Chapter Summaries

Mike recognized Persian and Russian words mixed into Black Granny’s Romani, but could identify only four words, leaving the group unable to answer her questions. At dusk, You Huo crossed the frozen river to question two villagers, who revealed that locals rarely visited Black Granny.

• Mike realized Black Granny’s speech included Persian and Russian, and identified the words “grave,” “flower,” “needle,” and “sun.”
• Yu Yao spotted a few villagers emerging from their homes across the river as evening fell.
• You Huo crossed the frozen river with the others, while Qin Jiu warned him not to spend points recklessly.
• You Huo approached two villagers and told them the group had visited Black Granny and made dolls.
• The villagers said they rarely went to the other side of the river to visit Black Granny.

You Huo and the others questioned the villagers about Black Granny, the strange male villager, and the village’s past. The woman revealed that the surrounding woods were all graves before darkness fell and she hurried home.

• A male villager grabbed You Huo and Qin Jiu, insisting that he had seen them before, then seized Yu Wen as other villagers dragged him into a house.
• The woman explained that the man had recurring episodes and said the villagers did not welcome Black Granny’s guests into their homes.
• You Huo asked whether anyone understood Romani, and the woman said nobody in the village did.
• The woman said Black Granny had once been accompanied by a Russian and several children, but they had suddenly disappeared.
• You Huo asked about graves, and the woman pointed to the woods surrounding the village and said they were all graves.
• As darkness fell, the woman tried to hurry home, broke free of You Huo’s grip, and demanded that he let her go.

You Huo searched the graveyard after villagers warned that ghosts came out at night, then found a row of tombstones carved by Black Granny. He had Yu Wen photograph one and copy it onto Black Granny’s door, hoping its inscription would reveal her name.

• A frightened woman warned You Huo and the others that ghosts appeared after dark and urged them to stay indoors.
• You Huo headed into the woods, and Yu Wen, Old Yu, and Yu Yao followed with a glow stick while Chen Bin and Liang Yuanhao stayed behind.
• You Huo and Qin Jiu walked through the graveyard as You Huo searched for clues.
• You Huo found tombstones carved with the same strange writing as the village entrance tablet and recognized Black Granny’s work.
• You Huo asked Yu Wen to photograph a tombstone and copy it onto Black Granny’s door, realizing her name might be written in the inscription.

You Huo and the others discovered pale things crawling through the woods toward the village, while Chen Bin and Liang Yuanhao stayed behind and were confronted by something under their bed. The chapter ended with a deathly pale hand bringing a bone cleaver down on Liang Yuanhao’s leg.

• You Huo and Qin Jiu noticed that someone seemed to have stepped on You Huo’s shoe, then the group found disturbed earth and heard things crawling through the woods.
• You Huo saw several pale figures dart through the grass toward the village.
• Liang Yuanhao persuaded Chen Bin that staying in their room was the safest way to preserve their chances in the exam.
• A voice beneath Chen Bin and Liang Yuanhao’s bed asked whether they had sewn dolls, and Liang Yuanhao admitted that they had.
• The voice asked who had sewn more, and after Liang Yuanhao claimed he had sewn two legs, a pale hand raised a bone cleaver and struck at his leg.

You Huo and the others returned from the woods and submitted their first answer to Black Granny’s door, earning five points before receiving a doll-delivery reading-comprehension task. Their relief ended when they discovered Chen Bin and Liang Yuanhao’s house covered in blood and the two men missing.

• You Huo knocked on the mad villager’s door for information, but no one answered.
• Yu Wen copied Black Granny’s name from the gravestone, while You Huo stopped him from using up their answer for the next question.
• Black Granny’s door accepted the name Floure Jaroka and awarded the group five points.
• A reading-comprehension task appeared, instructing the examinees to deliver sewn dolls to the correct villagers using a prayer letter.
• Old Yu found Chen Bin and Liang Yuanhao’s house overturned and smeared with blood, with both men missing.

After Liang Yuanhao disappeared and Chen Bin described a mysterious visitor who severed the body parts sewn onto the doll, the group drew the Judgement card from Black Granny. Its promise of resurrection and good luck raised hopes that Liang Yuanhao might be saved, but Black Granny reacted with resentment.

• Old Yu found a blood-soaked bedroom, and You Huo discovered Chen Bin alive beside the bed while Liang Yuanhao was missing.
• Chen Bin explained that a knife-wielding visitor had asked who sewed the most, cut off Liang Yuanhao’s legs, and promised to return the next day.
• The group searched the woods for Liang Yuanhao but found no trace of him and returned when the crow warned that the reading comprehension section had begun.
• Yu Yao drew the Judgement card from Black Granny’s deck and said it represented resurrection, a new beginning, and good luck.
• Old Yu wondered whether Liang Yuanhao could still be saved, while Black Granny glared at Yu Yao before retrieving an envelope from her bedside cabinet.

You Huo rejected the choices of sewing the dolls or seeking shelter in the woods and decided to test whether staying in his room would kill him. As night fell, the others watched the villagers across the river and recognized people from the previous day.

• You Huo concluded that obedient guests had to sew while disobedient guests would die, but the group could find no safe choice.
• You Huo searched Black Granny's house for traces of Russian but found nothing, then decided to stay alone in his room overnight.
• Qin Jiu asked if he did not count as a person, and the examinees reluctantly accepted that You Huo would remain with him.
• Yu Wen spotted villagers across the river and recognized the woman in the padded coat, the madman, and the two fur-hatted men from the previous day.

Black Granny reversed Yu Yao’s Judgment card and forced the group to take a sack of dolls, then sent them out. You Huo and Qin Jiu searched their house for food and discussed the old invigilator rankings, ending with Qin Jiu revealing that an exceptionally capable invigilator had once been ranked A.

• You Huo noticed that some of the dolls on the rack had moved before Black Granny returned to inspect the group’s work.
• Black Granny turned Yu Yao’s Judgment card upside down, gathered the finished and unfinished dolls into a bag, and handed it to You Huo.
• The group left Black Granny’s house and split up, with You Huo and Qin Jiu returning to the house while the others waited near the woods.
• You Huo searched the house for food, and Qin Jiu gave him half a loaf of dry bread.
• You Huo asked about Qin Jiu’s position and the invigilator rankings, and Qin Jiu said the system once used letters and that a highly capable invigilator had been ranked A.

You Huo and Qin Jiu discussed Invigilator A before settling in for the night, while Qin Jiu recalled fragments of the disastrous malfunction that had erased A from the system’s roster. At three in the morning, the cleaver-wielding woman came looking for a disobedient guest, and Qin Jiu stopped her attack.

• Qin Jiu explained that he had little memory of Invigilator A and described the rumors and fragmentary memory linking them to a deadly system malfunction.
• You Huo made tea, went to bed, and left Qin Jiu a quilt for the sofa.
• At three in the morning, the knocking creature searched the bedroom, but You Huo slept through it.
• The woman found Qin Jiu on the sofa and asked whether he had sewn a doll.
• Qin Jiu told the woman he had not, and when she swung her cleaver at him, he caught her arm and turned on the lamp.

Qin Jiu caught the ghost arm that attacked You Huo and brought it to him, and You Huo led it back to the group in the woods. The examinees discussed the strange exam rules and wondered whether the questions had been made harder.

• Qin Jiu tied up the ghost arm with a leather cord and woke You Huo to give it to him as a goodnight gift.
• You Huo fastened the arm to the cord and walked it back to the group in the woods.
• The group pinned the arm down, and Qin Jiu explained that he had not used the help card because You Huo had called the attack self-defense.
• Yu Wen wondered if staying asleep would protect them from the monster, while Old Yu pointed out that they could not simply keep their eyes closed.
• Yu Yao wondered whether the exam questions had gained extra complications to make each exam harder.
• You Huo asked about movement in the woods, and Yu Wen said that fast-moving creatures had been crawling around there at night.