Chapter Summaries

Zhu Shi recounted how Zhuang Cheng rescued and later befriended her brother, then explained how she met Zhuang Cheng and grew concerned about his investigations into Ghost Stories. After learning her brother had taken Zhuang Cheng to a dangerous cave, she resolved to deal with it before he could enter.

• Zhuang Shi explained that her brother became the Zhu family's Demon Hunter heir because Grandfather planned to withdraw from the Demon Hunter world, and described how Zhuang Cheng rescued him before later beating him for harming someone.
• Zhu Shi met Zhuang Cheng at a hot pot restaurant near Xianshui University in winter 2022 and asked whether he had ever encountered ghosts or monsters; he said he had not.
• Zhu Shi kept in touch with Zhuang Cheng and came to see him as a sensible, brave young man whom she wanted to protect from supernatural danger.
• After Zhu Shi's brother told her about the cave, Agent Kong confirmed its existence and revealed that her brother had taken Zhuang Cheng to see it.
• Zhu Shi feared Zhuang Cheng would investigate the cave and decided to handle the strange incident as soon as the other Demon Hunters relieved her.

Zhu Shi discussed the urgent search for Maza and watched footage of the Fallen Demon Hunter defeating a modern combat force. As Agent Kong began asking how Zhu Shi would fare against elite Demon Hunters, Zhu Shi sensed the Fallen Demon Hunter clashing with an unfamiliar force whose blazing energy overwhelmed him.

• Zhu Shi dismissed Luoshan’s doomsday prophecy as unverified but worried about the growing frequency of anomalous incidents.
• Agent Kong explained that he had been ordered to impersonate a police officer and accuse Maza of being a Serial Killer while searching for her after she vanished from the hospital.
• Agent Kong said Luoshan’s strained relationship with the official forces made it difficult to ask the Public Security Department to help find Maza.
• Agent Kong showed Zhu Shi footage of the Fallen Demon Hunter slaughtering a heavily armed modern force, and Zhu Shi judged that conventional weapons at that scale could not defeat him.
• Zhu Shi sensed the Fallen Demon Hunter fighting an unfamiliar presence whose blazing magical energy overwhelmed his.

Trapped beneath the Fifteenth Floor room, Zhuang Cheng deduced that the black shaggy carpet’s letter pattern controlled the cave and used flames to recreate it on the ceiling, reopening the entrance. After escaping, he left to find Maza, but a strange shadow blocked his path.

• Zhuang Cheng realized that covering and uncovering the black shaggy carpet had switched the cave between appearing and disappearing, and suspected its letter pattern completed the ritual formation.
• Zhuang Cheng drew the carpet’s letter pattern in flames on the ceiling, and a concrete staircase and wooden cover appeared.
• Zhuang Cheng climbed out of the cave and confirmed that no one had covered the carpet while he was trapped.
• Zhuang Cheng put off exploring the cave further after discovering that all his Fireflies had disappeared and he had lost surveillance over Maza.
• Zhuang Cheng photographed the ritual formation and carpet, left the building, and encountered a bizarrely shaped shadow blocking his path.

Zhuang Cheng was confronted by a demon that blamed him for something he had done two years earlier and attacked with a living shadow. After Zhuang Cheng countered with his flame ability, the demon escalated its assault, and Zhuang Cheng set its body ablaze with his gaze.

• A black shadow emerged from the bushes, and a nearly three-meter-tall goat-headed demon appeared and said it had come to kill Zhuang Cheng.
• Zhuang Cheng used "Firefly" to sense a shadow approaching from behind while questioning the demon about its identity and its claim that he had wronged it two years earlier.
• The demon charged as the shadow transformed into a blade, but Zhuang Cheng expanded "Firefly" into an explosive fireball and dodged the shadow's follow-up strike.
• The demon recognized Zhuang Cheng's flame ability, tore a streetlight from the ground, and hurled it at him before charging with bone blades in place of its arms.
• As the demon rushed toward him, Zhuang Cheng set its body ablaze with his gaze.

Zhuang Cheng recalled how his childhood fascination with supernatural powers led him to accidentally ignite a candle with his gaze, then used his Flame Manipulation to overwhelm a demon. He left the demon burning at a distant river, still able to track it through the flames and determined to capture it rather than kill it immediately.

• Zhuang Cheng recalled experimenting with telekinesis and meditation before accidentally setting a candle wick alight with his gaze at school.
• Zhuang Cheng’s flames stopped the demon’s shadow blades and repeatedly ignited its body as it tried to fight back.
• Zhuang Cheng held back from killing the demon, hoping to capture and question it, and explained how his flames worked.
• The demon fled beyond Zhuang Cheng’s sight and plunged into a river, but the flames continued burning it.
• Zhuang Cheng sensed the demon through the firelight and realized it could not escape the flames unless he allowed them to go out.

Zhuang Cheng burned and crippled the demon, intending to question it, but Zhu Shi arrived and knocked it unconscious. He discovered that his friend Chang'an’s younger sister was a Demon Hunter from Luoshan and agreed to speak with her.

• Zhuang Cheng controlled the flames to blow up the demon’s legs and followed it into the woods, where he kept it alive for questioning.
• The demon made a final charge at Zhuang Cheng, but a sword-wielding stranger struck it and knocked it unconscious.
• Zhuang Cheng recognized the stranger as Zhu Shi, Chang'an’s younger sister, after she removed her bamboo hat.
• Zhu Shi asked whether Zhuang Cheng was a Demon Hunter, and he explained that he was a superpowered individual.
• Zhu Shi introduced herself as a Demon Hunter from Luoshan and asked Zhuang Cheng to answer her questions about the Fallen Demon Hunter.

After Zhuang Cheng and Zhu Shi discovered that the Fallen Demon Hunter had died, they discussed Zhuang Cheng’s fire powers and his fight with the monster. Zhu Shi was stunned by the extraordinary abilities he described, while Zhuang Cheng hoped to use their meeting to make contact with Luoshan.

• Zhuang Cheng confirmed that the Fallen Demon Hunter had no signs of life, and Zhu Shi severed his head and destroyed his heart to ensure he was dead.
• Zhu Shi called Luoshan personnel, who collected the corpse, then took Zhuang Cheng somewhere secluded to talk.
• Zhu Shi explained that anyone with supernatural powers was called a Demon Hunter and asked when Zhuang Cheng had awakened his abilities.
• Zhuang Cheng said he had awakened more than four years earlier and could summon and manipulate fire, then recounted his battle with the Fallen Demon Hunter for Zhu Shi’s recording.
• Zhu Shi was shocked when Zhuang Cheng described igniting targets with his gaze, reaching beyond his field of vision, and using flames that could not be extinguished.

The narrator questioned his power’s strength and learned from Zhu Shi that the Fallen Demon Hunter was an exceptionally dangerous Abiding-level criminal. He explained how he had entered and investigated the cave, leaving Zhu Shi astonished by the extent of his experience and correcting her assumptions about him.

• The narrator reassured Zhu Shi that he had no intention of using his power to harm people, and she explained that the Fallen Demon Hunter had been a murderer from the start.
• Zhu Shi said the Fallen Demon Hunter was an outstanding Abiding-level fighter who had killed two Luoshan Demon Hunters, and the narrator asked to join Fengdu Luoshan.
• Zhu Shi warned the narrator that Fengdu Luoshan faced internal chaos and asked him to keep her work and anomalous objects secret from Chang'an.
• The narrator explained that the cave appeared and disappeared according to whether the missing symbol in the ritual Magic Circle was completed, and Zhu Shi learned he had entered it himself.
• The narrator recounted his firsthand cave investigation, and Zhu Shi admitted she had misunderstood how deeply committed he was to pursuing Ghost Stories.

Zhuang learned from Zhu Shi that supernatural incidents seemed to repel him, and that meeting Maza might have changed his luck. Zhu Shi left to investigate the Fallen Demon Hunter’s body, while Zhuang suspected the case was not over and kept his knowledge of Maza hidden.

• Zhuang asked Zhu Shi about the origin of his superpower, and she said she could not determine it without a detailed examination.
• Zhu Shi revealed that many places Zhuang had investigated contained real supernatural phenomena, though he had never encountered them, and she suspected they repelled him.
• Zhuang realized meeting Maza might have changed his pattern and resolved that he could not let her leave.
• Zhuang questioned Zhu Shi about Agent Kong’s claim that the Fallen Demon Hunter was the Serial Killer, but she said she could not disclose details of the mission.
• Zhu Shi received a call about the Fallen Demon Hunter’s preliminary corpse examination and said his unused shadow-travel skill made her think the incident might not be over.
• Zhu Shi said goodbye to Zhuang as Senior Brother Zhuang and hurried away.

Zhuang Cheng returned home to find Maza exhausted and troubled by nightmares, then fed her late-night snacks and settled her in the bedroom. After deciding that Maza’s jinxed constitution drew supernatural incidents toward him, he chose to keep their relationship rather than return to an ordinary life.

• Zhu Shi texted Zhuang Cheng, warning him not to investigate the cave in the Fifteenth Floor room that night because an agent was watching it.
• Zhuang Cheng returned home with food and found Maza asleep on the sofa, tense and whimpering in her sleep.
• Maza woke suddenly and nearly struck Zhuang Cheng, then relaxed when she recognized him and accepted the chicken cutlet and ice cream he had brought.
• Maza told Zhuang Cheng about Doomsday-era accounts of civilization, and he explained that a magazine story claiming people scrubbed toilets until the water was drinkable was fabricated.
• Zhuang Cheng carried the sleeping Maza to the bedroom, soothed her with warmth, and concluded that her jinxed constitution was drawing mysterious events into his life.
• Zhuang Cheng chose to maintain his relationship with Maza instead of abandoning her and returning to an ordinary, uneventful life.

After recovering from the cave incident, Zhuang Cheng concealed his plans from Maza and went to the Fifteenth Floor room to see how Zhu Shi would handle the ritual formation. He found the cave had disappeared without the carpet covering the formation, and another person entered as he investigated.

• Zhuang Cheng discovered that the junk food and ice cream had upset his own stomach rather than Maza's, and he kept the black jade hidden instead of asking Maza to identify it.
• He fed Maza breakfast, planned to make her a spicy Sichuan feast, and considered giving Firefly preset commands to wake him if she tried to leave.
• Zhuang Cheng told Maza he was going to school, left Firefly behind to watch over her, and went to the Fifteenth Floor room to consult Zhu Shi and continue seeking contact with Luo Shan.
• Zhu Shi was examining the ritual formation when Zhuang Cheng arrived, and he promised her he would not enter the cave.
• Zhuang Cheng checked his photos and saw that the cave had vanished even though the carpet had not covered the ritual formation; then footsteps sounded as someone else entered the room.

Zhuang Cheng learned that the Fallen Demon Hunter had died from unexplained acute organ failure and that the ritual array could not have opened the cave reliably. After Zhu Shi began safely erasing the array, Agent Kong told Zhuang Cheng he could join Luoshan, but Zhu Shi opposed it because he was a Flame ability user.

• Agent Kong explained that investigators could not identify the Fallen Demon Hunter or uncover his grudge against Zhuang Cheng, but determined that he had died from acute organ failure.
• Zhu Shi warned that the Fallen Demon Hunter might return and target Zhuang Cheng, then found that the ritual array was severely flawed and unlikely to activate.
• Zhu Shi concluded that the Fallen Demon Hunter probably had not intentionally opened the cave and began setting up an array to safely erase the ritual.
• Zhuang Cheng asked Agent Kong about joining Luoshan, and Agent Kong arranged to speak with him privately outside the residential complex.
• Agent Kong told Zhuang Cheng that he could join Luoshan and said Zhu Shi likely opposed it because he was a Flame ability user.

The narrator learned from Agent Kong why Flame ability users faced particular risks as Demon Hunters and why Zhu Shi opposed his joining Luoshan. Agent Kong asked him to support Zhu Shi, and the chapter ended with the narrator asking about the girl Luoshan had identified as a Serial Killer.

• Agent Kong explained that Flame ability users had little room for error because their destructive power was not matched by strong defenses or mobility, and that anomalies could wield many unpredictable forces.
• Agent Kong said Zhu Shi feared the narrator might kill humans easily and become desensitized, while the narrator reflected on the power Demon Hunters held and the restraints keeping them from dominating society.
• The narrator suspected Luoshan's recent turmoil might signal a coming storm and realized he would need to become a Demon Hunter to learn more.
• Agent Kong revealed that he hoped the narrator would join Luoshan, support Zhu Shi, and look after her after he transferred elsewhere.
• The narrator asked Agent Kong why Luoshan was searching for the girl he had accused of being a Serial Killer and who she was.

Agent Kong explained that Maza was the only known Soul Deprivation Syndrome patient to awaken, then vanished and gained supernatural abilities. He revealed that Luoshan was launching an aggressive nationwide search for her, and brought Zhuang Cheng to the abandoned construction site where he had first met Maza.

• Agent Kong told Zhuang Cheng that Soul Deprivation Syndrome had spread worldwide and that its patients' souls had vanished.
• Agent Kong said Maza had awakened, disappeared from the hospital, and later stolen firearms and ammunition from the Public Security Department using unknown spatial-transference abilities.
• Zhuang Cheng suggested Maza might be possessed by an evil spirit, but Agent Kong said Luoshan's leaders believed she was the awakened patient and were conducting a nationwide search by aggressive means.
• Agent Kong warned Zhuang Cheng that the search was driven by an extreme faction within Luoshan and said Zhu Shi had no connection to it.
• Agent Kong took Zhuang Cheng to an abandoned construction site near Xianshui University to investigate ghost stories, the place where Zhuang Cheng had first encountered Maza.

Zhuang Cheng accompanied Agent Kong to investigate the abandoned construction site where he had found Maza, but the Soul Luring Talisman Card failed to draw out an evil spirit. As they left, Agent Kong asked why Zhuang Cheng had never revealed his powers to contact Luoshan.

• Agent Kong told Zhuang Cheng the construction site's ghost story about a bloody spirit abducting female university students, and they entered the unfinished building to investigate.
• Agent Kong found recent bloodstains where Zhuang Cheng had discovered Maza, while Zhuang Cheng pretended not to know what had happened there.
• Agent Kong used a Soul Luring Talisman Card to attract the spirit, but nothing appeared despite their waiting.
• Agent Kong put away the talisman and left with Zhuang Cheng, apologizing that the investigation had come to nothing.
• Agent Kong asked why Zhuang Cheng had never shown his superpowers in public to make contact with Luoshan.

Zhuang Cheng explained why he had never treated his supernatural ability as a dependable part of his future, then three Fallen Demon Hunters ambushed him and Agent Kong. Zhuang Cheng destroyed all three with a powerful burst of flames, though the reason for their attack remained unknown.

• Zhuang Cheng told Agent Kong that he suspected his power's origin and feared it might one day disappear, so he had kept it hidden while seeking supernatural phenomena.
• Zhuang Cheng heard a strange sound and saw three Fallen Demon Hunters emerge from nearby shadows, surrounding him and Agent Kong.
• Agent Kong drew a symbol-engraved revolver issued by Luoshan as the demons charged.
• Zhuang Cheng ignited the leading demon with his gaze, then summoned and enlarged a Firefly into a fireball.
• Zhuang Cheng detonated the fireball, engulfing the three demons in destructive flames and reducing them to ashes.

Zhuang Cheng easily defeated a group of demons while Agent Kong watched, then was suddenly decapitated by an attacker disguised as a shadow. The chapter ended with the attacker striking through Zhuang Cheng’s eye and shattering his brain.

• Zhuang Cheng used his flames to destroy three demons, then identified two more as weaker than the Fallen Demon Hunter.
• Zhuang Cheng sensed a demon sneaking behind him and redirected his flames to kill the two demons charging from the front.
• Agent Kong shot the ambushing demon and knocked it off course, allowing it to flee before Zhuang Cheng burned it to ash.
• Zhuang Cheng reflected on how easily he could kill and walked toward the demons’ ashes while Agent Kong stood behind him.
• Zhuang Cheng noticed that Agent Kong’s shadow had blade-like arms, but an unseen attacker decapitated him and struck through his eye.

Kong Da, Luoshan’s probe, killed Zhuang Cheng with a surprise attack and reflected on the superpowered man’s arrogance. He then recounted how a childhood fascination with the supernatural led him into a deadly haunted alley, where an Impermanence rescued him and introduced him to the world of Demon Hunters.

• Kong Da revealed that he was Luoshan’s probe and the real Fallen Demon Hunter, then killed Zhuang Cheng by striking him from behind.
• Kong Da judged Zhuang Cheng as conceited and careless with his powerful Flame ability, despite his outward caution.
• Kong Da recalled his lifelong interest in supernatural phenomena and his investigations with friends who shared his curiosity.
• Kong Da and his friends entered a supposedly haunted alley, where the space trapped them and the others vanished one by one.
• Kong Da ran out of strength and begged the unseen ghost to release him before he lost consciousness from hunger and thirst.
• An Impermanence rescued Kong Da by destroying the evil spirit, then explained that it had trapped him by exploiting his fear.

After Wuchang saved him, the narrator joined Luoshan hoping to become a Demon Hunter, but years of failure left him a powerless probe. A silver-masked stranger called Monster Maker offered him the Seed of the Heart, giving him immense power at the cost of an urge to devour the souls of those he killed.

• Wuchang warned the narrator that surviving a supernatural incident made future encounters more likely, so the narrator joined Luoshan to learn how to protect himself.
• The narrator studied for four years but lacked the talent to become a Demon Hunter and returned to ordinary society as a probe.
• Nearly twenty years later, the narrator remained a Luoshan agent under Wuchang and had repeatedly failed to become a Demon Hunter.
• Monster Maker appeared and offered the narrator the power he had long desired, and the narrator accepted the Seed of the Heart.
• The Seed of the Heart let the narrator transform into a Ram-headed Demon and wield shadow power beyond the Broken level, but made him crave the souls of those he killed.
• Monster Maker required regular examinations and samples from the narrator, who resolved to address the Seed's dangerous side effect before considering resistance.

Kong Da described his Doppelganger ability and, unwilling to surrender his power or die, used it to turn a former cult leader into a puppet who hunted independent Demon Hunters. As Kong Da feared that an unknown original body could reclaim every Seed of the Heart, the Monster Maker revealed that the Seed’s technological prototype came from a domain that completely overlapped with the real world.

• Kong Da learned that his unique ability, Doppelganger, let him transfer the Seed of the Heart and his powers to a human puppet, then reclaim the puppet’s accumulated strength at the cost of its life.
• The Monster Maker warned Kong Da that refusing to devour human souls would eventually drive him into a killing rampage, and explained that the Seed would leave him if he accepted an inescapable fate.
• Kong Da decided to kill through a doppelganger rather than hunt people himself, and transformed a homeless former cult leader into his puppet.
• Kong Da sent the puppet to hunt independent Demon Hunters so he could consume their higher-quality souls without targeting Luoshan’s forces or ordinary people.
• Kong Da feared that an original body might reclaim all monsters’ Seeds of the Heart, so he questioned the Monster Maker about the Seed’s origins.
• The Monster Maker told Kong Da that the Seed’s technological prototype came from a domain that completely overlapped with the real world, which Kong Da suspected might be another time.