Chapter Summaries

Chen Xiao Qiu and the others learned that Huang Anxin had jumped from her dorm balcony after her past was exposed and her roommates and their families turned against her. Xue Jingyue found a decorated fingernail linked to missing influencer Li Moqian, suggesting the two incidents might be connected.

• Chen Xiao Qiu called Chen Yi Han and learned that witnesses said the girl had jumped of her own accord.
• Xue Jingyue spotted a decorated fingernail beneath the police cordon, and investigators collected it as evidence.
• Guo Yujie recognized the nail design as one created by online influencer Li Moqian and told police that Li had been kidnapped in 2018 and never found.
• Chen Xiao Qiu explained that Huang Anxin had been bullied after an old sexual scandal resurfaced, and she jumped after her roommates and their families confronted and ostracized her.

The narrator went with Greenleaf to Minqing Hospital to investigate Huang Anxin’s death and prepare to enter her dream. As Nangong Yao uncovered Huang Anxin’s photos and an old online exposé, Xue Jingyue warned that Li Moqian might be connected to the events.

• The narrator told Wu Ling about Huang Anxin’s death, and Wu Ling arranged for Nangong Yao to find a photo and invited the group to meet at Minqing Hospital.
• On the drive, Xue Jingyue said she suspected Li Moqian was connected to the case, prompting the narrator to consider that Li Moqian might have become an evil ghost.
• The group arrived at Minqing Hospital, where Nangong Yao showed the narrator two photos of Huang Anxin and confirmed that both showed her.
• Nangong Yao explained that an old, deleted forum exposé had been archived and that commenters later identified Huang Anxin in photos added to the post.

The group investigated a rumor about Huang Anxin and found signs that a troll operation may have framed her. They connected the operation to Xie Yang and Li Moqian’s kidnapping case, then concluded that Li Moqian might be influencing events to ask for help.

• Nangong Yao explained that a team behind a relationship-gossip account spread fabricated stories through sockpuppet accounts for profit, and Huang Anxin was probably framed.
• Wu Ling revealed that Xie Yang, the troll responsible for what happened to Li Moqian, had been released from prison in 2018 and later joined the media company behind the account.
• Wu Ling connected the company’s coverage of Li Moqian’s kidnapping to a possible paid campaign that blamed Li Moqian and implicated her management company.
• Wu Ling proposed that Li Moqian had become a ghost and might be starting to act, or that Heaven was closing its net; Gu Mo suggested ghosts’ thoughts could now affect people even without conscious action.
• Chen Xiao Qiu suggested Li Moqian was unconsciously guiding people toward clues as a plea for help, and Wu Ling identified Xie Yang or a Tianxia Weekly reporter as possible sources of information.

While Wu Ling began a ritual to transfer the curse into a doll, Greenleaf staged Lin Qi’s apparent dream to keep the Thin Guy from suspecting their plan. October appeared in the hospital room, recognizing Wu Ling and the group’s attempt to stop the curse.

• Nangong Yao showed surveillance footage of Luo Yonghua visiting Chu Lan, and Wu Ling prepared a doll to absorb the curse.
• Wu Ling began chanting over the doll as Nangong Yao and Guo Yujie went to intercept Luo Yonghua.
• Lin Qi pretended to enter a dream while Gu Mo supported her and the Thin Guy and Fat Guy watched anxiously.
• October knocked, entered the room, and identified Wu Ling as a member of the Wu family.

October agreed to become the vessel for Wu Ling’s spell, which freed him from the dreamlike state and left him blank and expressionless. Meanwhile, Wu Ling brought October to confront Luo Yonghua, who recognized her as the chapter ended.

• October recognized Wu Ling but said he could not remember his life, and Gu Mo offered to help uncover his past if he agreed to become the inhuman’s vessel.
• October accepted, and Wu Ling completed the spell, breaking the wooden puppet and restoring October’s full form as symbols briefly appeared on his back.
• The narrator pretended to Gu Mo that she had failed again, while Gu Mo said October would remain a human-shaped vessel after the spell.
• Gu Mo watched surveillance footage of Nanguang Yao and Guo Yujie questioning Luo Yonghua, who called his experience an awakening to pure power.
• Wu Ling entered Luo Yonghua’s hospital room with October, and Luo Yonghua recognized Wu Ling.

Wu Ling’s spell freed the five female ghosts, but October interrupted it and discovered that Luo Yonghua was connected to his murder and the Li Moqian kidnapping case. October forced Luo Yonghua to reveal what he knew, leaving the group to learn how their meeting was tied to the case.

• Wu Ling’s spell drew a curse from Luo Yonghua, Wang Mingli, and the five female ghosts into October, but October interrupted the ritual before it finished.
• October fell to the floor as the five female ghosts regained their colors and vanished after Sun Jiayue thanked Wu Ling; Luo Yonghua raged at Wu Ling and then turned on Chu Lan.
• October confronted Luo Yonghua about the kidnapping and revealed that he had been hired to exorcise a ghost before the kidnappers killed him.
• Wu Ling identified the case as the Li Moqian kidnapping, and October forced Luo Yonghua to begin telling everything he knew.

Luo Yonghua described how he tracked the kidnappers who had abducted Li Moqian and manipulated them into moving her, hoping to claim her body for his experiments. He found her body after the kidnappers killed her, but the account left unclear what happened next.

• Luo Yonghua recalled how his father's death and his mother's condition left him isolated, and how he used animals for experiments while longing to experiment on people.
• Luo Yonghua overheard kidnappers arguing with a woman in a car, memorized its license plate, and tracked the owner to a shantytown.
• Luo Yonghua listened to the kidnappers and learned they had abducted Li Moqian to recreate a kidnapping game rather than to collect money.
• Luo Yonghua sent an anonymous letter and photographs to a reporter, then deliberately alerted the kidnappers that they had been discovered.
• Luo Yonghua tracked the kidnappers' car to an unfinished building, where they decided to kill Li Moqian, and he searched until he found her body.

Luo Yonghua and October explained how Li Moqian’s kidnapping and death led to a haunting, Luo Yonghua’s murder, and October’s revenge against the people responsible. October then asked Wu Ling how she was connected to the case.

• Luo Yonghua recalled finding Li Moqian’s body and trying spells on it, then described studying occult practices after leaving for university.
• October questioned Luo Yonghua about his experiments, then explained that Li Moqian’s ghost had been seeking help and that he learned where the kidnappers had left her body.
• October said the kidnappers changed their minds about taking him to the body, had him killed, and arranged for his body to be cremated.
• October revealed that he killed the kidnappers, annihilating their souls, while losing his own memories and becoming trapped in the world.
• Wu Ling concluded that she understood what had happened, and October asked how she was connected to the case.

Wu Ling and October agreed to search for Li Moqian at the unfinished building, while Gu Mo explained how fate was drawing people tied to the kidnapping into the supernatural events. As the group returned to the hotel, a surveillance email revealed that the victim’s body from the 2008 internet celebrity kidnapping case had been found.

• October agreed to lead Wu Ling and Nangong Yao to the unfinished building after deciding Chu Lan might be an innocent bystander.
• Luo Yonghua secretly followed them as they left the hospital, while Gu Mo shut down the surveillance and prepared to return to the hotel.
• Gu Mo said that fate was drawing together people connected to Li Moqian and the kidnapping, and that those strong enough could survive.
• Gu Mo’s laptop received an email telling Brother Wu that the victim’s body from the 2008 internet celebrity kidnapping case had been found.

Gu Mo used Nangong’s software to uncover Brother Wu’s coded emails and payment to Guo Fei, while explaining that their circle was monitoring people and avoiding public attention. After learning that a journalist had obtained an address and planned to livestream from there, Gu Mo prepared to leave, and Chen Xiaoqiu asked what plan the circle was pursuing as the world changed.

• Gu Mo examined Brother Wu’s emails and found a coded exchange with Guo Fei, who received a 1,000-yuan transfer.
• Gu Mo explained that Nangong’s software identified online accounts and keywords, and that people in their circle were under special surveillance.
• Gu Mo said the circle had not learned what happened because Ye Qing remained at their base, where the Void Buddha deterred others.
• Gu Mo warned that the worldwide transformation would bring lasting conflict as humans faced ghosts and the possibility of becoming prey.
• Gu Mo discovered that someone had obtained an address and planned to livestream there, called Wu Ling, and prepared to leave.
• Chen Xiaoqiu asked what the circle planned to do while stalling and controlling public opinion, and Gu Mo said Ling had heard a few things.

Gu Mo outlined a proposed worldwide spell to prevent the dead from becoming ghosts, but the narrator felt detached from the plan and unsure of his purpose. He then found himself alone in a sealed, empty house with a ghost calling for help.

• Gu Mo explained that the supernatural community was preparing a spell to reduce the number of people who became ghosts after death.
• Chen Xiaoqiu suggested the spell might be established in the atmosphere through cooperation among major powers, and Gu Mo indicated that preparations were already underway.
• The narrator doubted his place in the plan, reflected on his growing indifference, and wanted to escape the conflict.
• A woman’s ghost called for help, and the narrator realized the Skinny Guy and the others had disappeared.
• Light revealed that the narrator was inside an empty house with sealed doors and windows as the ghost continued to sob for help.

The narrator entered Li Moqian’s memory and found her trapped as a weak soul, repeating pleas for help. After admitting they could not save her and resolving to protect their own family, the narrator was pulled into a scene of Li Moqian’s torture and attacked one of her captors.

• The narrator found Li Moqian’s skeleton in an abandoned building and realized her soul was only repeating cries for help.
• The narrator explored the building, then returned to Li Moqian and told her Greenleaf would come to rescue her.
• The narrator reflected on Li Moqian’s fate and Xie Yang’s later crimes, then resolved to become stronger and protect their family.
• The scene changed to Li Moqian being tortured while her captors filmed and tore off a decorated fingernail.
• The narrator grabbed one of the men, activated their ability, and caused him to scream and collapse.

The narrator used ghostly abilities to frighten Li Moqian’s kidnappers into fleeing and saved her from being taken away. As the kidnappers set fire to the shantytown, Li Moqian wondered whether her rescue had caused the disaster, and the narrator’s vision went blank.

• The narrator grabbed and frightened the kidnappers until they released Li Moqian and fled the house.
• Li Moqian thanked the narrator, and the narrator worried that saving her would change the past and affect October, Luo Yonghua, Huang Anxin, and Chu Lan.
• Li Moqian tried to leave while weak from her ordeal, and the narrator noticed the smell of gasoline.
• The kidnappers poured gasoline outside and set the house on fire before running away.
• The fire spread through the shantytown, trapping Li Moqian and a lame old woman in the flames.
• Li Moqian asked whether the fire had happened because she was saved, and the narrator’s vision went blank.

The narrator returned to the scene of Li Moqian’s death and grieved over how changing the past had failed to save her. As intruders and then a livestream crew entered the building, Li Moqian’s remains moved and spoke to them.

• The narrator realized Li Moqian had stopped making sounds and felt guilty for giving her hope before she died again.
• When people began pounding on the downstairs door, an unseen force pulled the narrator into Li Moqian’s body, where a video camera appeared in the narrator’s hand.
• October reassured Li Moqian that someone had found her and that Wu Ling had called the police.
• A group arrived, discussed livestreaming the crime scene, and warned one another not to investigate the old kidnapping case too deeply.
• A livestream crew entered the room, and Li Moqian raised her skull and told them, "You... finally came..."

Lin Qi woke from his dream of Li Moqian as police found evidence of her kidnapping and murder, including footage implicating her killers and Luo Yonghua. He suspected Ye Qing had entered his dream and preserved the evidence, leaving Lin Qi conflicted about their different choices and the victims neither of them could save.

• A man discovered that Li Moqian had no wires attached, then fled as police arrived and found her hands bound and the DV.
• Lin Qi woke in Gu Mo's car after dreaming about Li Moqian, while the Skinny Man and the Fatty worried about his condition.
• Chen Xiaoqiu told Lin Qi that police had found Li Moqian's bones and a DV recording her abuse and murder, as well as Luo Yonghua mutilating her body.
• Lin Qi denied causing the final footage and suggested that Ye Qing had followed him into the dream and acted there.
• Lin Qi reflected that Ye Qing had allowed Li Moqian to die to preserve evidence, and he felt troubled by both Ye Qing's restraint and his own impulsiveness.

The narrator went to the Greenleaf Paranormal Agency and confronted Ye Qing about his ability and plans. He offered to hand over his power so he could escape the burden of saving the world, but Ye Qing only told him to wait.

• Xue Jingyue said she felt Li Moqian's situation might not be over, though she believed Greenleaf and the police had things under control.
• The narrator returned alone to the Greenleaf Paranormal Agency and sensed the strange entrance to another space on the stairs.
• The narrator told Ye Qing he suspected Ye Qing had found him as a child and could use his ability, as well as other people's abilities.
• The narrator admitted he could not bear to keep sacrificing innocent people and offered Ye Qing his power so Ye Qing could change the world.
• Ye Qing revealed two bloodstained fingernails with blood-red dandelions on them, then told the narrator to wait.

The narrator watched Ye Qing use Li Moqian’s fingernails to reveal videos of her skeleton circulating online and the post that exposed them. The narrator then entered a dream in which Li Moqian took revenge on Brother Wu, before sensing another presence.

• The narrator waited as yin energy began emanating from Li Moqian’s two fingernails.
• The fingernails made the narrator’s phone play leaked videos of Li Moqian’s livestream and police footage, which Ye Qing had apparently released.
• The narrator saw Brother Wu’s post spreading the videos, then watched it become blocked as Ye Qing said he could not save anyone.
• The narrator fell into a dream and saw Li Moqian confront Brother Wu, paint one of his fingernails, and tear it off as he bled.
• The dream’s images stopped, and the narrator sensed another yin energy.

The narrator learned that Ye Qing’s supernatural amplification worsened nearby ghosts and heard his warning that the supernatural community’s plan would fail. Ye Qing explained that changing the world could alter everyone’s lives, then ordered the narrator to keep working toward changing its rules.

• The narrator returned from a vision of Shiyue and saw Li Moqian’s blood-soaked fingernails vanish from the coffee table as her yin energy faded.
• The narrator realized Ye Qing’s passive ability amplified nearby ghosts and could make supernatural events worse.
• Ye Qing dismissed the supernatural community’s plan and told the narrator to focus on changing the rules of the world rather than trying to save everyone.
• Ye Qing explained that removing the supernatural might reset the world while fate preserved much of its history, though some people killed by ghosts could survive.
• Ye Qing threatened to kill the narrator and find someone else if the narrator ran away or shirked the task, then disappeared from the sofa.

After learning that Li Moqian’s power had become dangerous and that Ye Qing’s plans involved a threat sealed in the office, the narrator saw Li Moqian publicly expose the people involved in her kidnapping. The chapter left the narrator calling Chen Xiaoqiu as Li Moqian’s video spread online.

• The narrator called Wu Ling, who explained that Li Moqian’s ability had grown after her death and warned that supernatural groups might target Ye Qing.
• Wu Ling cautioned the narrator not to investigate the dangerous entity sealed in the office hallway, which Ye Qing alone seemed to understand.
• The narrator found a viral video posted by Li Moqian, in which she identified the people whose fingernails were shown and described their roles in her kidnapping and the later cover-up.
• Li Moqian appeared at the end of the video, while viewers largely supported her despite some doubts and accusations of a publicity stunt.
• The narrator stopped reading the comments and called Chen Xiaoqiu.

Chen Xiaoqiu told me that the little daredevil had been released and planned to keep investigating ghosts online, while I worried about Xue Jingyue’s premonition and the truth being erased. I opened Incident No. 013, which began with Li Shi describing how his family encountered a ghost on the road while driving to a memorial service.

• Chen Xiaoqiu told me the little daredevil had been released and intended to continue investigating and livestreaming his encounters with ghosts.
• I suspected Ye Qing’s actions had affected the ability user who controlled online public opinion, though Wu Ling could not confirm it.
• Guo Yujie connected Xue Jingyue’s premonition about fingernails to the deaths linked to Li Moqian, while I considered what the premonition might mean.
• Skinny shared evidence that Li Moqian’s latest post and related online discussions had been blocked or deleted.
• I opened Incident No. 013 and read Li Shi’s account of his family seeing a ghost on an unnamed road while traveling to Ping’an County.