Chapter Summaries

After hearing Zhang Suyuan’s account of Shanque City, the Supernatural Investigation Bureau identified Bai Jingjing as the woman who absorbed the black smoke, while she traveled to seek help for the White Bone Madam inside her. Hu Jiu tested Spirit Money on a fast-food restaurant owner, who used it to force a customer to work for him.

• Zhang Suyuan told Mu Xingrui that black smoke had turned Shanque City’s residents into skeletons before a woman absorbed it and lifted the seal.
• Mu Xingrui ordered a portrait made, and the Investigation Bureau identified the woman as Bai Jingjing.
• Bai Jingjing traveled to another city and headed for a Taoist temple, hoping to find someone who could help suppress White Bone Madam’s awakening.
• Hu Jiu arrived at a train station and gave Spirit Money to a fast-food restaurant owner after disguising himself as the owner’s twin.
• The owner secretly included Spirit Money in a customer’s change, and the young man was compelled to work in the kitchen after taking it.

Bai Jingjing went to Xuanxiao Temple seeking help to stop White Bone Madam from awakening inside her, but Perfected Master Liang admitted he had no magical abilities. After Bai Jingjing demonstrated her power, she agreed to stay at the temple when White Bone Madam’s voice urged her to cause trouble.

• Bai Jingjing introduced herself to a young priest as White Bone Madam’s inheritor and asked to see Perfected Master Liang.
• The young priest led Bai Jingjing to Perfected Master Liang, who initially thought she needed psychiatric care and confessed that his online fortune-telling was staged.
• Bai Jingjing summoned black smoke and skeletons, convincing Perfected Master Liang that supernatural powers were real.
• Perfected Master Liang admitted he could not help her but asked her to stay at Xuanxiao Temple and pray to its deities.
• Bai Jingjing agreed to stay for several days, and Perfected Master Liang told Tong Yucheng to close the temple to visitors.

Bai Jingjing's presence at Xuanxiao Temple coincided with a sudden attack by skeleton monsters, which she secretly caused and then stopped. Liang the Perfected sheltered the surviving tourists and began accounting for the dead, while one of his disciples was missing.

• Liang the Perfected introduced Bai Jingjing as an honored guest and ordered Tong Yucheng to clear the tourists from Xuanxiao Temple.
• At the gate, a sick tourist transformed into a skeleton, bit the middle-aged man, and became part of an attack that sent tourists fleeing into the temple.
• Liang the Perfected saw the skeletons and rushed to find Bai Jingjing, while the monsters attacked the Daoists and tourists inside.
• Bai Jingjing used black smoke to immobilize the skeletons, then claimed they were unknown evil creatures.
• Liang the Perfected decided to shelter the survivors overnight and call the police, then learned that one disciple was missing.

Zhu Ci investigated the deaths at Xuanxiao Temple and sought answers about Bai Jingjing, while Hu Jiu continued spreading supernatural disasters. In New Yan City, Hu Jiu found the home of missing student Tian Tian and discovered her parents’ corpses, seeing an opportunity to create another haunting.

• Zhu Ci questioned Liang the Perfected about Bai Jingjing’s visit to Xuanxiao Temple, while the Bureau separately investigated the temple’s other witnesses.
• Hu Jiu reflected that Bai Jingjing was a useful tool for spreading disasters, then killed a hot pot restaurant’s proprietress after she resisted his forced kindness and turned the restaurant into a ghostly place.
• Hu Jiu compared his despair-inducing methods with Du Zhong’s supernatural schemes and chose a new city at random from a map.
• Hu Jiu entered a run-down residential complex in New Yan City and found a missing-person notice for Tian Tian, who had disappeared while seeking a late-night meal.
• Hu Jiu discovered Tian Tian’s decomposing parents at their dining table and learned that her mother had poisoned the food after her father considered ending the search and having another child.
• Hu Jiu decided Tian Tian’s parents’ deaths would make excellent material for a haunting.

Li Hua encountered the dead-looking Old Tian and the missing Tian Tian in the apartment complex and fainted as a supernatural chill spread through the area. Hu Jiu watched over the transformed complex and prepared to make Bai Jingjing star in his show.

• Li Hua walked home late at night and reflected on his exhausting job and the Tian family's missing daughter.
• A cold wind carried a missing-person notice to Li Hua, and he hurried toward the complex as fear grew around him.
• Old Tian appeared behind Li Hua, repeatedly calling his name with a corpse-like face.
• Tian Tian appeared in front of Li Hua as Old Tian approached from behind, and Li Hua fainted.
• An icy chill spread through the complex, while Hu Jiu strengthened its eerie atmosphere and prepared to involve Bai Jingjing.

Li Hua told police captain Feng Qian that he had seen ghosts connected to missing girl Tian Tian, but Feng Qian dismissed his claims as superstition. Feng Qian and his officers entered the Tian family’s apartment, where they found two eerie, motionless versions of Tian Tian’s parents, then discovered another identical pair blocking their exit.

• Li Hua woke beside responding officers, panicked about ghosts, and told Feng Qian he had seen Tian Tian and her father.
• Feng Qian suspected Li Hua might be connected to Tian Tian’s disappearance, but Li Hua refused to return home and left for a crowded place.
• After hearing a scream from the apartment building, Feng Qian took his officers inside and followed the stench of decay to apartment 302.
• Feng Qian and the officers found Tian Tian’s parents standing motionless in the living room, smiling like lifeless figures.
• When the officers tried to leave, they saw an identical pair of Tian Tian’s parents blocking the stairwell, and rhythmic tapping began.

Feng Qian and his officers were trapped in the Tian family apartment by ghostly versions of Mr. and Mrs. Tian and the corpse of Tian Tian. A mysterious woman arrived, destroyed the ghosts, and vanished, leaving Feng Qian to handle the aftermath.

• Feng Qian shot the ghostly Mr. and Mrs. Tian, who fell and melted into the shadows, then ordered his officers to escape through the window.
• Feng Qian and his officers tried to make a rope from coats and curtains, but a fierce wind and Tian Tian’s corpse blocked their escape.
• Tian Tian’s weeping drove one officer to fire wildly, while bullets failed to stop Mr. and Mrs. Tian as they closed in on Feng Qian.
• Feng Qian lowered the gun he had aimed at himself and chose to face the ghosts after remembering that Li Hua had survived an encounter with one.
• A mysterious woman arrived in black smoke, turned all three Tian family ghosts into skeletons, and made them disappear.
• The woman told Feng Qian she had cleared the ghosts and left him to handle the aftermath before vanishing.

At a Supernatural Investigation Bureau meeting, Mu Xingrui and his staff reviewed the incidents involving Bai Jingjing and ghosts in New Yan City, then discussed how to manage public knowledge of supernatural events. The bureau decided to expand its ranks by recruiting people who had survived or encountered anomalies.

• Zhu Ci reported that Bai Jingjing believed White Bone Madam was awakening inside her and that the Xuanxiao Temple incident may have been her venting her frustration.
• A staff member reported that the Tian family had appeared as ghosts in New Yan City and that Bai Jingjing had likely rescued them.
• Mu Xingrui learned that investigators had found no information about White Bone Madam and discussed confidentiality agreements and plans to steer public opinion.
• A staff member proposed a television program that would present supernatural reports as cases debunked by science, and Mu Xingrui approved the suggestion.
• Mu Xingrui reviewed a proposal to expand the bureau by recruiting people including Feng Qian, Liang Shoupeng, Shanque City survivors, and Li Hua, then agreed to it.

Hu Jiu investigated supernatural incidents and noticed a debt collection company, where he encountered its predatory owner, Luo Dian. The chapter left Hu Jiu inside Luo Dian’s office as Luo Dian indulged in memories of his murders.

• Xiao Li told his boss that a psychiatric patient named Wei had killed twelve people in a New Yan City residential complex.
• Hu Jiu monitored domestic and international news before noticing a third-party debt collection company from the milk tea shop.
• Hu Jiu entered the company, mesmerized Old Luo, and walked upstairs to find the boss.
• Luo Dian recalled killing a classmate as a teenager and described how he continued killing while hiding the evidence and relying on powerful protection.

Hu Jiu cursed Luo Dian with a blackened machete and commanded him to kill, then showed him a portrait of Bai Jingjing and told him to follow her instructions if they met. When Luo Dian’s employees entered his office, he slaughtered several of them and continued to grow more monstrous.

• Hu Jiu appeared in Luo Dian’s office, and Luo Dian’s dagger passed through him when he attacked.
• Hu Jiu turned Luo Dian’s machete black, caused it to bind to Luo Dian’s hand, and transformed Luo Dian’s body and mind.
• Hu Jiu gave Luo Dian a portrait of Bai Jingjing and ordered him to follow her instructions if he encountered her.
• Luo Dian’s employees broke into his office after hearing crashing noises and found him hacking at his desk with the black machete.
• A muscular employee struck Luo Dian with a golf club, but the club broke without harming him, and Luo Dian killed the man and several others.
• The remaining employees shoved people toward Luo Dian as they fled, while his skin and machete grew increasingly black and his eyes grew redder.

Luo Dian became a monstrous wielder of the Ghost Blade and slaughtered his coworkers before confronting the police outside. Feng Qian’s forces set Luo Dian on fire, but he emerged from the flames and resumed attacking.

• Luo Dian used the Ghost Blade to cut down his fleeing subordinates and killed those who tried to fight back on the fourth floor.
• Luo Dian descended through the empty building, briefly regained his senses in the lobby, then left as the Ghost Blade took control again.
• Feng Qian arrived with armed police and ordered them to fire on Luo Dian, but the gunfire shattered Luo Dian’s brief return to reason.
• Feng Qian ordered the police to retreat, and Luo Dian’s distant slash killed a person and split a police vehicle in two.
• Feng Qian ignited fuel beneath Luo Dian, but Luo Dian walked out of the flames and swung the Ghost Blade at the police.

Feng Qian and the armed police appeared to kill Luo Dian with a sniper round, but the Ghost Blade returned to his mangled corpse and revived him. As bullets began passing through his broken body, Luo Dian raised the blade, forcing everyone to retreat.

• A sniper round severed Luo Dian’s hand and knocked the Ghost Blade away, after which gunfire reduced him to mangled flesh.
• Li Hua took a young witness to the Investigation Bureau while Feng Qian’s team prepared to recover Luo Dian’s body.
• The Ghost Blade trembled, flew back to Luo Dian, and enabled his shattered corpse to stand again.
• Feng Qian ordered the sniper to fire, but the bullet passed through Luo Dian and struck the building behind him.
• Feng Qian fired his pistol and saw bullets either strike Luo Dian or pass through gaps in his body.
• Luo Dian raised the Ghost Blade as its supernatural power gathered along the edge, and Feng Qian ordered everyone to retreat for cover.

Luo Dian rampaged through the sealed-off area with the Ghost Blade until Bai Jingjing arrived and destroyed him. She took the blade and disappeared, leaving Feng Qian and the Investigation Bureau to handle the aftermath.

• Luo Dian cleaved a building in two, causing its collapse and killing people with falling rubble as Feng Qian tried to escape him.
• The Investigation Bureau sent reinforcements while the Network Public Opinion Control Center prepared an explanation for the destruction.
• Luo Dian cornered Feng Qian, but Bai Jingjing restrained him with black smoke and gave Feng Qian time to flee.
• Bai Jingjing summoned skeletons that tore Luo Dian apart, then used black smoke to retrieve the Ghost Blade.
• Bai Jingjing ignored Feng Qian's attempt to speak and vanished, while Feng Qian ordered his team to secure the scene, help the injured, question witnesses, and collect samples.

Feng Qian’s operation killed Luo Dian but recovered no useful evidence, while Bai Jingjing claimed the powerful machete and Hu Jiu continued secretly spreading supernatural threats. The chapter ended with Feng Qian learning that the collected samples appeared ordinary and discussing the cover story for the incident with Li Hua.

• Feng Qian judged the operation a failure because Luo Dian’s corpse was destroyed and Bai Jingjing had taken the machete, though he believed he would meet her again.
• Bai Jingjing accepted the machete as her own and sensed that the Investigation Bureau’s people carried the stink of a supernatural disease.
• Hu Jiu left New Yan City to spread the Supernatural randomly and planned to eliminate anyone who uncovered its true nature.
• The laboratory reported to Feng Qian that the monster’s blood and flesh appeared ordinary, much like samples from Zhang Suyuan and Zhao Chuxia.
• Li Hua told Feng Qian that the media blamed the building collapse on a gas-cylinder explosion during a dispute at a debt collection company and said eyewitnesses had signed confidentiality agreements.

Feng Qian investigated the employees who survived Luo Dian’s rampage and discovered that Lao Luo was terrified after encountering a ghost. When the authorities questioned him, Lao Luo began recounting what he had seen, but his memory abruptly became clearer as he spoke.

• Feng Qian learned that Luo Dian had killed twenty-two people and ordered an investigation into the nine employees who escaped.
• Lao Luo recalled letting a strange young man into the company before its office building collapsed, and became convinced that a ghost was connected to the disaster.
• Feng Qian and his team heard Lao Luo shouting that he had seen nothing when they knocked, and decided his reaction was suspicious.
• Feng Qian’s team forced open Lao Luo’s door, restrained him, and questioned him at home.
• Lao Luo agreed to cooperate and began describing how a very young girl had walked into the company the previous morning.

Lao Luo’s account led Feng Qian and Mu Xingrui to suspect that Bai Jingjing had caused Luo Dian’s mutation, while a spy watched Lao Luo’s transfer and considered fabricating intelligence. The Investigation Bureau began preparing for the possibility that Bai Jingjing was behind the incident, then learned that a video of Luo Dian attacking people had gone viral.

• Feng Qian had sketch artists draw the ghost Lao Luo described and recognized the face as Bai Jingjing’s.
• Feng Qian sent Lao Luo to the Investigation Bureau to repeat his account to the director, then tried to piece together the cause of Luo Dian’s madness.
• Liu Maozhi watched Lao Luo being taken away and planned to invent a report tying the office explosion to the supernatural.
• Mu Xingrui told Feng Qian to prepare for the worst after hearing Lao Luo’s claims about Bai Jingjing.
• Mu Xingrui received a call warning that a video of Luo Dian attacking people had been posted online and public opinion was nearing a crisis.

Mu Xingrui and Feng Qian struggled to contain online footage of Luo Dian’s supernatural rampage, while Jiang Jianwei encountered the viral videos and dismissed them as movie effects. After she went to bed, her reflection remained standing in the bathroom mirror.

• Feng Qian proposed deleting the leaked videos and passing them off as movie effects, but Mu Xingrui explained that the original footage could not be removed and suspected supernatural interference.
• Mu Xingrui sent Feng Qian to have the public opinion management department respond to the leaks, noting the authorities’ concern about rival countries learning about supernatural incidents.
• After a tiring day, Jiang Jianwei returned to her shabby rental, ate instant noodles, and scrolled through short videos.
• Jiang Jianwei watched footage of the New Yan City office building and searched online for information about the so-called evil ghost, but accepted a video claiming it was movie special effects.
• Jiang Jianwei used the bathroom and went to sleep without noticing that her reflection remained in the mirror after she left.

Feng Qian reviewed unresolved supernatural cases while the Investigation Bureau kept its living supernatural individual, Zhang Suyuan, out of danger. Meanwhile, Jiang Jianwei woke from a disturbing half-dream in which someone had stood beside her bed, but found herself alone.

• Feng Qian reviewed reports about a midnight ghost taxi and a hot pot restaurant where investigators entered but could not leave.
• Feng Qian complained that Zhang Suyuan should take on dangerous missions, unaware of the classified costs and risks of supernatural powers.
• The Investigation Bureau identified Chen Zhanji as another supernatural individual and secretly observed him.
• Jiang Jianwei, exhausted from several nights of poor sleep, heard a rustling sound and saw someone standing beside her bed.
• Jiang Jianwei woke in fright, found no one there, and went to the bathroom after deciding it had been a nightmare.

Jiang Jianwei was dragged into her bathroom mirror and replaced by a sinister double. When police investigated her disappearance, they saw Jiang Jianwei and the landlord trapped inside the mirror while another Jiang Jianwei stood motionless in the bathtub.

• A pale hand reached out of Jiang Jianwei’s mirror, pulled her inside, and sent a smiling double out to answer her neighbor.
• The neighbor reported Jiang Jianwei and the landlord missing after hearing knocking from the apartment and being unable to contact either of them.
• Police entered Jiang Jianwei’s apartment and traced the pounding to the bathroom mirror.
• The officers saw Jiang Jianwei and the landlord trapped behind the mirror, pleading for help in a grotesquely altered bathroom.
• Jiang Jianwei struck her forehead against the mirror and collapsed, while the landlord pointed toward a hand beneath the shower curtain.
• The curtain fell to reveal a motionless, pale Jiang Jianwei standing in the bathtub, and the officers sensed that she was something inhuman.

Captain Wu Jiangu escaped the supernatural attack at Jiang Jianwei’s apartment and reported what happened, while Hu Jiu used the Fierce Ghost [Magic Mirror] to spread fear. Wu Jiangu was placed in an isolation center, unaware that the reflective screen of his phone might still expose him to danger.

• The police captain recognized the danger posed by the mirror ghost, but the officers were pulled into the mirrors as their reflections attacked them.
• Captain Wu Jiangu abandoned his trapped subordinates and escaped, carefully avoiding reflective surfaces as he fled.
• Hu Jiu revealed that he had deliberately let Captain Wu Jiangu survive so he could spread fear, then disappeared into the darkness.
• Wu Jiangu accurately reported the supernatural incident, was questioned, and was sent to an isolation center after work.
• At the center, Wu Jiangu covered mirrors and windows but remained uneasy, unaware that his phone screen reflected a strange light.