Chapter Summaries

At Headquarters, Shen Jiliang discussed Hu Jiu’s mission, reward, and place among the Law Enforcers, while trying to persuade him to work with a team. Hu Jiu accepted that he would be a Law Enforcer but refused to attend the ceremonies and remained unconvinced about recruiting teammates.

• Hu Jiu appeared silently at Headquarters, startling Shen Jiliang, who warned him not to make such an entrance again.
• Shen Jiliang said Headquarters might reduce Hu Jiu’s reward because he had reported Tianji’s fate as unknown and the Frozen-to-Death Ghost incident had followed his failure to deal with Tianji properly.
• Hu Jiu asked who had proposed cutting the reward, and Shen Jiliang named the newly appointed deputy minister, Zhang Hongwen.
• Shen Jiliang told Hu Jiu that he was on the Law Enforcer list and urged him to attend the candidate-confirmation meeting and commendation ceremony, but Hu Jiu refused.
• Shen Jiliang warned that supernatural incidents were accelerating and urged Hu Jiu to build a team; Hu Jiu said he would consider it but privately dismissed the idea.

Hu Jiu accepted an assignment to investigate a strange supermarket incident as Headquarters officials debated whether to investigate him over suspicions about his rapid growth and his role in resolving the Frozen-to-Death Ghost incident. Shen Jiliang opposed Zhang Hongwen’s proposal and resolved not to let Headquarters use those methods against Hu Jiu.

• Shen Jiliang told Hu Jiu about the Supermarket You Can't Get Out Of incident, and Hu Jiu agreed to investigate it.
• Hu Jiu received the incident’s details as he left Headquarters.
• Zhang Hongwen questioned whether Hu Jiu had really resolved the Frozen-to-Death Ghost incident and called for a thorough investigation into his background.
• Shen Jiliang argued that investigating Hu Jiu on suspicion alone could damage Headquarters’ reputation and discourage its Ghost Tamers.
• Zhang Hongwen insisted that national security justified the investigation and claimed Headquarters could compensate Hu Jiu if he proved innocent.
• Shen Jiliang concluded that Zhang Hongwen’s methods might work on weaker Ghost Tamers but vowed not to let Headquarters use them against Hu Jiu.

Hu Jiu investigated the supermarket where everyone who entered became trapped, using a snowman to explore its distorted, seemingly endless interior. The snowman found a surviving woman, who described the trapped shoppers, a breakdown of order, and zombie-like creatures.

• Hu Jiu sent a snowman into the supermarket, but its connection to him was cut off, so he sent another snowman carrying part of his senses and a Talisman.
• The snowman discovered that the supermarket’s aisles stretched endlessly and that the exit could not be reached because the interior space was distorted.
• Hu Jiu made the snowman create a sudden snowfall, which stopped when a woman’s voice called out from the distance.
• The snowman approached the woman, introduced itself as Little Snow, and persuaded her to explain what had happened inside.
• The woman told Little Snow that trapped shoppers had lost hope, some had harmed others, and zombies had appeared; she had been separated from her companions after one scratched her.

Hu Jiu discovered that a supermarket survivor’s claimed half-year stay conflicted with only seven days having passed outside, just as a Ghost Fire Bomb struck him in the Capital. He contained the spreading flames while Headquarters investigated the attack, but Research Department teams found their usual methods could not stop the fire from burning downward.

• Hu Jiu’s snowmen found a middle-aged survivor in the supermarket who said he had entered on November 17 and lived there for almost half a year, though Hu Jiu said the anomalies had begun only seven days earlier.
• Hu Jiu considered the time discrepancy and its possible connection to the nearly half a year since his rebirth, but a Ghost Fire Bomb exploded at his feet and interrupted his thoughts.
• Hu Jiu sealed off the supermarket and received a call from Shen Jiliang, who promised to investigate the attack and asked him to contain the Ghost Fire.
• Hu Jiu claimed he was too badly injured to help while the flames intensified, then stopped them from spreading beyond a fixed area.
• Research Department Ghost Tamers arrived with Filthy Water and Demon Wind, but the water was suppressed and the wind made the flames fiercer as the fire burned deep into the ground.

Headquarters investigated the Ghost Fire Bomb attack on Hu Jiu and discovered that the weapon had been launched from its own base. The person responsible for the weapons depot was found controlled and arrested, leaving Shen Jiliang under scrutiny for the Research Department’s security failure.

• Shen Jiliang traced the Ghost Fire Bomb’s launch to a Headquarters base and called an emergency meeting while staff checked the bomb records.
• At the meeting, Zhang Hongwen urged Headquarters to suppress news of the attack and argued that higher-ups had little reason to order it.
• A Research Department member reported that someone had controlled the person in charge of the Ghost Fire Bombs, who had launched the weapon and was now in custody.
• Zhang Hongwen blamed Shen Jiliang for the depot’s security lapse and ordered the arrest of everyone involved and a comprehensive screening of the Research Department.
• Shen Jiliang stayed silent but suspected the reporting member’s decision to bypass him, while the other higher-ups looked grave.

After Headquarters blamed Hu Jiu’s attack on the secret international organization Evernight, it warned him not to retaliate and offered compensation. Hu Jiu quietly ordered Playing Cards to investigate Evernight, leaving Headquarters’ response to his own plans uncertain.

• Shen Jiliang told Hu Jiu that Ghost Fire had been launched during the attack on him, and the Research Department staff withdrew from the scene.
• Xiao Mei said Headquarters suspected Evernight had controlled several arsenal staff members and warned Hu Jiu not to confront the organization or retaliate independently.
• Xiao Mei explained that Headquarters had learned of Evernight through its investigation of Big Dipper, Evernight’s enemy, and sent Hu Jiu the available intelligence.
• Hu Jiu read the information and ordered his intelligence organization, Playing Cards, to gather information on Evernight.
• Hu Jiu decided he could use Headquarters’ banner to make trouble for Evernight, whether or not Headquarters approved.

Hu Jiu investigated who had provided intelligence on Evernight and learned that Xiao Yu had firsthand knowledge of the organization through her identity as Emily. Xiao Yu revealed Evernight’s beliefs and its God Completion Plan, leaving Hu Jiu with new information about the group.

• Hu Jiu questioned Xiao Mei about who had sent the Evernight intelligence and learned it came from Minister Shen of the Research Department.
• Hu Jiu returned to his lair and considered Big Dipper’s relationship with Headquarters, deciding he would not let Headquarters exploit him.
• Xiao Yu told Hu Jiu that she had taken over Emily’s body, gained her memories, and learned Emily belonged to Evernight.
• Xiao Yu explained that Evernight believed she was a spy inside the Playing Cards, while she had been feeding it limited information and collecting benefits from both sides.
• Xiao Yu told Hu Jiu that Evernight worshipped Fierce Ghosts and pursued a God Completion Plan to help humans evolve by embracing them.

Hu Jiu learned that Evernight had sent Zhang Shucheng to Linjiang City and suspected Han Yang was connected to an earlier attack on him. He was called to a new supernatural incident in Linjiang City, where several victims had died with their heads turned backward.

• Xiao Yu told Hu Jiu that Han Yang led Evernight's domestic members and had recently sent Zhang Shucheng to Linjiang City on a mission.
• Hu Jiu rewarded Xiao Yu for her intelligence and instructed her to keep gathering information on Evernight.
• Hu Jiu ignored repeated calls and a friend request from someone in his estranged family, suspecting they might be trying to use him.
• At two thirty in the morning, Qian Ying summoned Hu Jiu to a supernatural incident at an old residential complex in Linjiang City.
• Qian Ying reported that several victims had died with their necks twisted backward, and Hu Jiu took charge of the investigation.

Hu Jiu contained a Fierce Ghost in an old apartment building, then recognized that Han Yang was provoking repeated supernatural incidents to exhaust him and target the Magic Mirror. Rather than keep reacting, Hu Jiu unleashed Black Cloud over Linjiang City, trapping everyone inside.

• Hu Jiu used Mirage's Ghost Domain to find a doll Fierce Ghost, tested its deadly rule, and sealed it in a Golden Container.
• Qian Ying thanked Hu Jiu, and the police withdrew after the incident was contained.
• Hu Jiu responded to two more supernatural incidents in quick succession and suspected someone was secretly causing them.
• Hu Jiu identified Han Yang as the likely culprit, aiming to exhaust him before attacking the Magic Mirror.
• Hu Jiu sent Black Cloud to the city center, where it spread across Linjiang City and prevented anyone from leaving.

A vast Black Cloud appeared over Linjiang City, sealing the city inside a Ghost Domain as Supernatural incidents surged. Hu Jiu investigated while Qian Ying coordinated the emergency response, and Headquarters deputy director Zhang Hongwen decided to leave Hu Jiu to handle the crisis alone.

• Qian Ying saw the Black Cloud spread over Linjiang City and learned from Hu Jiu that it had sealed the entire city inside a Ghost Domain.
• Hu Jiu told Qian Ying to mobilize the departments and protect the city's residents while he investigated the Black Cloud's source.
• Qian Ying suspended work on a smaller incident and arranged for the public to shelter at home.
• Hu Jiu reported the high-risk incident to Xiao Mei, naming it [Black Cloud] and suspecting the Eternal Night Organization was behind the day's events.
• Xiao Mei sent Hu Jiu's report to Zhang Hongwen, who ordered Hu Jiu to handle the incident without reinforcements.

Hu Jiu let Headquarters leave the Black Cloud crisis in his hands while secretly taking his time, then used Supernatural power to hunt Evernight member Zhang Shucheng. The chapter left Zhang Shucheng cornered by a grinning floating face after the demonic voice drove him to panic.

• Xiao Mei told Hu Jiu that Headquarters had left the Black Cloud incident entirely to him, and Hu Jiu warned that the situation might exceed his abilities.
• Hu Jiu reassured Qian Ying and told him to continue the original plan while reporting anything unusual directly to him.
• Hu Jiu decided not to hurry to resolve the Black Cloud, which he had created himself, and began searching Linjiang City for Zhang Shucheng.
• Hu Jiu's supernatural voice called Zhang Shucheng's name wherever he fled, while Zhang Shucheng tried unsuccessfully to escape the city and silence the voice.
• Zhang Shucheng rushed out of a convenience store and found a grinning face floating at the entrance, which told him, "Got you~"

Hu Jiu captured Zhang Shucheng and learned that Evernight had unleashed the Black Cloud Fierce Ghost to seize a ghost he possessed. At the edge of Linjiang City’s Ghost Domain, Hu Jiu confronted Han Yang as he tried to open a passage with a key formed from his index finger, and Han Yang fled through a supernatural gate.

• Zhang Shucheng attacked Hu Jiu but was overpowered, had his limbs broken, and was mentally compelled to reveal that Evernight’s leader had ordered him to release the Black Cloud Fierce Ghost in Linjiang City.
• Hu Jiu reported Evernight’s plot to Headquarters and left Zhang Shucheng to turn himself in.
• Hu Jiu sensed someone opening a passage through the Black Cloud Ghost Domain and arrived to find Han Yang using his transformed index finger as a key.
• Han Yang claimed he had come to help, but Hu Jiu accused him of ordering the day’s supernatural incidents and urged him to surrender.
• Han Yang fled and twisted his finger-key against the air, opening a hazy gate.

Hu Jiu pursued Han Yang through supernatural doorways after Han Yang fled to the Little Garden to recover. Their chase reached a crowded foreign city, where Hu Jiu unleashed a spreading clown outbreak and continued after Han Yang as the streets descended into chaos.

• Han Yang entered the Little Garden, recovered from his injuries in the fountain, and suspected an insider had exposed Evernight’s plans.
• Hu Jiu followed Han Yang into the garden, freezing it and weakening Han Yang until he escaped through another supernatural door.
• Han Yang emerged in a crowded foreign city, and Hu Jiu disguised himself while scattering Ghost-Attracting Talismans.
• A terrifying clown seized a passerby and transformed him, starting an outbreak that spread through the streets.
• Hu Jiu turned a frightened young couple into ice sculptures, praised himself for another good deed, and pursued Han Yang as he noticed the growing crowd of clowns.

Hu Jiu unleashed Fierce Ghosts and a Ghost Fire Bomb on an American city, devastating the population and overwhelming the US military. When an exorcist’s sandstorm failed to stop him, Hu Jiu declared that he was intervening against Evernight, leaving the dried-corpse exorcist stunned.

• Hu Jiu unleashed contagious clown ghosts and other Fierce Ghosts on the city, and they overwhelmed the US military despite its commander’s efforts.
• Hu Jiu killed the commander and watched the soldiers and civilians descend into panic as the ghosts spread.
• An exorcist arrived with a sandstorm that trapped and destroyed many ghosts, but Hu Jiu broke the sand formation with a Ghost Fire Bomb and ignited the city.
• The sandstorm’s user confronted Hu Jiu, who struck through the sand and forced the dried-corpse figure to emerge.
• Hu Jiu announced that he was pursuing Evernight and had intervened in America to eliminate its threat, leaving the exorcist stunned by the familiar justification.

Hu Jiu killed the dried corpse and then attacked Han Yang and the Eternal Night Organization’s meeting. He left Han Yang alive and began questioning him about what happened in the Capital.

• The dried corpse called his superior for support, but Hu Jiu froze him and took his spoils.
• Han Yang urged the Witch, Carlos, and Pumpkin Head to join forces against Hu Jiu, but they favored trying to recruit him.
• The Witch noticed Hu Jiu’s attack as Pumpkin Head collapsed dead, and Han Yang fled before a White Sash caught him.
• Hu Jiu refused the Witch’s offer to join Evernight, then appeared and found that Carlos had escaped by leaving behind a fake skin.
• Hu Jiu cursed Carlos’s true body, melted the Witch, and lowered Han Yang to ask him about the Capital.

Hu Jiu interrogated Han Yang about the Ghost Fire Bomb attack and learned that Han Yang had infiltrated Headquarters with possible help from an insider. Han Yang revealed that Evernight’s leader calls himself a god and is collecting Fierce Ghosts for a mysterious God Completion Plan, leaving Hu Jiu wondering if the leader intends to recreate the rumored Primordial.

• Hu Jiu confronted Han Yang about firing the Ghost Fire Bomb, and Han Yang admitted he had attacked Hu Jiu but initially lied about having help inside Headquarters.
• Hu Jiu bluffed Han Yang into confessing that he had infiltrated Headquarters, taken control of staff with clearance, and stolen the Ghost Fire Bomb, possibly aided by an insider who wanted Hu Jiu blamed on Evernight.
• Han Yang explained that he had originally targeted Tianji to obtain the Magic Mirror for Evernight’s leader, then targeted Hu Jiu after Hu Jiu killed Tianji.
• Han Yang warned Hu Jiu that mentioning Evernight’s leader could draw his attention, so Hu Jiu used a mind-reading talisman to question him instead.
• Han Yang said Evernight’s leader called himself a god, concealed his appearance, and was collecting varied Fierce Ghosts for a God Completion Plan.
• Hu Jiu recalled a theory that Fierce Ghosts were fragments of the Primordial and wondered whether Evernight’s leader was trying to reassemble the rumored god.

Hu Jiu killed Han Yang after making him go mad in a dream, then pursued Carlos to Japan and killed him too. He took Carlos’s appearance and prepared to continue his attack in the name of Evernight.

• Hu Jiu questioned Han Yang about the ranks and members of the Eternal Night Organization, and Han Yang revealed what he knew.
• Hu Jiu sent Han Yang into a terrifying dream, where Han Yang went mad and died after seeing countless moons.
• Hu Jiu placed Han Yang, the witch, and Pumpkin Head into Golden Corpse Bags, burned the supernatural conference room, and left as Ghost Tamers arrived to handle the city fire.
• Hu Jiu tracked Carlos to a small inn in Japan, sealed the surrounding space, and burned him to death.
• Hu Jiu took Carlos’s appearance and declared that he would cleanse the country in the name of Evernight.

After Hu Jiu disappeared in Linjiang City, Zhang Hongwen faced American accusations that a man resembling him had destroyed a city, and he ordered Headquarters to condemn America. Back in his office, the Prophet and Secret Peeker warned him that his scheme had brought trouble and that Hu Jiu might be responsible.

• Qian Ying failed to contact Hu Jiu for a full day and night, reported the disappearance to Headquarters, and requested support.
• America accused China's Headquarters of sending a Ghost Tamer who destroyed a city and killed more than 100,000 people, citing video and evidence that implicated Zhang Hongwen.
• Zhang Hongwen denied the accusation and ordered the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to denounce America for attempting to frame Headquarters.
• Zhang Hongwen returned to his office and asked the Prophet and Secret Peeker for their assessment of the crisis.
• The Prophet said Zhang Hongwen had invited trouble by involving that person, while the Secret Peeker blamed Hu Jiu and reminded Zhang Hongwen that she had helped him gain his position.

Zhang Hongwen tried to contain the escalating conflict with Hu Jiu, but evidence linked Hu Jiu to the Ghost Fire that destroyed an American city, while a terrorist attack in Japan and America’s response pushed China toward a crisis. Hu Jiu returned to Linjiang City and kept struggling against the Black Cloud as his alibi, with a marked date on the calendar catching his attention.

• Zhang Hongwen ordered the Prophet and the Secret Peeker to arrange a false-flag attack abroad, while the Secret Peeker insisted their plans against Hu Jiu could not stop.
• Zhang Hongwen learned that no Ghost Fire Bombs were missing, then realized Hu Jiu might have taken three bombs that vanished during the Yellow Sea incident.
• A terrorist claiming to belong to the Eternal Night Organization attacked Japan, and China’s Headquarters denied responsibility for the attack on America while condemning America’s accusations.
• America assembled Ghost Tamers, China strengthened its security, and both countries prepared for further conflict.
• Hu Jiu returned to Linjiang City, reviewed the abilities of Han Yang’s supernatural key, and kept the Black Cloud from spreading while ignoring his Satellite Phone.
• Hu Jiu glanced at the calendar and noticed a date circled in red.

Hu Jiu agreed not to press Headquarters over the attack by the Eternal Night Organization while Fu Youhua urged him to prioritize the larger crisis. Captain Wu’s team failed to enter Linjiang City and retreated, only to learn that the Black Cloud had dissipated and the local person in charge had resolved the incident.

• Fu Youhua told Hu Jiu that the Ghost Tamer who attacked him was dead and that the Eternal Night Organization had paid compensation, then urged him not to escalate the conflict.
• Hu Jiu agreed to consider the bigger picture, and Fu Youhua told him that support had been sent to deal with the Black Cloud in Linjiang City.
• Captain Wu led his team toward Linjiang City while dismissing Hu Jiu’s strength and boasting that he could handle the incident.
• Captain Wu repeatedly tried to force his way through the Ghost Domain boundary, but each attempt sent him flying.
• Captain Wu declared the incident too dangerous and ordered Headquarters to seal off Linjiang City before retreating with his team.
• The Black Cloud dissipated less than two minutes after Captain Wu left, and his operator told him that the local person in charge had already resolved the incident.