Chapter Summaries

The narrator spoke with Gu Mo and Nangong Yao about the newly born spirit and realized she resembled Wu Ling. Outside a convenience store, the woman punished a driver accused of trafficking and abusing Lu Ping, then vanished.

• Gu Mo and Nangong Yao told the narrator that Wu Ling had predicted a powerful spirit connected to women would be born in Minqing.
• The narrator described the woman’s appearance and voice, and Gu Mo and Nangong Yao dismissed the resemblance to Wu Ling.
• The narrator encountered the woman outside the convenience store as Chen Yihan arrived in his car.
• The woman summoned Lu Ping’s ghost and accused Ma Li of trafficking her, after which Ma Li burst into flames and died.
• Chen Yihan told the narrator that Zhou Guangren and Zhu Mei had also died after suffering supernatural consequences.
• Lu Ping’s ghost disappeared, and the woman vanished after nodding to the narrator and Chen Yihan.

As a citywide disaster spread, the narrator and Chen Yihan rushed to the office, where Gu Mo and Nangong Yao waited for Ye Qing. Chen Yihan began revealing the secret behind Chen Xiaoqiu, saying that she had died once.

• Crowds fled a convenience store after a spirit's voice was heard, and Gu Mo told the narrator they were heading to the office.
• Chen Yihan drove the narrator through the storm to Workers and Peasants Sixth Village, where they learned an old woman had been taken to the hospital.
• The narrator and Chen Yihan met Gu Mo and Nangong Yao at the office and discovered Ye Qing was absent.
• The narrator recounted the night's events, then Chen Yihan admitted that Chen Xiaoqiu had died once.
• Chen Yihan began explaining that his sister-in-law had struggled through several difficult births and that both families had turned to prayer for a child.

Chen Yihan told the narrator how Chen Xiao Qiu was stillborn and revived in his hands, and described the strange coincidences surrounding her birth. Nangong Yao suggested Chen Xiao Qiu’s current condition might be linked to her unstable soul or to Chen Yihan’s righteous energy, leaving the cause uncertain.

• Chen Yihan recalled that a fortune-teller advised Chen Xiao Qiu’s mother to stay in People's Celebration City, where she later returned while pregnant.
• Chen Yihan found Chen Xiao Qiu’s mother bleeding after a premature labor and picked up the apparently dead baby.
• Chen Xiao Qiu moved in Chen Yihan’s hands, and an ambulance took mother and daughter to the hospital, where both survived.
• Chen Yihan described the unlikely chain of events that had left Chen Xiao Qiu’s mother alone, and said later divinations linked their family to People's Celebration City and to him.
• Nangong Yao suggested Chen Xiao Qiu’s soul might be unstable because she had died and returned, or that Chen Yihan’s righteous energy had sustained her for more than twenty years.

The narrator watched Ye Qing bring Wu Ling’s lifeless body to the office, where he revealed that her time had run out and her body had been left without a soul. A woman identical to Wu Ling arrived and, after accusing Ye Qing of murdering three Wu women, turned on them with an accusation that they had killed Wu Ling.

• Ye Qing brought Wu Ling’s drenched, mannequin-like body into the office and confirmed she was a spirit whose body had been without a soul.
• Ye Qing said Wu Ling’s time was up and that they had found no solution, while Chen Yihan asked whether she could return to life and what that meant for his niece.
• A woman identical to Wu Ling entered with the ghosts of Wu Aixiao, Wu Aizheng, and Wu Ailuo, and accused Ye Qing of murdering them in 2017; Ye Qing admitted it.
• When the woman faltered while drawing a circle, one of the female ghosts shoved her and was thrown to the ground by an unseen force.
• The woman accused the three ghosts and the Wu family of killing Wu Ling in 2015, then completed a circle that made the three ghosts devour themselves until they vanished.

The woman attacked the group and accused them of causing many deaths, while golden ropes bound the narrator. After Ye Qing told the narrator to enter the dream, the narrator found himself possessing a tiny porcelain doll in an unfamiliar setting, still tied up.

• The woman made Ye Qing vanish and struck the narrator with an invisible force as the office was battered by her attacks.
• Chen Yihan pushed the narrator to cover while Gu Mo and Nangong Yao took shelter, and Gu Mo pulled the narrator toward Wu Ling's body.
• The woman bound the narrator with golden ropes and listed the girls who had died in supernatural incidents, then pointed at him.
• Ye Qing told the narrator to enter the dream, and the narrator's senses changed as he separated from the woman.
• The narrator awoke as a tiny porcelain doll in a room full of dolls and realized he was being dragged along while still bound.

The narrator was dragged through a porcelain doll workshop and followed a finished doll from the shop to a wealthy girl’s home, unable to understand the people around them. After finally breaking free, the narrator found the girl on the verge of death beside the sinister-looking doll.

• The narrator lay trapped as artisans painted porcelain dolls, then was carried with the finished dolls to a nearby shop.
• After several days in the shop’s back room, the narrator was dragged along with a doll bought by a plainly dressed girl and taken to her wealthy home.
• The narrator observed the quiet girl for several days and wondered whether she was connected to Wu Ling.
• The narrator’s restraints suddenly vanished, but the scene changed to a bedroom where the girl lay near death and the porcelain doll sat beside her bed.

The narrator watched a middle-aged man use magic to save a girl and punish the woman who had afflicted her, then followed him to a dark warehouse. There, the narrator discovered that the strange objects on the shelves were spirits who recognized the man as Wu Yi and said the Wu family had not noticed something.

• A middle-aged man calmed the porcelain doll, and the girl's breathing and color improved.
• The servants dragged in a finely dressed woman, whom the girl's family member and the middle-aged man confronted.
• The middle-aged man gave the family member a talisman, and its water caused the captive woman to cough blood and weaken.
• The middle-aged man took the porcelain doll to a warehouse and placed it among other unusual objects.
• When the warehouse went dark, the narrator heard the objects speak and learned that they were spirits who knew Wu Yi.

The narrator witnessed the Qingzhou Wu family trying to bind a powerful spirit in the porcelain doll, then attempting to create a human spirit when their efforts failed. The ritual drew in the unborn soul of a pregnant woman who was trampled during a ghost panic, and the Wu family celebrated its arrival in the doll.

• The narrator watched the Wu family travel across the country with the porcelain doll, trying to use it as a vessel to imprison a spirit powerful enough to affect an entire region.
• As the Wu family weakened, an elder proposed creating a human spirit, and the family agreed to try.
• A city filled with visible ghosts panicked, and the Wu family persuaded its people to pray while secretly performing a ritual with the doll.
• A pregnant woman was trampled as the crowd fled from a gruesome ghost, and her unborn child's soul emerged.
• The unborn soul was drawn into the porcelain doll, and a Wu family member excitedly declared that the ritual had worked.

The narrator followed Wu Ling’s soul as the Wu family nurtured it inside a porcelain doll until it became a human child, then watched Wu Ling grow into the clan’s most gifted practitioner. The chapter ended with a young man angrily confronting her over the resources devoted to her experiments.

• The Wu family restrained the porcelain doll and debated how to use the spirit forming inside it, while the narrator questioned whether it was truly Wu Ling’s soul.
• The elders educated the spirit and continued their experiments over many years until the porcelain doll transformed into a human infant.
• The Wu family placed the child in a woman’s care and decided she would live an ordinary life while their experiments continued.
• Wu Ling grew into a talented young woman, becoming the Wu family’s most outstanding member and receiving the clan elders’ support.
• A young man confronted Wu Ling, complaining that her experiments received resources that could have paid for his studies abroad, while she remained expressionless.

The narrator watched a dream of Wu Ling traveling with members of the Wu family to the capital, where they hoped she could deal with a supernatural problem. The group arrived at a villa filled with trapped yin energy, and the narrator saw signs of a haunting.

• The narrator recalled how Wu Ling had grown up isolated, studying the Wu family's ancient texts and magic while earning the elders' approval.
• A young Wu family member argued that Wu Ling was treated better than he was, and his father suggested he travel with her to see her abilities firsthand.
• The dream shifted to Wu Ling traveling with Wu family members to the airport, where the old man repeatedly reminded her to be prepared and behave respectfully.
• After flying to the capital, Wu Ling and the group traveled to a villa district, where a sophisticated driver picked them up and brought them to the destination.
• The narrator sensed yin energy around the villa and saw a man withering flowers, a floating head behind a window, and crows covering the roof.

Wu Ling entered the Wei villa and saw terrifying hauntings throughout the house that the Wu family could not perceive. She reached the bedroom to find a woman in the bed, leaving the identity and condition of Mr. Wei uncertain.

• Wu Ling described a dead young man she saw at the villa, and the guide respectfully asked what else she had noticed.
• Wu Ling said the house was haunted and covered by something, then entered with the guide and the Wu family.
• Wu Ling saw ghosts and monstrous visions in the living room while the others remained unaware.
• Wu Ling followed the guide upstairs through bizarre apparitions and entered the bedroom, where a woman lay on the bed.

Wu Ling examined Mr. Wei and began a soul-stabilizing ritual to treat her worsening illness, despite the family’s doubts and the loss of a key ritual item. As Wu Ling prepared the ritual, the narrator wondered whether she remembered the Wu family’s past.

• Wu Ling learned that Mr. Wei had suffered worsening symptoms for months and that her deceased son appeared in a picture frame.
• Wu Ling diagnosed Mr. Wei’s soul as unstable and proposed a ritual, though she admitted she was only thirty percent confident.
• The Wu family argued over whether to let Wu Ling proceed, while the old man ordered the boy to return the stolen gold jar.
• Wu Ling said she could perform the ritual without the jar, but with reduced effectiveness, and the middle-aged man returned without retrieving it.
• Wu Ling began preparing the ritual by painting successive colored circles inside a ceramic bowl until it turned an eerie black.

Wu Ling drew a talisman on Mr. Wei as a monster attacked the villa, then completed the ritual and subdued him. The dream moved ahead to Wu Ling recovering in the hospital, where the narrator realized the incident was only the beginning.

• Wu Ling began drawing a talisman on Mr. Wei while the Wu family restrained him.
• The villa shook, and a huge monster broke through the roof and attacked as Mr. Wei struggled against his restraints.
• Wu Ling finished the talisman, causing the monster to burst into fireworks and Mr. Wei to shrivel into an old man.
• Rescuers arrived, and the injured and exhausted Wu family members were taken to the hospital while Wu Ling recovered in a private room.
• The narrator watched Wu Ling recover and realized the incident was not a minor episode but only the beginning.

Wu Ling explained that Mr. Wei’s other personalities might not be personalities at all, and agreed to attempt a dangerous ritual so he could see his wife and son. The ritual summoned two souls from sacrificed animals, and Mr. Wei reunited with them in tears.

• Mr. Wei’s grandson explained that Mr. Wei had lived for decades with three coexisting personalities, and that his condition had worsened as his health declined.
• Wu Ling said she had stabilized Mr. Wei’s soul and could not tell whether the beings involved were personalities, ghosts, or something else.
• Mr. Wei begged Wu Ling to help him see his wife and son, even if the attempt might kill him.
• Wu Ling performed a bloody, unfamiliar ritual in a cleared living room, sacrificing a pig and a sheep as the Wu family watched.
• A man’s soul and a woman’s soul emerged from the animals, and Mr. Wei tearfully called out to them.

Wu Ling and Ye Qing arrived at a haunted holiday villa to handle a paranormal incident alongside a roomful of specialists. As the manager brought in Ning Guowei, Wu Ling quietly assessed the group while the narrator watched from within the dream.

• Wu Ling split the pig and sheep heads, freeing the two souls, then collapsed from exhaustion as Mr. Wei passed out.
• The narrator watched Wu Ling take on more jobs before the dream shifted to her first meeting with Ye Qing.
• Wu Ling and Ye Qing were invited to investigate a villa filled with Yin energy after three deaths and a public outbreak.
• A pierced man mocked Ye Qing, who explained that the government had sent him and warned he would clear the place if the others failed.
• Wu Ling declined the Wu family elder's silent request, and the manager returned with Ning Guowei.

At the resort, Ning Guowei explained that unexplained illnesses and deaths had affected visitors and inspectors while employees remained unharmed, leading him to suspect a paranormal cause. The experts debated how to deal with the haunting, and Wu Ling agreed to lead the effort to locate the ghost.

• Ning Guowei introduced Wu Ling and Ye Qing, then explained the resort's illnesses, deaths, failed inspections, and police investigation.
• A big man nicknamed King of Iron Stomachs dismissed Ning Guowei's explanation and left with the other experts who had unusual nicknames.
• The remaining monks, Taoist priest, and other experts discussed whether to send the ghost to the afterlife or destroy it.
• Wu Ling suggested finding the ghost first, and the man in the long robe asked about her experience summoning spirits.
• Wu Ling said she had successfully summoned weaker ghosts before, and the man in the long robe let her take the lead while offering to destroy the ghost if she failed.

Wu Ling began drawing a large protective formation at the resort while screams and swarms of insects revealed that something was attacking people nearby. Ye Qing sensed the threat approaching, but its nature remained unclear.

• Ning Guowei led the group to a plaza, where Wu Ling began drawing a large formation across the carpet.
• The narrator noticed Ye Qing watching the woods and wondered whether to tell him about the future, but chose not to interfere yet.
• A scream came from the woods, and Ning Guowei urged the group to investigate while several practitioners refused to leave Wu Ling.
• An old woman's scream and a cloud of insects emerged from the woods, prompting the robed man to question how long Wu Ling would need.
• More screams came from another direction, and the two monks left with the manager to check on their apprentices.
• Ye Qing said that the threat had arrived.

A herd of illusory bulls charged through the resort, while Ye Qing acted strangely and Wu Ling continued drawing her formation. Ning Guowei revealed the resort’s history and its mountain god statue, which was followed by a powerful explosion.

• Ye Qing watched the surging yin energy with an unsettling eagerness as Wu Ling drew her formation.
• A wounded big man accused Ning Guowei of lying after being attacked by a monster, and the shaking ground sent the group stumbling.
• A herd of strange bulls charged through the area, but the narrator realized the animals were illusions despite the destruction they caused.
• Ye Qing asked what the site had been before it became a resort, and Ning Guowei explained that it had once been a village with a local mountain god.
• Ning Guowei said the mountain god had been a chimera and pointed toward its preserved statue, where a cloud of smoke erupted in a blast that sent everything flying.

Wu Ling and three supernatural experts prepared to summon and attack a mysterious entity as grotesque victims appeared around the plaza. Ye Qing questioned Wu Ling’s Wu family identity, leaving the group tense and uncertain about the source of her knowledge.

• Wu Ling said she was seventy or eighty percent sure she could summon the unknown entity, and the Taoist agreed that the group would prepare to attack it.
• The experts worked around Wu Ling’s formation, thinning the yin energy, while a mutilated old man stumbled into the plaza and died.
• Ye Qing laughed at the corpse, then watched as the fat man crawled back, exploded, and prompted Ye Qing to inspect Wu Ling’s formation.
• Ye Qing asked whether Wu Ling was an heir of the Wu family from Qingzhou, and Wu Ling said she had studied books, library materials, and supernatural incidents.
• The man in the long robe questioned whether Wu Ling’s techniques came from the Qingzhou Wu family and whether they could be trusted.

Wu Ling attempted to summon something with a blood ritual, but the chant was interrupted and she was badly wounded. A grotesque figure emerged from beneath the carpet, and the man in the robe was killed by the snakes formed from his own swords.

• Several monks' heads appeared, and a giant bird swooped down and carried off the head of the surviving monk.
• Wu Ling cut her wrist, chanted over the formation, and drew a beam of sunlight down onto its center.
• The chant abruptly stopped, a wound appeared on Wu Ling's throat, and a hole-covered big man crawled out beneath the carpet.
• The workers fled as Ye Qing gave everyone five minutes to leave and said he would take over.
• The man's short swords turned into snakes that tore out his eyes, and strange veins spread across his body before he collapsed.