Chapter Summaries

After Zhou Yize survived the illusion’s predicted substitution, the group investigated the village’s gu poison and searched the forbidden room. Jiang Nuo uncovered a black snake and a blood-red stone hidden in an infant’s skull, leaving the stone in Si Yan’s care as they continued their investigation.

• Zhou Yize noticed that the courtyard threshold’s height had changed, while Shuishui silently watched from the corridor before leaving.
• Jiang Nuo identified Li Ta’s neck blisters as a combination of gu poison and corpse poison, and Pu Sang worried that the fourth line of the prophecy had been fulfilled.
• The village chief’s household served raw beans as a gu test; Pu Sang found them sweet, suggesting she might be afflicted, while Jiang Nuo and Si Yan left to look for clues.
• Jiang Nuo returned to the forbidden room and learned from the village chief that it supposedly stood empty, then entered it with Si Yan.
• Jiang Nuo smashed a vase built on an infant’s skull, releasing a fast black snake and exposing a faintly glowing blood-red stone.
• Jiang Nuo gave the stone to Si Yan, who took it with him as he hurried out of the room.

Jiang Nuo turned Lin Yu’s attempt to frame him for a child’s murder back on Lin Yu, getting him locked in the ancestral hall. While Lin Yu investigated the children’s spirit tablets, Jiang Nuo and the others followed a trail of dead insects to a wooden hut that opened into darkness.

• Pu Sang recognized the murdered boy as one of the children from the illusion, and the boy’s father accused Jiang Nuo after finding a piece of his jacket in the child’s pocket.
• Jiang Nuo accused Lin Yu of planting evidence and persuaded the villagers to lock Lin Yu in the ancestral hall.
• Lin Yu considered how to separate Jiang Nuo from Si Yan and remove the Gu Poison spreading across his arm.
• Lin Yu noticed that the ancestral hall held many children’s spirit tablets and began investigating a hidden corner.
• Jiang Nuo, Si Yan, Pu Sang, and Wu Chou followed dead insects to a wooden hut, whose doors opened to reveal a pitch-black interior.

Jiang Nuo and the others found a rotting man living among bugs in a cabin and discovered that he was both human and ghost after being bitten by a zombie. The group left the cabin, and Jiang Nuo linked the man’s condition to Fragrant Tree Village’s Dragon Vein while Si Yan sensed that their relationship had changed.

• Jiang Nuo led the others into a cabin filled with live bugs and found a rotting person lying among them.
• The man woke, ate bugs, and groomed his hair, revealing a zombie bite on his neck.
• Pu Sang recognized the bite as connected to the Guiding Souls, and the bugs inside the man swarmed toward the group.
• Jiang Nuo’s red cord passed through the man, but he and Si Yan restrained him with a fishing net and Spiritual Power before Jiang Nuo strangled him.
• Outside, Jiang Nuo explained that the man was both human and ghost, possibly because Fragrant Tree Village’s unusual Spiritual Power altered the corpse qi inside him.
• Jiang Nuo praised Si Yan’s deduction, but Si Yan sensed that the rift between them remained and touched the Spirit-Suppressing Stone on his chest.

Jiang Nuo and his companions rescued Shuishui from a forced marriage and discovered that her aunt was making a love-inducing gu. Si Yan’s medicine matched the aunt’s gu, but she recognized his tube as a yin gu made only by her dead mother, suggesting he had encountered a ghost.

• Qianqian told Jiang Nuo and Pu Sang that Shuishui had been taken home and beaten before being forced to marry her aunt’s son, whose legs were broken.
• Jiang Nuo silenced the villagers, freed Shuishui, and had Wu Chou keep the crowd away while the others entered the courtyard.
• Jiang Nuo restrained Shuishui’s aunt, and Si Yan identified the substance in her bowl as the same gu medicine he had received.
• The aunt explained that the gu made its victim fall in love with the person who used it and described how it was prepared.
• Si Yan showed the aunt his bamboo tube, and she recognized its contents as yin gu made only by her dead mother.

Si Yan killed the auntie after sensing ghostly energy in her, while Jiang Nuo defended his decision and planned to check the body that night. The group found a mutilated man with zombie bites who called Pu Sang a dowry bride, and Jiang Nuo decided the zombie would likely target her.

• Si Yan stabbed the auntie, then said he had recognized her as the ghost who gave him medicine; Jiang Nuo backed him and tied red cord to her corpse as a precaution.
• Wu Chou questioned Si Yan’s judgment, but Pu Sang urged everyone to stop arguing and inspect the room’s corpse.
• Jiang Nuo, Si Yan, Pu Sang, and Wu Chou found a man with his legs severed and zombie bite marks, who muttered about a dowry bride while staring at Pu Sang.
• Pu Sang realized the zombie might target her that night, and Jiang Nuo told her she had an important mission.
• Livestream viewers and online users continued condemning Si Yan for killing the auntie, while Si Mingde and the Dao Xuan Association’s grand elder watched the broadcast.

Jiang Nuo prepared a formation to destroy the zombie while investigating the strange behavior affecting villagers and children at night. Meanwhile, Lin Yu discovered a zombie hidden in the ancestral hall and hoped it could kill Jiang Nuo.

• Jiang Nuo brought Pu Sang to a clearing near the mortuary and prepared the village's customary means of eliminating the zombie.
• Si Yan found children hiding in wine barrels, and Jiang Nuo shut them inside and banged on the barrels before dragging them toward the formation.
• Jiang Nuo pointed out that villagers seemed to be controlled at night when an old man abruptly walked home in a trance.
• Zhou Yize called Jiang Nuo asking to join them, while Jiang Nuo wondered whether Lin Yu had been released.
• Lin Yu examined children's corpses in the ancestral hall, suspected a connection between the children and old people, and found a zombie hidden in a cabinet.
• Lin Yu said whether Jiang Nuo could be killed that night depended on the zombie.

Lin Yu used the Ghost King's power to control the zombie and sent it toward Jiang Nuo, while Jiang Nuo and the others prepared a ghost-subduing formation. After the zombie fought off the corpse herders and repeatedly changed targets, Jiang Nuo ran toward the formation with it hooked by his red cord.

• Lin Yu masked his human vitality with the Ghost King's corpse qi and subdued the zombie after a struggle.
• Jiang Nuo and the others completed a ghost-subduing formation and waited for the zombie to arrive.
• The zombie attacked Jiang Nuo, and the corpse herders failed to stop it with an ink line and an iron-filing weapon.
• The zombie shifted its target toward Pu Sang and then back to Jiang Nuo, revealing that someone was controlling it.
• Si Yan called out that the formation was ready, and Jiang Nuo ran toward it while pulling the zombie with his red cord.

Jiang Nuo and Si Yan struggled to contain a zombie as the midnight gong transformed the villagers into monsters. After Si Yan was injured, Jiang Nuo pulled a pulsed electron energy cannon from his bag and prepared to blast the zombie.

• Jiang Nuo and Si Yan used a blood-activated formation and the Blood-Slaying Curse to weaken the zombie, but the midnight gong strengthened its ghost power.
• The corpse herders warned that the villagers turned into monsters at midnight and fled to the graveyard, while Pu Sang and Wu Chou stayed to guard the formation.
• The villagers transformed and attacked, and Si Yan intercepted the zombie before it could reach Pu Sang.
• The zombie struck Si Yan into a tree, and Jiang Nuo rushed to his side before binding the zombie again with red cords.
• Jiang Nuo retrieved a pulsed electron energy cannon from his bag and aimed it at the zombie.

Jiang Nuo destroyed the zombie with a cannon and helped fight off the monstrous villagers, while Lin Yu watched from hiding. As a sudden illusion engulfed the village and a child bit Pu Sang, Jiang Nuo warned that the fifth person had appeared.

• Jiang Nuo fired Lin Yu’s cannon at the zombie, destroying it in a blast that left a crater.
• The grand elder and Si Mingde discussed Jiang Nuo’s weapon and whether Number One might recruit him.
• Jiang Nuo kissed Si Yan, then joined the others as monstrous villagers attacked and children escaped their barrels.
• Lin Yu hid in a tree after shaking off the camera and plotted another way to kill Jiang Nuo.
• Thick fog covered the village, Pu Sang recognized an illusion, and a child bit her before Jiang Nuo announced that the fifth person had appeared.

Jiang Nuo and the others survived the bridal sedan’s attack when Pu Sang’s Death Substitution Talisman transferred its impact to a villager. As dawn neared, Lin Yu decided to kill Si Yan to exploit Jiang Nuo’s attachment to him, but a cracking sound from the tree threatened to reveal him.

• The ghost children sang the fifth and sixth verses as the Mourning-clad Sha carried the bridal sedan toward Pu Sang, and Jiang Nuo let it strike her.
• Pu Sang escaped injury because her talisman transferred the sedan’s attack to a female villager, whose legs were crushed.
• The bridal sedan and ghost children departed with the villagers, and Jiang Nuo noted that only four people had followed it; Si Yan identified Li Ta as the missing fourth person.
• Jiang Nuo examined Si Yan’s wound, prompting Pu Sang and Zhou Yize to misunderstand what they saw while Lin Yu hid in the tree above them.
• Lin Yu resolved to kill Si Yan first so he could more easily kill Jiang Nuo, but the tree trunk cracked as he swung his legs, drawing Wu Chou’s attention.

Jiang Nuo and the others pieced together that the village’s cruel ghost-marriage custom was tied to a powerful ghost king and its sacrifices. After returning to the village in daylight, they found the villagers’ injuries healed and the children missing, then went to check on He Jiu and the others.

• Lin Yu emerged from hiding, and Jiang Nuo questioned him about having an older brother before Si Yan drew attention back to his wound.
• Pu Sang and Jiang Nuo found powerful ghostly energy lingering on Si Yan’s wound, which Jiang Nuo linked to a ghost king.
• Si Yan explained that the children’s song described a custom of marrying pregnant women to wandering ghosts and burying them alive, leading Jiang Nuo to suspect the ghost king’s wedding required sacrifices.
• Jiang Nuo proposed helping the ghost king get married so it would appear once all the guiding souls were found, and the group realized He Jiu, Shuishui, and Qianqian had not come out.
• The group returned to the village and saw that the elderly women’s injuries had vanished and the children were missing, then entered the village chief’s house to check on the others.

Jiang Nuo and the others found Li Ta and the rest of the village missing, then discovered the pregnant woman’s corpse hidden beneath a cabinet. After Jiang Nuo fed the corpse’s red stone and another stone with Lin Yu’s blood, a black snake appeared and swallowed them, leaving the group facing an unknown change in the air.

• Pu Sang called for the village chief and the others, but no one answered, and the group found Li Ta’s room empty and spotless.
• Jiang Nuo and Si Yan found the pregnant woman’s corpse hidden beneath a cabinet, while Wu Chou confirmed that all the rooms were empty.
• Jiang Nuo recognized the corpse and found a red stone clenched in her hand after searching her head with a dagger.
• Jiang Nuo forced Lin Yu to stay still and used his blood to soak the two red stones.
• A black snake slithered in through the window and swallowed both stones, and the guests felt a ripple pass through the air.

Jiang Nuo and Si Yan chose to search for and kill the Ghost King after being drawn into its wedding illusion, while the other guests stayed behind to help complete the wedding. The village chief’s wife noticed that two guests were missing and demanded to know where they had gone.

• Li Ta appeared at the village chief’s home and urged everyone to help prepare for a wedding, and the guests found the deserted village transformed by a Ghost King’s illusion.
• Jiang Nuo proposed either killing the Ghost King or completing its wish by finishing the wedding, and he chose the first option with Si Yan.
• Jiang Nuo and Si Yan left together, while Pu Sang, Zhou Yize, Wu Chou, and Lin Yu remained to help with the wedding preparations.
• The village chief’s wife assigned the remaining guests tasks, including preparing the bride and keeping vigil beside the bridal sedan.
• The village chief’s wife noticed two guests were missing, and Lin Yu said they had run off and should be punished.

Jiang Nuo and Si Yan searched the mortuary, where Jiang Nuo raised a red-haired zombie to help them, then tried to leave but were forced into the village’s wedding preparations. After Jiang Nuo killed the burly ghosts, they found themselves back where they started and realized they had to return to the village chief’s house.

• Jiang Nuo found that the mortuary’s little zombies were absent, but raised a half-skeletonized red-haired zombie and ordered it to hide until needed.
• Si Yan complained that Jiang Nuo would rather rely on the zombie than let him fight, and Jiang Nuo reassured him by biting his hand and telling him not to get hurt.
• Several burly men surrounded Jiang Nuo and Si Yan and ordered them to help prepare for the bride’s wedding; He Jiu secretly signaled for them to agree.
• When Jiang Nuo asked who the groom was, the burly men reacted with terror, so Jiang Nuo drew a large saber and killed them all.
• Jiang Nuo and Si Yan tried to leave the mortuary but returned to the same spot, leading Si Yan to conclude they had to go back to the village chief’s house.

Jiang Nuo and Si Yan helped the ghost bride with her makeup while Zhou Yize became unnaturally obsessed with Jiang Nuo. Jiang Nuo revealed that he had been manipulating Zhou Yize, then stabbed him in the neck as the bride watched.

• Jiang Nuo and Si Yan joined Zhou Yize in preparing the ghost bride, whose face shed and regrew its skin and whose belly radiated a strange power.
• Zhou Yize reminisced about his school days with Jiang Nuo and tried to take his hand, provoking Si Yan's jealousy.
• Jiang Nuo held Zhou Yize's hand and pretended to confess that he had always liked him, intensifying Zhou Yize's obsession.
• The ghost bride taunted Si Yan about being rejected, and Si Yan angrily threw face powder at her.
• Jiang Nuo stabbed Zhou Yize in the neck and said he liked anyone who took a fatal blow for him, making Zhou Yize's madness disappear.

Jiang Nuo comforted Si Yan after pretending to reject him to stop Zhou Yize from killing him, then investigated Lin Yu’s suspicious return to life. He trapped Lin Yu in a coffin beneath the scholar tree and sealed it with a suppression talisman.

• Jiang Nuo explained that the ghost bride had used Zhou Yize to choose between him and Si Yan as the sixth guiding soul, and Zhou Yize walked away under her spell.
• Si Yan demanded reassurance that Jiang Nuo’s rejection had been fake, and Jiang Nuo soothed him and promised he did not like Zhou Yize.
• Jiang Nuo suspected Lin Yu’s sudden return to life was connected to the seventh guiding soul and went to investigate him.
• Jiang Nuo confronted Lin Yu beneath the scholar tree, where an open coffin and living branches revealed a trap.
• Jiang Nuo used a vine to slam Lin Yu into the coffin, shut the lid, and sealed him inside with a suppression talisman.

Lin Yu escaped his coffin by separating his soul from his body, while Jiang Nuo suspected he had returned to the illusory realm. As the villagers reenacted the ghost bride’s brutal death, Jiang Nuo realized the scene was directing them outside the gate.

• Lin Yu left his corpse under control and followed it, vowing to kill the monster and then Jiang Nuo.
• Jiang Nuo realized that people who died in the game might return and grew wary that Lin Yu was among them.
• After all seven guiding souls gathered, Jiang Nuo ate with Si Yan, Pu Sang, and Wu Chou while they waited for nightfall.
• At midnight, Jiang Nuo and the others watched villagers force the pregnant ghost bride into a coffin and seal her inside.
• When the reenactment faded, Jiang Nuo noticed someone slipping away and saw the gate open, concluding they should go outside.

Jiang Nuo and the others survived a ghostly massacre by destroying the phantoms with his toy sword and Si Yan’s help. More powerful path-clearing ghosts arrived with a bridal sedan chair, and Jiang Nuo urged the group to run while the ghost king remained unseen.

• Jiang Nuo realized He Jiu had been guiding them toward the truth about the village’s past.
• A procession of ghostly shadows swept through Fragrant Tree Village, killing the remaining villagers and turning on Jiang Nuo, Si Yan, Pu Sang, and Wu Chou.
• Jiang Nuo used his toy sword to repeatedly split the phantoms, while Si Yan helped him destroy a larger shadow with a peachwood sword.
• More ghosts appeared behind a bridal sedan chair, and Si Yan identified them as path-clearing ghosts.
• Wu Chou warned that path-clearing ghosts were generally the strongest, so Jiang Nuo suggested they run before the ghost king appeared.

Jiang Nuo led Si Yan, Pu Sang, and Wu Chou to the village ancestral hall, where its spiritual deities could repel the ghosts pursuing them. Inside, Jiang Nuo discovered villagers’ corpses and tried to take down a deity portrait, but it burned his hands; he insisted on trying again.

• Jiang Nuo noticed the ghosts avoiding the ancestral hall and led the group toward it, while the red-haired zombie fled after being struck by a specter.
• Wu Chou stayed behind to draw the ghosts away and accidentally used Jiang Nuo’s projector to frighten them with a giant ghostly projection.
• Jiang Nuo, Si Yan, and Pu Sang entered the ancestral hall and learned that the deities’ spiritual presence kept the ghosts at bay.
• Jiang Nuo found a concealed room filled with villagers’ corpses and concluded that the village’s corpse herders had survived the massacre by sheltering in the hall.
• Jiang Nuo told the others to use the deity portraits against the ghosts, but a portrait burned his palms when he tried to remove it; he refused Si Yan’s offer to take over and tried again.

Jiang Nuo and Si Yan helped suppress the ghosts with divine images, then followed the bridal procession to the village chief's house, where Lin Yu's absence left a sedan chair unopened. After the red-haired zombie was sent to open it, Jiang Nuo and the others lost consciousness and appeared in separate parts of the newlywed mourning hall.

• Jiang Nuo took down a resisting divine image and cut his palm, so Si Yan gently bandaged his wound.
• Pu Sang called for help, and Si Yan used the divine images to suppress the ghosts while shielding Jiang Nuo from harm.
• Jiang Nuo and the others watched the bridal procession and spotted apparitions of corpse herders being chased.
• At the village chief's house, the ghosts discovered that Lin Yu was missing and demanded another soul guide to open the last sedan chair.
• Jiang Nuo sent the red-haired zombie to open the final sedan chair, but he and the others lost consciousness and appeared in separate spaces in the mourning hall.
• Wu Chou was trapped in a coffin, Pu Sang became a substitute bride, and vicious ghosts surrounded Si Yan.