Chapter Summaries

Su Cheng helped the villagers escape the plague and relocate, then discovered a ruthless woman in protective clothing slaughtering natives with an unknown ability. After warning the chief, Su Cheng completed the instance and returned to Apartment No. 1167 with spring water and a free medical treatment.

• Su Cheng warned the village chief that apartment residents might endanger the villagers, and he began arranging their relocation.
• Lu Heng cured the villagers, left the instance, and Danlise and her group departed before the chief led the villagers into the mountains.
• Su Cheng followed Mu Ling to a village where a woman in protective clothing had killed its inhabitants and shot people hiding inside a water vat.
• Su Cheng returned to the villagers, accepted a flower crown, hunted with them, and warned the chief to avoid people in white protective clothing.
• Su Cheng completed the instance with 400 points, brought bottled spring water with her, and returned to her apartment with a free medical treatment.

After returning from an instance, Su Cheng traded supplies with Hai Shuang, bought throwing darts and smart bags, and prepared for another trip. Elevator ① sent her into a mist-covered instance where she had to survive seven days and could optionally collect information about mist monsters.

• Su Cheng recovered in the medical pod, asked Lin Deng how to become an apartment employee, and learned that the role required passing a rigorous professional assessment.
• Su Cheng traded spare kitchen knives, scissors, jerky, and eggs with Hai Shuang and exchanged information about the gene lock for supplies.
• Su Cheng bought poison-reservoir throwing darts and two smart bags, then packed for her next instance.
• Su Cheng entered Elevator ① and arrived in an alley swallowed by dense, unnaturally silent mist.
• The system announced that Su Cheng had to survive for seven days, with an optional advanced mission to collect five entries in the mist monster bestiary.
• Su Cheng pressed herself against the alley wall and began moving cautiously toward shelter.

Su Cheng learned that the fog’s monsters hunted by sound and could imitate human cries for help, then found shelter in Fangfang Small Restaurant. There, she learned it was the sixth day of the fog and that a government message advised survivors to reach a nearby lake island, only three kilometers away.

• Su Cheng heard a monster crush a can and realized the creatures in the fog were silent and highly sensitive to noise.
• Two monsters mimicked frightened people asking for help, so Su Cheng avoided them by rounding a wall corner and continuing along it.
• Su Cheng found Fangfang Small Restaurant, where the owner’s wife opened a carefully soundproofed door and let her inside.
• The owner’s wife told Su Cheng through a phone that the fog had arrived six days earlier, while apartment residents Wang Yang and Li Mu tried to approach her.
• Su Cheng ignored Wang Yang, muffled her shoes with sanitary pads, and read a government message warning that monsters could not swim and advising survivors to reach an island in a lake.
• The owner’s wife told Su Cheng that the island was only three kilometers away.

Su Cheng agreed to prepare with the restaurant proprietress’s family to reach the lake island, then explored the neighboring buildings with Mu Ling to investigate monsters and her collection quest. Mu Ling found a giant spider monster and a voice-mimicking creature, while Su Cheng remained unsure whether she would need to kill monsters to collect them.

• Su Cheng and the proprietress agreed to wait for a suitable chance to reach the island, prepare supplies, plan a route, and add soundproofing to their shoes.
• Su Cheng went upstairs and noticed large spiderwebs covering a window in the neighboring building.
• Su Cheng summoned Mu Ling, who entered the building and found a huge spider monster beside the remains of its victims; seeing it did not trigger a collection notification.
• Mu Ling explored nearby shops and encountered a crocodile-sized monster that mimicked a frightened human voice before it disappeared into the fog.
• Mu Ling entered a small mall, where she saw signs of a violent struggle and found that its escalators continued running without drawing monsters.

Su Cheng mapped the fog’s daily cycle, prepared weapons, and left the restaurant to reach the shopping center while Mu Ling scouted ahead. She began quietly gathering supplies in the basement supermarket as a mutated rat carried prey inside.

• Su Cheng spotted a newly arrived apartment resident in the supermarket, sent Mu Ling back into her bracelet, and mapped the route from the restaurant to the shopping center.
• Su Cheng prepared arrows and darts with alcohol-soaked gauze and hallucinogenic drugs, then watched the fog thin after dusk and thicken again before dawn.
• Su Cheng worked out that the fog was thinnest around one in the morning and densest from five in the morning through the day, then rested before leaving.
• The proprietress showed Su Cheng the route to the island, but Su Cheng told her she was going out and asked her to open the door again in about an hour.
• Su Cheng summoned Mu Ling to scout as they headed for the shopping center, where Mu Ling spotted a mutated rat carrying human thighs into the building.
• Su Cheng entered the basement supermarket and silently stored scattered household goods, toiletries, snacks, and drinks in her Smart Bag.

Su Cheng rescued Hao Ruoxue from the monster-infested mall and set it ablaze with Mu Ling’s help. As they escaped into the fog, a sudden downpour threatened to extinguish the fire, and no monsters had appeared along their route yet.

• Su Cheng spotted Hao Ruoxue beneath a cluster of Stinging Snails and had Mu Ling lure the monsters away while they gathered supplies.
• Su Cheng and Hao Ruoxue left the mall as Mu Ling spread oil and alcohol throughout it, then Su Cheng gave the signal to start the fire.
• The flames spread through the mall, and Su Cheng and Hao Ruoxue escaped into the fog while Mu Ling was recalled into her bracelet to rest.
• The system announced that Su Cheng had completed collection missions for the Long-Tailed Red Rat, Eight-Eyed White Spider, and Stinging Snail.
• Rain poured down soon after the fire started, and Su Cheng and Hao Ruoxue continued through the fog without encountering any monsters.

Su Cheng led Hao Ruoxue and the restaurant owner's family through the heavy rain toward the island in the middle of the lake, with Wang Yang and Li Mu joining them. A mutated lizard attacked after Su Cheng spotted it, and Li Mu was left behind as the others took cover.

• Su Cheng returned to the restaurant with Hao Ruoxue and announced that they would leave for the island that night while the rain kept monsters less active.
• Hao Ruoxue changed into dry clothes, agreed to travel with Su Cheng, and heard a brief explanation about the apartment's instances.
• At 8:30, Su Cheng, Hao Ruoxue, the owner's family, Wang Yang, and Li Mu set out through the rain toward the island.
• A lightning flash revealed a pair of green eyes high on a wall, and Su Cheng ordered everyone to turn off their lights and run for cover.
• Wang Yang and Li Mu failed to reach the overturned vehicle in time, and a mutated lizard pounced on Li Mu and began biting him.

Su Cheng distracted the monsters long enough to escape with the others and completed her monster collection mission. She reached the lakeside ticket booth, where Hao Ruoxue and the others were hiding, and planned to lure away the monster sheltering there so they could board a boat.

• Wang Yang fled from the lizard monsters and then threw firecrackers toward Su Cheng to draw them after her, but Su Cheng hit him with a hallucinogen dart and escaped the tear-gas smoke.
• Su Cheng led a cochlea-headed monster into the smoke, where it collided with a blinded lizard monster and the two creatures attacked each other.
• Su Cheng’s bestiary recorded the Long-Tailed Gecko and Climbing Vine Lizard, completing her monster collection mission.
• Su Cheng followed the lakeshore with Mu Ling’s help, found the ticket booth, and discovered Hao Ruoxue and the others hiding near a dormant Long-Tailed Gecko.
• Su Cheng told Hao Ruoxue she would lure the monster away so the group could board a boat, and Hao Ruoxue praised her.

Su Cheng killed the Long-Tailed Gecko, escaped a pack of Climbing Vine Lizards with Hao Ruoxue and the proprietor’s family, and brought them to shelter on the lake island. The group settled in a pavilion for the night, where Su Cheng began the first watch.

• Su Cheng lured the Long-Tailed Gecko away from Hao Ruoxue, then attacked and killed it despite its corrosive fluids and painful vibrations.
• Su Cheng discovered five or six Climbing Vine Lizards pursuing her and raced back to the ticket office, where Hao Ruoxue and the proprietors were waiting in a boat.
• The boat escaped across the lake; the Climbing Vine Lizards that jumped into the water drowned, while the others stayed on shore.
• The proprietor steered the boat to the wrong side of the island, so Su Cheng tied it to a tree and followed the proprietress’s directions to a resting pavilion.
• Su Cheng gave everyone towels, food, and a place to sleep, assigned two-hour watches, and took the first watch as rain continued to fall.

Su Cheng helped the island’s survivors prepare for rescue and chose to remain there until she could leave the instance. When Wang Yang arrived with two other survivors, she killed him to prevent him from becoming a future threat, then Hao Ruoxue returned with the two survivors he had brought.

• Su Cheng shared food with the owner's family, explored the island with them, found an official airdrop crate, and arranged distress signals.
• An official helicopter evacuated the owner's family, but Su Cheng and Hao Ruoxue stayed behind to await their instance exits and assist other survivors.
• Wang Yang arrived with a young man and woman, who accused him of pushing their companion Xiao He to the monsters so he could escape.
• Su Cheng shot Wang Yang with a hallucinogen-coated arrow, stabbed him in the heart, and disposed of his body in the lake.
• Hao Ruoxue returned from patrolling with the two survivors Wang Yang had arrived with.

Su Cheng completed the island instance, warned Hao Ruoxue to become more self-reliant, and returned home with 1,100 points. After organizing her supplies and preparing to enter a special instance, she encountered the red-haired woman from apartment 1215 in the elevator, who noticed that Su Cheng’s aura had changed.

• Liu Ye and Liu Hong warned Su Cheng’s group that Wang Yang had sacrificed their companion Xiao He to save himself.
• Su Cheng told the tearful Hao Ruoxue not to rely too heavily on teammates and urged her to grow stronger so she could return home.
• Su Cheng left the instance and received 1,100 points for completing its basic and advanced missions.
• Su Cheng sorted her supplies, bought fried rice and two discounted items, and decided to enter a special instance the next morning.
• Su Cheng met the red-haired woman from apartment 1215 in the special-instance elevator, where the woman remarked that Su Cheng’s aura had changed.

Su Cheng entered the special instance Coffin Keeper and got a ride to Lin Family Village with a group of online creators who planned to film there. At the village entrance, she used Mu Ling’s Shared Senses and saw something in the village that made it look as if rain were about to fall.

• Su Cheng met Yan Xing in the elevator, declined her offer of friendship, and heard Yan Xing wish her luck.
• Su Cheng arrived in the snowy wilderness, received the Coffin Keeper missions, and sent Mu Ling back into her bracelet to absorb qi.
• Su Cheng flagged down a car carrying Keke, Su Xiaoxiao, Su Zhou, and Zhou Yang, and joined them on their drive to Lin Family Village.
• Keke explained that Lin Family Village was known for its mysterious coffin-making, while Su Xiaoxiao and Zhou Yang prepared to film the village.
• Su Cheng used Mu Ling’s Shared Senses at the village entrance and saw the village through a ghostly perspective.

Su Cheng entered Lin Family Village with Su Xiaoxiao’s group and discovered that the village’s friendly residents were hiding dead children. At the inn, she exposed herself as a stranded, helpless visitor while Xu Rong followed the village’s plan, and Su Cheng began inspecting her room.

• Uncle Liu welcomed Su Xiaoxiao, Su Zhou, Keke, Zhou Yang, and Su Cheng into the village, where Su Cheng noticed dead children watching from the houses.
• Xu Rong checked in Su Xiaoxiao’s group and questioned Su Cheng about her missing identification and her supposed aunt, Liu Cuicui.
• Xu Rong used a landline to connect Su Cheng to a fake police service, then gave her room 205 and reassured her.
• Xu Rong called an accomplice, confirmed that the visitors had not suspected anything, and agreed to keep following the plan after being threatened with losing her family’s share.
• Su Cheng searched room 205 for hidden cameras but found none.

Su Cheng investigated Lin Family Village while accompanying Su Xiaoxiao's filming team and began helping at the guesthouse, where she suspected the owners might be hiding something. The team secured permission to film coffin-making, but Su Cheng discovered that Chief An Jing carried an object that repelled ghosts.

• Mu Ling found that the guesthouse bed's wooden boards were rich in yin energy and comfortable for ghosts to cultivate beneath.
• Su Cheng joined Su Xiaoxiao's team as they filmed at the village entrance, but she found no signs of coffin-making or timber transport.
• Su Cheng offered to help Xu Rong in the kitchen and met her husband Zhang Cheng, who privately called Su Cheng dimwitted.
• Su Cheng ate little at dinner while Su Xiaoxiao arranged through Xu Rong to discuss filming with the village chief.
• An Jing arrived, and Su Cheng used Mu Ling's perspective to see that a golden light around An Jing repelled ghosts.
• Su Xiaoxiao reached an agreement with An Jing to film the village's coffin-making process after paying her.

Su Cheng investigated the inn’s hidden rooms and discovered that the villagers were raising ghost children. In the storage room, she found an infant’s remains and a frightened little ghost, but learned that the child could not speak or understand her.

• Su Cheng sent Mu Ling to search the village houses and inn, where Mu Ling found talismans guarding small rooms and identified a hidden storage room in the kitchen.
• At three in the morning, Su Cheng searched the kitchen and found a used packet of powder concealed in the stove, suspecting it had been mixed into the rice.
• Su Cheng unlocked the hidden storage room with her Omnipotent Key and entered with Mu Ling.
• They found a ghost child hiding in a coffin-shaped wall niche, with infant bones inside its small coffin.
• Mu Ling stopped the child from crying, and Su Cheng and Mu Ling concluded that the child could neither speak nor understand human speech.

Su Cheng investigated the villagers’ ghost children and suspected An Jing was behind their practices. While Su Xiaoxiao’s group toured the coffin factory, Su Cheng saw a ghost child clinging to every worker and began to suspect the pagoda tree wood was connected to them.

• Su Cheng returned from the storeroom and considered where the village’s ghost children and ghost-raising methods came from, suspecting An Jing.
• The next morning, Su Xiaoxiao’s group met Zhuangzi, who explained that An Jing had brought prosperity to Lin Family Village by developing coffin-making after her husband died.
• After the group left, Xu Rong and Zhang Cheng discovered that the little ghost had refused its offerings and suspected Zhou Yang had entered the back kitchen.
• Zhuangzi led the group to the factory and mentioned that chickens and ducks had recently been found dead with their blood drained.
• Inside the factory, Su Cheng saw ghost children clinging to every worker, while Old Zhao explained that the coffins were made from pagoda tree wood from the back mountain.

Su Cheng investigated An Jing's house and discovered a hidden chamber containing a coffin fed with human and livestock blood. She escaped before An Jing could catch her and encountered Keke and Su Zhou while returning to the inn.

• Old Zhao refused Su Xiaoxiao access to the back mountain without the village chief's permission and showed the group the finished coffins.
• Zhou Yang explained the dangers of pagoda tree wood to Su Cheng, and she warned him that the inn's beds were strange.
• Su Cheng used the Omnipotent Key to enter An Jing's empty house while Mu Ling helped her search and keep watch.
• Su Cheng set the bedroom clock to 5:20 and opened a hidden passage beneath the bed.
• Su Cheng discovered a coffin surrounded by talismans, syringes, and blood bowls, revealing that An Jing had drained the livestock to feed the thing inside.
• Su Cheng escaped through the bedroom window when An Jing returned, waited out her attempts to spot the intruder, and met Keke and Su Zhou on the way back to the inn.

Su Cheng discovered that villagers were keeping a pregnant woman captive and heard her warn the group to run from the mountain behind the village. The group failed to escape after their tires were punctured, and Xu Rong brought suspicious soup to their shared room that evening.

• Keke and Su Zhou told Su Cheng they had heard a woman crying for help in an isolated house, and Mu Ling confirmed that someone was tied up inside.
• Su Cheng entered the house while Keke and Su Zhou distracted its owners, found a pregnant woman tied to a bed, and sedated her after she bit her hand.
• The woman warned Su Cheng to run from the mountain behind the village before collapsing unconscious, and Su Cheng escaped the house with Keke and Su Zhou.
• Su Xiaoxiao decided the group should leave and contact the police, but they returned after finding their tires punctured in the snow.
• Su Cheng urged the group to avoid provoking the villagers and pretend to cooperate, and Xu Rong later brought them dinner and offered Su Xiaoxiao a bowl of her specialty soup.

Su Cheng and the others were drugged and taken into the mountain, where the villagers planned to feed them to man-eating trees for coffin wood. Separated from her companions by a strange illusion, Su Cheng found them hanging dead from a tree and then saw her own corpse, as her lost memories began to return.

• Su Cheng drank the drugged soup with the others, then warned them that the villagers would make their move that night.
• After the soup knocked them out, villagers carried Su Cheng and the others up the mountain and discussed using them to nourish the trees and produce coffin wood.
• Su Cheng pieced together that the villagers used little ghosts to withstand the trees' yin energy and fed human flesh and blood to the locust trees.
• The villagers threw the unconscious group past two trees tied with red cords and fled; Su Cheng woke the others with silver needles and sent them to hide while she investigated.
• Su Cheng discovered that her companions had vanished and that she could no longer sense Mu Ling, then followed a familiar voice through the forest.
• Su Cheng found Su Xiaoxiao, Keke, Su Zhou, and Zhou Yang hanging dead from a tree, then saw her own corpse and began recovering hazy memories.

Su Cheng broke free of the locust tree’s deathly illusion and reunited with Mu Ling, but the tree attacked them while the illusion continued to make Su Cheng doubt whether she was alive. She fought to rescue the others as a branch pierced her chest.

• Su Cheng believed she had died and used the Twin Fish Jade Pendant to break through the illusion, waking to find herself and the others suspended from an enormous locust tree.
• Mu Ling freed herself from the bracelet as Su Cheng cut loose and joined her in fighting the locust tree.
• Su Cheng discovered the tree’s branches split when cut by her chainsaw, so she used her boning knife while trying to reach Su Xiaoxiao and the others.
• The illusion returned, showing Su Cheng her ghostly self and warning that refusing to accept death would make her soul scatter; Mu Ling’s voice and the pendant pulled her back to the battle.
• A locust branch pierced Su Cheng’s chest, and she focused on the pain as proof that she was alive.