Chapter Summaries

The narrator and coworkers saw the online commotion fade, then the account for Case No. 039 began as Sun Jiayue described a strange set of keys appearing in her dorm. The keys belonged to a former student, Chen Yiqian, whose disappearance Sun Jiayue was about to explain.

• The narrator and coworkers discussed the online report at work, while everyday life remained quiet.
• Sun Jiayue told the interviewer that she found a set of keys on her bed after moving into a dorm previously occupied by graduating seniors.
• A key later appeared in the lock of Sun Jiayue’s dorm room, and she and her roommates discovered that it opened their door.
• That night, someone silently tried keys in their lock; afterward, the roommates found the same set of keys outside and reported the incident.
• Sun Jiayue and her roommates tracked down a former resident named Wang, who identified the keys as belonging to her roommate Chen Yiqian.
• Wang said Chen Yiqian had forgotten the keys when she graduated and was waiting with her luggage when a mentally ill person attacked people with a cleaver.

Miss Sun recounted how keys belonging to the deceased Chen Yiqian repeatedly appeared and vanished outside her dorm, until the students hung them up with red string. After the keys disappeared, Chen Yiqian's parents were found murdered, and the story left the cause of the deaths unexplained.

• Miss Sun said the students mailed Chen Yiqian's keys to her mother, but the keys appeared outside their dorm the next morning while the package arrived empty.
• Chen Yiqian's mother collected the keys and carried them home, but they later vanished from her bag.
• Miss Sun said the keys returned to the dorm door at night, and Sister Gu opened the door to find them falling from the air with no one outside.
• The students hung the keys above the door with red string, and the keys disappeared overnight, leaving only the string.
• Jiaojiao learned that Chen Yiqian's parents had been found murdered after their neighbors discovered their open door.
• The investigator told Miss Sun that hanging the keys with red string could have allowed any wandering spirit to take them.

Miss Sun asked for help understanding the haunting connected to Chen Yiqian and her parents, and the investigators began checking the case files and visiting her dorm. They found no clear evidence of ghosts and left the cause of the repeated incidents unresolved.

• Miss Sun told the investigators that the dorm residents had feared Chen Yiqian's ghost after her death, then said she wanted to learn what happened and destroy the ghost if possible.
• The investigators questioned Miss Sun about the key left in the dorm lock and the sounds outside at night, considering that a thief might have been involved.
• On November 17, the investigators obtained Chen Yiqian's murder file and her parents' case files, which showed that the parents' deaths remained under investigation and that no forced entry or yin energy had been found.
• On November 19, the investigators visited the dorm with Tao Jiao Jiao, who reported that nothing new had happened to the residents.
• The investigators told Tao Jiao Jiao they could not yet determine whether the red strings had caused Chen Yiqian's parents' deaths.

Wu Ling questioned the students about the ghost and the keys found in their dorm, then called former roommate Miss Wang to investigate. Miss Wang revealed that the keys had not been in Chen Yiqian’s bed and were found on Ning Xue’s bunk, leaving the students unsure who put them there.

• Wu Ling asked Wu Ling’s roommates and Zheng An about campus ghost stories, possible contact with a dead person, and what happened after they gave the keys to Mrs. Chen.
• Zheng An speculated that Chen Yiqian’s family problems might explain the tragedy, while Wu Ling warned that the ghost might return and asked about the keys’ discovery.
• Wu Ling asked the students whether the cleaned dormitory had been visited by Chen Yiqian or anyone else, and learned they had not checked with their former senior, Miss Wang.
• Tao Jiaojiao called Miss Wang, who said Chen Yiqian had gone home in May and never returned, and that she had searched the dorm for the keys without finding them.
• Miss Wang identified the bunk where the keys were found as Ning Xue’s bed, not Chen Yiqian’s, and said Ning Xue and Zhang Rou had left after Chen Yiqian’s accident.

The investigators checked whether the recovered ring of keys belonged to Chen Yiqian and confirmed that its dorm key was the correct one, despite Wang remembering Chen had returned her dorm key when she graduated. Wang then identified the ring’s calico rabbit charm as likely belonging to Zhang Rou, leaving the investigators seeking Zhang’s contact information.

• Wang told the investigators that she had watched Chen Yiqian return her dorm key, though the recovered ring also held a confirmed dorm key.
• The investigators checked the dorm supervisor’s spare keys and verified that the key the students had returned was a dorm key.
• Wang said Chen Yiqian had never mentioned anything supernatural happening in their dorm.
• Wang recalled that the four roommates had bought rabbit charms and said the calico one was probably Zhang Rou’s.
• The investigators asked Wang for Zhang Rou’s contact information, and Wang agreed to provide it.

The investigators analyzed a recording of a dormitory disturbance in which Sun and her roommates heard someone trying to open and then batter their door, but the police found no intruder. The recording suggested the voice was Chen Yiqian calling for help, while Zhang Rou remained missing; Wang Linping later contacted the investigators to discuss Chen and the key.

• On November 22, Sun called the investigators as someone tried keys in her dorm lock and then rammed the door, frightening her and her roommates.
• Police and the dorm supervisor arrived, but the roommates could not identify who had been outside; the investigators later took them to a nearby hotel.
• While analyzing the call recording, the investigators heard a woman apparently crying, “Open the door, help me,” and considered whether the voice belonged to Chen Yiqian.
• The investigators learned Zhang Rou had left her internship in June, resigned before officially starting, and had not returned home.
• On November 25, Wang Linping called to arrange a meeting about Chen Yiqian and the key.

Wang Linping and Zhang Rou revealed how Chen Yiqian's keys were accidentally switched when Zhang Rou left school, leaving Chen unable to enter her family home. Zhang Rou admitted she had kept Chen's keys for a month without realizing it, while the investigation into Chen's parents' murder continued.

• Wang Linping told the investigators that Ning Xue had given Zhang Rou an extra dorm key, which Zhang Rou may have mistaken for Chen Yiqian's keys.
• Sun called to report that the sound of a key unlocking the dorm door had returned, and the investigators went to check on the situation.
• The murderer of Chen Yiqian's parents was arrested, and the case was confirmed to involve someone acquainted with the victims.
• The investigators confronted Zhang Rou and asked what had happened on the days Chen Yiqian and Zhang Rou left school.
• Zhang Rou said she had accidentally picked up Chen Yiqian's keys after they fell from Chen's bed, then discovered a month later that she had taken them.

Miss Zhang confessed how she took Chen Yiqian’s keys and later discarded them, only for the keys and charms to keep reappearing and changing places. Questioned about the charm, she recalled a string of misfortunes tied to the four roommates’ lost keys, while the investigators confirmed an ominous curse around her.

• Miss Zhang said she had entered Chen Yiqian’s family home with a key, then mistakenly threw away her own keys while keeping Chen Yiqian’s set in her bag.
• Miss Zhang explained that after Wang Linping reported the keys found in the dorm had been returned to Chen Yiqian’s parents, she stayed quiet and later learned the parents had been killed.
• Miss Zhang showed the investigators her keys and said the keys and charms kept reappearing and switching around despite her repeatedly throwing them away.
• Miss Zhang recalled that after the roommates bought matching charms, Ning Xue lost her keys and nearly got hit by a motorcycle, while Wang Linping’s lost key led to illness and a missed graduate program.
• Miss Zhang remembered Ning Xue finding her boyfriend with another girl while searching for lost keys, then breaking up without learning the other girl had been pestering him.
• Miss Zhang said her bag had once been stolen, but the keys remained in her pocket, and the investigators confirmed that a curse seemed to surround her.

The investigators linked Ms. Zhang’s reappearing keys to a curse and took her keys while continuing to investigate Chen Yiqian’s death. After Ms. Sun reported that the knocking had returned, an investigator moved into the dorm and recorded footsteps and keys stopping outside the door.

• An investigator told Ms. Zhang that her keys’ reappearances were paranormal and possibly connected to the different cursed charms, then took her keys.
• The investigators reviewed an audio recording in which they discussed a scraping sound from a charm and Ling’s cloth dolls.
• Ms. Sun called to report that the banging had returned, and an investigator asked to stay in her dorm room to observe it.
• On December 3, an investigator moved into Ms. Sun’s dorm and recorded the room as it fell silent.
• Footsteps and jingling keys approached the dorm door, and someone began putting a key in the lock.

Wu Ling caught Ruan Yuxia trying to enter the dorm and learned how she had died and what she knew about the strange keys. Ruan Yuxia revealed that she had stolen something from a student who sold disturbing objects, and she had long wanted to return it.

• Wu Ling opened the dorm door, struck Ruan Yuxia with a talisman, and took the keys she had been carrying.
• Ruan Yuxia told Wu Ling she had died in a fire in 1993 and had remained at the school for years.
• Ruan Yuxia explained that she had seen the girl associated with the keys become increasingly wounded and unstable before she disappeared, leaving the keys behind.
• Ruan Yuxia described a student who sold unsettling objects near the school’s back gate and admitted she had secretly taken one of them.
• Wu Ling offered to help Ruan Yuxia resolve what kept her from reincarnating, and Ruan Yuxia said she wanted to return what she had stolen.

Wu Ling helped Ruan Yuxia let go of her search for the notebook’s owner, and Ruan Yuxia disappeared after entrusting the notebook to her. Later reports linked Tong Shuai to the pendant and confirmed Zhang Rou had died by suicide, leaving the circumstances of her death under investigation.

• Ruan Yuxia revealed that she had found the Advanced Mathematics notebook and hoped to locate its owner, whom she had never met.
• Wu Ling failed to contact the notebook’s original owner and warned Ruan Yuxia that remaining in the world could make her dangerous.
• Ruan Yuxia agreed to move on and disappeared, leaving the notebook with Wu Ling.
• On December 5, the investigators contacted Tong Shuai about the pendant and warned him to stop what he was doing.
• On December 6, the investigators confirmed Zhang Rou had hanged herself in the old dormitory, and students identified her as Chen Yiqian’s former roommate.

The narrator learned that Tong Shuai had died after using a curse that killed Zhang Rou and Chen Yiqian, while Wu Ling warned that supernatural methods were becoming easier to use. The narrator dreamed of Ruan Yuxia finding a notebook, but the dream ended before its owner was revealed.

• The case file confirmed irregularities in Zhang Rou's death, and Tong Shuai died during an encounter with the investigators.
• Wu Ling explained that Tong Shuai had grown bolder after learning his curse had killed someone, and she warned that people like him were unpredictable.
• Wu Ling said curses and spells might be working with fewer requirements as the world deteriorated.
• The narrator asked about Ruan Yuxia, and Wu Ling said the dream might offer a chance to identify the notebook's owner.
• The narrator dreamed of Ruan Yuxia finding an unmarked black notebook in a classroom and putting it in her desk.

The narrator watched Ruan Yuxia grow fascinated by a student’s notebook and learn that its owner was a junior in Economics and Management. The chapter ended with the narrator discovering that the events took place in 1993.

• Ruan Yuxia repeatedly read the notebook’s jokes and drawings, including a comic that ended with a panda, while the narrator considered whether to save her from her eventual accidental death.
• Ruan Yuxia’s classmate teased her about having a crush and suggested finding the notebook’s owner, and Ruan Yuxia did not refuse.
• The classmate found the owner’s class schedule and learned that the boys in those classes lived in Building 17, but the girls could not decide how to approach him.
• Ruan Yuxia and her classmate handed the notebook to the student union and filled out a lost-and-found form.
• A student union member said he knew the owner was a junior in Economics and Management who was interning with the Minqing municipal government, while Ruan Yuxia listened eagerly.
• The narrator noticed the calendar and realized it was 1993.

Ruan Yuxia searched Minqing Jiaotong University for the owner of the old notebook while reliving memories of her death and her parents’ later divorce. The chapter ended with her recognizing Tong Shuai in a classroom and rushing after him with the notebook.

• Ruan Yuxia relived the fire that killed her and saw her parents sorting through the ruins before later watching them divorce.
• Ruan Yuxia found her old lost-and-found entry and recovered the notebook, whose owner had never claimed it.
• Ruan Yuxia searched the academic affairs building and library for clues but found no way to identify the notebook’s owner.
• Ruan Yuxia wandered campus with the notebook, feeling lonely, until a classroom scene revealed a male student drawing a strange symbol.
• Ruan Yuxia heard another student call the symbol-drawing student Tong Shuai, then flew out of the classroom after him.

The narrator watched Dong Shuai perform a blood ritual with a chicken and trinkets, then followed him as he set up a stall near the school. Ruan Yuxia sensed the danger and reached into a girl's backpack after she bought a pendant, her hand covered in black qi.

• Ruan Yuxia followed Dong Shuai for several days while he searched through books and bought strange supplies.
• The narrator saw Dong Shuai kill a chicken and use its blood in a ritual that infused a rabbit pendant with dark-red mist.
• The narrator considered killing Dong Shuai but could not bring himself to act before Ruan Yuxia fled the apartment in terror.
• Ruan Yuxia recovered outside, then followed Dong Shuai as he carried cursed trinkets to a stall by the school's back gate.
• After two girls bought pendants, Ruan Yuxia slipped her hand into one girl's backpack, and black qi covered her hand.

Lin Qi dreamed of Ruan Yuxia repeatedly stealing and burying cursed trinkets sold by Tong Shuai, then realized the notebook might have belonged to Ma Guoping, now a director at the Demolition Office. Wu Ling agreed to have Nangong Yao investigate and send Ma the notebook, while Lin Qi went to work still unsettled.

• Ruan Yuxia stole cursed trinkets from Tong Shuai's buyers and buried them behind the garbage shed, but continued following Tong Shuai afterward.
• Ruan Yuxia cried over the notebook and apologized after realizing Tong Shuai had sold something while she was absent.
• Lin Qi saw memories connected to the notebook and recognized the boy as Ma Guoping.
• Lin Qi told Wu Ling that Ma Guoping might have owned the notebook, and Wu Ling said Nangong Yao would investigate and send it to him if so.
• Lin Qi arrived at work and learned that Director Ma had not come in.

Lin Qi worried that reporter Yuan’s investigation into Greenleaf might put her at risk, while keeping Director Ma’s returned university notebook secret from his colleagues. The chapter ended when Director Ma emerged from an interview with Yuan as his daughter waited in the hallway.

• Lin Qi told Skinny and the others about the files but withheld the notebook and Director Ma’s identity.
• Wu Ling confirmed that the notebook belonged to Director Ma and arranged for it to be delivered to him.
• Lin Qi worried that Yuan’s reporting on Greenleaf could lead her into danger, while Wu Ling argued that people who pursued supernatural incidents had to accept the risks.
• Wu Ling advised Lin Qi to calm down rather than let his worry worsen the situation, and he felt more at ease the next morning.
• Lin Qi and his colleagues met Director Ma’s daughter at the demolition office, where she said he was interviewing two reporters.
• Director Ma came out of the meeting room with Yuan.

Lin Qi encountered Reporter Yuan and Director Ma’s daughter, whose odd presence left Chen Xiaoqiu sensing something paranormal, though no one could explain it. At home, Lin Qi helped his sister prepare for college and warned her to avoid ghost-summoning games, reassuring her about the dead she was thinking of.

• Lin Qi greeted Reporter Yuan and saw Director Ma give his daughter Linlin the keys before she left.
• Chen Xiaoqiu said Linlin seemed connected to something paranormal, but she could not explain what she sensed.
• Lin Qi spotted Linlin looking anxious on the way home and later asked Wu Ling whether she might have a connection to the underworld; Wu Ling said there were many possible explanations.
• Lin Qi helped his mother and sister pack for his sister’s move to Minqing University and heard his sister worry about college and her future roommates.
• Lin Qi warned his sister not to play games that summoned ghosts and to be careful with things she bought or received, then reassured her that the dead had moved on.

Ruan Yuxia remembered her previous life after the notebook she had been searching for reached its owner, Section Chief Ma, who was now her father. The next day, she searched for her former family and hometown but left the house without deciding to travel there.

• The narrator dreamed of delivering a package to Section Chief Ma’s home and watched him open a notebook that stirred powerful memories in Ruan Yuxia.
• Ruan Yuxia remembered her previous life and realized that Section Chief Ma was her father in this life and the owner of the notebook she had sought.
• The narrator wondered whether Ruan Yuxia was dead because the people in her dreams had all been dead.
• The next morning, Ruan Yuxia searched online for herself, her former parents, and her hometown, but found no trace of them.
• Ruan Yuxia looked up train tickets to her hometown, hesitated, then changed clothes, took her bag, and left the house.

Ruan Yuxia visited her former university and its old campus, then encountered an ominous woman and narrowly saved her from a speeding motorcycle. The woman introduced herself as Sun Jiayue, and Ruan Yuxia froze when she heard the name.

• Ruan Yuxia found her old university transformed and wandered through its new campus and former campus museum, feeling disoriented by the changes.
• After the dream jumped forward to the day of Ruan Yuxia’s predicted accident, she noticed a woman inside a convenience store and followed her, sensing cursed energy.
• Ruan Yuxia pursued the woman to a traffic light, where the woman nearly wandered into a motorcycle’s path.
• Ruan Yuxia grabbed the woman and pulled her back while the narrator pulled Ruan Yuxia away, narrowly avoiding a collision.
• The woman thanked Ruan Yuxia, gave her a business card, and introduced herself as Sun Jiayue, leaving Ruan Yuxia and the narrator stunned.