Chapter Summaries

Zhao Ke hid in a boat as a ghostly funeral procession crossed the river and killed two postmen who drew its attention. After the procession passed, a woman appeared behind Zhao Ke and offered him a purple handkerchief.

• Zhao Ke watched two flower attendants scatter joss paper as a faceless funeral procession carried a black sedan chair across the river.
• A boat jolted, prompting two postmen to flee; the flower attendants sent black mist after them, and one postman shot through it with special bullets.
• The flower attendants extinguished the red lanterns and relit them white, while the boy killed the gunman and the other postman drowned and became part of the black mist.
• The funeral procession resumed and passed over Zhao Ke's boat after the two postmen died.
• Zhao Ke reached for a purple handkerchief held out behind him and saw a woman had appeared there.

Zhao Ke hid in a boat as a ghostly funeral procession crossed the lake and killed two postmen who disturbed it. After the procession passed, a woman appeared behind Zhao Ke and offered him a purple handkerchief.

• Zhao Ke watched two flower children scatter funeral money as faceless bearers carried a black sedan chair across the lake.
• A boat rocked, alerting the procession, and two postmen fled; one ran across the boats while the other dived underwater.
• The flower children sent black mist after the postmen, but the running man shot through it with a pistol.
• The lanterns went out and relit white, and the boy flower child appeared behind the running postman and killed him by tearing out his heart.
• The other postman struggled underwater and vanished as black mist with a new face surfaced; the procession resumed after both postmen died.
• Zhao Ke breathed a sigh of relief, then noticed a woman behind him holding out a purple handkerchief.

Zhao Ke entered the underworld disguised as Wang Gouzi, a steward among the spirit mediums sent as dowry for a ghost marriage at the Bai Family estate. After learning he must stop the marriage and find a way back to the human world, he arrived at the estate and was assigned quarters, where Cui Lan approached him seductively.

• Cui Lan mistook Zhao Ke for her master, and he learned they were paper effigies who had crossed the Yellow Springs River into the underworld.
• Zhao Ke discovered a mission prompt ordering him to stop the Bai Family ghost marriage and leave the underworld, and he secretly collected paper ash to conceal his yang energy.
• Zhao Ke saw other postmen arrive as the ghost-wedding sedan chair entered the Bai Family estate, then learned from Cui Lan that their burned bodies meant they could not simply return to the human world.
• Zhao Ke and Cui Lan followed the Bai Family steward through a side entrance, and he ordered the spirit mediums to serve the household branches rather than their former masters.
• Cui Lan assigned Zhao Ke a room, shut the door, and began undressing as she approached him.

Zhao Ke entered the underworld as a paper-effigy steward and learned that he had to stop a wedding at the Bai Family residence and find a way back to the living world. After arriving at the Bai Family, he settled in with Cui Lan while the other postmen kept their distance.

• Zhao Ke pretended to be Wang Gouzi, and Cui Lan explained that they were spirit mediums accompanying a dowry into the underworld.
• Zhao Ke found a mission prompt ordering him to stop the wedding at the Bai Family and warning that paper ashes could conceal his living yang energy.
• Zhao Ke saw other postmen arrive as the sedan chair entered the Bai Family, then learned from Cui Lan that their burned true bodies meant they could not simply return to the living world.
• Zhao Ke swallowed paper ash and followed Cui Lan ashore, where their boat sank and the Bai Family steward assigned them to serve the household instead of Wang Gouzi.
• The Bai Family steward warned Zhao Ke and the other spirit mediums not to wander, while the postmen chose not to join together.
• Cui Lan led Zhao Ke to their room and began unbuttoning her clothes.

Zhao Ke avoided joining Dongzi’s group and explored the Bai Family estate, where his cooking expertise impressed a temperamental chef. The chapter ended when Zhao Ke tasted the chef’s Rock Sugar Sweet and Sour Pork and discovered that it was cold.

• Cui Lan told Zhao Ke that their ghost marriage would be completed after seven days, and Zhao Ke considered how to disrupt it.
• Dongzi invited Zhao Ke to investigate the wedding celebration with his group, but Zhao Ke refused and waited for a safer opportunity.
• Zhao Ke followed the aroma of Crispy Tofu to the Bai Family kitchen and told the old chef that sesame seeds ruined the dish’s flavor.
• The old chef remade the tofu with minced garlic, agreed Zhao Ke was right, and invited him to taste his Rock Sugar Sweet and Sour Pork.
• Zhao Ke bit into the sweet and sour pork and realized it was cold.

Zhao Ke avoided joining Dongzi and the other couriers, then followed the smell of food to the Bai Family kitchen, where he corrected an old chef’s Crispy Tofu. After tasting the chef’s Rock Sugar Sweet and Sour Pork, Zhao Ke realized the dish was cold.

• Cui Lan told Zhao Ke that the wedding would take place after the first seven days, and she tried to seduce him before someone knocked at the door.
• Dongzi invited Zhao Ke to investigate the wedding celebration with him and three others, but Zhao Ke refused and decided to wait.
• Zhao Ke wandered outside the room and followed the aroma of Crispy Tofu to the Bai Family kitchen.
• Zhao Ke told the old chef that sesame seeds overpowered the tofu and suggested minced garlic instead; the chef tried it and admitted Zhao Ke was right.
• The old chef served Zhao Ke his Rock Sugar Sweet and Sour Pork, and Zhao Ke discovered that it was cold.

Zhao Ke discovered that everything in the underworld felt cold to him because he was alive, then impressed Ghost Chef King with his cooking and accepted a kitchen assistant job. He left with a kitchen token and a useless stipend, while Ghost Chef King replenished the oil Zhao Ke had used.

• Zhao Ke tasted Ghost Chef King's sweet-and-sour pork and tea as icy, realizing the underworld's food and objects felt cold because he was alive.
• Zhao Ke cooked Volcanic Beef Ho Fun, using his knife skills and liquor flame to impress Ghost Chef King and the other cooks.
• Ghost Chef King hired Zhao Ke as his kitchen assistant, and Zhao Ke accepted after insisting on receiving his stipend daily.
• Zhao Ke received ghost money, gold ingots, and a kitchen token, then left to settle his affairs before returning the next day.
• After a cook complained about the oil Zhao Ke used, Ghost Chef King poured yellowish-green oil from a crack in his skull into the basin.

Zhao Ke discovered that the underworld made everything feel cold to him, then impressed the Ghost Chef King with his cooking and accepted a kitchen assistant job. He left with a kitchen token and a useless stipend, while the Ghost Chef King revealed an unsettling way to replenish the kitchen’s oil.

• Zhao Ke realized that food, tea, and even flames felt icy because he was alive in the underworld.
• Zhao Ke cooked Volcanic Beef Ho Fun, earning praise from the Ghost Chef King and the other chefs.
• The Ghost Chef King offered Zhao Ke a kitchen assistant position, and Zhao Ke negotiated to receive his stipend daily.
• Zhao Ke accepted the job, collected hell banknotes, gold ingots, and a kitchen token, and said he would return the next day.
• After Zhao Ke left, the Ghost Chef King poured greenish-yellow oil from a crack in his forehead into the kitchen’s oil basin.

Zhao Ke discovered that Cui Lan was a spirit medium rather than his master and attacked her, trapping her head in an iron basin and converting her body into a headless paper-figure stamp. After the Bai Family steward began assigning work and demanded to know where Cui Lan was, Zhao Ke showed him the token given by the old man.

• Zhao Ke returned from the back kitchen, concealed his aura with paper ash, and asked Cui Lan how to distinguish spirit mediums from others.
• Cui Lan noticed Zhao Ke had no master's name on his arm, and Zhao Ke admitted he was not her master before stabbing her.
• Cui Lan survived Zhao Ke's attacks and tried to flee, but he severed her head and discovered that placing it in an iron basin stopped her body from moving.
• Zhao Ke converted Cui Lan's headless body into the Post Album, gaining a stamp depicting a headless paper figure.
• The steward assigned work to the postmen, then asked Zhao Ke where Cui Lan had gone and scolded him for visiting the back kitchen.
• Zhao Ke showed the steward the token the old man had given him.

Zhao Ke discovered that Cui Lan was a spirit medium and killed her before she could expose him, then used her headless body to obtain a stamp. He concealed what happened from the Bai Family steward, who confronted him about entering the back kitchen, and Zhao Ke showed him the old man’s token.

• Zhao Ke realized Cui Lan could identify him as an impostor when she found that his arm lacked the mark of her master.
• Zhao Ke stabbed and beheaded Cui Lan, then discovered that containing her head in an iron basin stopped her body from moving.
• Zhao Ke converted Cui Lan’s headless body into the Post Album and obtained a stamp depicting a headless paper effigy.
• The Bai Family steward assigned work to the gathered couriers and demanded to know where Cui Lan had gone.
• Zhao Ke claimed he did not know where Cui Lan was and showed the steward the token the old man had given him.