Chapter Summaries

Mr. An told the visitors how Green Tea Manor began as a tea-growing community supported by a temple, whose monks later sacrificed themselves to protect the townspeople. He revealed that the hidden stone Buddhas honored the slain monks and asked for a chance to return the Buddha head he had stolen.

• Mr. An showed the visitor his family’s deeds and family tree, which encoded the route to the cave where the stone Buddhas were hidden.
• Mr. An explained that monks from the temple had taught his ancestors to grow tea, helping establish Green Tea Manor.
• Mr. An recounted how soldiers hunted down the monks, and all sixty-seven came forward to spare the townspeople before being executed.
• Mr. An said the townspeople secretly carved statues of the monks, but stopped after making only a little over thirty; that night, the people heard a chant and dreamed of the monks thanking them.
• Mr. An admitted he had stolen the Buddha head and asked to return it so he could atone.

After learning that the Qingchazhuang Buddha head had never been recovered, the narrator dreamed of the cave’s theft and found himself witnessing it through someone else’s eyes. The dream ended with a scarred, bald man praying for forgiveness while the thieves prepared to take a statue’s head.

• The narrator read a three-year-old report about the Qingchazhuang statues and learned that the stolen Buddha head had never been recovered.
• The narrator went to sleep after exchanging messages with his younger sister and dreamed he was inside the Buddha cave.
• Three men entered the cave to steal a Buddha head, and the narrator—speaking through an older man—directed them to the statue at the very back.
• A scarred, bald man in sportswear bowed to the statues and said he would use the money to do good deeds and save people.
• The narrator grew angry as the thieves began their work.

The narrator overheard a monk persuade the Buddha statues that they had been exploited and should stop protecting Qingcha Village. As the monk began chanting and golden and gray-black shadows moved around him, Zhou Sihai screamed outside, and the narrator rushed toward him.

• The monk told the Buddha statues that the people of Qingcha Village had forgotten and used them, and that they should devote their strength to saving people elsewhere.
• The narrator discovered Zhou Sihai, the old tea farmer from the archival footage, standing watch above the cave as an apparent accomplice.
• The monk suggested the Buddha statues had intervened to cover up the deadly clash between the two tea shops and argued that the village's dependence on their protection had made its people corrupt.
• The monk began chanting, and faint golden shadows entered his body as gray-black shadows left his head.
• Zhou Sihai screamed outside, and the narrator hurried out of the cave.

The narrator followed the monk from the cave to a dramatically transformed, tourist-filled Greenleaf Tea Manor and suspected something bad was happening there. When a faint trace of yin energy appeared, the monk woke and revealed that he could see the narrator, mistaking them for a senior figure from the cave.

• The monk abandoned the men stealing the Buddha head, climbed out of the cave, and left after telling Zhou Sihai goodbye.
• The narrator followed the monk into Greenleaf Tea Manor and discovered it had become a bustling tourist destination with hotels, a night market, and tours.
• The monk meditated for hours, repeatedly checked his phone, showered, and went to sleep while the narrator explored the hotel and worried about the changes in the area.
• The narrator sensed a faint ripple of yin energy outside and wondered if a haunting had begun.
• The monk opened his eyes, spoke to the narrator, and asked whether they were one of the senior figures from the cave.

The narrator followed a monk who could sense their presence as they investigated growing yin energy in Qingshan Tea Estate. The monk traced it to the tragic death of Shao Xiu and announced that the sound of death had begun.

• The monk guessed that the narrator was an independent spirit or thought, then invited them to investigate the yin energy together.
• The monk left the hotel and headed toward the source, telling the front desk he was going to find food.
• The monk explained that Shao Xiu had drowned herself in a well after a fire disfigured her during a feud between the Wanfu and Tongren tea shops.
• The monk briefly transformed into a blue-skinned, fanged figure, then returned to his friendly appearance and continued walking.
• The monk said Shao Xiu would have become a ghost filled with resentment and told the narrator to listen as the sound of death began.

The monk led the narrator through Green Tea Village to a villa, explaining how the Guangshan Sect’s crude handling of lingering souls had deprived the dead of a chance to reflect. As the monk rang the doorbell, something broke and powerful waves of yin energy rose across the village, strongest from the hill where the stone cave stood.

• The narrator followed the strangely fascinated monk through the dark village as the sound of many people crying surrounded them.
• The monk led the narrator to an isolated villa, where the crying stopped after he rang the doorbell.
• The monk said Green Tea Village had come alive and explained that lingering souls had once been protected and sent onward by the masters in the stone cave.
• The monk described how the Guangshan Sect had deprived lingering souls of their chance to reflect before reincarnation, leaving some trapped between the human world and the underworld.
• The monk rang the doorbell again, and the narrator heard a bell and something breaking as surges of yin energy rose across Green Tea Village, strongest from the stone-cave hill.

The narrator watched the Yang family’s buried crimes surface as ghosts gathered around their villa and the grotto mountain collapsed. The chapter ended with a drenched woman and a bloodied man appearing before the terrified Yangs.

• The monk said the released spirits had been freed, though one had persisted and realized it had chosen the wrong path.
• The Yang family members fled the villa in panic as the narrator sensed yin energy gathering at the grotto hill.
• Yang Zhong struck a woman, and their argument exposed her family’s disputed ties and the Yangs’ past abuse of Shao Xiu.
• The grotto mountain sank and cracked, scattering the gathered ghosts; the monk said the collapse was revenge born of pent-up resentment.
• A drenched woman appeared behind the narrator, while a bloodied tea farmer blocked the Yangs’ escape and called out to Yang Yousheng.

Ghosts attacked the Yang family and other residents at Greenleaf Tea Estate while the monk explained how the monks had suppressed the old tea-farmer conflict. When the narrator grabbed Shao Xiu, she shattered, and the narrator woke from a dream as the monk’s hand disintegrated.

• Ghosts appeared around the villa, and one killed Wang Liyan after he blamed Shao Qunying for the conflict over the tea mountain.
• The monk recounted how the Yang and Shao families’ feud had been suppressed, and the narrator realized the Buddha-statue monks had interfered with people’s memories and emotions.
• Shao Xiu attacked Yang family members, leaving a man burned, a woman gravely injured, and a mother and child drowning in inexplicable water.
• The monk stopped the narrator from intervening, but the narrator broke free and grabbed Shao Xiu, causing her to burst into tiny particles.
• The scene shifted to a newspaper about deaths at Greenleaf Tea Estate, where the monk’s hand disintegrated as the narrator woke from a dream.

Lin Qi investigated the changed reports about Green Tea Manor and discussed his dream with his coworkers, who considered whether the monk or Greenleaf had altered events. The group decided to approach Wu Ling and sound her out about Greenleaf’s involvement.

• Lin Qi found that news reports described the Buddha head thieves and Zhou Sihai as mentally ill, and he uncovered an indictment against a Green Tea Manor leader for covering up deaths and murders.
• Lin Qi told Skinny, Chen Xiao Qiu, and the others about his dream and questioned whether he had used abilities resembling those of Ye Qing or Liu Miao.
• Chen Xiao Qiu proposed that either Greenleaf’s abilities or the monk’s actions had affected the events at Green Tea Manor and worsened the ghosts’ revenge.
• Skinny suggested asking people who knew the monk, but Chen Xiao Qiu warned that doing so could draw unwanted attention to Lin Qi.
• Guo Yujie suggested speaking with Wu Ling, and Chen Xiao Qiu agreed that they should sound her out about Greenleaf.

The narrator met Wu Ling and the others to discuss a dream involving the False Buddha, whom Wu Ling identified as a monk who gained supernatural power through force of will and absorbing thoughts and souls from artifacts. Wu Ling offered to investigate whether he was still alive or had reappeared, then asked whether Shao Xiu and the False Buddha had both disintegrated in the dream.

• The narrator met Wu Ling, Nangong Yao, and Gu Mo at their hotel and described the files and dream involving the False Buddha.
• Wu Ling explained that the False Buddha pursued Buddhahood by absorbing selected power and lingering souls from artifacts.
• Wu Ling recounted rumors that the False Buddha had lived for more than a century, supposedly became a Buddha, and later died in meditation, though the story might be unreliable.
• Wu Ling decided to ask around carefully to learn whether the False Buddha still lived or another one had appeared.
• Wu Ling asked the narrator to confirm that Shao Xiu and the False Buddha had both disintegrated in the dream.

Wu Ling and the others speculated that Ye Qing had been secretly watching over Lin Qi and lending him power, but they feared he might have become a new supernatural entity. Lin Qi realized Ye Qing may have refused his only chance to be saved.

• Gu Mo questioned Nangong Yao’s suspicion that Yezi was behind the supernatural events, and Wu Ling warned that Lin Qi’s ability to travel through time and space could cross the boundary between humans and gods.
• Wu Ling proposed that Ye Qing might have gained a ghost’s ability to follow Lin Qi across time and appear when he was in danger; Lin Qi recalled seeing Ye Qing at Huixiang and Minqing Hospital.
• Wu Ling reasoned that Ye Qing might have lent Lin Qi power, controlled whether Liu Miao’s power was lent, and watched over Lin Qi, while Nangong Yao said he had only seen Heaven’s mark.
• Wu Ling suggested Ye Qing might be avoiding them because he had become something new, and Gu Mo feared Lin Qi would be unable to reverse his time.
• Lin Qi remembered possessing Ye Qing in a dream and realized Ye Qing might have given up his only chance to be saved.

The narrator reflects on Ye Qing’s past and his decision to become a ghost, while Wu Ling warns that Ye Qing’s unstable condition could make him dangerous. The narrator visits Ye Qing’s office in Workers and Peasants Sixth Village and investigates a faint noise in the dark.

• The narrator considers how Ye Qing may have lost his family and chosen his current path in hopes of finding the narrator and using his abilities.
• Wu Ling says Ye Qing never mentioned the narrator, but may have thought of him and lacked a way to find him.
• Nangong Yao argues that the group must take their one-in-ten-thousand chance, while Gu Mo remains unhappy.
• Wu Ling warns the narrator that Ye Qing’s ghostly condition and uncertain powers could cause trouble if they disagree.
• The narrator leaves Wu Ling, goes to Ye Qing’s office in Building Six, hears a faint noise, and enters the dark hallway with his phone flashlight.

The narrator found Ye Qing collapsed and barely able to speak, and Ye Qing asked for Incident File 093. The narrator rushed home to retrieve it and began reading the account of taxi driver Ke Xiongwen’s first encounter with a ghost passenger.

• The narrator noticed damage in Ye Qing’s office and glimpsed someone beside the abstract painting.
• The narrator found Ye Qing cold, motionless, and weak, then tried to call Wu Ling for help.
• Ye Qing stopped the narrator from calling and weakly asked for File 093.
• The narrator ran home, found the file, and read Ke Xiongwen’s account of receiving a late-night ride-hailing order on Pengbai Road in 2014.

Mr. Ke described repeatedly driving a teenage passenger from Pengbai Road to Huicheng Garden and gradually realizing the boy might be a ghost. He later saw a figure standing at the pickup spot in the rain and heard a voice behind him say he was going the wrong way.

• Mr. Ke said he had picked up a quiet, student-dressed teenage boy on Pengbai Road and taken him to Huicheng Garden every few months.
• Mr. Ke recalled that one Sunday the boy appeared asleep, yet the ride fare settled automatically and the boy got out as usual.
• Mr. Ke said a police checkpoint checked only him, and the officer remarked that he had been driving around empty late at night.
• Mr. Ke drove until his car ran out of gas, then became feverish and stayed away from Pengbai Road and the ride app.
• Nearly two months later, Mr. Ke saw someone with an umbrella at the old pickup spot and fled after hearing a voice behind him say he was going the wrong way.

Mr. Ke described a ghostly boy who first appeared in his taxi and later haunted him wherever he went. Investigators followed leads to identify the boy, but the chapter ended with Mr. Ke reporting that his former coworker had died in a car accident.

• Mr. Ke told investigators that a boy had appeared in his taxi, paid him with money he could not recall receiving, and later kept appearing by roadsides even after he quit driving.
• Investigators obtained Mr. Ke’s Feifei Express order history and searched traffic camera footage, but found no useful footage from the ride.
• Mr. Ke reported that his protective talisman heated when the boy appeared, and he thought the boy looked angry.
• Investigators questioned residents at Splendid City Gardens, but they knew of no recent death of a middle or high school-aged child.
• Investigators identified the ride account as DH996, registered under an unverified phone number that was no longer in service.
• Mr. Ke called to say that his former coworker, who had switched shifts with him, had died in a car accident.

An investigator questioned Long Tao’s wife, Xu Ningyi, about his fatal crash and learned that Long Tao had once seen a passenger with no reflection and later feared he had encountered a ghost while driving. The chapter left the cause of his crash unresolved as Xu Ningyi described the protective amulet he carried after earlier taxi drivers’ ghostly encounters.

• A coworker told investigators that Long Tao had crashed on Century Road despite being a careful driver, and they began investigating his death.
• Xu Ningyi told investigators that police blamed Long Tao’s crash on him accelerating and suddenly turning, but the available surveillance footage was incomplete.
• Xu Ningyi recalled that Long Tao had once driven a student whose reflection was absent from a car window and a convex mirror, after which he avoided that route.
• Xu Ningyi said Long Tao came home unusually early on the night of the accident, looking pale and feeling cold as he described a frightening encounter.
• Xu Ningyi recounted Long Tao’s stories about taxi drivers encountering ghosts and said he obtained a consecrated gold amulet from Guanyin Temple, after which he believed he was safe.

The interviewers questioned Long Tao’s wife and colleague Hu Shan about the ghost passenger and Long Tao’s worsening condition. Hu described his own ghost encounter and revealed that Xiao Liu had experienced something similar after using the new ride-hailing app.

• Long Tao’s wife told the interviewers that he had picked up a wealthy student-like ghost through Feifei, then deleted the app and switched to Jisu.
• The interviewers spoke with Hu Shan, who recounted picking up two women after a concert and watching one vanish after they entered a residential complex.
• Hu said he began carrying a blessed Maitreya statue and recommended that Long Tao visit Guanyin Temple after noticing his poor condition.
• Hu revealed that Xiao Liu had also encountered a ghost and had received Hu’s Buddha statue when Hu left driving.
• Hu said Xiao Liu and Long Tao both used a new ride-hailing app through which ghosts booked rides, and the interviewers asked him to explain Xiao Liu’s experience.

Mr. Hu recounted how Liu Xiaonian and Long Tao encountered a ghostly boy requesting rides near Pengbai Road, and investigators contacted Liu Xiaonian about Long Tao’s fatal crash. Liu said he had avoided the road and never seen the boy again after getting a blessed object, but learned Long Tao had also gone to the same temple.

• Mr. Hu told the investigators that Liu Xiaonian once saw a boy appear suddenly beside Pengbai Road and received a ride request from him, then stopped accepting rides there.
• Mr. Hu said Long Tao had picked up the same ghostly boy several times, obtained a blessed object, and later died after swerving into a wall on an empty road.
• The investigators contacted Liu Xiaonian and told him that Long Tao had received several ride requests from boys near Pengbai Road and had obtained a talisman from Guanyin Temple in Puhe Town.
• Liu Xiaonian said he had never seen the boy again after hanging his blessed object in the car and had avoided Pengbai Road.
• Liu Xiaonian realized Long Tao had also gone to Guanyin Temple and wondered why the blessed object had not protected him.

Investigators traced ghost passenger DH996 to Ding Hua, a teenager who died in 2014, and learned that his father had never understood why he went to Haizhong Road. The chapter left the reason for Ding Hua’s death and his ghostly ride-hailing trips unresolved.

• Liu told the investigators that the ghost passenger barely spoke, and he denied knowing of any missing children or deaths near Pengbai Road.
• The investigators called DH996’s backup contact, who identified the unreachable user as his dead son, Ding Hua, and learned that the app had recorded a ride to Huicheng Garden three days earlier.
• The investigators confirmed that Ding Hua had gone missing in July 2014 and that police found his body in a river, with no evidence of homicide.
• Ding Yi told the investigators that Ding Hua had been a dutiful student who disappeared during summer vacation, and he described the police search and the discovery of his body.
• Ding Yi said he still did not know why Ding Hua had gone to Haizhong Road in the middle of the night.

The investigators traced the ghost’s lingering yin energy to Liu Xiaonian’s fatal accident and learned that several people who had seen the ghost had died. After the client, Mr. Ke, called in distress, he died in a collision with a container truck.

• Liu Xiaonian’s father told Mr. Ke that his son had been a kind, trouble-free boy and had recently been reported at Huicheng Garden, where the family knew no one.
• Mr. Ke learned that Liu Xiaonian had died after opening a car door and falling into traffic, and investigators found yin energy on his body and in the accident footage.
• Investigators identified Jiang Jiayin and Mao Anpin as two other people who had died near Haizhong Road and confirmed Ding Hua had never visited Huicheng Garden.
• Hu Shan told Mr. Ke that Liu Xiaonian, Long Tao, a coworker who died in a car crash, and Zhuang Ling had all seen the ghost.
• Mr. Ke called in distress, and investigators later confirmed that he had died in a collision with a container truck while driving an empty vehicle.