Chapter Summaries

Jian Ran and Lu Yanting were assigned to play demons in Wei Xiaoxue’s tabletop game after arriving late, while Wei Xiaoxue hid that other demons might be present and could kill them to grow stronger. The game began with Bai Jingchuan drawing an event card, which made him suddenly try to stab himself.

• Jian Ran and Lu Yanting arrived late, and Wei Xiaoxue assigned them the roles of demons as punishment.
• Wei Xiaoxue secretly withheld rules that demons could kill other demons and increase their power.
• Jian Ran accepted the role and headed toward the secluded classroom Wei Xiaoxue had mentioned, while Lu Yanting questioned whether it was a trap.
• Wei Xiaoxue started the tabletop game, and Bai Jingchuan was chosen as the first adventurer after the other guests stepped away from him.
• Bai Jingchuan drew an event card about being injured by a creature in a toilet stall, then suddenly produced a knife and tried to stab himself.

Bai Qing and the Guests stopped Bai Jingchuan from hurting himself, then Zheng Huai rolled the Dice and had to open a box. He found Jian Ran fighting a Female Ghost inside, while the viewers wondered where Lu Yanting had gone.

• Bai Qing warned the Guests that Bai Jingchuan was about to cut himself, and they swarmed him, disarmed him, and pinned him down.
• Zheng Huai punched Bai Jingchuan to fulfill the Event Card, and Bai Jingchuan came out of his crazed state with a sore stomach.
• Zheng Huai rolled a seven and was sent to a Chance Space, where Wei Xiaoxue told him to choose a box or face a Demon.
• Xu Junyi quietly advised Zheng Huai to choose the second classroom on the right on the third floor, and Zheng Huai selected its box.
• Zheng Huai opened the box and found Jian Ran beating a Female Ghost, then shut the door and made the box vanish.
• The viewers speculated that the game and the variety show were separate, and wondered why Lu Yanting was not with Jian Ran.

Jian Ran and Lu Yanting returned to the classroom after the game forced them back into their adventurer roles. After Bai Qing experienced an illusion of being violently bullied, Jian Ran drew an event card requiring him to enter a negative scenario alone, and he vanished before anyone could join him.

• Jian Ran and Lu Yanting compared how many demons they had dealt with before the game sent them back to the classroom.
• Bai Qing's event card triggered an illusion in which classmates beat and threatened to expose her, and Jian Ran dispelled it with talisman powder.
• Jian Ran rolled an eight and drew a card requiring him to enter any negative scenario unharmed, with the option to designate an adventurer to accompany him.
• The game announced that powerhouses could not team up, so Jian Ran chose to go alone and vanished before Bai Jingchuan could volunteer.

Jian Ran experienced Wang Meng’s memories of her troubled family and a terrifying encounter with Li Xinyi’s ghost, then woke during the game. Lu Yanting rolled into a nightmare challenge, and Jian Ran gave him Talisman Paper while telling him he could pay later.

• Jian Ran saw Wang Meng return home to find her drunken father berating her sick mother, then drive him away when he reached for a cleaver.
• Wang Meng left home in tears and hurried back to Yandong University, where she was attacked in the dormitory corridor by Li Xinyi’s vengeful ghost.
• Jian Ran broke free of the negative scenario and woke beside Lu Yanting, while Bai Jingchuan resented being left to guard him.
• Wei Xiaoxue announced that Lu Yanting had rolled eleven spaces into a nightmare challenge that could cost ten Health Points.
• Jian Ran handed Lu Yanting Talisman Paper and told him he could pay for it after escaping the dream.

Jian Ran’s talisman protected Lu Yanting during the game, and the guests paused for lunch in the Teaching Building cafeteria. Zheng Huai rushed for food, only to spot maggots in the serving basin.

• Jian Ran threatened to wreck the game table after Wei Xiaoxue accused the guests of sneaking in props, and the Teaching Building broadcast allowed his talisman just this once.
• Lu Yanting woke after three minutes with the talisman charred in his hand and said it had protected him from the thing in his dream.
• Wei Xiaoxue paused the game for lunch, and Bai Qing scolded Bai Jingchuan for failing to win Jian Ran’s favor.
• The guests reached a cafeteria staffed by expressionless cooks and servers, where Zheng Huai’s hunger suddenly became difficult to control.
• Zheng Huai rushed to request extra meat, but Xu Junyi said he was vegetarian and Zheng Huai noticed maggots writhing in the food basin.

The Guests resisted the cafeteria’s revolting food and learned that the game’s scenarios were handled separately from the production team. When Luo Luo was assigned a starvation scenario, Jian Ran reassured her and then questioned Wei Xiaoxue about whether the game’s events had really happened at Yandong University.

• Xu Junyi claimed he had gone to Thailand, then revealed he had only gotten a circumcision, breaking Zheng Huai’s fixation on the cafeteria food.
• Jian Ran and Lu Yanting chose plain rice, and the other Guests followed their lead despite Wei Xiaoxue’s warning that the afternoon game required stamina.
• Bai Qing explained to Bai Jingchuan that the production team acted as a general contractor and subcontractors handled the game’s specific arrangements.
• Wei Xiaoxue assigned Luo Luo a scenario in which she had to escape a locked toilet stall in a sealed dormitory or starve to death.
• Jian Ran promised Luo Luo she would not starve, and she entered the scenario feeling reassured.
• Jian Ran asked Wei Xiaoxue whether the game’s events had really happened at Yandong University, and Wei Xiaoxue answered that it was obvious.

Jian Ran and the other Guests survived another day at Yandong University, uncovered more of the bullying linked to Wang Meng, and began suspecting that the game was designed to kill them. The Guests returned to the dormitory, where Jian Ran pointed out that one of them had drawn only harmless Event Cards.

• Jian Ran asked Wei Xiaoxue whether she was Li Xinyi or Wang Meng, but the classroom broadcast warned that discussing topics unrelated to the game would trigger a negative scenario.
• Jian Ran freed Luo Luo from her ordeal, and she recalled hearing the name Wang Meng and seeing the ponytailed girl who bullied Bai Qing.
• Wei Xiaoxue dismissed the Guests for the day and said the cafeteria had closed for improvements, while privately trusting in a trump card she had arranged.
• Zheng Huai offered Jian Ran spicy shredded beef, and Jian Ran told the Guests that the game’s main purpose was to get them killed.
• Lu Yanting pointed out that one Guest had drawn only harmless Event Cards, prompting Zheng Huai to accuse Xu Junyi, who protested that he had nearly been lured into jumping off a building.

The Guests tried to identify the mole while Bai Qing set up a camera in the women's dorm and arranged a sleep schedule. A scream from the corridor sent Zheng Huai and Xu Junyi to investigate, while Jian Ran and Lu Yanting stayed behind.

• Xu Junyi said Bai Jingchuan was unlikely to be the mole because he had already suffered too much, and Lu Yanting predicted the mole would act that night.
• Bai Qing set up a camera to livestream the women's dorm and arranged with Qin Wei, Luo Luo, and Li Mo to take turns sleeping.
• In a conference room, Lu Zhendong and the uniformed staff watched the footage and praised the volunteers' acting.
• Jian Ran asked Zheng Huai why he and Xu Junyi had joined the show, and Zheng Huai said they wanted to find partners.
• A scream rang out in the corridor, so Zheng Huai and Xu Junyi went to check on the women's dorm while Jian Ran went to bed.
• Lu Yanting followed Jian Ran up the ladder, making Jian Ran worry that he was getting too close to his butt.

Zheng Huai and Xu Junyi helped Bai Qing's group restrain the revealed Resentment Domain creature, then went to fetch Jian Ran for help. While they were away, Bai Jingchuan ventured into the corridor and was seized by a ghostly figure as the livestream captured his disappearance.

• Zheng Huai and Xu Junyi joined Bai Qing, Luo Luo, and Qin Wei in the women's room, where they found Li Mo bound and learned she had revealed herself while Qin Wei was alone.
• Xu Junyi sealed Li Mo with Talisman Paper and decided to fetch Jian Ran to inspect her memories, while the group realized Yandong University was beyond their abilities.
• Xu Junyi and Zheng Huai returned to the dormitory and woke Jian Ran, who agreed to go with them to discuss the situation in the women's room.
• Bai Jingchuan, annoyed at being left behind, sneaked into the corridor and encountered a white-clad figure whose black hair wrapped around him and carried him away.
• A hidden corridor camera recorded Bai Jingchuan's disappearance, startling viewers watching the late-night livestream.

Jian Ran questioned Li Mo in the women’s dormitory and used a talisman to reveal the events surrounding Li Xinyi’s death. He returned to the corridor as Li Mo fled from a terrifying apparition, leaving her face-to-face with it.

• Jian Ran learned that the group had volunteered to enter the resentment domain and warned that the talisman restraining Li Mo was about to fail.
• Jian Ran had Qin Wei tie Li Mo’s hair into a ponytail, recognized her as one of the students who had bullied Bai Qing, and said Li Xinyi could release the trapped class.
• Jian Ran’s talisman transported him into Li Mo’s memory, where Li Xinyi accused Wang Meng and the others of driving her to suicide before jumping from the rooftop.
• Li Mo admitted she had bullied Li Xinyi simply because she found it entertaining, and Jian Ran returned to the dormitory corridor.
• Li Mo ran from an apparition, fell, and turned to see a bloodied face looming before her.

Jian Ran discovered that Li Xinyi had an accomplice while possessing Li Mo and realized a curse would trap Li Mo’s soul in the dormitory corridor. When Bai Jingchuan went missing, Wei Xiaoxue blamed the Guests and demanded they search for him, but Jian Ran recognized the danger and decided to go anyway.

• Jian Ran sensed that Li Mo felt no remorse and noticed that a curse would bind her soul to the dormitory corridor after her death.
• Jian Ran told Zheng Huai and Bai Qing that Li Xinyi had an accomplice, but he postponed explaining further until morning.
• Wei Xiaoxue knocked on the Women's Dormitory door and announced that Bai Jingchuan had gone missing.
• Jian Ran refused Wei Xiaoxue's demand to search for Bai Jingchuan, and she warned that he would disappear forever if they did not find him before dawn.
• Bai Qing revealed that Bai Jingchuan was her brother, and the Guests warned that the area outside was too dangerous to enter.
• Jian Ran decided to go look for Bai Jingchuan despite the danger.

Jian Ran and Lu Yanting entered the dark Teaching Building to investigate Bai Jingchuan’s disappearance and play the board game. After using Cancellation Cards to bypass its dangers, they faced a final challenge: identify which of ten boxes contained Bai Jingchuan, with no chance to cancel the punishment.

• Jian Ran agreed to let Lu Yanting accompany him into the darkness, and the two fought off attacking evil spirits with ease.
• Jian Ran and Lu Yanting entered the Teaching Building, where a broadcast ordered them to continue the board game or their companions would die and their prize money would be canceled.
• The board game revealed a grim scenario about Jian Ran being driven to the rooftop, but Jian Ran and Lu Yanting used their Cancellation Cards to clear its negative events.
• The map split apart, and the broadcast announced a final challenge requiring Jian Ran and Lu Yanting to choose which of ten boxes contained Bai Jingchuan.

Jian Ran confronted Li Xinyi and exposed Wang Meng as the one who had used dark arts to turn the game into a massacre. Wang Meng confessed her guilt and love for Li Xinyi, whose rage softened, but Li Xinyi wondered what she could do after becoming a monster.

• Jian Ran chose a box, punched through it, and slapped Li Xinyi when she emerged as the game's final boss.
• Wang Meng rushed in to protect Li Xinyi, and Jian Ran revealed that she had possessed the bus host and strengthened Li Xinyi's evil spirit.
• Li Xinyi seized Wang Meng by the neck, but Jian Ran challenged her revenge and questioned whether Wang Meng had truly helped her.
• Wang Meng recalled setting up the massacre at Yandong University and admitted she had ignored Li Xinyi's feelings out of fear and guilt.
• Wang Meng confessed that she liked Li Xinyi too, and Li Xinyi's appearance softened as she asked what she could do now that she had become a monster.

Li Xinyi and Wang Meng chose Soul Burning, freeing Li Mo and allowing the trapped souls to pass on as a fire consumed the building. After the survivors escaped and the old security guard welcomed the dawn, the dating show's guests chose partners, with everyone selecting Jian Ran; the chapter ended before his choice was revealed.

• Li Xinyi and Wang Meng joined hands and burned their souls, asking Jian Ran to destroy the Buddha Amulet and let the souls pass on.
• Bai Qing spotted the fire and tried to rush out, while Li Mo realized she was disappearing and eventually dissipated in remorse.
• The old security guard emerged from the Security Room into the dawn, and Jian Ran carried Bai Jingchuan out as the fire engine arrived.
• Wei Xiaoxue resumed hosting Pure Love, and the guests wrote their partner choices on cards during the bus ride back.
• Bai Qing, Qin Wei, Zheng Huai, Xu Junyi, Bai Jingchuan, Luo Luo, and Lu Yanting all chose Jian Ran.
• Lu Yanting asked who Jian Ran had chosen, and Wei Xiaoxue began to reveal his choice before the chapter ended.

After the dating show’s pairings failed, Jian Ran gathered new customers by selling talisman paper, while Lu Yanting privately asked him to choose between monthly and yearly payments. At the hotel, the Bai Family’s great-grandfather arrived and asked Jian Ran about curing Old Madam Gu, leaving Jian Ran to challenge him over which one he meant.

• On the coach, Bai Jingchuan and Bai Qing argued over Jian Ran, Zheng Huai and Xu Junyi traded threats, and Luo Luo asked Jian Ran for talisman paper before adding him on WeChat.
• Lu Yanting sent Jian Ran a message asking him to choose monthly or yearly payment, and Jian Ran decided to ignore it for now.
• The coach left Yandong University as the fire was extinguished and the fog dispersed, then brought the guests back to the hotel as the livestream ended and voting began.
• At the hotel, the guests crowded around Jian Ran to exchange contact details, while Bai Jingchuan wondered why Jian Ran had suddenly become popular.
• Bai Jingchuan recognized the Bai Family great-grandfather arriving in a Lincoln, but the old man greeted Lu Yanting first and then approached Jian Ran.
• The great-grandfather asked Jian Ran whether he had cured Old Madam Gu, and Jian Ran replied that he had treated so many people he could not remember which one.

Jian Ran accepted a lucrative job from the Bai Family patriarch and learned he was being asked to rescue a woman named Yun Ying from a sinister psychiatric hospital. The patriarch warned that everyone he had sent there had either gone mad or died.

• Bai Qing admired Jian Ran after he boldly addressed the Bai Family patriarch as an old comrade, and the patriarch invited him to visit.
• Jian Ran accepted the patriarch’s offer of a profitable job and left with him in a stretch Lincoln, while Lu Yanting wondered why Jian Ran would not do more business with him.
• In the car, Jian Ran divined grave misfortune and tried to back out, but the patriarch persuaded him to continue by offering payment and future opportunities.
• The patriarch explained that the movie set in a psychiatric hospital would be a cover for rescuing Yun Ying, a woman who had lost her memories after being cursed.
• The patriarch told Jian Ran that private detectives sent to the hospital had either gone mad or died.

After being invited by Director Feng Xianghui to star in a film about a notorious murder case, Jian Ran told the Bai Family he would take a few days to decide. Lu Yanting agreed to join the production after his grandfather urged him to keep Jian Ran from being claimed by the Bai Family, and news of Jian Ran rejecting the invitation spread online.

• Jian Ran told his manager Xu Xuda that Director Feng Xianghui had invited him to film at the Sixth People's Hospital, and Xu Xuda rushed to answer Feng's call.
• Jian Ran told Bai Jingrui he would consider the Bai patriarch's proposal for a few days before giving an answer.
• Jian Ran avoided Lu Yanting after returning home, ending their staged encounter by rushing into his apartment.
• Lu Yanting told his grandfather that the Bai patriarch had already made a move, and agreed to contact the film crew about joining the movie.
• Grandpa Lu moved quickly to secure Lu Yanting's place in the production, and Weibo filled with headlines about the film and Jian Ran's rejection of Director Feng's invitation.

Jian Ran investigated the Sixth People's Hospital fire, received another ominous divination, and accepted Feng Xianghui's film job for a ten-million payment. After signing the contract, he discovered Lu Yanting was also starring in the film, and learned that quitting would cost him a hundred million.

• Jian Ran refused Feng Xianghui's offer at first, then researched the Sixth People's Hospital fire and found rumors that patients had been burned alive while doctors and nurses survived.
• Jian Ran divined another terrible omen but decided to take the job anyway and demanded ten million with a deposit.
• Feng Xianghui learned Jian Ran was the expert Old Mr. Bai had chosen and reluctantly agreed to direct the film.
• Jian Ran signed the contract and ran into Lu Yanting and Su Yuan in the corridor.
• Lu Yanting pointed out that Jian Ran would owe ten times his payment if he broke the contract.

Jian Ran signed on to the film despite wanting to back out, then discovered its mystery about Huo Yun Ying might connect to Old Mr. Bai’s search. Lu Yanting told him the contract had been tampered with and warned that he could owe a penalty if he failed to find her.

• Xu Xuda learned Jian Ran had signed the contract and told him to focus on acting instead of trying to break it.
• Lu Yanting urged Feng Xianghui not to judge Jian Ran’s acting in advance and insisted the production should be filmed normally.
• Jian Ran read the script and noticed the doctor’s birth mother, Huo Yun Ying, had a name close to the person Old Mr. Bai wanted to find.
• Lu Yanting arrived at Jian Ran’s apartment and revealed that Old Mr. Bai had tampered with the contract, leaving Jian Ran potentially liable for a penalty.
• Lu Yanting looked at Jian Ran’s exposed shoulder, and Jian Ran asked whether he was flirting with him.

Jian Ran learned that Lu Yanting had persuaded Director Feng to add romantic scenes to their film, then tried to avoid Lu as the cast traveled to the filming location. The coach arrived at a gloomy hospital surrounded by dense woods, where motionless patients waited in the courtyard.

• Lu Yanting told Jian Ran that the historical fire investigation involved a doctor and detective who fell in love, and said he wanted more romantic scenes added to the script.
• Jian Ran panicked at the thought of kissing or bed scenes and tried to distract himself after Lu Yanting left.
• Three days later, Jian Ran arrived early for filming and learned from Director Feng that he had added a kissing scene but resisted a requested bed scene.
• Jian Ran disguised himself on the coach and hid when he spotted a familiar figure, while Director Feng discussed the bed scene with Lu Yanting.
• Jian Ran woke during the journey and saw a dark hospital surrounded by woods, with motionless patients standing in its courtyard.