Recaps

Hu Jiu left the ancient tomb and rejoined the surviving Ghost Tamers, while learning more about Tian Shan’s ordeal inside. After returning to the hotel, he avoided an ambush by changing rooms, but the would-be attacker entered the empty room and was caught off guard.

• Hu Jiu misdirected Su Jingtang’s questions about her brother Su Jinghang, then left the ancient tomb; on the way out, he saw a mummy-like Ghost Tamer kill his opponent using the cloth around his body as his true form.
• Hu Jiu waited outside the tomb and reunited with Fang Qingjiao and Zheng Ling, noticing a familiar fragrance around Fang Qingjiao’s bleeding wound and seeing Zheng Ling flash him a strange smile.
• He Ming and the badly injured Tian Shan emerged before the deadline, and Tian Shan explained that the stone sculptures marked nested alternate spaces that could trap explorers.
• Hong Ying came out at the last moment, and He Ming led the group down the mountain on the Ghost Bus before announcing a meeting at the hotel.
• Hu Jiu detected a Ghost Tamer’s corpse stench in his room and changed rooms, foiling the attacker’s prepared ambush; he ignored the attacker’s knocks and hid until she entered and found the room empty.
• The short-haired woman searched the room, left, then rushed back after hearing footsteps and fell over something round; as she got up, a chill ran down her back.

Hu Jiu killed the woman who had come after him, then tried to subdue the Bronze Ancient Tree and fell into a deep sleep as it consumed the last of his humanity. While the Playing Cards' influence spread through the supernatural community, Xiao Yu was followed by Zhang Shucheng and Emily, who planned to capture her.

• Hu Jiu killed the short-haired woman who admitted she had come to avenge Gao Qiuhai, then destroyed her body and erased the evidence.
• After the Ghostly Ancient Tomb expedition meeting, Hu Jiu returned to Linjiang City and touched the Bronze Ancient Tree to try to subdue it.
• Hu Jiu used the Ghost Book's rules to slow the tree's encroachment, absorbed its power, and lost the last trace of his humanity before hiding in an alternate space and falling asleep.
• Xiao Yu continued building a network for the Playing Cards while Headquarters tried to recruit her, and the organization's services gained popularity.
• Zhang Shucheng and Emily followed Xiao Yu as they discussed Big Dipper and the coming Ghost Gate in the Endless Corridor.
• Zhang Shucheng and Emily decided to capture Xiao Yu, believing she could not escape them.

Headquarters studied a dangerous Bronze Tree branch, and its influence drove researcher Lin Lipeng into a delusional state as he resolved to steal it. Meanwhile, Xiao Yu was lured into a supernatural villa and became trapped inside, with no clear way out.

• Headquarters discovered that a team had returned with only a branch of the Bronze Tree, and Lin Lipeng began researching it in the supernatural laboratory.
• Lin Lipeng noticed that one test subject remained unusually calm and then began experiencing visions and whispers after studying him.
• Lin Lipeng’s reflection attacked its own eyes in a hallucination, after which he drew a strange tree-patterned door and decided to take the branch from Headquarters.
• Xiao Yu received Yin Wenxian’s warning that someone was targeting them and went home after she could not contact the Queen of Spades.
• A strange voice called Xiao Yu’s real name in her sleep, leading her to a villa, where she woke and tried to leave but repeatedly returned to its gate.
• Xiao Yu entered the villa through a dark corridor and reached its eerie main hall, where she struggled to figure out how to escape.

Xiao Yu was abducted to a villa by Emily and Zhang Shucheng, who wanted to contact the Playing Card Organization, but a Red Moon follower attacked before they could explain. Xiao Yu’s bracelet unleashed a vast green force that destroyed the follower’s red domain, and Zhang Shucheng killed him, leaving Xiao Yu to demand answers from her captors.

• Xiao Yu discovered Emily butchering a person in the kitchen, then dodged Zhang Shucheng’s hammer and was trapped by a crawling severed hand.
• Emily stopped Zhang Shucheng and told Xiao Yu they needed something from her because they could not reach the person in charge of the Playing Card Organization.
• Red Moon light flooded the villa, forcing Xiao Yu, Emily, and Zhang Shucheng to shield themselves as a Red Moon follower appeared and attacked.
• Xiao Yu used her bracelet’s green light to fight the follower, but the bracelet suddenly surged out of control and drove back the red light.
• The Red Moon follower was grievously wounded when the red domain collapsed, and Zhang Shucheng killed him with his hammer.
• Xiao Yu asked Emily and Zhang Shucheng who they were and what they wanted from her.

Hu Jiu struggled to control the Bronze Tree’s power and discovered that his Wish Fulfillment ability could alter reality, while Lin Lipeng’s disappearance sparked a murder investigation and a bloody escape. Hu Jiu regained his human form and began questioning the cause of his rebirth and whether time could turn back again.

• Hu Jiu remotely influenced the fragment of the Bronze Tree held by Headquarters, helped Xiao Yu and Yin Wenxian, and let the tree’s roots spread beneath the Haunted House.
• Headquarters investigated Lin Lipeng’s disappearance and found his assistant Xiao Yang murdered and dismembered in Lin Lipeng’s apartment.
• Lin Lipeng hid in an old house, killed Zhao San and Liu Shui after they discovered the corpses inside, then fled to continue his mission and frame someone else.
• Hu Jiu regained his human form and found that the Ghost Book had changed; he realized his thoughts could trigger supernatural anomalies and sealed his power behind a switch-like mark.
• Hu Jiu considered his apparent immortality and began wondering whether his rebirth meant someone could control time or send the past backward again.

Yin Wenxian and Xiao Yu joined the Playing Card Organization after surviving attempts to exploit them, while Xiao Yu gained Emily’s possession ability by devouring her consciousness. Hu Jiu expanded the organization into a supernatural-item trading network, and the chapter left He Ming wondering about his unstable power as Headquarters watched the growing threat in South Korea.

• Hu Jiu summoned Yin Wenxian through a supernatural door after hearing how organizations had tried to manipulate and curse him.
• Emily tried to possess Xiao Yu, but Xiao Yu’s spade mark let her devour Emily and take control of her body and abilities.
• Xiao Yu bluffed Zhang Shucheng, then entered a door that recalled her to the Playing Card Organization alongside Yin Wenxian.
• Hu Jiu used his abilities to mass-produce crude supernatural items, which Xiao Yu and Yin Wenxian traded through a growing network that disrupted [Big Dipper]’s barter system.
• He Ming reflected on his recently unstable supernatural power while Spirit Cat watched a Korean drama and discussed the Ghost Tamer controlling South Korea’s government.

Headquarters sent He Ming to investigate a suspected supernatural incident at Langzhou University and the city officials accused of concealing it. He learned that Langzhou’s leader, Chu Yan, had a dangerous reputation, then consulted the Human Skin Paper for advice.

• An investigator reported that a suspected A-level incident at Langzhou University had gone unreported, and Fu Youhua ordered an investigation.
• A second investigator said students had died gruesomely, officials and university leaders were obstructing inquiries, and an unknown supernatural force had attacked him.
• Fu Youhua assigned He Ming to investigate the university incident and uncover why Langzhou’s administration had concealed it.
• Spirit Cat warned He Ming that Langzhou’s previous leaders had often vanished or died until Chu Yan took charge.
• He Ming reviewed Headquarters’ sparse file on Chu Yan, codenamed [Briber], which warned him not to accept gifts from Chu Yan.
• He Ming took out the Human Skin Paper in the restroom to seek its advice.

Hu Jiu sent Lin Lipeng to investigate Chu Shan in Langzhou City, while He Ming was ambushed by Ghost Tamers and pursued through the city. Gu Dao rescued He Ming and brought him to the Crocodile Bar, but the reason behind the trap and Langzhou’s apparent complicity remained unclear.

• Hu Jiu sent Lin Lipeng to Langzhou City to investigate Chu Shan and considered using his pieces there.
• He Ming met the investigator sent to Langzhou and was ambushed by Ghost Tamers using gold dust to counter his Insubstantiality.
• He Ming realized the attack was a trap connected to earlier claims that the Mirage Ghost belonged to someone else, and fled through the East Ring District as Ghost Tamers and police pursued him.
• A stranger pulled He Ming into the shadows and helped him escape the pursuing group.
• At the Crocodile Bar, Gu Dao introduced himself as its owner and said he had rescued He Ming, while He Ming questioned his motives and asked what was happening in Langzhou.

After escaping an attack in Langzhou City, He Ming contacted Headquarters but received no backup and was assigned to investigate the city. He tried to flee, but his pursuers blocked every route, leaving him trapped and without close Ghost Tamer friends to call for help.

• He Ming borrowed Gu Dao’s Satellite Phone, called Fu Youhua, and reported that a Headquarters investigator and Langzhou police had attacked him.
• Fu Youhua refused to send backup and assigned He Ming to investigate what had happened to Langzhou City’s person in charge and its administration.
• He Ming decided to abandon the assignment and leave, but police repeatedly blocked his escape through stations, airports, and other routes.
• He Ming asked Headquarters why Langzhou City’s authorities had not been held accountable, and the operator said they denied ever meeting him.
• The operator suggested He Ming ask Ghost Tamer friends for help, but He Ming realized he knew no one well enough and wondered whether he could ask Mao Mao.

Headquarters used Secret Peeker and Prophet to investigate the attack on the Capital and the infiltration of Headquarters, discovering that He Ming was a major suspect with ties to many incidents but was not the true culprit. As the inquiry turned toward Langzhou City and Big Dipper’s factions, Prophet explained how internal divisions could arise in a sprawling organization.

• Spirit Cat dismissed a request for help and was watched from the void before returning to his Korean drama.
• Secret Peeker reported that Spirit Cat was innocent, while Prophet criticized Headquarters for investigating him.
• Secret Peeker and Prophet explained that He Ming was linked to the attack on the Capital, the Headquarters infiltration, and other incidents, though neither believed he was the true culprit.
• Shen Jiliang confirmed that the Ghost Contract had failed on He Ming and noted that He Ming’s location in Langzhou City had shifted inexplicably.
• Shen Jiliang asked whether the Ghost Tamers controlling Langzhou City came from Big Dipper, and Prophet replied that large organizations naturally developed factions.

Hu Jiu struck back against the Secret Peeker after she tried to see through him, leaving Headquarters wary of his unknown strength. Headquarters then called him to help handle an A-level Supernatural incident in Langzhou City, where local officials had concealed the crisis and investigators were trapped.

• He Ming asked Hu Jiu for help after Spirit Cat refused, and Hu Jiu told him to wait despite sensing someone watching him.
• Hu Jiu attacked the Secret Peeker through her gaze, causing her to suffer horrific injuries while she attempted to inspect him.
• The Prophet failed to predict Hu Jiu's future, prompting Fu Youhua and Shen Jiliang to suspect he was a powerful figure.
• Shen Jiliang escorted the Prophet to his accommodations, while Fu Youhua issued several orders.
• Xiao Mei informed Hu Jiu that Headquarters had called him to Langzhou City, where an A-level incident had trapped investigators and local authorities were suspected of seizing control.

Hu Jiu accepted the mission to investigate the corruption and mysterious deaths in Langzhou City, then confronted a detective involved in the cover-up. He learned that Chu Yan had ordered Qin Dachuan killed after Qin witnessed a supernatural quill at Langzhou University.

• Hu Jiu agreed to investigate Langzhou City, where officials had died mysteriously and students had been killed or silenced.
• Hu Jiu called He Ming, promised to rescue him, and vanished from the room while He Ming continued evading the Ghost Tamers pursuing him.
• Hu Jiu appeared in a residential complex and forced a middle-aged detective to eat the meat of his own son before questioning him.
• The detective told Hu Jiu that Qin Dachuan had witnessed what seemed to be a supernatural quill at Langzhou University and that Chu Yan had ordered everyone who knew about it to be disposed of.

Hu Jiu questioned a middle-aged man about Langzhou City's wrongful convictions, missing students, and the fate of earlier city leaders, uncovering how Chu Yan had gained control. After extracting the information, Hu Jiu killed the man and vowed to kill his family as well.

• Hu Jiu learned that Qin Dachuan had been tortured and framed after the Ghost Pen vanished, and that his daughter Qin Fangtong later came to possess it.
• The middle-aged man told Hu Jiu that families of missing Langzhou University students had stopped complaining after meeting Chu Yan, while students were restricted from speaking about campus events.
• Hu Jiu freed the middle-aged man from a restriction, and the man explained that Langzhou City's officials had undermined, silenced, and sometimes killed previous people in charge.
• The middle-aged man suspected Chu Yan had changed people through gifts connected to his codename, [Briber], and said he had once wanted to be a good police officer.
• Hu Jiu snapped his fingers and removed the supernatural power sustaining the middle-aged man, causing his body to burst; he then threatened to kill the man's family.

Hu Jiu rescued He Ming from three Ghost Tamers and swiftly defeated them. With the immediate danger over, Hu Jiu took charge of the investigation into Langzhou City and headed for the government building.

• He Ming found Hu Jiu and warned him that three Ghost Tamers were hunting him, while worrying that Hu Jiu might be unable to handle them.
• Hu Jiu caught a nail shot at him, then attacked the three Ghost Tamers when they surrounded him and He Ming.
• Hu Jiu broke the nail-wielding Ghost Tamer in two and put the corpse into the Golden Corpse Bag.
• Hu Jiu seized the other two Ghost Tamers, suppressed their supernatural powers, and stuffed them into the Golden Corpse Bag before crushing them.
• He Ming asked whether they should leave Langzhou City, but Hu Jiu said he had a mission from Headquarters to investigate the city.
• Hu Jiu decided they would go to the Langzhou City government building and hold its officials accountable for concealing what had happened.

Langzhou City's officials plotted to kill Hu Jiu and He Ming while using ordinary people and police to wear them down, and discussed suppressing trouble at Langzhou University. As Hu Jiu and He Ming headed to the government building, Langzhou City's special operations department confronted them, and Hu Jiu challenged their authority.

• Officials in Langzhou City discussed Hu Jiu and He Ming, deciding to send ordinary people and police to wear them down before attempting another assassination.
• The officials discussed a man using Langzhou University as a testing ground and planned to suppress negative news and detain students' family members who protested.
• Hu Jiu and He Ming walked toward the government building when two men from Langzhou City's special operations department stopped them and demanded they accept supervision.
• Hu Jiu challenged the men, asking whether their department answered to Headquarters and telling them they should cooperate with his investigation.

Hu Jiu and He Ming went to the Langzhou City government building to investigate the supernatural incident at Langzhou University, killing those who tried to obstruct them. Hu Jiu seized control of the city’s administration and ordered its department heads to attend a meeting within half an hour.

• Two men in black from the Special Operations Department tried to block Hu Jiu and He Ming, so Hu Jiu swallowed them and their car into the ground.
• Police surrounded Hu Jiu and He Ming, but Hu Jiu dismissed them as impostors and swallowed them and their cars into the ground.
• At the government building, Hu Jiu hanged two staff members with White Sash when they tried to delay him.
• Hu Jiu entered the mayor’s office, announced that he was taking over Langzhou City’s administration, and killed the mayor when he resisted.
• Hu Jiu ordered the mayor’s secretary to summon the department heads for a meeting within half an hour, threatening consequences for anyone who failed to arrive.

Hu Jiu killed the mayor and explained to He Ming that a Ghost Tamer’s strength would shield him from serious punishment by Headquarters. As officials gathered for Hu Jiu’s meeting, they revealed that Chu Yan was occupied at Langzhou University.

• Hu Jiu ordered the mayor’s secretary to notify the officials, and He Ming quietly questioned whether Headquarters would punish Hu Jiu for killing the mayor.
• Hu Jiu told He Ming that a Ghost Tamer’s strength was his core competitiveness and that Headquarters prioritized stability over justice.
• The mayor’s secretary called officials for advice, then warned some of them about the danger and gave Hu Jiu a file of attendee information.
• Officials arrived at the conference room, saw the mayor’s body, and quietly took their seats while Hu Jiu read the file.
• Officials asked in a group chat why Chu Yan had not arrived, and someone replied that Chu Yan was dealing with a situation at Langzhou University.

Hu Jiu used a meeting to assert control over Langzhou City's departments, threatening those who stayed away and torturing a special operations leader for information about Langzhou University. He learned that Chu Shan was likely behind the university incidents and connected to Chu Yan, and resolved to kill Chu Shan to take the Ghost Book and the Mirage Ghost.

• Hu Jiu told the gathered officials that everyone who missed the meeting was dead and claimed Headquarters had authorized him to investigate Langzhou City and purge corrupt departments.
• Hu Jiu questioned a special operations leader about deaths and disappearances at Langzhou University, then inflicted agonizing pain when the man claimed ignorance.
• The leader said Chu Yan was responsible for the university matter and that a Ghost Tamer, possibly connected to Chu Yan, was causing trouble there; he directed Hu Jiu to Principal Liang for more information.
• Hu Jiu concluded that Chu Shan was the Ghost Tamer behind the incidents and decided he had to kill him to claim the Ghost Book and the Mirage Ghost.

Hu Jiu forced Langzhou City’s leaders to recognize his authority, then headed to Langzhou University to investigate the Ghost Tamer. He and He Ming noticed that many students seemed unusually gloomy as they arrived at the campus.

• Hu Jiu ordered the officials to notify Langzhou University that he was coming and warned them to remain ready for orders.
• The officials learned that everyone who missed the meeting had died in gruesome incidents that also killed their families, and they resolved to stay neutral between Hu Jiu and Chu Yan.
• Hu Jiu and He Ming reached Langzhou University’s Main Campus at sunset.
• Hu Jiu observed that many students looked gloomy and walked heavily, and He Ming joked back after Hu Jiu teased him for being too young for university.

He Ming and Hu Jiu investigated the strange incidents at Langzhou University after discussing He Ming’s lack of direction and the danger of relying on Headquarters. They decided to split up, with He Ming meeting Principal Liang while Hu Jiu investigated the campus unnoticed.

• Hu Jiu warned He Ming that others might covet the Mirage Ghost and urged him to take responsibility for the Langzhou University incident.
• He Ming and Hu Jiu entered the campus, and He Ming questioned student Li Qisi, who reluctantly accepted Hu Jiu’s money but claimed she knew nothing.
• Li Qisi led them to Principal Liang’s office, and He Ming questioned Hu Jiu about paying her despite getting no useful information.
• Hu Jiu proposed that He Ming meet Principal Liang while he investigated the university separately.
• He Ming suggested using the Mirage Ghost to create a phantom of Hu Jiu so the real Hu Jiu could explore without attracting attention.

He Ming confronted Principal Liang about the university’s missing and dead students, but Liang revealed that he had been coerced by powerful forces and had secretly protected students and sought help. Liang handed He Ming a file on the Ghost Tamer Chu Shan, and He Ming suspected Liang had helped bring Langzhou City’s crimes to Headquarters’ attention.

• He Ming used Insubstantiality to take the principal’s seat and demanded that Principal Liang explain the school’s abnormalities and his cover-up.
• Principal Liang admitted that a Ghost Tamer at the university had protection from powerful people and said he had been ordered to shield the student.
• Liang described how Headquarters had ignored and leaked earlier reports, while he transferred innocent students to other campuses to protect them.
• Liang gave He Ming a concealed file about the Ghost Tamer, and He Ming found the name Chu Shan in it.
• He Ming asked whether Liang had helped expose Langzhou City, and Liang left the question unanswered while recalling that the fugitive Lin’s arrival had created an opportunity to alert Headquarters.

Hu Jiu discovered that a supernatural force was trapping students in shared nightmares and entered Li Qisi’s dream to investigate. After disguising himself as a fox immortal, he promised to help the students and ended their dream, leaving them ready to tell him what they knew.

• Hu Jiu noticed that many Langzhou University students were exhausted and going to sleep unusually early, then suspected their dreams were involved.
• Hu Jiu entered Li Qisi’s dream and found a decaying version of the campus where a female ghost resembling Kayako terrorized students.
• Hu Jiu spoke to Li Qisi and her roommates, who mistook his voice for a ghostly trick and panicked when they could not open the door.
• Hu Jiu transformed into a little orange-red fox, called himself a fox immortal, and offered to help the four students escape the nightmare.
• A cautious roommate asked Hu Jiu to take them out first, and he created copies of the students before ending the dream with a flick of his tail.

Fox Immortal questioned Li Qisi, Tao Wan, and their roommates about the Nightmare Game after freeing them from it. The four girls escaped, but the other students remained asleep while Fox Immortal searched for the game's creator.

• Tao Wan explained that the Nightmare Game sent students into dangerous dream missions, and Li Qisi said those who failed died later in plausible real-world accidents.
• Tao Wan asked whether they had escaped permanently, and Fox Immortal assured the girls that the Nightmare Game would never come for them again.
• Li Qisi ran out to share the news, then returned pale after finding that the other students were still asleep and could not be woken.
• Fox Immortal told Li Qisi that he had only saved the four girls so far and would wake the others after finding and dealing with the Nightmare Game's creator.

Tao Wan told Hu Jiu that the Nightmare Game had human collaborators and pointed him toward Liu Qingxuan, a campus belle who might be one of them. After Hu Jiu left, Tao Wan admitted she was trying to keep her roommates away from the conflict, but Li Qisi revealed she had posted about the Nightmare Game and the Fox Immortal on Weibo.

• Tao Wan explained that the Nightmare Game seemed to recruit human collaborators and identified Liu Qingxuan as a possible one.
• Tao Wan gave Hu Jiu Liu Qingxuan's room number and appearance, and Hu Jiu left to investigate room 317.
• Tao Wan urged Li Qisi to be more respectful toward Hu Jiu, while privately avoiding trusting him as a backer.
• Li Qisi told her roommates she had posted about the Nightmare Game and the Fox Immortal on Weibo.

Tao Wan fled the university and city to escape the Nightmare Game, while Li Qisi stayed behind hoping to turn the supernatural danger into an opportunity. Hu Jiu investigated Liu Qingxuan’s suspiciously polished conduct in the nightmare, and He Ming left the principal’s office troubled.

• Tao Wan packed lightly and left the school, prompting her two roommates to flee with their luggage.
• Li Qisi refused to leave, believing the Fox Immortal and Nightmare Game could bring her power and fame, and continued posting about them on Weibo.
• Hu Jiu entered dorm room 317 and observed Liu Qingxuan calmly presenting herself as a capable, helpful newcomer.
• Hu Jiu withdrew from the dream university while He Ming left the principal’s office with a heavy heart.