and gave Qin Manjiang grayish-white mist, which Qin Manjiang used to protect the remaining piece of her head and left eye.
• The equipment shattered, revealing a faintly glowing, transparent humanoid with spiral pupils that halted the black palm.
• Yi Lianhai celebrated the successful Ascension Ritual, but the humanoid turned toward him and caused him to explode into bloody mist.

Qin Manjiang used the Guanyin Incarnation’s remaining power to free Jiang Du and preserve a fragment of her, then attacked the White Pupil God with the Red Pupil. As the threat vanished, he spent his remaining power to save the reservoir workers and imprison the Living Corpses beneath the Guanyin Statue.

• Qin Manjiang opened the Eye Realm across time and space, released Jiang Du from the Ten Spirit Coffins, and preserved a fragment of the Guanyin Incarnation.
• Jiang Du returned to his own timeline, found Yi Lianhai and a girl’s faint figure inside the Eye Realm phone, and left to begin saving them.
• Qin Manjiang charged into the White Pupil God’s darkness and drove the Red Pupil eyeball into its core, making the monster vanish.
• Qin Manjiang used his fading power to carry the humans near the reservoir to safety as the dam burst and the flood swept through Guanyin Village.
• Qin Manjiang sent his last light to the Guanyin Statue, which imprisoned the Living Corpses beneath it forever.

Shen Hai told Yan Xiao that Qin Manjiang had become the fog rising from Guanyin Flat Lake and was using it to hide the players from the Bai family. He revealed that the Bai family had turned the Eye Realm into a game and arranged the next two games, then asked Yan Xiao to help bring the real Eye Realm game down upon them.

• Yan Xiao left home to meet the Fu City Eye Realm players and ran into Shen Hai in the fog.
• Shen Hai explained that Qin Manjiang had sent him to infiltrate the Bai Group while Qin entered his Personal Challenge.
• Shen Hai said he had found the Bai family's underground game operation and learned that the Eye Realm had no consciousness and the Bai family used it to watch players.
• Shen Hai revealed that the Bai family had arranged the ninth and Ultimate games, including the players' endings.
• Shen Hai told Yan Xiao that Qin Manjiang's fog was blocking the Bai family's surveillance and urged him to help bring the real Eye Realm game down upon them.

Yan Xiao heard Shen Hai explain Qin Manjiang’s plan to free [Eye Realm] from the Bai family’s control and restart the Ghost Story Game, but he questioned the motives behind the factions involved. They concluded that the world was dead and its legacy had drawn powerful people seeking to become its new Creator.

• Yan Xiao asked to meet Qin Manjiang, and Shen Hai revealed that the fog was Qin and that Qin had sent him to deliver the truth about [Eye Realm].
• Shen Hai explained that Qin Manjiang wanted to free [Eye Realm] from the Bai family and force everyone connected to it into a real game.
• Yan Xiao pointed out that freeing [Eye Realm] would only return it to dormancy, and Shen Hai described how Qin’s godly power and fog could obstruct the Bai family’s surveillance.
• Shen Hai wondered whether Jiang Du had created Qin Manjiang to continue attempts to restart [Eye Realm], and Yan Xiao said the Bai family’s and Yi Lianhai’s apparent goals were only means or facades.
• Yan Xiao and Shen Hai concluded that the world and its timeline had stopped, and that the people involved sought to inherit the dead Creator’s legacy and become the new It.

Qin Manjiang returned to his own time by sinking to the bottom of the flooded Guanyin Village, where the Guanyin Statue’s power reversed the passage between timelines. His eyes transformed into intertwined red-and-white pupils as he faced the Bai family’s eyes in the sky and raised fog across the lake.

• Jiang Du told Zuo Xian that Qin Manjiang’s red-and-white pupils would restart the Eye Realm and that their appearance reflected the world’s dead time.
• Qin Manjiang sank through the flood as the Guanyin Statue protected him and pulled him toward the lakebed.
• Qin Manjiang touched the ground of Guanyin Village and burst through the surface twenty years later, returning to his own time.
• Qin Manjiang saw his pupils split into intertwined red and white spirals and recognized the Bai family’s eyes overhead.
• Qin Manjiang used the last faint glow of the Guanyin Statue’s power as thick fog rose across the lake.

Qin Manjiang used the Guanyin Statue’s remaining divine power to conceal himself in fog and began working to undermine the Bai family’s control of the Eye Realm. After Shen Hai found him, Qin Manjiang revealed his plan to liberate the true Eye Realm, unite Fu City and Moon City, and bring about the true Ghost Story Game.

• Qin Manjiang realized the Eye Realm overlapped the human world and decided to spread fog to obscure the Bai family’s advantage and alert other Eye Realm Players.
• Qin Manjiang hid in fog over Guanyin Flat Lake while the Bai family searched unsuccessfully, then Shen Hai arrived to find him.
• Qin Manjiang spoke to Shen Hai through the fog and used divine power to heal Shen Hai’s injured leg.
• Qin Manjiang asked Shen Hai to notify Yan Xiao and Nie Yunzhen, but Shen Hai questioned whether Nie Yunzhen could be trusted.
• Qin Manjiang declared that he planned to liberate the true Eye Realm, unite the Eye Realms of Fu City and Moon City, and bring about the true Ghost Story Game, and Shen Hai agreed to help.

Yan Xiao explained that Qin Manjiang had been prepared as a vessel to carry the Red and White Pupils back to the future and restart the Eye Realm. After Qin Manjiang’s voice vanished from the Guanyin Shard, Yan Xiao and Shen Hai agreed to begin, though Shen Hai admitted he was doing it for one person.

• Shen Hai used a Guanyin Porcelain Shard to let Qin Manjiang hear Yan Xiao’s theory about why the Eye Realm had not been restarted twenty years earlier.
• Yan Xiao theorized that Jiang Du had paused time and guided Qin Manjiang to retrieve the Red and White Pupils because people in the past could not withstand [Its] presence.
• Yan Xiao connected Chen Zhiyuan’s words, “interrupt our time, hold back the present... rescue the future,” to the efforts of Jiang Du and others to save the future.
• Yan Xiao concluded that Qin Manjiang had been deliberately created as a vessel capable of holding [Its] power and offered to help restart the Eye Realm.
• Shen Hai wondered whether those who died in the Eye Realm game could return, but Qin Manjiang’s voice disappeared before he could answer.
• Yan Xiao urged Shen Hai to begin for everyone, and Shen Hai said he was doing it for one person.

Lian Yan remembered his former life as Guan She, when Lie’s betrayal in the final Ghost Story led him to use the Burning Candle and return to the past. Qin Manjiang’s unexpected actions had changed history and restored Lian Yan’s memories, giving him hope that the fixed cycle could be broken; now, with ten people left in the Hunting Game, he prepared to advance to the next stage.

• Lian Yan recalled the final Ghost Story, where Lie deceived the Ten Seats and left them to die in a fire.
• Guan She used his permanent item, the Burning Candle, to wish that Moon City’s Eye Realm could start over, and he returned to its early days.
• After Qin Manjiang appeared and helped him find a way out of Ping'an Hospital, Lian Yan’s memories returned and he realized history had changed.
• Xinxin told Lian Yan that exactly ten people remained and that Qin Manyi was hunting A Shui.
• Lian Yan decided it was time to begin the next stage and told Xinxin to go home.

Lian Yan told Xinxin that the real Ghost Story Game was about to begin and urged her to return to Fu City. At Funiu Mountain, the Old Taoist released Qiao Ziruo from his Jade-Gathering Gourd and sent her to Fu City, explaining that Qin Manjiang’s arrival had created new variables.

• Lian Yan told Xinxin that he and the others were going to Fu City and that she should prepare to rejoin the real Ghost Story Game.
• The Old Taoist released Qiao Ziruo from the Jade-Gathering Gourd at his temple on Funiu Mountain.
• Qiao Ziruo recognized the gourd as the source of the Eye Realm’s Congealed Jade Gourd and questioned the Old Taoist about his identity.
• The Old Taoist told Qiao Ziruo that she, Xia Nan, and Qin Manjiang were connected to changes in the world’s course and urged her to return to Fu City.
• The Old Taoist asked Qiao Ziruo to tell the young lady of the Zhong Family not to cling too tightly to worldly affairs.

Zhong Xueran returned to Fu City after Shen Hai told her Xu Yi might be revived, and learned that they planned to restart the Eye Realm. Mei Sijun then appeared on a broadcast to reveal the Eye Realm and offer ordinary people a way to enter it, leaving Shen Hai and the others shocked by his dangerous announcement.

• Zhong Xueran returned from Moon City and met Yan Xiao and Shen Hai at the private club.
• Yan Xiao told Zhong Xueran that they planned to restart the Eye Realm, possibly bringing people back.
• Mei Sijun appeared on televisions across Fu City and Moon City and identified himself as a strange tales player.
• Mei Sijun explained the Eye Realm, the White Pupil God and Red Pupil God, and the potential of spirit pupils.
• Mei Sijun revealed an Eye Key that could let ordinary people enter the Eye Realm and told them to watch their mirrors that night.
• Shen Hai called Mei Sijun a lunatic after the broadcast ended.

Mei Sijun’s broadcast exposed the Eye Realm and the Ghost Story Game, while Yi Lianhai used mirrors to unleash Spirit Pupil power across Moon City and Fu City. As panic and supernatural phenomena spread, Yi Lianhai realized that revealing the Eye Realm had allowed Ghost Stories and Vengeful Ghosts to invade reality.

• Yi Lianhai explained to Mei Sijun that the Bai family had enforced secrecy about the Eye Realm and urged him to expose it.
• Mei Sijun’s message was broadcast across Moon City and Fu City, triggering panic and overwhelming law enforcement with calls.
• Yi Lianhai allowed the Bai Group to trace the hack as he watched the public reaction with Mei Sijun.
• People across the cities saw a pupil-filled world in mirrors and windows, then reported bloody hands, heads, footprints, and faucets running with blood.
• At the Paleontology Research Association, Yi Lianhai realized that the Bai family’s secrecy had kept Ghost Stories and Vengeful Ghosts from invading reality.

Bai Hongdan confronted Bai Yang about the chaos caused by the Ghost Story World’s invasion, and he revealed that he had arranged to cooperate with Yi Lianhai. Yi Lianhai planned to use Spirit Pupils to make Anti-Eye Keys that could send Vengeful Ghosts back to the Eye Realm, but he informed Bai Hongdan that the agreement was already settled without her consent.

• Bai Hongdan urged Bai Yang to intervene as the Eye Realm’s secrets became public and panic spread, but he said the situation was beyond his control and suggested asking Qin Manjiang for help.
• Bai Yang gave Bai Hongdan an Eye Key made by Yi Lianhai and explained that Yi had deliberately left a trace so they could talk.
• Yi Lianhai appeared on the screen and proposed making Anti-Eye Keys with Spirit Pupils to return Vengeful Ghosts to the Eye Realm, asking the Bai family to supply materials and people to use them.
• Bai Hongdan agreed to the plan, but Yi Lianhai revealed that he and Bai Yang had already settled the details and that he was only notifying her.
• After Yi Lianhai ended the call, Bai Hongdan told Bai Yang that she hated him.

Yi Lianhai admitted he had created the Eye Key but said making an Anti-Eye Key would be nearly impossible, while the Eye Realm began merging with reality and threatened Fu City. Qin Manjiang prepared to return to Lower River Village, but Bai Yang unexpectedly appeared at Guanyin Flat Lake.

• Yi Lianhai told Mei Sijun he had created the Eye Key and ordered him to take the waking Yi Yu back to Fu City, where Guanyin Flat Lake and Lower River Village could become enormous exits from the Eye Realm.
• Zhong Xueran, Shen Hai, and Yan Xiao told Qin Manjiang that Mei Sijun had revealed the Eye Realm on television, causing it to invade reality as fear spread.
• Qin Manjiang explained that unified fear was expanding the Eye Realm and said the Guanyin Statue could hold the exit beneath Guanyin Flat Lake shut.
• Qin Manjiang decided to return to his hometown, Lower River Village, to prevent a large-scale Ghost Story from emerging there.
• Bai Yang arrived by car and greeted Qin Manjiang, Shen Hai, Zhong Xueran, and Yan Xiao, shocking them because they had seen his corpse and believed he was dead.

Bai Yang met Qin Manjiang and the others at Guanyin Flat Lake, revealing that he had faked his death to escape an unfathomable entity. He asked them to go with him to Lower River Village and travel ten years into the future to complete the task his future self died attempting.

• Bai Yang approached Qin Manjiang, Zhong Xueran, Yan Xiao, and Shen Hai, and explained that the corpse burned in the fire had been his future self from ten years later.
• Bai Yang said the Guanyin beneath the lake had released the living corpses when he previously tried to travel back in time, and that Chen Zhiyuan had saved him.
• Shen Hai demanded to know why Bai Yang had faked his death, and Bai Yang admitted that an unfathomable entity had targeted him.
• Qin Manjiang deduced that Bai Yang's permanent exit challenge had taken place in Lower River Village and sent him ten years into the future.
• Bai Yang explained that Guanyin Flat Lake and Lower River Village were temporal weak points, then asked the group to return to Lower River Village with him and finish his future self's unfinished task.

Bai Yang told Qin Manjiang and the others that [Eye Realm] was colliding with reality and that Lower River Village could become a gateway for ghosts and curses, so they traveled there to stop it. During the drive, Yang spoke of recognizing Qin Manjiang from childhood, while Yan Xiao confronted him about the harm he had done to Chen Zhiyuan.

• Bai Yang warned Qin Manjiang and the others that Lower River Village could become a massive exit from [Eye Realm] unless they stopped it.
• Shen Hai accused Bai Yang's family of creating the Ghost Story Game, and Qin Manjiang suggested their collected Spirit Pupils could enable human ascension into a god.
• Qin Manjiang and the others accepted Bai Yang's offer to travel with them, and they drove through the night toward Lower River Village.
• Yang told Qin Manjiang he remembered meeting him twenty years earlier and described how seeing him enter Eye Realm brought back childhood memories.
• Yan Xiao told Yang that he had hurt Chen Zhiyuan, who had trusted him and lost himself, and said Yang owed him an apology if he could still return.