Chapter Summaries

Ma Ye endured the old witch doctor's treatment for his infected wound, and she warned him not to trust himself or a flower in the woods. After Jiang Nuo and Si Yan returned to the inn, Su Hen tattled that they had broken the rules, but found them pretending to be in bed; Jiang Nuo then shot a needle into Su Hen's arm.

• The old witch doctor placed a blood-red worm on Ma Ye's infected wound, causing him intense pain as the fleshy growths receded.
• The old witch doctor quietly warned Ma Ye not to believe what he heard or said in the woods and not to trust the flower.
• At the inn, Lin Yu secretly drained Su Hen's Soul Power while listening to him boast, and Su Hen grew more hostile toward Jiang Nuo.
• Su Hen found Jiang Nuo and Si Yan's room empty, accused them of sneaking outside, and tattled to Da Qiang when he arrived in the corridor.
• Jiang Nuo and Si Yan climbed back through the window and pretended to be in bed; Si Yan kissed Jiang Nuo just before Da Qiang opened the door.
• Jiang Nuo asked who had tattled and fired a needle from his cuff, piercing Su Hen's arm.

Jiang Nuo threatened Su Hen after he tattled, then sold the other guests food and talismans at steep prices. At the Mountain in the Clouds, the group encountered a Ghost in the Road, and Su Hen summoned his Soul Power doll to face it.

• Jiang Nuo wounded Su Hen and warned him not to cause trouble again, while Lin Yu helped Su Hen up and tried to ease the conflict.
• Jiang Nuo pulled food and talismans from his backpack and sold them to Chu Xiu, Zhou Ling, Qian Sen, and Lin Yu, while Su Hen refused to buy anything.
• Da Qiang led the guests to the Mountain in the Clouds and explained that its pavilion was the Bone Witch Tribe's temple, warning them not to enter the forest behind it.
• Zhou Ling's astrolabe signaled an ill omen as a Ghost in the Road appeared on the path to the pavilion.
• Jiang Nuo pretended to be terrified and Si Yan comforted him, while Su Hen summoned his Soul Power doll to confront the ghost.

Su Hen fought the ghostly figure while Da Qiang tried to make the visitors reveal their strength, but red snakes drove the creature away. Jiang Nuo led the group into the tower with another tour group, where they found strange statues and discovered that the marks on one were insect excrement.

• Su Hen fought the ghostly figure with his soul power dolls as Jiang Nuo protected himself and Si Yan from the battle.
• Da Qiang covertly brought out red snakes that drove the ghostly figure away, and Su Hen fled when it turned toward the group.
• Zhou Ling felt pain in her eyes, while Chu Xiu and Si Yan reported dizziness after the spectral flames appeared; Jiang Nuo gave Si Yan a candy.
• Jiang Nuo asked Da Qiang about the sentry post, and Da Qiang warned them not to go there before sending the visitors into the tower.
• The group encountered the three surviving tourists from the yellow-flagged tour group, and Da Qiang and Da Huang agreed to let both groups enter together.
• Inside the tower, Jiang Nuo called one statue a pile of poop and identified the marks on its head as insect excrement.

Jiang Nuo and the others explored the Bone Witch Tribe tower, where the staircase vanished behind them and Jiang Nuo discovered a trap beneath his foot. Si Yan stayed close as Jiang Nuo prepared to deal with it.

• Jiang Nuo revealed that the Poop God statue was a trap, and Lin Yu and Qian Sen struggled to clean their hands after touching it.
• Xiao Yue tried to join Si Yan, but Si Yan refused, and Jiang Nuo led him away from the confrontation.
• Jiang Nuo suspected the tower's statues were arranged in a five-elements and eight-trigrams formation, then the stairs retracted after the group reached the second floor.
• Su Hen grew increasingly pale and unwell, while Lin Yu secretly wrapped him in dark spirit power and suspected he was near death.
• Jiang Nuo stepped on a trap on the second floor, and Si Yan refused to leave him alone as everyone else backed away.

Jiang Nuo diverted the formation’s ghost power and playfully startled the others before the mist formation activated and separated the group. Si Yan was caught in an illusion of his childhood, reliving the incident when a Ghost King injured him and his grandfather sought a way to save him.

• Jiang Nuo pulled Si Yan away from the mechanism at the last moment, revealing that he had been pretending to frighten everyone.
• Jiang Nuo comforted Si Yan, who suspected Jiang Nuo had absorbed the ghost power to protect him, while Qian Sen warned that the formation was activating.
• Mist spread through the area as Zhou Ling and Qian Sen’s tools lit up and Su Hen’s soul power was drained near the chain and iron hammer.
• Lin Yu removed the chain from Su Hen’s hand, and the group searching for the formation mechanism began losing sight of one another.
• A crash and poisonous miasma overwhelmed the group, while the bronze mirror on one of six deity statues activated an illusion.
• Si Yan awoke inside a memory of his childhood, where Si Mingde learned that the injured boy needed the Spirit-Suppressing Stone to stabilize his soul.

Si Yan endured an illusion that replayed the torment of his childhood before he broke free and searched for Jiang Nuo. Jiang Nuo relived his betrayal and near-death in the Floating Life Tower, then awoke in Si Yan’s embrace.

• Si Mingde recalled finding a Spirit-Suppressing Stone and using it to temper young Si Yan for forty-nine days with the resentful fiends of the twelve coffins.
• Si Yan felt the illusion’s pain, steadied himself by thinking of Jiang Nuo, and tore apart the images with his Spiritual Power.
• Si Yan dispelled the fog, crushed a charging soul ghost, and headed toward a presence he sensed.
• Jiang Nuo relived being betrayed by Lin Yu and falling into the Floating Life Tower’s fire pool, while the pain and memory brought him to his knees.
• Jiang Nuo remembered crawling out of the fire pool and later killing Lin Yu, then heard Si Yan calling him and woke in Si Yan’s embrace.

Jiang Nuo and Si Yan recovered from the mist and regrouped with their teammates, then dismantled the formation’s core on the first floor. With the mist gone, they discovered the poisonous miasma remained, and Jiang Nuo chased down the bad-luck ghost responsible.

• Jiang Nuo kissed Si Yan while Su Hen watched helplessly nearby, then the two left to find their scattered teammates.
• Jiang Nuo led Si Yan, Zhou Ling, and Qian Sen down to the first floor, where Qian Sen’s compass pointed them toward the formation eye.
• Jiang Nuo dismantled the wooden deity statue, shutting down the formation and clearing the mist.
• Si Yan warned that the poisonous miasma remained as Zhou Ling checked on the unconscious yellow-team trio.
• Jiang Nuo found the bad-luck ghost, grabbed it by the scalp, and threw it downstairs as it spat poisonous gas.

Jiang Nuo interrogated the ill-fortune ghost, whose final words hinted at a threat involving moonlight and a third boulder, while Zhou Ling saw a dangerous presence connected to Lin Yu and Su Hen. The group escaped the attic unharmed, leaving Da Qiang shocked that none of the guests had been taken.

• Jiang Nuo tortured the ill-fortune ghost until it recited a cryptic warning about the clanspeople, returned abilities, and moonlight shining on the third boulder, then watched the ghost vanish.
• Zhou Ling used her star chart to see black threads extending from Lin Yu toward a human-shaped figure where Su Hen had collapsed, but the threads struck her and left her bleeding from the eyes.
• Zhou Ling hid what she had seen and accepted tissues from Lin Yu, while online viewers argued over whether Jiang Nuo had harmed Su Hen by selling him food and talismans.
• Chen Xianyu ordered the show's PR team to help Jiang Nuo as the livestream's audience grew and attacks against him spread online.
• After the attic stairs restored themselves, the guests and the weakened yellow team escaped; the guides were horrified that everyone had survived, and Jiang Nuo approached Da Qiang.

Jiang Nuo and Si Yan captured Da Qiang and returned to the guide's cabin, where Si Yan pondered the Bone Witch Tribe's rules and secrets. After Jiang Nuo woke and tried to explore the tribe at night, A Man warned them that the tribe planned to sacrifice people and advised them to visit the dense forest, which Si Yan recognized as forbidden by the tribe's rules.

• Jiang Nuo beat Da Qiang, captured him, and forced him to lead the group back to the guide's cabin for the night.
• Si Yan tied Da Qiang to the bed and thought over the Bone Witch Tribe's rules while Jiang Nuo fell asleep beside him.
• Jiang Nuo heard the tribespeople singing and suggested investigating, but Si Yan persuaded him to sleep until morning.
• Two hours later, Jiang Nuo sleepwalked awake and urged Si Yan to explore the tribe, but they found A Man outside their window.
• A Man warned Si Yan and Jiang Nuo that the tribe planned to select human sacrifices and told them to go to the dense forest the next day.
• Si Yan challenged A Man's advice, pointing out that the Bone Witch Tribe's rules forbade outsiders from entering the dense forest.

Jiang Nuo and Si Yan learned that A Man’s warning about the dense forest matched Granny’s advice, and they prepared to investigate it during the tribe’s ceremony. Their plan took an alarming turn when Jiang Nuo asked to bring Ma Ye, whom Su Hen said had died long ago.

• A Man told Si Yan that the tour guide’s rules barred entry to the dense forest, even though it would be safest the next day.
• Jiang Nuo became confused about whether Si Yan was a player, but Si Yan comforted him and got him to sleep.
• The next morning, Jiang Nuo asked 0732 whether revealing the survival game would affect Si Yan, then claimed he had only been talking about a game in his dream.
• Si Yan told Jiang Nuo and the others that A Man had advised them to visit the dense forest during the tribal ceremony.
• Jiang Nuo decided they would sneak into the forest and bring Ma Ye, but Su Hen protested that Ma Ye had died long ago.

Jiang Nuo and his companions learned Ma Ye had reportedly died after exploring the Bone Witch Tribe, then split up to investigate the tribe and the dense forest. At the sacrificial square, they found three corpses displayed for a ritual, and Si Yan realized the formation would activate that day.

• Su Hen said Ma Ye had vanished while filming at a newly discovered ancient tribe and had later been reported dead; Jiang Nuo recognized the man as Ma Ye.
• Jiang Nuo and Si Yan chose to investigate the tribe’s sacrifice, while Qian Sen and Lin Yu headed to the dense forest with Zhou Ling and Chu Xiu staying with Jiang Nuo; the yellow team returned to the inn.
• Jiang Nuo’s group encountered Ma Ye beside the increasingly rotten corpse again and brought Da Qiang along toward the tribe.
• The tribe’s residents dragged the bound female tourist toward the sacrificial square as A Man urged Jiang Nuo’s group to go to the dense forest.
• At the blood-soaked square, Jiang Nuo’s group saw three corpses hanging from deer skulls, and Si Yan said the formation would activate that day.

Jiang Nuo and his companions followed a group of tourists into the woods, where the tourists revealed themselves as ghosts and tried to trap them. After escaping through a trick that separated their consciousness from their bodies, Jiang Nuo led everyone back toward the sacrificial ceremony.

• Several tourists tossed Si Yan a blood-written note inviting the group to escape with them, and Jiang Nuo decided to investigate.
• Jiang Nuo led the group toward the tourists' hiding place, then the tourists seized them and dragged them into a hole as the tribespeople gave chase.
• The group passed rows of skinned bodies, and the tourists revealed their ghost hands and tried to make everyone stay in the woods.
• Jiang Nuo recognized that Ma Ye was also a ghost, then snapped his fingers and turned himself and his companions into paper cutouts to escape.
• The group awoke by the haystack, and Jiang Nuo hurried them toward the sacrificial ceremony after seeing it had begun.

During the Bone Witch Tribe’s sacrificial ceremony, Jiang Nuo realized the tribe’s ritual could not restore the unconscious victims, while Zhou Ling intervened to save a tourist. The ceremony collapsed into chaos when walking corpses and skeletal beasts appeared, leaving the tribe under attack.

• Jiang Nuo watched the tribe begin its ceremony and inferred that the tribespeople had not killed the hanging victims, though their ritual still demanded a price.
• Si Yan explained that the Soul-Returning Array could not work without using living souls, and the old witch doctor signaled for them to stop discussing it.
• Jiang Nuo recognized markings on the tourist as the same ones on Da Qiang and A Man, while Zhou Ling charged in to rescue the woman.
• Jiang Nuo pulled out and destroyed the soul-returning flags as he and the others became caught up in the conflict.
• A rumbling sound prompted a tribesman to cry that the gods were punishing them, and the panicked tribe fled as walking corpses and skeletal beasts emerged from the woods.

As the Bone Witch Tribe was overwhelmed by walking corpses and skeletal beasts, Jiang Nuo and Si Yan concealed their strength while fighting to protect the others. Jiang Nuo’s talismans finally burned through the attackers, leaving the square full of corpses and the source of the assault uncertain.

• Chu Xiu hid with a tourist, then punched a walking corpse away when it attacked them.
• Jiang Nuo used a red cord to destroy skeletal beasts and clear the sacrificial platform.
• Si Yan crushed a walking corpse with Spiritual Power, then pretended to be frightened when Jiang Nuo called him over.
• Jiang Nuo and Zhou Ling rescued the old witch doctor as Si Yan secretly destroyed nearby monsters with Spiritual Power.
• Jiang Nuo scattered talismans that ignited the walking corpses, then used an incantation to burn the remaining attackers across the square.
• The fire died down, and no more walking corpses emerged from the woods.

Jiang Nuo and the others learned that the Bone Witch Tribe had been sacrificing people under the influence of gods in the forest, while the rescued tourist was beyond saving unless her missing souls could be found within seven days. After the group prepared to reunite with Qian Sen’s team, Wang Ping discovered that the dead explorer Ma Ye had been on the Death Pursuit List.

• The Bone Witch Tribe’s high priest explained that the gods’ power had caused soul loss among the tribespeople and led them to sacrifice animals, then people.
• The high priest said the Bones on Trees were burial remains that had become deadly after the gods appeared, and revealed that the gods had taught the tribe soul swapping.
• Jiang Nuo recognized that the rescued tourist had lost most of her soul and said she could only be saved if her missing souls were found within seven days.
• Zhou Ling linked up with Qian Sen, and Jiang Nuo prepared to return with the others.
• Wang Ping told his colleagues that Ma Ye’s death was not a simple exploration accident and showed them that Ma Ye had been on the Death Pursuit List.

Wang Ping discovered that Ma Ye had the ability to swap and control souls, while the surviving guests returned from the dense forest with clues about the Bone Witch Tribe. Jiang Nuo proposed investigating the sentry post for more answers, and the group prepared to follow his lead.

• Wang Ping read that Ma Ye, whose real name was Ma Zhen, could swap souls, control people, and turn them into walking corpses, prompting the Dao Xuan Association members to connect him to the false gods in the Bone Witch Tribe.
• Qian Sen and Lin Yu returned injured, and Lin Yu reported that the dense forest was a burial hill filled with bones and that corpses had emerged and attacked them; Su Hen died in the forest.
• Qian Sen suggested that the forest's false gods were people in disguise and that the killing intent of Bones on Trees came from the vengeful souls of sacrificed tribespeople.
• Lin Yu praised Jiang Nuo, but Si Yan grew jealous, pulled Jiang Nuo close, and told him to ignore Lin Yu.
• Jiang Nuo noted that the group had not investigated the sentry post mentioned in the seventh rule and proposed going there, despite Zhou Ling's warning that it might be a trap.
• Si Yan agreed that the group should investigate the sentry post for clues.

A Man and Da Huang argued over offering the outsiders after the deity’s punishment, but Jiang Nuo killed Da Huang and offered to help A Man’s clan. The group set off for the mysterious watch post, unaware that a walking corpse was following them.

• A Man admitted he wanted Jiang Nuo spared because Jiang Nuo had saved his grandmother, while Da Huang insisted the outsiders should become offerings.
• Jiang Nuo confronted Da Huang, smashed the wooden idol’s head with Da Huang’s hammer, and killed him with a sleeve knife.
• A Man asked Jiang Nuo to save the clanspeople and make the deity disappear, and Jiang Nuo agreed to help those he considered worth saving.
• Si Yan clung to Jiang Nuo and emphasized that they would help A Man together.
• Jiang Nuo had A Man lead the group toward the watch post, then tossed talismans at the wooden idol as they left the attic.
• A walking corpse followed the group, keeping its eyes fixed on one person’s back.

The group questioned the Bone Witch Tribe’s God of Truth, whose answers left them unsure which were lies. After Jiang Nuo asked the forbidden question, the sentry post opened and ghosts dragged him inside, leaving Si Yan desperate to get him back.

• A Man explained that the sentry post answered questions in blood, but forbidden questions could get the asker dragged inside by its guardian corpse.
• Chu Xiu, Zhou Ling, and Qian Sen asked about the tribe’s god, the killer behind the sacrifices, and the tribespeople’s plight, receiving the answers “You have already encountered the truth,” “Greed,” and “They were never in a plight.”
• Si Yan asked how he could find Jiang Nuo, received the answer “Wishful thinking,” and let Jiang Nuo heal his pricked finger.
• Jiang Nuo asked “Who are you!” and the sentry post opened as the guardian corpse vanished and a group of ghosts appeared.
• Jiang Nuo let the leading ghost drag him into the hut, while Si Yan watched helplessly and struggled to control his worry.
• A Man urged Si Yan to save Jiang Nuo, and Si Yan answered with a savage look that Jiang Nuo was very important to him now.

Jiang Nuo discovered that the house held a man-made ghost trap and used a spell to command its ghosts to attack the ghost corpse. Outside, A Man revealed his plan to kill Si Yan and take his place beside Jiang Nuo as walking corpses and ghosts surrounded them.

• Si Yan threw A Man to the ground when he tried to rush into the house, insisting that Jiang Nuo had his own plan.
• Jiang Nuo examined the ghosts and the preserved-soul ghost corpse, suspected a connection to Ma Ye, and advanced the Bone Witch Tribe mystery side quest to 55%.
• Jiang Nuo commanded the ghosts to tear apart the ghost corpse.
• Lin Yu led the others toward the dense forest, while Si Yan stayed by the bamboo house and A Man remained with him.
• A Man told Si Yan that he liked Jiang Nuo and intended to leave with him after the ordeal.
• A Man revealed that Si Yan would be sacrificed to the god, and walking corpses and ghosts surged around the house to attack him.

Si Yan unleashed his spiritual power against A Man, then feared Jiang Nuo would be angry when he arrived and saw the carnage. Jiang Nuo comforted Si Yan, punished A Man, and left Si Yan's power mostly settled as their progress toward changing the villain's tragic ending increased.

• Si Yan attacked A Man and destroyed the walking corpses, but his rampaging spiritual power left him struggling to hold himself together.
• Jiang Nuo arrived and found Si Yan injured amid the corpses and a nearly defeated A Man.
• Si Yan reached for Jiang Nuo, who took his hand and comforted him instead of getting angry.
• Jiang Nuo seized A Man by the throat and pinned him to the ground with iron nails through his eyes.
• Jiang Nuo kissed Si Yan and helped settle his spiritual power, while the system reported 10% progress and a 200-point reward.