Chapter Summaries

Qin Manjiang returned to Lower River Village and found it eerily empty as a storm gathered, then encountered a man who emerged from a fissure in the darkness and shared his name. The chapter left Qin Manjiang and his double facing each other in the gale.

• Qin Manjiang considered the ruined Upper River Village and recalled his sudden plan to seek out its descendants in Lower River Village.
• Qin Manjiang found Uncle Wang’s brightly lit house empty except for a shadowy figure who appeared to be Uncle Wang, while the German shepherd remained motionless.
• Qin Manjiang rode toward home as the village fell silent and a powerful wind blocked his way.
• Qin Manjiang watched a crack open in the darkness, and a man stepped out of it.
• Qin Manjiang and the stranger asked each other who they were, then both identified themselves as Qin Manjiang.

A sudden downpour separated Qin Manjiang from his companions and brought him face-to-face with a version of himself from ten years in the future. They discovered a body in the river at Lower River Village, while Bai Yang rushed there to investigate the reported death and learned that reporter Zhong Xueran was already on her way.

• The rain returned Lower River Village to normal as thirty-year-old Qin Manjiang encountered another Qin Manjiang who appeared to be from ten years earlier.
• The two Qin Manjiangs went to their riverside home and found something in the swollen river, prompting a woman to report a body to the police.
• In Central District, Bai Yang spotted a mysterious figure across the rain-soaked street, but it disappeared before he could identify it.
• Xia Nan picked Bai Yang up and told him that a body had been reported in the river at Lower River Village.
• Bai Yang ordered Xia Nan to drive directly to the scene after learning that reporter Zhong Xueran was also heading there.

Zhong Xueran investigated a death in Lower River Village after seeing a younger double appear in her apartment, while firefighters reported a similar sighting of Yan Xiao. At the river, the thirty-year-old Qin Manjiang saw a corpse villagers identified as himself, and Qin Manjiang told him he was already dead.

• During a storm, Zhong Xueran saw a younger version of herself in her window and sensed a forgotten person behind a barrier in her memories.
• After receiving word that a body had been found in Lower River Village, Zhong Xueran left for the village, and her younger double briefly appeared in her apartment before vanishing.
• Yan Xiao responded to the village’s rescue call, while firefighters said they had seen a younger, fairer version of him near the restroom.
• At the river, villagers identified the floating corpse as Little Qin, and the thirty-year-old Qin Manjiang wondered how that could be when he was standing there.
• Qin Manjiang told the thirty-year-old Qin Manjiang that he was already dead and that villagers had been greeting him instead.

Qin Manjiang tried to explain his presence after villagers found his dead older self, but Shen Hai arrived claiming to be a detective, and Qin Manjiang realized several people from his own time had different future careers. The chapter ended with emergency responders arriving and Qin Manjiang bewildered by how much the future had changed.

• Qin Manjiang saw his dead older self and convinced the villagers that he was Jiang Du, the younger adopted brother who had come to find Qin Manjiang.
• Shen Hai arrived in a trench coat and introduced himself to the villagers as a detective.
• Qin Manjiang's ghostly older self vanished, and sirens brought police, firefighters, and medical personnel to the village.
• Shen Hai questioned Qin Manjiang when he tried to leave, and Qin Manjiang spotted Yan Xiao, Bai Yang, Xia Nan, and Zhong Xueran among the responders.
• Qin Manjiang realized that the people he knew had taken unexpected roles in this future and wondered what had happened to the world.

After a faceless corpse was recovered from the river in Lower River Village, Qin Manjiang realized that the body and clothes he wore belonged to someone else in this timeline. The doctor identified him as a village resident and hospital physician, leaving Qin Manjiang’s identity and connection to the corpse uncertain.

• Xia Nan directed villagers to the ancestral hall to give statements while Yan Xiao organized the recovery of the body.
• Zhong Xueran photographed the scene, and Bai Yang allowed her to document evidence as Shen Hai introduced himself as a police consultant.
• Shen Hai and Bai Yang noticed Qin Manjiang trying to leave, so Bai Yang told him to stay and questioned him.
• Yan Xiao turned over the recovered corpse, revealing that it had a perfectly smooth, featureless face.
• Qin Manjiang noticed unfamiliar calluses, leather shoes, and clothes on himself, then nearly collapsed as Yan Xiao steadied him.
• The ambulance doctor identified Qin Manjiang as a Lower River Village resident and a doctor at the town’s Central Hospital.

Qin Manjiang realized that he had become the thirty-year-old version of himself after the original Qin Manjiang died, and he questioned whether the people around him had also been replaced. He recognized the ambulance doctor as Xi Wutong, who acknowledged him as an old friend.

• Qin Manjiang confirmed his identity as the thirty-year-old Qin Manjiang while Bai Yang examined the faceless corpse.
• Bai Yang took Zhong Xueran's camera and restricted which photographs she could publish.
• Qin Manjiang spotted a doctor in the departing ambulance and ran after it despite Yan Xiao and Bai Yang pursuing him.
• Qin Manjiang called the doctor Xi Wutong, and she asked Bai Yang to release him, saying he was an old friend.

Bai Yang suspected Qin Manjiang and Xi Wutong and arranged to have them watched, while Xi Wutong revealed that she was Zuo Xian and explained their shared origins as deliberately created beings. The chapter ended with Xi Wutong asking Qin Manjiang to stay with her in the future timeline and embracing him.

• Bai Yang left Qin Manjiang and Xi Wutong alone and told Yan Xiao to have them watched.
• Xi Wutong took Qin Manjiang from Lower River Village to Fu City, explaining that the future timeline had no boundary because it was reality rather than a Ghost Story Game.
• Xi Wutong revealed that she had entered Lower River Village to find a way into the future and had briefly become [It], giving her knowledge of what would happen.
• Qin Manjiang recognized Xi Wutong as Zuo Xian, and she confirmed that she preferred the name Xi Wutong.
• Xi Wutong explained that she and Qin Manjiang were deliberately created [flowers] with self-awareness, and urged him to stay with her before embracing him.

Xi Wutong told Qin Manjiang that they were new humans who could not care as ordinary humans did, and he followed her into the darkness. Meanwhile, Bai Yang connected the mysterious faceless corpse to Qin Manjiang and rushed out to pursue him.

• Xi Wutong described Qin Manjiang’s emotional detachment and suggested that they were new humans created by Jiang Du and Zuo Xian.
• A shattered Guanyin head appeared beside Qin Manjiang, interrupting Xi Wutong before she could kiss him.
• Xi Wutong invited Qin Manjiang to her home, and he followed her into the darkness as the rain eased.
• Bai Yang learned that the faceless corpse was human but had no identifiable cause of death, and Xia Nan reported that forensic staff suspected it had been erased from existence.
• Bai Yang recalled that Qin Manjiang’s build matched the corpse’s and left the Police Station to pursue him.

Qin Manjiang suspected Xi Wutong was manipulating him to make him stay, and he considered how his connection to Jiang Du differed from hers to Zuo Xian. Their quiet evening was interrupted when a news report showed a woman Qin Manjiang recognized, and Xi Wutong revealed that several Faceless Corpse cases had already been handled beyond the police.

• Qin Manjiang recalled Jiang Du’s claim that he had grown from a doll and concluded that his own origin differed from Xi Wutong’s assumptions about him.
• Qin Manjiang suspected Xi Wutong had bewitched him and was trying to persuade him to stay, so he acted dazed to observe her.
• Xi Wutong shared cake with Qin Manjiang and watched a news report with him in silence.
• Qin Manjiang recognized the blurred woman shown being arrested for spreading rumors that time and the world were fake.
• Xi Wutong told Qin Manjiang that several Faceless Corpses had been discovered and that their examination reports went further up than the police.

Shen Hai investigated [Truth]’s claims about Faceless Corpses and wondered whether Qin Manjiang was a truth-bringer. After sensing an unseen presence in his home, Shen Hai watched his own facial features disappear in the mirror, leaving him alive as a Faceless Person.

• Shen Hai woke before dawn and read a forum post reporting [Truth]’s arrest alongside his predictions about another Faceless Corpse in Lower River Village.
• Shen Hai considered how the Faceless Corpses were handled and wondered whether Qin Manjiang was one of the truth-bringers.
• Shen Hai sensed someone watching him inside his home, searched the living room and ceiling vent, and found nobody.
• Shen Hai rushed to the bathroom and saw his reflection’s mouth, nose, and eyes disappear.
• Shen Hai lost his facial features and senses but remained alive.

Shen Hai escaped the police after discovering that his faceless double had died, apparently after swallowing something. He suspected a prophet had arranged the police response and left to seek revenge on whoever was behind the killing.

• Shen Hai found an identical, faceless double, traced the word “human” in his palm, and watched the double collapse after making a swallowing motion.
• Shen Hai went to the kitchen for a knife to investigate the corpse, but heard police arriving and fled the apartment.
• Xia Nan and the officers found the faceless body and began searching the building for Shen Hai.
• The officers realized an impostor had posed as Li and escaped in a police uniform after knocking the real Li unconscious and taking his clothes.
• Shen Hai walked away in the stolen uniform, rejected the idea that he could be killed by prophecy, and vowed to take revenge.

Reporter Zhong Xueran retrieved her camera from the Fu City Police Station and decided to investigate the faceless corpses herself. She confronted Doctor Xi about Lower River Village’s yearly murders and revealed that Xi had been the lone survivor of its river last year.

• Zhong Xueran learned Captain Bai Yang had not returned after the police failed to stop Shen Hai from escaping, though the predicted faceless corpse had appeared.
• A technical-section officer returned Zhong Xueran’s camera with only two photos of the body left, and she resolved to investigate the incident.
• Zhong Xueran called Xi Wutong and asked for an interview about the faceless corpse.
• Zhong Xueran told Xi Wutong that Lower River Village had produced one faceless corpse a year for decades, then pointed out that Xi had been rescued from its river alive last year.

Yan Xiao grew increasingly afraid that his happy life was false and decided to kill [Truth] to protect it. After spotting a man who looked exactly like him, he entered the villa compound where [Truth] was being held.

• Yan Xiao dismissed his recurring heart palpitations despite a doctor's suggestion to consult psychiatry, and worried that his family and life were unreal.
• Yan Xiao recalled seeing a man identical to him and suspected Qin Manjiang was the Faceless Corpse.
• Yan Xiao changed into a disguise and went to the villa compound, believing [Truth] was behind the chaos and deciding to kill her.
• Yan Xiao spotted his double watching him from the villa garden, then slipped into the compound through a blind spot.

Qin Manjiang investigated [Truth], suspecting she was Nie Yunzhen and that her arrest was part of a trap designed to draw out people who believed her claims. He headed toward her villa seeking answers about the missing members of his group and how to seal the breach at Lower River Village.

• Yan Xiao dodged surveillance cameras as he made his way toward the villa where [Truth] was staying, intending to kill her.
• Qin Manjiang spent the night at Xi Wutong's home and learned that [Truth] had been arrested but was staying somewhere luxurious.
• After Xi Wutong left following a troubling phone call, Qin Manjiang went to the villa district to investigate [Truth].
• Qin Manjiang connected [Truth]'s identity and online claims to Nie Yunzhen and suspected that she and Fu City's senior officials were using the arrest to lure out believers.
• Qin Manjiang resolved to seek [Truth]'s help locating the people he knew and understanding how to seal the breach at Lower River Village.

Shen Hai investigated [Truth] and traced her arrest car to Wu Gong, whose survival in this timeline raised questions about the world’s history. Meanwhile, Bai Yang fled after a supernatural encounter made his mouth disappear, and he decided to seek [Truth].

• Shen Hai studied information about [Truth] and traced the car that took her to the Police Station to Wu Gong of Centipede Construction.
• Shen Hai recalled that Wu Gong had died in the real-world Fu City and wondered whether the future city followed a different timeline or whether Wu Gong’s death had involved a ghost story.
• Shen Hai evaded the Police manhunt and headed toward the villa district in the north of the city to find Wu Gong.
• Bai Yang recalled following Qin Manjiang’s suspicious meeting with Doctor Xi and encountering invisible footsteps while walking to her apartment.
• Bai Yang saw on his phone that his image had not turned its head and that his mouth was disappearing, so he threw away the phone and fled.
• Bai Yang hid his face and decided that [Truth] was the only person he could approach for help.

Strange, zombie-like symptoms spread through Fu City after a night of rain, while Shen Hai, Qin Manjiang, Bai Yang, and Zhong Xueran encountered the affected people on their way to the northern villa district. Zhong Xueran tried to leave a locked Coffee Shop, but an employee suddenly transformed in front of her.

• Zhen watched the dark sky from a balcony, and a middle-aged woman told her that something would happen and the newcomers had to be cleared out.
• Reports spread online as pale-faced people began shaking and behaving strangely throughout Fu City, overwhelming the police lines.
• Shen Hai, Qin Manjiang, and Bai Yang encountered people with gray-white faces, black lips, red eyes, and brittle hair as they traveled toward the northern villa district.
• Zhong Xueran learned of the apparent outbreak while waiting at a Coffee Shop for Xi Wutong, where the manager had locked the doors and could not reach the police.
• A customer at the Coffee Shop turned gray-white as the manager opened the door, and the employee near the back exit began transforming as Zhong Xueran called Doctor Xi.

Yan Xiao was forced to leave Zhen’s villa, while Qin Manjiang and Shen Hai concluded that their world had been created by a ghost and speculated that people from Lower River Village could replace their counterparts there. Their path to the villa district was blocked by Qin Manjiang’s long-lost father, Qin Linghan.

• Yan Xiao lost control of his body and walked away from Zhen’s villa, while Zhen and the middle-aged woman discussed using him as a helper.
• Qin Manjiang met the real Shen Hai on the street as strange, gaunt people gathered and wandered among the crowds.
• Qin Manjiang and Shen Hai agreed that a ghost had created the world and considered whether people who drowned in Lower River Village could be reborn there in place of their counterparts.
• Shen Hai showed Qin Manjiang evidence that Wu Gong, a deceased businessman, was alive in this world, prompting Qin Manjiang to wonder whether his sister Qin Manyi knew more about the village.
• Qin Linghan appeared in their path and gently told Qin Manjiang to stop before going any farther.

Old Qin explained that five new arrivals had destabilized Fu City’s artificial world, and Qin Manjiang realized that people like Old Qin would have to kill them to preserve it. As Old Qin urged Qin Manjiang to return to reality, Qin Manjiang left in tears, knowing he might have to destroy the world where his father still existed.

• Old Qin brought Qin Manjiang and Shen Hai to his house and explained that twenty real people had entered Fu City over twenty years, while the arrival of five at once was causing the world to collapse.
• Old Qin revealed that people from reality could replace their local counterparts and that killing those counterparts would also violate the world’s rules.
• Qin Manjiang deduced that [Truth] and the others would try to kill the newcomers only after confirming they had been replaced, then left with Shen Hai despite Old Qin trying to stop them.
• Qin Manjiang compared Old Qin’s changed identity to the Ship of Theseus and admitted that losing him hurt, while Shen Hai recognized that Old Qin had chosen his son’s life over the world’s survival.
• Old Qin called after Qin Manjiang, urging him to do what he thought right, live in reality, and return to where he belonged.
• Shen Hai supported the tearful Qin Manjiang as they walked away and took a photograph of him as a keepsake.

Bai Yang chose to become a Faceless Person rather than lose himself to the transformation, leaving a message for another version of himself. Yang arrived in Fu City and set out to find the others before the collapsing world turned everyone into ghosts.

• Bai Yang realized he was transforming like the pedestrians and that his movements and awareness were fading.
• Bai Yang looked at his reflection, accelerating the disappearance of his features, and chose to become a Faceless Person.
• Bai Yang silently asked another version of himself to uncover the Faceless Corpse's truth and [Zhen]'s secret, and to protect his police officers.
• Yang arrived beside Bai Yang's Faceless Corpse and explained that the collapsing world had to be reintegrated with the real world to close the breach.
• Yang concluded that he needed at least five people to find the Vengeful Ghost and began heading toward the others, who he expected to seek [Zhen].

As the city’s inhabitants mutated into monsters, Qin Manjiang and Shen Hai discussed restoring the world and finding Yang before heading toward the Villa District. When the monsters charged after noticing them, Qin Manjiang realized their gaze had drawn the creatures’ attention, and the two split up so Shen Hai could find a mirror.

• Qin Manjiang told Shen Hai he wanted to question the woman in the Villa District about making the world disappear and would kill her if she refused.
• Shen Hai argued they should find Yang first and consider the connection between the Lower River Village in this world and the one in their world.
• Shen Hai spotted the mutated monsters in the foggy street, and the creatures charged after Qin Manjiang and Shen Hai looked at them.
• Qin Manjiang concluded that their gaze had alerted the monsters and told Shen Hai to find a mirror while he drew the creatures’ attention.