Chapter Summaries

Hu Jiu rebuffed the Rose Security Company, protected his identity with the Ghost Book, and chose Linjiang City's Haunted House as a backup base. After a group of college students died in the neighboring villa's supernatural incident, he hid several gold containers there and planned to draw out the threat connected to the Ghost Book.

• Hu Jiu refused Han Ning's recruitment offer, then told Xiao Mei that the Rose Security Company had threatened him and requested information about it.
• Hu Jiu fed the Bloodstained White Silk to the Ghost Book and wrote that no one could spy on his whereabouts or personal information.
• Hu Jiu visited the Haunted House and discovered a group of young people in the neighboring villa, where a ghostly presence appeared at the second-floor window.
• Hu Jiu found the young people dead and identified them as Ghost Slaves, then told Qian Ying that the Haunted House's ghost could not yet be contained.
• After the police left, Hu Jiu hid gold containers holding vicious ghosts throughout the Haunted House and decided to lure the threat connected to the Ghost Book to him.

Hu Jiu traveled to Yuzhou City after Headquarters called nearby Ghost Tamers to investigate a suspected supernatural disaster. He met Wang Xianhui, Sun Miao, and Ye Songlan, and learned that a strange pink mist had recently affected the city as preparations for its culture festival continued.

• Hu Jiu wrote in the Ghost Book that he would encounter the Ghost Pen and try to become more than the book’s holder.
• After receiving an urgent call from Headquarters, Hu Jiu traveled by boat to Yuzhou City and noticed the lake turning murky and strangely dark.
• Hu Jiu met Wang Xianhui, who told him that Yuzhou City’s former person in charge, Yue Renchun, had disappeared and that Headquarters had appointed someone new.
• Sun Miao claimed the city was safe, while Ye Songlan revealed that a pink mist had confused people before the person in charge said it was contained.
• Hu Jiu saw a huge uncanny inflatable doll, expressionless patrol officers, and a deserted city as Sun Miao showed the group the culture festival’s main venue.

Hu Jiu investigated Yuzhou City, where he saw residents and officials behaving as if supernatural horrors were ordinary, while Ye Songlan helped him search for clues about the missing Yue Renchun and the new person in charge, Su Jinghang. After surviving a deadly mist and seeing the city’s inhabitants as monsters, Hu Jiu suspected the entire city had been transformed and concluded that Headquarters had underestimated the crisis.

• Hu Jiu witnessed a woman survive a broken neck and a man rise after being struck by a car, but Sun Miao and the others denied seeing anything unusual.
• Hu Jiu questioned local officers and learned from Ye Songlan that Yue Renchun had disappeared, Su Jinghang had taken charge, and a pink mist incident and multiple disappearances had occurred.
• Ye Songlan showed Hu Jiu a blood painting made by missing tourist Bai Mao, while Hu Jiu discovered that restaurant food caused people to cough up wriggling mud-like growths.
• Hu Jiu and Ye Songlan entered Su Jinghang’s mansion through a looping ghost road, found Yue Renchun’s supernatural items missing, and saw dead police officers release dangerous pink mist.
• Hu Jiu escaped the mist using the White Sash while Ye Songlan coughed up mud-like tumors, though she could not see the anomalies he described.
• Back at the hotel, Hu Jiu saw the receptionist, Sun Miao, and Wang Xianhui as grotesque mud-covered or decaying figures, and suspected Yuzhou City’s residents were beyond saving.

Hu Jiu discovered that Yue Renchun had orchestrated Yuzhou City’s supernatural disaster while using the cultural festival to stabilize his fierce ghosts. The two agreed to blame Su Jinghang and other enemies, but Hu Jiu left wary of Yue Renchun as the dead residents of Yuzhou City returned to life.

• Hu Jiu saw a pink-mist ritual at the cultural festival turn the residents gathered in the central square into a giant cocoon, which Yue Renchun emerged from.
• Yue Renchun teleported into Hu Jiu’s hiding place, but Hu Jiu immobilized him with the Eerie Flashlight and questioned him about the disaster.
• Yue Renchun explained that his attempts to balance several fierce ghosts had contaminated Yuzhou City and distorted its residents’ perceptions.
• Hu Jiu and Yue Renchun agreed to portray Su Jinghang and other groups as responsible for the disaster, and Hu Jiu left the city with Wang Xianhui.
• Yue Renchun watched Yuzhou City’s residents reform from mud and fruits, then dressed while his ability warned him of danger.

Hu Jiu met Yue Renchun in Linjiang City and offered him Liu Mingguang in exchange for another favor, while both men concealed plans to betray each other. Yue Renchun asked Hu Jiu to help with Headquarters’ impending operation against Beifeng Commune, leaving their alliance uncertain.

• Hu Jiu recalled how he had helped Yue Renchun frame Beifeng Commune and Rose Security Company during the staged crisis in Yuzhou City.
• Hu Jiu found a forum post about a bizarre supernatural incident that he suspected could lead him to the Ghost Pen, and decided he needed a teammate to investigate it.
• Yue Renchun visited Hu Jiu and explained that Headquarters had nearly moved against him over the Longevity Village incident.
• Hu Jiu brought Yue Renchun to Liu Mingguang’s home and offered Liu Mingguang to him in exchange for one more favor.
• Yue Renchun secretly sent a drop of mud toward the wardrobe containing Liu Mingguang, intending to steal him and break their agreement.
• Yue Renchun asked Hu Jiu to help draw Headquarters’ attention during its planned operation against Beifeng Commune, and Hu Jiu wondered which of them would end up taking the heat.

Ghost Handler Headquarters debated whether to secretly move against Yue Renchun, while Fu Youhua urged caution because of Yue's recent fame and the danger of using [Wish Fulfillment]. Hu Jiu agreed to join the operation against Beifeng Commune, then went to meet Yue Renchun in Linjiang City.

• Headquarters officials suspected Yue Renchun of controlling the Chang Ghost and possibly orchestrating the [Ghost Marsh] incident, but Fu Youhua argued that they should wait before acting against him.
• Fu Youhua rejected a proposal to use [Wish Fulfillment] and considered the conflicting reports from Hu Jiu and Yue Renchun about Longevity Village.
• Headquarters prepared to punish Beifeng Commune, and Xiao Mei asked Hu Jiu to join the operation against it.
• Hu Jiu agreed to take part because he wanted to investigate Beifeng Commune's connection to the Mirage Ghost.
• Qian Ying told Hu Jiu that Yue Renchun was waiting to see him, and Hu Jiu went to the Linjiang City public security department, where Yue greeted him.

Hu Jiu joined Yue Renchun and the Headquarters team in an assault on Beifeng Commune, where Fang Qingjiao confronted president Zhao Lifeng over old grievances and Headquarters’ orders. Zhao fled during their fight, and the remaining commune members battled the team, with Wei Xiyuan revealing a bizarre way to survive decapitation.

• Yue Renchun drove Hu Jiu to Zhenyuan City and shared detailed information about Beifeng Commune’s members.
• Fang Qingjiao led the group to the commune’s club hideout and attacked with his powerful Ghost Domain, confronting Zhao Lifeng over the deaths of his mother and sister.
• Fang Qingjiao’s Ghost Domain killed ordinary people in the club, but Zhao Lifeng used blood-colored footprints to break through it and escape.
• Yue Renchun and Hu Jiu confronted the remaining Beifeng Commune members as they tried to flee, and a chaotic battle began.
• Hu Jiu’s White Sash snapped Wei Xiyuan’s neck, but Wei Xiyuan hid his head inside his torso and crashed through a wall while escaping.

Hu Jiu and his teammates attacked the Beifeng Commune, but Zhao Lifeng escaped after a fierce fight, leaving the Commune badly damaged. Hu Jiu questioned Wei Xiyuan about the organization’s secrets, while Zhao Lifeng sought refuge in the Endless Corridor to delay his supernatural revival.

• Wei Xiyuan sacrificed a teammate to escape with another Beifeng Commune member, but Hu Jiu and Yue Renchun subdued the remaining Ghost Tamers.
• Wei Xiyuan betrayed his companion again during their flight, and Hu Jiu pursued him while Yue Renchun contained the rampaging Ghost Tamer and charmed two teammates.
• Hu Jiu caught Wei Xiyuan, who revealed that Beifeng Commune had retrieved the Suicide-Hanging White Silk and the Ghost Hand for Zhao Lifeng and that Zhao secretly controlled two ghosts and served a larger organization.
• Fang Qingjiao returned badly injured after fighting Zhao Lifeng, and Yue Renchun healed him with a Longevity Potion; the team agreed to keep the captured ghosts for themselves and ended the operation.
• Zhao Lifeng contacted a black-robed woman for help, then chose to enter the Endless Corridor to suppress his revival, and she carried him away.

Hu Jiu, Yue Renchun, and Ye Songlan entered Yuezhao City to investigate its strange rules, while the Rose Security Company followed them on orders from the Anomalous Research Department. After an apparently harmless encounter with a helpful girl, Hu Jiu and Yue Renchun discovered that an invisible force kept returning them to the same spot.

• The Rose Security Company agreed to help the Anomalous Research Department secretly arrest Yue Renchun and Hu Jiu, but the pair left for Yuezhao City before the team could catch them.
• Hu Jiu, Yue Renchun, and Ye Songlan passed through Yuezhao City's cordon, followed later by the Rose Security Company's team.
• Hu Jiu described the city's rules-horror phenomenon and noted that the only known rules were to obey the law and help people in need.
• A little girl offered to carry their bags and guided Ye Songlan to a hotel, while Hu Jiu and Yue Renchun noticed that bystanders watched with strange expressions.
• When an old woman fell nearby, Hu Jiu and Yue Renchun were abruptly returned to their earlier positions after moving forward; Ye Songlan was also sent back, revealing that they could not leave the area.

The Rose Squad and Hu Jiu’s group tried to understand the rules trapping people in Yuezhao City. Hu Jiu’s group helped an injured woman reach the hospital, while the Rose Squad remained trapped after breaking the law, and one Ghost Tamer decided to surrender.

• A Rose Squad Ghost Tamer killed a passerby who was photographing them, and the squad was mysteriously returned to its starting point when it tried to leave.
• The police surrounded the Rose Squad over the killing, but the team’s attempts to force its way past them only triggered another reset.
• Ye Songlan repeatedly tried different ways to help an injured old woman, and Hu Jiu concluded that everyone who witnessed someone in trouble had to take part in helping.
• Hu Jiu, Yue Renchun, and Ye Songlan escorted the old woman to the hospital, then heard a local woman describe a possible exit from Yuezhao City and questioned why Headquarters knew nothing about the incident.
• As the Rose Squad remained trapped among the police and onlookers, one Ghost Tamer urged the others to turn themselves in, alarming the bespectacled man.

Hu Jiu, Yue Renchun, and Ye Songlan struggled to advance along Yuezhao City’s Green Passage, where supernatural rules forced them to perform good deeds and residents sabotaged anyone trying to leave. After learning that repeated rule violations turned people into obedient NPCs, they headed toward an explosion as a young woman revealed her plan to complete a quill that could make her rules permanent.

• Hu Jiu and Yue Renchun repeatedly moved backward on the Green Passage until they helped an injured cyclist, returned a discarded coin to the police, and dealt with other apparent emergencies.
• Ye Songlan exposed a man who faked an injury to obstruct them, and Yue Renchun used his powers to control him.
• Hu Jiu and Yue Renchun read a secret group chat and learned that Yuezhao City’s residents deliberately trapped outsiders under the pretense of improving their morality.
• Yue Renchun used the Ghost Inquirer necklace to learn that residents who violated the rules too often became NPCs, while surviving locals had been twisted by despair and supernatural influence.
• Hu Jiu and Yue Renchun theorized that the mastermind had targeted the city’s law enforcement and administrative personnel, then set out toward an explosion after dealing with the injured man.
• A pale young woman wrote in a supernatural diary with a strange quill and vowed to complete it so she could impose rules across the world and create a population of only good people.

Hu Jiu followed the Ghost Book’s pull to the Yuezhao City government building, where he discovered that the city’s rules were tied to a being called God. Invited into a space created by Qin Fangtong, he met the woman behind the rules, while the Ghost Book grew restless and Qin Fangtong began speaking of her grand ideal.

• Hu Jiu and Yue Renchun arrived as the Rose Squad was arrested, and Hu Jiu recorded the scene so he could report them.
• A strange taxi took Hu Jiu, Yue Renchun, and Ye Songlan to the Yuezhao City government building, where the office workers gathered for a meeting led by the mayor.
• The mayor claimed that God had brought blessings through the city’s rules, and Hu Jiu praised the changes until a door appeared in the wall and invited him inside.
• Hu Jiu entered the door alone, while Yue Renchun found that it was only a picture and could not follow.
• Hu Jiu met Qin Fangtong in her created space and learned that she had used a Divine Pen to impose rules on Yuezhao City.

Hu Jiu deceived Qin Fangtong into surrendering the Ghost Pen, and she died as its supernatural power vanished. He left the collapsing supernatural space with the pen contained and told Yue Renchun and Ye Songlan that they should abandon the search.

• Qin Fangtong told Hu Jiu how her sheltered childhood and her family's destruction led her to use the Ghost Pen to remake Yuezhao City into an ideal society.
• Hu Jiu showed Qin Fangtong the Ghost Book, and she lunged for it before the Ghost Pen flew to him and he sealed it in a gold container.
• After losing the pen, Qin Fangtong began turning into a painting, and Hu Jiu soothed her with promises of a happier world.
• Qin Fangtong remembered a peaceful childhood moment, said she had died with her mother long ago, and collapsed into a painting.
• Hu Jiu left the supernatural space and told Yue Renchun and Ye Songlan that they should leave Yuezhao City without the ghost.

Hu Jiu tamed the Ghost Pen and fused its power with the Ghost Book, then gained full control of the Mirage Ghost and spread his Ghost Domain across much of Linjiang City. He began testing his expanded abilities and preparing to replicate the powers of ghosts he had kept.

• Hu Jiu gave Yue Renchun a Golden Corpse Bag in exchange for the Ghost Pen, then hurried home to tame it.
• As the Ghost Book's protection faded, the Mirage Ghost nearly turned Hu Jiu's body into a phantom, but he used his blood to sign his true name and claim the Ghost Book and Ghost Pen.
• Hu Jiu wrote rules to protect his consciousness, erase the tools' self-awareness, and perfectly tame the Mirage Ghost.
• Hu Jiu expanded the Mirage across more than half of Linjiang City and discovered he could manipulate objects and teleport within his Ghost Domain.
• Hu Jiu tried to turn the Drunkard into a phantom but found the Mirage Ghost's replicated power too weak to finish the conversion quickly.
• Hu Jiu opened more Golden Corpse Bags and began replicating the powers of Wu Xuan and another unknown ghost.

Hu Jiu returned from Yuezhao City after copying and concealing his supernatural abilities, then learned that a spreading Ghost Domain had triggered a major disaster across several cities. Headquarters suspected that the source was an unsolvable ghost from Longevity Village, and the Ghost Tamer suspected of subduing a Chang Ghost had disappeared.

• Hu Jiu reviewed his acquired ghosts and supernatural items, fused the Ghost Book and Ghost Pen into his arm, and used them to draw a door back to Qin Fangtong's secret room in Yuezhao City.
• Hu Jiu preserved the secret room, disguised the city's rules to make it seem as if the Source Ghost remained uncontained, and returned home to secure his ghosts and conceal his private information.
• Hu Jiu reported the Yuezhao City incident to Xiao Mei, who told him that a supernatural disaster was spreading from Xihe City toward Linjiang City and several surrounding cities.
• Hu Jiu saw black light spreading across the sky as Linjiang City began evacuating its residents, while electronic communications failed across the affected region.
• Fu Youhua convened an emergency meeting at Headquarters, where officials assessed the spreading Ghost Domain as a possible S-class incident and discussed sending support to Xihe City.
• A Research Department official identified Longevity Village as the likely origin of the escaping ghost and warned that the missing Ghost Tamer may have released an unsolvable composite ghost.

Headquarters responded to the Ghost Domain spreading from Xihe City as Shen Jiliang insisted on investigating in person, while Hu Jiu’s attempt to learn about the Source Ghost exposed a dangerous, possibly forbidden power. As Shen Jiliang and Fu Youhua reached Yuzhou City, their dispute over the Ghost Contract and Yue Renchun ended with Shen ordering Xu Bo to teleport them inside.

• Shen Jiliang warned Headquarters that the Source Ghost from Longevity Village might expand its Ghost Domain, and Fu Youhua ordered nearby Ghost Tamers to prepare while rejecting the use of Wish Fulfillment.
• Headquarters learned that Xihe City and surrounding areas were sealed off, so Shen Jiliang decided to go to the scene with Fu Youhua.
• Hu Jiu heard from Xiao Mei and Qian Ying about the spreading Ghost Domain, then tried to use the Ghost Pen to learn about the Source Ghost and saw a pair of uncanny eyes that triggered a powerful sense of danger.
• Shen Jiliang and Fu Youhua reached the barrier outside Yuzhou City, where Xu Bo confirmed that his Ghost Domain could breach it.
• Fu Youhua accused Shen Jiliang of using the crisis to complete the Ghost Contract and seize the Chang Ghost, while Shen insisted he needed to contain the ghost and investigate Yue Renchun.
• Shen Jiliang ordered Xu Bo to activate his Ghost Domain and teleport the group into Yuzhou City.

Headquarters entered the ruined ghost domain in Yuzhou City and found the city unnaturally quiet, while Hu Jiu joined Shi Chang, Zhao Duohui, and Zhao Ruying on a bus bound for Xihe City to investigate the Source Ghost. After a strange boy’s cries for help brought a grass-covered humanoid to the bus, Hu Jiu shattered the window and used a White Sash to guard the opening as the group realized they had encountered danger.

• Fu Youhua, Shen Jiliang, and Xu Bo entered Yuzhou City with the Headquarters team, noticed its desolation, and heard an eerie swishing sound as weeds emerged from the road.
• Hu Jiu boarded Shi Chang’s supernatural bus with Zhao Duohui and Zhao Ruying to travel to Xihe City and investigate the Source Ghost.
• Hu Jiu spotted a twisted humanlike figure outside, and Shi Chang and Zhao Duohui discussed the dangers of the ghost domain and supernatural rumors.
• After a cry for help, the bus struck something and stopped; Shi Chang and Zhao Duohui got out to inspect it while Hu Jiu and Zhao Ruying stayed aboard.
• A bloodied boy ran to the bus as a humanoid creature pursued him, and Zhao Duohui shot at the creature before it pressed its face against the window.
• Hu Jiu shattered the window and knocked the creature down, revealing grass growing from its head; Shi Chang ordered everyone back inside, and Hu Jiu covered the opening with a White Sash.

Shi Chang’s group survived an attack by powerful, grass-covered Ghost Slaves, but the Supernatural Bus broke down and Shi Chang disappeared. As Zhao Duohui led the others toward Xihe City, the surrounding weeds revealed a new danger, and grass began growing from his injured shoulder.

• He Ming told Shi Chang and the others how he had escaped green-skinned monsters, and Ghost Slaves soon attacked the Supernatural Bus.
• Zhao Duohui was injured, while Hu Jiu and the others fought off two Ghost Slaves after Shi Chang restarted the bus.
• The bus nearly overturned during another attack, and the group discovered that Shi Chang and the driver’s seat were gone.
• Zhao Duohui followed Shi Chang’s cries into the grass and found him twisted and turning into a grass-covered creature, then hurried back to the others.
• As He Ming led the group toward Xihe City, Hu Jiu pulled a wriggling blade of grass from his collar and noticed grass moving beneath Zhao Duohui’s injured shoulder.

Hu Jiu’s group encountered grass that infected and consumed people, while Fu Youhua and Shen Jiliang’s team in Yuzhou City struggled against the same supernatural threat. The chapter ended with Fu Youhua receiving Hu Jiu’s report on the Ghost Grass’s killing rules and asking whether the information was reliable.

• Zhao Duohui’s arm was consumed by grass, so Zhao Ruying helped him cut it off before the group fled through the dangerous grass.
• Zhao Duohui was infested again inside a car and transformed into a human-shaped plant, so he left the vehicle behind as Hu Jiu drove on.
• A Ghost Slave attacked Hu Jiu’s car, and He Ming shot another Ghost Slave before Hu Jiu threw it out.
• Fu Youhua, Shen Jiliang, and Xu Bo struggled through the Ghost Grass in Yuzhou City and learned that it overpowered Xu Bo’s Ghost Domain and accelerated after a Longevity Potion.
• Fu Youhua and Shen Jiliang used a supernatural item to return to Headquarters, where Fu Youhua questioned Xiao Mei about Hu Jiu’s report on the Ghost Grass’s killing rules.

Hu Jiu entered Xihe City as the Ghost Domain spread, warned local authorities about the Ghost Grass, and set out with He Ming while the authorities struggled to decide how to inform the public. As Hu Jiu secretly gathered grass and encouraged He Ming’s interest in becoming a Ghost Tamer, the city broadcast news of the haunting and residents reacted in confusion and panic.

• Hu Jiu shared what he knew about the Ghost Grass with Xiao Mei, who passed the information to Fu Youhua and Shen Jiliang.
• Xu Bo learned Yuzhou City was trapped inside the Ghost Domain, tested its boundary, and led his group toward Xihe City to search for the Source Ghost.
• Hu Jiu told Xihe City’s authorities that Shi Chang had died, warned them about the grass, and left to search for the Source Ghost with He Ming.
• Zhao Ruying asked the police for access to the safe house, while Hu Jiu deliberately avoided other people and secretly collected Ghost Grass.
• Hu Jiu explained Ghost Tamers and their risks to He Ming, who began wondering how he could tame a ghost himself.
• Police broadcasts warned Xihe City’s residents about the haunting, prompting a range of confused, skeptical, and reckless reactions.