Chapter Summaries

After dying in a car accident, Lu Xingchen woke in the novel he had read, in bed with his favorite character, Huo Chuyun. He realized the original Lu Xingchen had been poisoned and that Huo Chuyun was a celebrated actor and heir who had endured abuse from his family.

• Lu Xingchen woke in a dim room beside a naked man and tried to slap him.
• Lu Xingchen recognized the scarred man as Huo Chuyun, who teased him about what he had said the night before.
• Lu Xingchen recalled that Lu Yichen had arranged to drug the original Lu Xingchen and send him to a predatory boss, but the original had died after someone added rat poison.
• Lu Xingchen remembered that he had beaten the boss and the man guarding the door before the drug took effect and he sought help at Huo Chuyun's room.
• Lu Xingchen recalled Huo Chuyun's painful childhood and his success as an award-winning actor despite his family's contempt.

Lu Xingchen, who had entered the novel, comforted Huo Chuyun by kissing his scar and promised to take responsibility for their drugged encounter. Huo Chuyun explained that both of them had been drugged, and recalled how Lu Xingchen had recognized him and lamented his fictional death the night before.

• Lu Xingchen remembered Huo Chuyun’s tragic fate in the novel and became furious at the author for giving Lu Yichen a happy ending.
• Huo Chuyun teased Lu Xingchen about being afraid of his scar, so Lu Xingchen kissed it repeatedly and praised his performance in The Vanished Murderer.
• Lu Xingchen accidentally squeezed Huo Chuyun’s chest, then learned Huo Chuyun recognized him from a Lu family banquet.
• Lu Xingchen apologized for their encounter and offered to take responsibility, but Huo Chuyun said he had been drugged too and suspected Huo Junchi.
• Huo Chuyun recalled Lu Xingchen bursting into his room the night before, recognizing him, and crying over the novel’s decision to kill him off.

After recalling their first kiss, Lu Xingchen learned that Huo Chuyun planned to give him five million and end their involvement, but Lu Xingchen insisted he would pursue Huo Chuyun. Lu Xingchen added himself to Huo Chuyun’s WeChat and kissed him again before leaving, telling Huo Chuyun to transfer the money.

• Lu Xingchen worried that Huo Junchi had drugged Huo Chuyun and offered to confront him.
• Huo Chuyun offered Lu Xingchen five million so he could leave the Lu family, and Lu Xingchen accepted.
• Lu Xingchen asked to add Huo Chuyun on WeChat and declared that he would pursue him.
• Lu Xingchen unlocked Huo Chuyun’s phone with his face and added his own WeChat account.
• Lu Xingchen kissed Huo Chuyun, promised to kiss only him, and left after reminding him to transfer the money.

Lu Xingchen returned to the Lu Residence and found Xiao Huang and Tofu being beaten by Lu Yichen and Lu Yihao, so he attacked the brothers and confronted Zhou Fenglan. He protected the injured animals and left Zhou Fenglan shaken by his threats to arrange her divorce from Lu Wenshan.

• Lu Xingchen arrived at the Lu Residence and heard Xiao Huang and Tofu being attacked by Lu Yichen and Lu Yihao.
• Lu Xingchen grabbed Lu Yichen and slammed him down, then beat Lu Yihao unconscious for hurting the animals.
• Lu Yichen threatened Lu Xingchen with punishment from their parents and eldest brother, but Lu Xingchen grabbed his face and prepared to slap him.
• Zhou Fenglan rushed in and fell when Lu Xingchen dodged her; he then checked Xiao Huang's injury and comforted Tofu.
• Zhou Fenglan scolded Lu Xingchen for beating his brothers and escaping Mr. Fei, while Lu Xingchen insulted her and threatened to have her divorce Lu Wenshan and marry Mr. Fatso.

Lu Xingchen confronted the Lu family over their abuse of Xiao Huang and Tofu, fought back with a feces-smeared stick, and declared that he would never return. He left Lu Yize and Lu Yichen humiliated as he rejected the family that had mistreated him.

• Zhou Fenglan attacked Lu Xingchen, but Tofu scratched her face until Lu Yize arrived and kicked the cat away.
• Lu Xingchen protected Tofu and Xiao Huang, demanded that Lu Yize pay their medical and cleaning bills, and accused Lu Yichen and Lu Yihao of abusing them.
• Lu Yichen blamed Lu Xingchen for the injuries and urged Lu Yize to lock him up, while Lu Yize questioned how Lu Xingchen had knocked out Lu Yihao.
• Lu Xingchen smeared a stick with the animals' excrement and jabbed it at Lu Yichen and Lu Yize, making Lu Yichen vomit and forcing Lu Yize to retreat.
• Lu Xingchen dismissed the family's insults, declared he would never return, and criticized Lu Yize for allowing the family and servants to mistreat him.

Lu Xingchen confronted Lu Yize over the family’s plan to trade him for a business project and threatened the Lu Group’s Country A partnership to secure compensation. After forcing Lu Yize to back down, he returned to his room and slapped a servant who ordered him to clean the floor.

• Lu Xingchen condemned Lu Yize and the Lu family for agreeing to hand him over to a CEO, then challenged Lu Yize’s claim that he deserved to lead the Lu Group.
• Lu Xingchen demanded ten million for Xiao Huang’s medical expenses and Tofu’s cleaning fees, threatening to expose the family’s actions to rivals competing for the Country A partnership.
• Lu Yize tried to strike Lu Xingchen, but Lu Xingchen blocked him with the dog-beating stick and shoved it into his throat, making him vomit.
• Lu Xingchen warned Lu Yize to transfer the money or face a scandal, then went to his room to pack Tofu’s carrier and pet food.
• A servant ordered Lu Xingchen to clean the floor, so Lu Xingchen slapped the servant and told the staff that cleaning was their job.

Lu Xingchen tried to leave the Lu Residence with the pets and ten million, but Lu Yize sent bodyguards to stop him. Lu Xingchen drove them back with a chainsaw and chased Lu Yichen, demanding fifty million as Zhou Fenglan offered to pay the original sum.

• Lu Xingchen entered the storeroom after slapping a servant, while Lu Yichen and Zhou Fenglan complained to Lu Yize about the ten-million payment.
• Lu Yize apologized to Lu Yichen, promised him a limited-edition bag, and vowed not to let Lu Xingchen leave the Lu Residence.
• Lu Yize ordered the bodyguards to attack Lu Xingchen as he tried to leave with Tofu, Xiao Huang, pet food, and a chainsaw.
• Lu Xingchen started the chainsaw and frightened the bodyguards into hiding; Lin Yufan livestreamed the scene to Huo Chuyun, who told him to keep Lu Xingchen safe.
• Lu Yichen challenged Lu Xingchen to cut him, so Lu Xingchen chased him with the chainsaw while taunting him about Lu Yize and the Lu Corporation's partnership bid.
• Zhou Lanfeng offered to pay ten million to protect Lu Yichen, but Lu Xingchen demanded fifty million as Lu Yihao regained consciousness and cursed at him.

Lu Xingchen forced the Lu family to pay him fifty million yuan, then sent Huo Chuyun sunflowers and openly confessed his feelings by message. He settled into his small apartment with Tofu and Xiao Huang, while Huo Chuyun remained wary of his intentions.

• Lu Xingchen stopped the chainsaw just before Lu Yichen and collected fifty million yuan from Zhou Fenglan, then left the Lu family home with Xiao Huang and Tofu.
• Lu Xingchen recognized Huo Chuyun’s assistant Lin Yufan and realized Huo Chuyun had sent him to keep watch at the Lu family home.
• Lin Yufan delivered thirteen sunflowers to Huo Chuyun, who first ordered him to throw them away before keeping them after receiving Lu Xingchen’s messages and photo of the animals.
• Huo Chuyun questioned Lu Xingchen about how he knew Lin Yufan and what he wanted, and Lu Xingchen replied that he had come to love him, not hurt him.
• Lu Xingchen took Tofu and Xiao Huang to his rented apartment and began eating after helping them get familiar with their new home.

Lu Xingchen’s former agent, Wang Pengfei, visited him and offered him a spot on the livestreamed variety show Run Faster. Lu Xingchen accepted the challenge, with filming set to begin in three days, then spent time with Tofu and Xiao Huang.

• Wang Pengfei arrived at Lu Xingchen’s apartment and was astonished by his improved appearance and posture.
• Lu Xingchen offered Wang Pengfei five million yuan to thank him for supporting his career, but Wang Pengfei refused the money.
• Wang Pengfei told Lu Xingchen he had recommended him for Run Faster, a charity variety show where celebrities completed missions while evading elite athlete hunters.
• Lu Xingchen agreed to join the show, which would film in three days, and planned to fly to H City with Wang Pengfei the day before filming.
• Lu Xingchen let Wang Pengfei hold Tofu, then checked Xiao Huang’s bandage and gently stroked him.

Lu Xingchen reunited with Huo Chuyun at the start of a variety show, and the two drew adjacent numbers for its opening challenge. As the livestream began, the first contestant stepped forward to face the hunters in the Hunter Box.

• Lu Xingchen happily greeted Huo Chuyun and asked why he had joined the show, while Huo Chuyun said the director had invited him.
• Director Song had the guests draw lots, with Lu Xingchen drawing number five and Huo Chuyun number four.
• Lu Yichen and Lu Yihao arrived late and drew numbers two and twelve before the livestream began.
• The livestream introduced a challenge requiring guests numbered one through five to divide sixty seconds between them, with the first four choosing their own times.
• Su Tianle entered the challenge area and asked whether he could attempt ten seconds.

The celebrity guests began the seconds-counting challenge that determined when they could enter the game area. Su Tianle, Lu Yichen, and Jiang Jingyi passed, while Huo Chuyun chose to attempt twenty-one seconds, leaving Lu Xingchen thirteen seconds to complete.

• Lu Xingchen encouraged Su Tianle, who paused the timer at 10:40 and passed the challenge.
• Lu Yichen complained about his outfit, then chose to attempt only four seconds, leaving the rest of the team with fifty seconds to divide.
• Lu Yichen passed the challenge, and Jiang Jingyi chose twelve seconds and completed it at 12:61.
• With thirty-four seconds remaining, Huo Chuyun offered to attempt twenty-one seconds, leaving thirteen seconds for Lu Xingchen.

Huo Chuyun and Lu Xingchen completed the timing challenge and entered the game area, where they began the first task: finding a valid number on missing-person posters to learn about Li Tao’s missing mother and deactivate their alarms. After escaping a hunter, they discovered the posters had messy red numbers on their backs as storm clouds gathered overhead.

• Huo Chuyun stopped the timer at 21:00, leaving Lu Xingchen 13 seconds to finish the challenge, then waited for him instead of leaving.
• Lu Xingchen succeeded by repeating “I like Chuyun” 13 times, and he and Huo Chuyun discussed his method while heading into the game area.
• The production team announced that the runners had to find a missing-person poster with a number divisible by 3 and verify it to obtain information and disable their alarms.
• Lu Xingchen and Huo Chuyun searched for posters, spotted a hunter, and fled with a stack of notices.
• Lu Xingchen and Huo Chuyun found that the posters’ backs bore jumbled red numbers as dark clouds covered the sky.

Lu Xingchen and Huo Chuyun solved the poster-number clue and received information about missing woman Wang Xiuli, whose description raised suspicions of abuse or neglect. As they investigated the clue in the Li Family Ancestral Hall, Huo Chuyun held Lu Xingchen while they discussed what might have happened to her.

• Lu Xingchen and Huo Chuyun realized the red poster numbers had been written with a bloodied finger and suspected something was wrong with Li Tao.
• Huo Chuyun and Lu Xingchen reached the verification machine and used the correct numbers to stop their alarms and receive clue cards.
• Lu Yihao was caught by a hunter after tripping and losing a shoe, while Lu Yichen watched from hiding.
• Huo Chuyun and Lu Xingchen discovered their cards described Li Tao's missing mother, Wang Xiuli, including her extreme thinness and worn padded jacket.
• Huo Chuyun helped Lu Xingchen up and held him as Lu Xingchen wondered whether Wang Xiuli had been abused or neglected.

Lu Xingchen and Huo Chuyun confessed their feelings and kissed during a break in the livestream, then resumed investigating Wang Xiuli’s disappearance. When Lu Yichen fled toward them with a hunter on his heels, Lu Xingchen stopped running and faced him.

• Lu Xingchen teased Huo Chuyun about kissing him, and Huo Chuyun admitted he had fallen for him at first sight.
• After the cameraman left, Lu Xingchen and Huo Chuyun flirted, confessed their feelings, and kissed while the livestream was suspended.
• The livestream resumed, and Lu Xingchen and Huo Chuyun discussed the possibility that Wang Xiuli had escaped after suffering abuse.
• Huo Chuyun warned Lu Xingchen that Lu Yichen had failed his task, and an alarm sounded as Lu Yichen ran toward them with a hunter chasing him.
• Lu Yichen ordered Lu Xingchen to block the hunter, but Lu Xingchen stopped and faced him coldly.

Lu Xingchen knocked Lu Yichen into the hunter’s arms after Lu Yichen tried to lure the hunter toward him and Huo Chuyun. The pair then investigated Li Tao’s missing mother, Wang Xiuli, and grew suspicious when villagers repeated the same story about her.

• Lu Xingchen dodged Lu Yichen’s lunge, struck him, and kicked him into the hunter, who caught him.
• Lu Xingchen warned Lu Yichen not to target him or Huo Chuyun again, then watched staff take Lu Yichen away.
• Lu Xingchen and Huo Chuyun received a mission to search Tuanjie Village for Li Tao’s mother, Wang Xiuli, before the remaining time reached twenty-five minutes.
• Lu Xingchen questioned the village shopkeeper, who claimed Wang Xiuli had once been with Li Gang, was cast out for being unable to bear children, and later had Li Tao with Li Qiang.
• Lu Xingchen and Huo Chuyun questioned other villagers and heard the same account; Huo Chuyun concluded the village seemed suspicious because everyone repeated it almost word for word.

Lu Xingchen and Huo Chuyun visited Li Tao to ask about missing Wang Xiuli, where Zhao Zhiyan recognized signs that Li Tao’s servant had recently given birth and Lu Xingchen challenged Wei Wenxu’s controlling behavior. Li Tao then led them upstairs to Wang Xiuli’s room and explained her supposed mental decline and unusual habits.

• Lu Xingchen and Huo Chuyun arrived at Li Tao’s villa and met Zhao Zhiyan and Wei Wenxu, then questioned Li Tao about Wang Xiuli.
• Lu Xingchen noticed the servant’s unsteady walk, and Zhao Zhiyan said it looked like she had recently given birth.
• Wei Wenxu dismissed Zhao Zhiyan’s observation and patronized her, prompting Lu Xingchen and Huo Chuyun to challenge him and advise Zhao to reconsider her marriage.
• Lu Xingchen asked Li Tao to show them Wang Xiuli’s room, and Li Tao agreed despite briefly stiffening.
• As they went upstairs, Li Tao claimed Wang Xiuli had suffered brain damage from a fever, acted confused, wore clothes unsuitable for the season, and needed to be coaxed into eating.

Lu Xingchen and Huo Chuyun uncovered Li Tao’s lies and learned that Tuanjie Village had prospered through trafficking women. Wang Meng revealed that Li Tao had imprisoned her aunt, Wang Xiuli, in the basement, and the chapter ended with Lu Xingchen and Huo Chuyun holding Li Tao while Wang Meng confronted him.

• Lu Xingchen questioned Li Tao about Wang Xiuli, his family, and the village’s wealth, noticing inconsistencies in Li Tao’s carefully rehearsed answers.
• Lu Xingchen accused Li Tao’s father, Li Qiang, of trafficking Wang Xiuli and accused the village of making money through trafficking women.
• Lu Xingchen restrained Li Tao, and Huo Chuyun brought Wang Meng from the next room.
• Wang Meng revealed that the villagers had trapped her after she came to find her aunt, and that Li Tao had killed her first two daughters and wanted a son.
• Wang Meng explained that the missing-person notices and bloody numbers were her distress signals and said Li Tao had locked Wang Xiuli in the basement and was starving her.
• Lu Xingchen helped Wang Meng up while Huo Chuyun restrained Li Tao, and Wang Meng kicked and slapped him.

Lu Xingchen and Huo Chuyun rescued Wang Meng, her infant daughter, and Wang Xiuli from Li Tao’s basement in Tuanjie Village. After comforting Lu Xingchen over the victims’ suffering, Huo Chuyun encouraged him to use the show to raise awareness and donate their prize money, and they vowed to survive to the end together.

• Lu Xingchen silenced Li Tao after he defended trying to force his mother to bear him a son, and Wang Meng explained that the basement key was in Li Tao’s room.
• Lu Xingchen and Wang Meng retrieved the key, found Wang Xiuli unconscious in the basement, and carried her out of captivity.
• Wang Meng cared for Wang Xiuli while Lu Xingchen and Huo Chuyun prepared food, and Huo Chuyun tied up Li Tao and locked him in a room.
• Lu Xingchen cried over the suffering of trafficked women and worried he could do little to help them.
• Huo Chuyun told Lu Xingchen that the show could raise awareness and spur crackdowns, and promised they would donate their prize money together.

Lu Xingchen and Huo Chuyun learned that the local police had returned Wang Meng to her captors, so they prepared to drive her, Wang Xiuli, and Wang Meng’s daughter out of Tuanjie Village themselves. The chapter ended with Su Tianle and the others blocking their car as Lu Xingchen ordered Huo Chuyun to drive.

• Lu Xingchen and Huo Chuyun received confirmation that they had completed Task Two and learned that three more contestants had been caught.
• Wang Meng explained that a police officer had returned her to the village and revealed that trafficked women were abused, while the village shopkeeper helped lure girls into captivity.
• Lu Xingchen and Huo Chuyun decided to escape the mountains with Wang Meng, Wang Xiuli, and Wang Meng’s daughter, using a car and gathering supplies.
• Huo Chuyun packed the car while Lu Xingchen returned with food and water, having injured his knee while avoiding a hunter.
• Wei Wenxu, Su Tianle, and the others questioned their plan and blocked the car, but Lu Xingchen warned them that the police station was unsafe and ordered Huo Chuyun to drive.

Wang Xiuli and Wang Meng escaped Tuanjie Village with Huo Chuyun and Lu Xingchen, and the two women reunited with their family. After the game ended, Lu Xingchen and Huo Chuyun donated their earnings to an anti-trafficking organization and grew closer as Huo Chuyun cared for Lu Xingchen's injuries.

• Huo Chuyun drove Wang Xiuli, Wang Meng, and the baby out of Tuanjie Village, and Wang Xiuli wept with relief at finally escaping.
• Wang Xiuli and Wang Meng agreed to raise the baby well as they began their journey toward a new life.
• Lu Xingchen learned that he and Huo Chuyun were the only contestants to complete the third mission and win the game.
• Song Zhiyan gave Lu Xingchen and Huo Chuyun their checks, and they asked her to donate the money in their fans' names to an organization combating human trafficking.
• Song Zhiyan revealed that she was Huo Chuyun's second aunt and teased him about joining the show to see Lu Xingchen.
• Huo Chuyun treated Lu Xingchen's scraped knees, and Lu Xingchen promised to put his health first in the future.