Chapter Summaries

Qin Manyi recalled her family, her strange brother, and the bizarre figures only she could see in Lower River Village. Qin Manjiang visited her in the psychiatric hospital and told her to get ready for discharge, leaving her hopeful that he would help her leave for good.

• Qin Manyi described her father Qin Linghan, her brother Qin Manjiang, and their dwindling village school, then recalled how Li Xijiu became Qin Manjiang’s friend.
• Qin Manyi recounted seeing uncanny figures with distorted eyes around Lower River Village, though no one else could see them.
• Qin Manjiang read Qin Manyi’s diary until she caught him, then asked how her mental assessment had gone.
• Qin Manjiang explained that redeeming the Permanent Item called “Me” had left him bedridden for a week, while the class president had left after apparently guessing his connection to the Game.
• Qin Manjiang told Qin Manyi to prepare for immediate discharge, and she asked whether it would be temporary or permanent.

Qin Manjiang took Qin Manyi out of Sleep Mountain Psychiatric Hospital with Doctor Xi Wutong, planning to investigate her background on the trip back to Lower River Village. After learning she came from Moon City, he confronted her about a twenty-year-old corpse-dismemberment case connected to Nie Yunzhen.

• Qin Manjiang asked Qin Manyi about the strange-eyed people she had seen in Lower River Village, but she said she could not discuss her Beginner Level experience yet.
• Doctor Xi Wutong brought paperwork and drove Qin Manjiang and Qin Manyi away from the psychiatric hospital.
• Qin Manyi fell asleep peacefully in the back seat while Qin Manjiang questioned Xi Wutong about her work and hometown.
• Xi Wutong said she had come from Moon City, where she had investigated mysterious cases.
• Qin Manjiang accused Xi Wutong of neglecting her work because she had forgotten the Moon City Corpse-Dismemberment Case involving Nie Yunzhen.

Qin Manjiang and his companions reached the outskirts of Lower River Village, where the [Eye Realm] revealed a ghost story it could not detect or catalog. He refused to enter and sent Qin Manyi and Xi Wutong into the village while he waited outside.

• Qin Manyi woke from a forgotten nightmare as the car traveled toward her hometown, Lower River Village.
• Qin Manjiang explained that the village had become a popular destination for people interested in strange happenings, while Qin Manyi heard funeral music that Xi Wutong could not hear.
• Qin Manjiang stopped the car after the [Eye Realm] warned that an unknown ghost story was beyond its detection and absolutely prohibited him from entering its range.
• Qin Manjiang chose not to enter Lower River Village and asked Qin Manyi to offer incense to their father for him.
• Qin Manyi agreed to take Xi Wutong into the village while Qin Manjiang waited by the road.

Qin Manyi and Xi Wutong entered Lower River Village while Qin Manjiang remained outside after sensing something on his phone. At her father’s grave, Qin Manyi told Qin Manjiang that Li Xijiu had visited last month, leaving him stunned by the realization that Li Xijiu was still alive.

• Qin Manjiang decided not to enter Lower River Village after checking his phone, and Qin Manyi directed Xi Wutong through the crowded village.
• Xi Wutong noticed that the bustling village felt strangely quiet as she drove Qin Manyi to Village Chief Wang’s home.
• Village Chief Wang told Qin Manyi that Li Xijiu had visited her father’s grave on the anniversary of his death for the past three years.
• Qin Manyi and Xi Wutong went to her father’s grave, where Qin Manyi spotted signs that someone had recently paid their respects.
• Qin Manyi video-called Qin Manjiang and showed him the grave, then revealed that Li Xijiu had visited last month.
• Qin Manjiang was overwhelmed by the news and realized that Li Xijiu was still alive.

Qin Manjiang learned that Li Xijiu was alive and left Lower River Village with Qin Manyi, while Doctor Xi stayed behind to investigate the village. They returned to Fu City, where Qin Manyi met their tenant, Mi Qiao, and the story left them preparing for a long stay together before a new instance.

• Qin Manjiang realized Li Xijiu had likely stayed in contact with his family, confirming that he was alive, and decided not to enter the unsettling Lower River Village.
• Xi Wutong gave Qin Manjiang her car keys and stayed in Lower River Village to investigate, while Qin Manjiang drove away with Qin Manyi.
• Qin Manyi told Qin Manjiang that her Beginner Level ghost story was called “Assimilation.”
• Qin Manjiang and Qin Manyi returned to Fu City late at night, and he explained that Qin Manyi would sleep in his room because hers was rented out.
• Qin Manjiang introduced Qin Manyi to their tenant, Mi Qiao, who welcomed her as a likely long-term housemate.

After a month of peaceful living, Qin Manjiang and the other players were pulled back into the Ghost Story Game, which launched three rounds at once. Qin Manjiang was conscripted for the third round, the challenge-mode strange tale Candy Game.

• Qin Manjiang spent a quiet month with Qin Manyi, Xiaobai, and Mi Qiao while acquaintances invited him to various activities.
• On November 6, every player's heart was struck with pain as the Ghost Story Game returned and announced that players were assembling.
• The first multiplayer round, Wedding Dress, conscripted Home Flower, Zishu, Abu, Ranpo-san, and Poetic Sentiment.
• The second multiplayer round, Don't Speak, conscripted Loves Sweets, Bajie, Hard Drive, Ziruo, and Nie Yunzhen; Qin Manjiang recognized Ziruo as Qiao Ziruo, the class monitor.
• The game announced a third round in challenge mode: Candy Game, conscripting Abyss, Player, White Sandalwood, Dao Eye Clouds and Mist, Swimming Fish, and Yezi, including Qin Manjiang under the alias Abyss.

Qin Manjiang was selected for the Candy Game and learned that players could clear it either by unraveling its ghost story or by winning the game. As he prepared to meet Shen Hai, he asked Qin Manyi to help Qiao Ziruo but warned her against entering the game.

• Qin Manjiang noticed that Shen Hai had also been selected for three games in a row as the players received the Candy Game opening lines.
• The game announced that players had to arrive at Blue Bay Villas by midnight the next day and could clear the level by solving the ghost story or winning the game.
• Qin Manjiang realized the two ways to survive could set the players against each other.
• Qin Manjiang told Qin Manyi to look after Qiao Ziruo, but then warned her not to risk entering the game because she had not been selected.
• Shen Hai called Qin Manjiang and arranged to meet him beforehand at Catface Café.

Yu Ruoli joined the other five players at Catface Café to discuss how they would survive the upcoming ghost story at Blue Bay Villas. They all agreed to cooperate, but Qin Manjiang suspected Shen Hai had been prepared to kill anyone who chose to compete for the Candy Game.

• Yu Ruoli arrived last at Catface Café, where Shen Hai, Yang Liuye, Qin Manjiang, Tan Murong, and Xu Youqing had gathered before the game at Blue Bay Villas.
• Shen Hai asked whether the group would cooperate to unravel the ghost story or compete to become the Candy Game’s sole winner; everyone chose cooperation.
• Shen Hai proposed killing anyone who harmed the group, and Qin Manjiang suggested they stay together at Blue Bay Villas; Shen Hai agreed.
• Xu Youqing shared what he had learned about the abandoned villas beside the Ming River, and the group discussed the brief Opening Lines.
• After the others left, Qin Manjiang asked whether Shen Hai would have killed them if anyone had chosen competition; Shen Hai laughed and said competitors could be killed to win outright.

Tan Murong, an exhausted office worker facing another Ghost Story Game, drank at Sister Lin’s bar and spoke about how work had consumed her life. She left with Sister Lin’s kindness on her mind and a small reason to return: finishing the wine she had left behind.

• Tan Murong asked her boss for time off before her next Ghost Story Game, but was told she could take only two days.
• Tan Murong went to Sister Lin’s bar and drank wine, telling Sister Lin that she wondered whether her life had any point beyond work and fleeting hours of personal time.
• Tan Murong drunkenly admitted that she expected to die in the Ghost Story Game, then fell asleep at the table.
• Sister Lin let Tan Murong keep the unfinished wine for another visit and urged her to stay alive.
• Tan Murong left the bar, regretting that she had burdened Sister Lin but feeling glad she had somewhere to talk, and resolved to return for the rest of the wine.

On November 7, Xu Youqing, Qin Manjiang, Shen Hai, and the others crossed the Ming River to enter Blue Bay Villa for the Candy Game. Qin Manjiang warned that the game had no stated time limit, and the group arrived at the villa district as the rain continued.

• The group discussed whether to scout Blue Bay Villa and Qin Manjiang pointed out that the game could continue indefinitely if they failed to clear it.
• Yu Ruoli announced that the boat had arrived, and the group boarded with a boat owner who warned them about homeless people in unfinished villas.
• Xu Youqing asked the boat owner about strange rumors, but he said there were no hauntings at Blue Bay Villa.
• Yu Ruoli thanked Qin Manjiang for his help and showed him the portrait she had drawn; he said it did not look like him and asked her to draw another after he got a haircut.
• The boat reached Blue Bay Villa as the rain continued.

The six players entered the oppressive Blue Bay Villa District ahead of the midnight Candy Game and found a furnished, spotless villa marked No. 666. They settled inside as Qin Manjiang struggled with his heightened fear, and the chapter ended with Yu Ruoli startling him by appearing behind him.

• Xu Youqing explained that the river bend should have had good feng shui, but the still water and stopped wind made the villa district feel dead.
• Shen Hai suggested that the six find a relatively complete villa and wait there, and everyone agreed.
• The group found the completed Blue Bay Villas No. 666 and decided to investigate it.
• Shen Hai kicked open the locked door, and the group found a decorated, spotless living room with working electricity.
• Qin Manjiang sat beside Yu Ruoli on the sofa after she startled him by speaking from behind.

At midnight, the Candy Game began as a terrifying girl announced its rules and summoned five trays for the first round. Shen Hai discovered that blood could be exchanged for candy, while a blood-covered monster rushed toward the villa, leaving the others scrambling to find something red.

• Qin Manjiang grew increasingly fearful as the six participants waited for the Game to begin.
• At midnight, a dripping girl appeared on the ceiling and announced six rounds of the Candy Game, starting with five candies.
• The girl instructed the participants to find unique red objects in the villa and exchange them for candy, which they had to eat immediately.
• Shen Hai cut his palm and discovered that his blood turned into a candy; after eating it, a red glow appeared around him.
• A blood-covered woman appeared outside and charged toward the living room, while the other participants rushed to search for red objects.

Tan Murong and the other players searched the restored villa for red objects to turn into candy while a female ghost hunted them. After Qin Manjiang secretly forced Shen Hai’s red glow into a tray and ate the resulting candy, Shen Hai confronted him.

• Tan Murong reasoned that the villa had been restored to the way it looked when the family from the Opening Lines lived there and searched the second-floor bedrooms for something red.
• Xu Youqing hid behind a living-room curtain, planning to use his red underwear, while Shen Hai tested whether the female ghost would react to him opening another curtain.
• Qin Manjiang startled Xu Youqing by revealing he had been hiding beside him, and the two learned that the female ghost had left the living room.
• Xu Youqing put his red underwear into a white tray, which transformed it into a piece of candy.
• Qin Manjiang pressed Shen Hai’s glowing body into a tray, absorbed his red light into a candy, and ate it before asking whether Shen Hai enjoyed using people for experiments.

Qin Manjiang confronted Shen Hai over his reckless use of the others as bait, then recruited Xu Youqing to investigate the ghost story during their red-glow invincibility period. Outside, Yu Ruoli found a red flower, but the Vengeful Ghost appeared above her and the Game declared the entire team wiped out.

• Qin Manjiang ate the candy, challenged Shen Hai, and accused him of treating Xu Youqing and him as expendable test subjects.
• Shen Hai left the living room, and Qin Manjiang explained to Xu Youqing that the red glow protected them until the next round and proposed investigating the ghost story.
• Qin Manjiang and Xu Youqing agreed to work together, while Qin Manjiang revealed he had considered reddening his own face to test whether it could be exchanged for candy.
• Yu Ruoli circled through the storm to the front courtyard and picked a red flower, hoping to earn one of the remaining candies.
• The Vengeful Ghost appeared upside down beneath the third-floor eaves, and Yu Ruoli's phone displayed the message that the entire team had been wiped out.

The Players survived the first round of the Ghost Story Game, but Yang Liuye was killed when her red dress failed to become candy because someone had already supplied the same kind of item. The game began its second round, ordering the five survivors to turn into objects inside the villa and hide as a sixty-second countdown started.

• Qin Manjiang smashed a third-floor window to distract the Vengeful Ghost from Yu Ruoli, then admitted to Xu Youqing that fear had left his legs frozen.
• Yu Ruoli used her sketchbook to distract the ghost while Yang Liuye tried to turn a red dress into candy, but the dress burned because an identical item had already been used.
• The Vengeful Ghost caught Yang Liuye and twisted her head backward, killing her before Qin Manjiang and Xu Youqing could intervene.
• Tan Murong placed a pressure cooker's safety valve in the final tray, received a candy, and joined the other Players beneath the chandelier.
• The little girl's voice announced round two: four candies, transform into things inside the villa, and hide; a sixty-second countdown began as the five Players scattered.

Qin Manjiang realized that the players could only transform into the red objects they had found in the first round, then struggled to find a hiding place as a human-shaped red light. Shen Hai transformed into blood and concealed himself in the rain-soaked lawn of the back courtyard, while Qin Manjiang remained in danger.

• Xu Youqing recognized the ghost pursuing them as Miss Yezi, and the players saw another Vengeful Ghost appear on the villa wall.
• Qin Manjiang reasoned that the second-round transformations were connected to the red objects found in the first round and shouted his discovery to the others.
• Qin Manjiang transformed into a human-shaped mass of red light and searched for a way to hide, realizing that ordinary lights would not conceal him.
• Qin Manjiang stepped on broken glass and realized that, as light, he might be able to hide by using the shard.
• Shen Hai understood Qin Manjiang's warning, went to the back courtyard, and transformed into blood that mixed with the rain and soaked into the lawn.

The players hid as the Vengeful Ghosts began searching, while Tan Murong deduced that the little-girl host was another participant who could be eliminated. The chapter ended with Yang Liuye spotting Tan Murong disguised as a pressure cooker safety valve.

• Yu Ruoli tried to find a hiding place inside the villa, while Tan Murong turned herself into a pressure cooker safety valve and hid on its lid.
• Xu Youqing turned into red underwear and hid among the clothes in a wardrobe.
• When the countdown ended, the players became unable to move, and Yang Liuye entered the kitchen as a Vengeful Ghost to search.
• Tan Murong inferred that the little-girl host was a player who had also turned into an object, and that finding her could end the Game.
• Yang Liuye bent over the pressure cooker and stared at Tan Murong in her safety-valve form.

Shen Hai nearly died when [Older Sister] tracked his blood and began sucking it up with the rainwater, while Tan Murong was found in the kitchen as a red safety valve. Yu Ruoli discovered she could request a pause, and the Game announced that the Players had one chance to use it.

• [Older Sister] followed the smell of Shen Hai's blood to the back courtyard and began drinking the rainwater mixed with it.
• A scream from the kitchen distracted [Older Sister], allowing Shen Hai to realize he could move again.
• Tan Murong understood that the Vengeful Ghost knew which objects the Players had chosen and fled after it screamed and lost focus.
• Yu Ruoli used a vision from her [Spirit Medium Sketchbook] to request a pause in the Game.
• A little girl's voice announced that the Players had one chance to pause the Game.

During the pause in the hide-and-seek game, Shen Hai, Xu Youqing, Tan Murong, and Yu Ruoli chose where to hide while Qin Manjiang questioned the game’s rules. Qin Manjiang told Yu Ruoli to let the ghost catch her, but his reason remained unclear.

• Shen Hai realized the ghost tracked blood by its smell and hid in the living room, masking himself with Yang Liuye’s bloodstains.
• Xu Youqing chose to stay disguised as red underpants inside a wardrobe, suspecting the game might have a hidden purpose.
• Tan Murong hid beneath a drain and resolved to survive so she could tell the others that the terrifying little girl was also a player.
• Yu Ruoli moved from a crack in the exterior wall to weeds in the front yard, where Qin Manjiang contacted her.
• Qin Manjiang pointed out that players caught after the first might receive candy instead of dying, then told Yu Ruoli to let the ghost catch her.

Qin Manjiang used the rain to observe the villa and asked Yu Ruoli to identify which ghost was truly dangerous, while Shen Hai reasoned that winning the Candy Game might turn its winner into the next ghostly host. The game resumed with both ghosts hunting, leaving Shen Hai under [Older Sister]’s gaze and the players facing the possibility of an endless cycle.

• Qin Manjiang told Yu Ruoli he had scattered himself through the rain and could see the players and ghosts across the villa.
• Qin Manjiang explained that [Older Sister] vanished during the pause while Yang Liuye’s corpse was badly damaged, and asked Yu Ruoli to determine which ghost killed players.
• The game resumed, and Yang Liuye crushed a pressure cooker while [Older Sister] crawled toward the courtyard before turning to stare into the living room.
• Shen Hai hid among the blood from Yang Liuye’s corpse and wondered why [Older Sister] had found his location.
• Shen Hai connected the Opening Lines to the game and concluded that the little girl had won the previous Candy Game, become its host, and begun an endless cycle.