Chapter Summaries

Blackwater learned that Shen Meihuan planned to give birth to the restored soul, while Shen Meihuan reunited with Gu Jiajie and He Xiaomei as a family. Luo Qiu read Liu Jiahui’s letter and tapped his hammer, the sound echoing like a happy heartbeat.

• Blackwater woke, sent the demon cubs into hiding, and refused Shen Meihuan’s thanks before learning that she intended to give birth to the child.
• Blackwater reflected that the mysterious shop had understood her wish to restore the corpse and let its new soul grow healthily, then fell asleep again.
• Xiao Bao told Ma Houde that the corpse’s latest test had confirmed cancer cells, and Ma Houde sent him back to the Forensics Department.
• Shen Meihuan told Gu Jiajie that she knew what had happened, tore up Liu Jiahui’s letter, and urged Gu Jiajie to care for his grandmother.
• Shen Meihuan called He Xiaomei Mom, and the three clasped hands as He Xiaomei hoped their family would be complete again.
• Luo Qiu reassembled and read Liu Jiahui’s letter, then tapped a plastic hammer against the stone bench like a heartbeat.

Long Xiruo sought guidance from the remains of her ancestors about strange visions, but their bones and the platform collapsed, revealing abnormal currents in the earth’s veins. At the club, Taiyinzi presented a new potential patron, and Luo Qiu decided to visit them in person, bringing You Ye along.

• Long Xiruo traveled to the platform at the Earth's core and paid respects to the remains of the True Dragons before asking them about her visions and the earth's veins.
• The platform trembled, the True Dragons' skeletons crumbled, and the platform and its chains sank into the lava.
• Long Xiruo saw abnormal currents in the lava and plunged in to follow them in search of answers.
• Taiyinzi nearly dropped a small hammer while handling it in the club, then told Luo Qiu he had found a suitable patron.
• Luo Qiu set aside Taiyinzi's patron card and chose to meet the patron in person, asking You Ye to accompany him.

Wang Yuechuan questioned Zhao Ru about four photographs of murderers and provoked her into revealing a fierce reaction to her necklace. Zhao Ru was knocked unconscious during the struggle, and Wang Yuechuan ordered the officers to contact him when she woke.

• Ma Houde arrived at the station and learned that Gu Feng had been brought in for assault after discovering his son was not biologically his.
• Wang Yuechuan asked Ma Houde to arrange a meeting with Zhao Ru, and Ma Houde sent a young officer to listen outside the interrogation room.
• Wang Yuechuan showed Zhao Ru photographs of four murderers, but she stayed silent and focused on her reflection.
• Wang Yuechuan pulled Zhao Ru's necklace from her neck, and her agitation convinced him that it was connected to the people in the photographs.
• Zhao Ru lunged at Wang Yuechuan, struck her head against the wall, and lost consciousness; Wang Yuechuan ordered the officers to contact him when she woke.

On Feng Guichun’s birthday, Zhou Xiaokun told him that his daughter had returned and was getting married, leaving Feng saddened that he could not see her. Luo Qiu approved Taiyinzi’s interest in Feng as a patron, while a man entered Zhao Ru’s hospital room and examined her pendant.

• Zhou Xiaokun gave Feng Guichun a red egg for his birthday and told him his daughter had returned to get married, though he could not find her.
• Feng Guichun became excited at the news, then grew despondent and returned to his cell without taking the egg.
• Luo Qiu picked up the red egg as Taiyinzi proposed arranging a visit between Feng Guichun and his daughter, and Luo Qiu called Feng a good patron.
• Lin Feng left Zhao Ru under a female officer’s watch at the medical institution, but she fell asleep and the room door unlocked.
• A man entered Zhao Ru’s room, examined the Crystal Pendant of Black Water, and whispered to her that it was still not enough.

Zhao Ru disappeared from the hospital, prompting Ma Houde and Wang Yuechuan to investigate whether a scumbag was involved. In prison, Taiyinzi tried to tempt Feng Guichun with the chance to see his daughter, but Feng fell asleep before responding.

• Lin Feng found Zhao Ru missing from the hospital and reported that the handcuffs were broken and Little Cutie was unconscious.
• Ma Houde ordered the police to alert transport hubs and search for Zhao Ru.
• Wang Yuechuan demanded to visit the hospital to look for traces of a scumbag.
• Feng Guichun looked at a photograph of his daughter and lamented that he did not want to burden her.
• Taiyinzi whispered to Feng Guichun that he could see his daughter if he was willing to pay a price, but Feng fell asleep.

Wang Yuechuan identified Cao Yu as a suspected link between Zhao Ru and several serial murder cases, while Taiyinzi tried to persuade Feng Guichun to meet his daughter. After learning she wanted no reunion, Feng Guichun broke down, then heard a mysterious voice inviting him to see her.

• Wang Yuechuan showed Ma Houde footage of Cao Yu and explained that Cao Yu had appeared in connection with four serial murder cases and stolen identical necklaces from evidence rooms.
• Ma Houde agreed to help find Cao Yu and Zhao Ru while keeping the investigation quiet.
• Zhou Xiaokun read Feng Guichun a letter saying his daughter was doing well but did not want to meet him.
• Feng Guichun resumed mending clothes, then covered his eyes and sobbed that his daughter did not want to see him.
• Feng Guichun heard a voice urging him to let his daughter see him, saw a door, and was greeted as a guest.

Old Feng made a deal with Luo Qiu to give up five years of his life in exchange for watching his daughter get married. When Taiyinzi tried to free Old Feng from prison to save the club’s costs, Luo Qiu instead arranged for Taiyinzi to take his place.

• Old Feng told Luo Qiu he wanted to see his daughter once, and Luo Qiu offered several possible forms of payment.
• Luo Qiu warned Old Feng that paying with good deeds was risky because his victim’s relatives might still suffer from remembering the crime.
• Old Feng agreed to give up five years of his life so he could watch his daughter get married.
• Taiyinzi offered to free Old Feng by possessing prison guards, but Luo Qiu ordered him to release Old Feng and go to prison in his place.
• Taiyinzi sat in the prison cafeteria disguised as Old Feng while Zhou Xiaokun mistook his complaint for sadness.

Tao Xia Man recalled the cruel treatment she faced as a child while choosing a wedding dress with her fiancé, Zhou Zihao. Her biological father, Old Feng, secretly saw her at the shop, while Zhou Zihao followed an online lead to a qipao tailor and set out for the address the next day.

• As a child, Feng Xiaoman heard parents warn their children to avoid her because she was the murderer's child, and she ran away covering her ears.
• Tao Xia Man hesitated over a traditional wedding dress design, saying she did not want to settle for a Phoenix Gown Skirt she did not truly like.
• Old Feng watched Tao Xia Man leave the dress shop with Zhou Zihao, overjoyed to see his daughter but unable to approach her.
• Zhou Zihao searched Zhihu for a qipao tailor and received a lead to No. 33, Lane 2, Jihua Road.
• The next day, Zhou Zihao told Tao Xia Man he had plans and drove toward the address.

Old Feng returned to his abandoned home and secretly met Zhou Zihao, his daughter’s fiancé, who wanted a traditional wedding dress made for his fiancée. After August ended and the university freshmen arrived, Lu Yiyun unexpectedly saw Luo Qiu at the station.

• Old Feng found his old house unchanged, cleaned it, and slept there for the first time in years.
• Zhou Zihao came looking for a tailor to make a traditional wedding dress for his fiancée, and Old Feng let him inside while hiding his identity.
• Old Feng gave Zhou Zihao wedding-dress sketches and told him to return alone and keep the tailor’s location secret.
• Several days after August ended, Lu Yiyun arrived at the station as a university freshman and saw Luo Qiu at Exit Three.

Luo Qiu escorted Lu Yiyun to her new university, where she began settling into the city on her own. Meanwhile, Zhou Zihao arranged for Old Feng to make Tao Xia man a Phoenix Gown Skirt, giving the old tailor a renewed sense of purpose.

• Luo Qiu accompanied Lu Yiyun by bus to her university and told her that she herself was an extraordinary existence before disappearing.
• Lu Yiyun entered the university alone, eager to begin again, then realized she did not know where to register.
• Zhou Zihao showed Tao Xia man Old Feng’s Phoenix Gown Skirt sketches, and she was captivated by them and agreed to try the dress.
• Zhou Zihao returned to Old Feng’s home and arranged for him to make the gown, agreeing to keep the tailor’s address secret.
• Old Feng watched Zhou Zihao leave and began preparing his measuring tools, feeling newly energized.

Old Feng disguised himself as Master Zhou to take Tao Xia man's measurements for a Phoenix Gown Skirt, and her questions about a tailor named Feng stirred an uneasy familiarity. Back at the old house, Luo Qiu found a photograph of his mother wearing the wedding dress she had commissioned there.

• Old Feng nervously visited Zhou Zihao and Tao Xia man in disguise and took her measurements for the gown.
• Tao Xia man asked whether Master Zhou knew a tailor named Feng, but Old Feng denied knowing him and left without revealing himself.
• Tao Xia man wondered about the master while Zhou Zihao reassured her that he would wait until she chose to share her past.
• At Old Feng's house, You Ye tried on a Qipao while Luo Qiu examined the clothes, sketches, and photographs.
• Luo Qiu recognized a photograph of his mother and realized that her wedding dress had been made at Old Feng's shop.

Luo Qiu photographed You Ye with an antique camera while Old Feng added Xia Man’s height to the wall of the old house. As police pursued Zhao Ru and Ren Ziling privately told Ma Houde she knew where the fugitive was, Taiyinzi’s storytelling in prison was interrupted by Fatty Zhang’s men.

• Luo Qiu photographed You Ye with a Hasselblad camera after restoring the old photograph to its place on the wall.
• Old Feng returned to the old house, carved Xia Man’s height into the wall, and touched the new mark with satisfaction.
• Ma Houde’s task force focused its search for Zhao Ru on the students listed in her files, while Ma Houde disguised Ren Ziling as a deliverywoman when Wang Yuechuan appeared.
• Ren Ziling texted Ma Houde that she knew where Zhao Ru was.
• Black Soul Eighteen delivered three potential patron profiles to You Ye and asked about Taiyinzi, who she said was doing well.
• Taiyinzi entertained prisoners with a story until Zhou Xiaokun warned him that Fatty Zhang’s men had come looking for him over the cigarettes he took.

Taiyinzi defeated Fatty Zhang and his companions, then declared himself the recreation room’s boss. Meanwhile, Old Feng worked until exhaustion on a silk garment as Luo Qiu quietly looked after him.

• Fatty Zhang confronted Taiyinzi and challenged him to fight while his companions restrained Zhou Xiaokun.
• Taiyinzi turned on the television for music, dodged Fatty Zhang’s punches, and struck him down with a precise blow.
• Fatty Zhang ordered his companions to attack, but Taiyinzi quickly defeated all three and forced them to surrender.
• Taiyinzi declared himself the only boss in the recreation room, then resumed telling his story with Zhou Xiaokun’s reminder.
• Old Feng spent the day sewing a garment from fine silk and fell asleep from exhaustion at his worktable.
• Luo Qiu closed the window against the rain, dried the water, and prepared hot water for Old Feng.

Ren Ziling led Ma Houde and Lin Feng to the alley where Zhao Ru was believed to be hiding, but their attempt to capture her failed after she had already left. Zhao Ru remained hidden nearby and, after meeting a scavenger grandfather and his grandson, began to lower her guard.

• Ren Ziling identified the alley as Zhao Ru's possible hiding place and insisted Ma Houde settle her informant fee before the officers moved in.
• Ma Houde and Lin Feng searched the alley, but a middle-aged man fleeing from them was mistaken for Zhao Ru and arrested after admitting he had stolen a motorcycle.
• The man told Ma Houde and Lin Feng that Zhao Ru had given up her cardboard shelter and left that afternoon.
• Zhao Ru listened for approaching footsteps while gripping a hidden knife, then encountered a scavenger grandfather and his grandson offering her steamed buns.
• The boy's shy kindness caused Zhao Ru to gradually loosen her grip on the knife.

Ren Ziling and Ma Houde failed to find Zhao Ru, who had slipped away before they arrived. Zhao Ru remained hidden among the city’s homeless, where Uncle Mai protected her after police asked whether he had seen her.

• Ren Ziling learned Zhao Ru had escaped, while Ma Houde ordered the police to search other homeless settlements.
• Ren Ziling told Luo Qiu about the failed search over dinner, and he quietly served the food she had brought home.
• Zhao Ru helped Uncle Mai wash Mai Xiaojun’s school uniform and tutor him with his homework.
• Uncle Mai denied recognizing Zhao Ru when police showed him her photograph and warned him she was wanted.
• Uncle Mai left steamed buns outside Zhao Ru’s shelter, choosing to protect the young woman living among them.

Luo Qiu selected Zhao Ru from Black Soul Eighteen’s patron cards and decided to respond to the envoy’s efforts. Meanwhile, Taiyinzi sensed he might have displeased the Master, and Fatty Zhang vowed to reunite him with his estranged daughter.

• Luo Qiu shuffled the seven patron cards and had You Ye draw one, selecting Zhao Ru.
• Black Soul Eighteen received the black patron card and left after seeing that her efforts had earned a response.
• Taiyinzi felt as though someone was watching him and returned to his cell, worrying that the Master disapproved of his behavior.
• Zhou Xiaokun told Fatty Zhang and the others that Taiyinzi’s distress came from his estrangement from his daughter.
• Fatty Zhang became emotional and promised to bring Taiyinzi’s daughter to see him, declaring that he would become Taiyinzi’s disciple.

Zhao Ru recalled how poverty and her lack of education had blocked her promotion, then woke from the dream in the alley community where Uncle Mai reassured her she could stay. As police pursued the missing Zhao Ru and responded to a student's threat report, Fatty Zhang sent Qiangzi to find a woman and bring her to the prison.

• Years earlier, Zhao Ru was denied a team leader promotion because she lacked the required educational qualifications and hid in a stairwell after learning she had to send money home.
• Zhao Ru woke from a troubled dream, calmed herself with the Crystal Pendant, and listened as Uncle Mai warned her about the danger outside and told her she could stay as long as she wanted.
• Zhao Ru left the alley with an invisible wisp of black smoke following her.
• Lin Feng told Ma Houde that Zhao Ru's family lived out of province, had a poor relationship with her, and that her former teacher said she had once earned admission to a good university.
• Ma Houde and Wang Yuechuan joined Lin Feng to meet a cram-school student who had received a threatening letter.
• Fatty Zhang instructed Qiangzi to find Zhou Xiaopeng, have him lead Qiangzi to a woman, and bring her to the prison.

Zhao Ru settled into life in the alley while Black Soul Eighteen watched over her and probed the force protecting her. That night, the shadow confronted a bespectacled man who had been following Zhao Ru, and shattered his crystal barrier with ease.

• Black Soul Eighteen noticed that a weak, similar power was protecting Zhao Ru from her seduction, while Zhao Ru entered an Xinhua Bookstore and bought something.
• Mai Xiaojun watched Zhao Ru at dinner, asked if she missed her parents, and told her his grandfather believed his parents would return once he got into college.
• Zhao Ru asked to see Mai Xiaojun's homework, explained the problems to him, and stopped him from entering her dark shelter while she hid something beneath her coat.
• That night, Black Soul Eighteen watched Zhao Ru dream of returning home for New Year's Eve and then left the alley to meet a bespectacled man.
• The bespectacled man tried to trap Black Soul Eighteen in a crystal barrier, but she shattered it and mocked his magic.

Black Soul Eighteen defeated Cao Yu’s crystal substitute without disturbing the sponsor’s Dream of the Past, while Zhao Ru’s dream replayed the family betrayal that drove her from home. Cao Yu sensed something was wrong and searched the ancient Book of the Dead for answers.

• Black Soul Eighteen evaded Cao Yu’s crystal attack, wounded his substitute, and left without pursuing him.
• Zhao Ru’s family revealed that her younger brother had dropped out after injuring someone, and that her parents had used her savings to pay thirty thousand yuan in compensation.
• Zhao Ru argued with her parents, left home with a suitcase, and vowed never to return.
• Zhao Ru woke from the dream in the crude house and found that her Crystal Necklace could not calm her as usual.
• Cao Yu’s crystal figurine cracked and split, leaving him uneasy, so he searched the ancient Book of the Dead that had given him his powers.

Wang Yuechuan enlisted a frightened student to stage a suicide so the police could catch Zhao Ru before she threatened another victim. Meanwhile, Luo Qiu visited Old Feng and learned that his birth parents had once brought him to the tailor as a baby.

• Ma Houde and Wang Yuechuan reassured the student after she received a third threatening letter, and Wang Yuechuan asked her to help stage a suicide.
• Ma Houde objected to the plan's danger, but Wang Yuechuan said he would go to the rooftop when Zhao Ru sent the final instruction.
• Mai Xiaojun secretly put an envelope in a mailbox for Big Sister Xiao Ru while Old Mai collected scraps nearby.
• Luo Qiu brought Old Feng noodles and asked him about a woman in one of the photographs.
• Old Feng recognized the woman as someone whose husband had arrested him and recalled that the couple had brought their newborn child to have a wedding gown made.
• As Old Feng described the baby falling from a chair without crying and the mother's blue butterfly hair clip, Luo Qiu realized he had once been there.