Chapter Summaries

The narrator discussed Ye Qing’s motives and the risks of relying on abilities with Wu Ling, then waited unsuccessfully for a dream that could lead him back to Guangyuan Mountain. With that search on hold, he returned to the case files and began reading Ruan Han’s account of a strange presence in his home.

• Wu Ling explained that Ye Qing valued Mo Xiaoling’s ability to see death scenes and wanted to help the narrator carry out their plan rather than take over himself.
• Wu Ling warned the narrator that relying too much on abilities could lead people to disastrous choices, citing Mo Xiaoling’s actions.
• The narrator asked about the fortune-teller, and Wu Ling said she would ask Nangong Yao to investigate him.
• The narrator went three nights without a new dream, then spent three busy days at the demolition office and heard no news about the fortune-teller or the paranormal circle.
• The narrator resumed reading case files and reached Ruan Han’s account of his friend’s strange behavior, a frightened and sick dog, and a cactus that suddenly rotted.
• Ruan Han said his friend moved back into his house after a ritual, but his dog disappeared that night.

Mr. Ruan hired the investigators to look into the strange events that preceded his friend Song Feiying’s death. After reviewing the account and chat records, the boss suspected the case might not involve a ghost.

• Mr. Ruan described how Song Feiying’s missing dog, strange occurrences in his apartments, and worsening fear led him to seek help.
• Mr. Ruan explained that Song Feiying died after sealing his apartment shut and apparently trying to escape, while his pleas for help failed to reach anyone.
• Mr. Ruan hired the investigators to determine the cause of Song Feiying’s death and gave them copies of their chat history.
• After Mr. Ruan left, the boss said the case seemed minor and suggested it might not be a ghost.

The investigation into Song Feiying's death found signs of a violent struggle, while a colleague recalled his growing fear and anxiety before he died. Ruan Han then reported that another member of their online group had died suddenly, prompting the investigators to examine the group's chat history.

• The case records showed that Song Feiying died of anaphylactic shock caused by pulmonary hydatid disease, while blood found beneath a bed belonged to a dog.
• The investigators reviewed photographs showing Song Feiying's boarded-up rental home, signs of a struggle, and his injured fingers and face.
• Zheng Xiaoping told the investigators that Song Feiying had been tense, easily startled, and reluctant to go home in the weeks before his death.
• Ruan Han informed the investigators that Fatal Strike, another member of their online group, had died after locking himself inside a walk-in freezer.
• Ruan Han visited the investigators and synced the group's chat history; they asked him to stay in contact with its members while they searched for anything suspicious.

Ye Qing and Liu Miao investigated a strange voice red packet linked to Song Feiying and found that several people who had retracted messages later died after behaving strangely. They identified Ding Yi as the sender but found no abnormalities when they watched him, until Ruan Han called to report that the Caged Bird had sent another red packet and someone had claimed it.

• Liu Miao and Ye Qing processed Song Feiying's voice messages and heard a sound like a door opening, prompting Ye Qing to say that something had gone in.
• Liu Miao traced the retracted messages to twelve accounts and found that nine belonged to people who had died after showing signs of fear and erratic behavior.
• Liu Miao identified Ding Yi as the sender of the voice red packet, and Ye Qing decided to visit him with Ruan Han.
• Ye Qing and Liu Miao watched Ding Yi walking near a school and found nothing unusual about him.
• Ruan Han called to report that the Caged Bird had sent another red packet with the same strange string of words, and that someone had claimed it.

Chen Song described terrifying sounds and an unseen presence before dying in a fall from his apartment building. A year later, An Yifeng reported hearing disturbing dog and cat noises at home and agreed to meet the investigators.

• Chen Song told the investigators that he heard unexplained dripping and toilet sounds, and felt watched by someone he could not see.
• Chen Song called the investigators in terror, reporting footsteps and a shower turning on behind him before the call ended in screams and crashes.
• The investigators confirmed that Chen Song had died after falling from a building; police found no sign of a break-in, and the cause of his fall remained unknown.
• An Yifeng said he heard unnaturally frightening dog and cat noises at home, though police had found nothing when he reported them.
• An Yifeng agreed to meet the investigators at a nearby high-speed rail station.

Ding Yi told investigators that he had accidentally summoned an invisible entity while reading an inscription from the Demonic Scripture, and that his grandfather’s terminal cancer then vanished. He began explaining how the voice-message red packets and curse followed, leaving the investigators with his account unfinished.

• The investigators confronted Ding Yi about the cursed red packets after confirming An Yifeng’s death, and warned that they could kill the person who cast the curse.
• Ding Yi asked for time off and led the investigators to a soundproof karaoke room to speak privately.
• Ding Yi said he had found an old photograph of his father with an unknown woman, whose writing on its back he identified as the Demonic Scripture.
• Ding Yi described reading the inscription aloud, sensing an unseen presence enter his home, and rushing to his grandfather’s room before passing out.
• Ding Yi said he later found himself holding the book and photograph, while his grandfather was alive and his medical records had disappeared, as though the cancer diagnosis had never happened.

Ding Yi described how a spirit possessed him, killed Meng Guang, and used him to send red packets before disappearing. After Ding Yi’s grandfather was found dead and identified as a suspected host, investigators contacted Jiang Tao, then suspended the unresolved Kazi'ana case.

• Ding Yi said the spirit caused hallucinations, controlled his body, and possessed Meng Guang, who died after smashing his head into a mirror and suffering a seizure.
• Ding Yi explained that the spirit had sent messages and red packets through the group, then disappeared, possibly to find other people.
• The investigators asked to see a photo, and Ding Yi discovered that his grandfather had died.
• The investigators examined a photo of Ding Yi’s grandfather’s desiccated corpse and an old photo of Ding Yi’s father bearing strange writing.
• Jiang Tao reported hearing noises and finding unexplained marks on his newborn daughter, but said the disturbances had suddenly stopped.
• On January 12, 2016, the investigators suspended the unresolved Kazi'ana case, pending any related incident.

The narrator told Wu Ling about the files and learned that the entity described was likely an evil spirit, while ancient Kazanan demons such as Misralt Monroe could survive destruction and return. Wu Ling warned that the ghost on Guangyuan Mountain remained the immediate danger because it had already crossed paths with the narrator.

• The narrator finished reading the files, found no sign of the entity in the bathroom, and called Wu Ling to report what they contained.
• Wu Ling explained that evil spirits were formless beings that could act through spells, while Western demon lore differed from local beliefs about ghosts.
• Wu Ling described how ancient Kazanan writing and beliefs defined demons and helped them persist, identifying the lifespan-stealing demon as possibly Misralt Monroe.
• Wu Ling said Misralt Monroe could return after being killed and that multiple instances might exist, though the fallen Kazana culture limited their numbers.
• Wu Ling distinguished the powerful but instinct-driven evil spirit from demons and warned that the ghost on Guangyuan Mountain was still a serious threat to the narrator.

After rumors about Building Six made Workers and Peasants Sixth Village residents eager to leave, the narrator reflected on Greenleaf and Mo Xiaoling’s struggles and found resolve in the thought that death might not be the end. He reopened Greenleaf’s file and began reading Incident No. 014, in which Fu Sheng described the haunting that frightened his mother.

• Director Mao told the narrator that rumors about Building Six had made many elderly residents fear the village and rush to move away.
• The narrator thought about Greenleaf and Mo Xiaoling’s losses and drew strength from Greenleaf’s actions after death.
• The narrator reopened Greenleaf’s file and read Incident No. 014, “The Haunting at Home.”
• Fu Sheng told Greenleaf that his mother believed his deceased father and older brother sometimes returned to visit her.
• Fu Sheng said his mother began feeling that something was wrong at home, then heard footsteps and dripping and later saw an unseen presence beside her bed.

Mr. Fu described how a ghost haunted his mother before her death in a house fire, then followed him and his family to their home and temporary rental. The investigators sensed strong ghostly yin energy on him and arranged to meet his family before inspecting the home.

• Mr. Fu said his mother feared a ghost, struggled to sleep, and secretly called the police about it while he tried to get her medical help.
• Mr. Fu recounted how his mother died in a house fire and how he later saw a tall man's shadow reflected in the bedroom window.
• Mr. Fu said the ghost followed his family, leaving a handprint high on their bathroom mirror and appearing beside him at night.
• Mr. Fu told the investigators that the ghost followed them to a temporary rental and pleaded for help protecting his family.
• The investigators sensed strong yin energy on Mr. Fu, said the ghost was not especially powerful, and asked to meet his family before visiting the home.

The investigators learned that the Fu family’s haunting began after a trip to Beidu, where Grandma spoke to a frightening figure inside an ice sculpture. After searching the Fu home, Yezi determined the ghost’s corpse or personal effects remained in Beidu, so the investigators needed to find them there.

• Mrs. Fu described unexplained cold, a presence nearby, and icy water dripping onto a faucet at school, while her son said he also sensed someone watching him.
• Mr. Fu’s son recalled seeing Grandma stare at an ice tower in Beidu and speak to a tall, frightening man inside it.
• Mr. Fu explained that the family had visited the ice sculptures during their New Year trip and had briefly become separated from Grandma and his son.
• The investigators searched the Fu home but found no ghost’s main body there.
• Yezi said the ghost’s corpse or personal effects were still in Beidu and told the Fu family to use the agency’s protective charms until the investigators could find them.

Greenleaf Paranormal investigated reports of a ghost appearing in ice at Beidu’s 2002 ice sculpture exhibition. Former manager Shao Zhiguo explained that he had resigned after hearing an unexplained voice near a stack of ice blocks, and began describing what happened next.

• The investigators reviewed recordings in which a witness described faces inside ice cubes and a voice asking for help.
• The investigators found no reported casualties at the Beidu Ice Sculpture Exhibition and traveled there to question people about it.
• A person at the exhibition site denied any haunting but recalled bright lights melting ice and children needing rescue from an ice castle.
• The investigators contacted Shao Zhiguo, who revealed that he had left Beidu Wanhua Entertainment before the exhibition began and wore a consecrated jade pendant for protection.
• Shao Zhiguo said he first sensed something behind him at the exhibition site, heard an indistinct voice near a tall stack of ice, and found no one there when he turned around.

Mr. Shao recounted seeing a figure frozen inside an ice block and learning that it was Niuwa, a missing ice digger said to have been taken by the Three Ancestors. Investigators searched the nearby counties for the Three Ancestors Temple, but found no trace of it.

• Mr. Shao described seeing a pale face inside a block of ice and suffering persistent cold afterward.
• Mr. Shao said an old woman told him he had offended something, so he burned spirit money at the site.
• Mr. Shao explained that ice diggers told him Niuwa had vanished into the Sanzu River and that others had seen him frozen inside ice.
• Mr. Shao said he bought an amulet at a temple dedicated to the Three Ancestors and felt better afterward.
• Investigators traveled through Zulong County, Zufeng County, and Zugui County from August 9 to August 11, 2002, asking about the temple.
• On August 12, 2002, investigators recorded that they had searched near the Sanzu River but had not found the Three Ancestors Temple.

Wu Ling and his companions investigated the drowned Three Ancestors Temple and learned from A-Long that the temple and village vanished beneath the river after outsiders angered the Three Ancestors God. During a dive to search for the temple, Ye Qing and Liu Miao mysteriously reached the shore of the submerged island.

• Wu Ling questioned A-Long, who recalled that the Three Ancestors God drowned the temple and village after outsiders went to the island and did something bad.
• A-Long said he had once seen someone—or perhaps the temple itself—at the site beneath the river, where he believed the temple priest and villagers might still remain.
• On August 18, Gu Mo, Nangong Yao, and Wu Ling sent Ye Qing and Liu Miao underwater with a camera to search for the Three Ancestors Temple.
• The camera lost contact with Gu Mo as Ye Qing and Liu Miao reached the riverbed, and the darkness suddenly gave way to daylight.
• Ye Qing and Liu Miao found themselves standing in shallow water on the shore of an island with visible buildings.

Ye Qing and Liu Miao entered a pocket dimension on an island and met its inhabitants and temple keeper, who explained the legends behind a ruined statue of the Three Ancestral Gods. The temple keeper showed Ye Qing a huge scale said to belong to the qilin, and Ye Qing felt his soul struck from his body when he took it.

• Ye Qing told Liu Miao that the island was a small, unstable pocket dimension where time had stopped.
• Ye Qing and Liu Miao followed the islanders to a ruined temple after its keeper invited them inside.
• Ye Qing identified the damaged statue as a depiction of the dragon, qilin, phoenix, and tortoise, and the temple keeper described how the Four Ancestral Gods became three.
• The temple keeper showed Ye Qing and Liu Miao a faded mural and explained that the village had preserved the temple’s history for generations.
• The temple keeper revealed a huge scale he claimed was from the qilin, and Ye Qing felt an immense force knock his soul out of his body when he touched it.

The narrator awakens as a monstrous qilin in a modern city and watches it pursue a ghost while destroying the streets and buildings. As the qilin tears open a strange surface beneath the ground, the narrator’s soul is pulled away again.

• The narrator awakens in the qilin’s body beneath a sky filled with yin energy and struggles against its urge to kill.
• The qilin charges through the city, crushing people and demolishing buildings as it pursues a ghost who takes something from the ground.
• The ghost summons a three-headed, six-armed giant to block the qilin, then vanishes when the qilin destroys it in one blow.
• The qilin searches the ruined city, finds the ghost again, and repeatedly digs at the spot where it first appeared.
• The qilin tears open a water-like surface beneath the ground, wounds its claw on a sharp object, and the narrator feels their soul being pulled away.

Ye Qing and Liu Miao discovered that the people on the sunken island were dead and trapped there, then burned Niuwa’s body. When the temple keeper’s eyes turned blue-green, Ye Qing used the Qilin scale to unleash water and a beast, and the chapter ended as they fled the shaking ruins.

• The temple keeper told Ye Qing and Liu Miao that he and the island’s inhabitants had died in a flood but remained unable to leave permanently.
• Ye Qing identified Niuwa’s corpse and decided to burn it, despite the others warning that those who left the island could become dangerous ghosts.
• Ye Qing set Niuwa’s body alight with blue-green flames while the temple keeper watched.
• The temple keeper’s pupils glowed blue-green, and Ye Qing and Liu Miao fled as something chased them through the ruins.
• Ye Qing struck the ground with the Qilin scale, unleashing surging water and a roaring beast before he and Liu Miao escaped over a broken wall.

The footage showed the temple keeper being dragged underground by a beast formed from yin energy, while Ye Qing and Liu Miao survived the resulting flood. Later, Niu Wa’s ghost disappeared into the river, and the narrator focused on how the temple keeper’s controlled yin energy resembled the Guangyuan Mountain ghost’s.

• A horned beast made of yin energy swallowed the ruins, dragging the temple keeper and a corpse underground as water erupted and swept away Ye Qing and Liu Miao.
• Liu Miao rescued Ye Qing, and they later told Wu Ling that a different space had collapsed and a qilin had appeared.
• While monitoring the river, Wu Ling and Nan Gongyao discussed how Niu Wa’s ghost had affected Mrs. Fu and caused her death.
• Niu Wa surfaced encased in ice, melted into the river, and Wu Ling said he had gone to be reincarnated.
• The narrator compared the temple keeper’s controlled yin energy to the Guangyuan Mountain ghost’s and wondered whether such ghosts belonged to the same species.

The narrator connected the emerging Guangyuan Mountain ghost and shrine keeper to a new kind of supernatural being, then questioned Wu Ling about a monstrous creature seen in a video and a dream. Wu Ling suggested the creature might be a legendary demon and warned that ghosts were changing as the world deteriorated; Nangong was watching Guangyuan Mountain, where past hauntings might have been caused by its ghost.

• The narrator compared Ye Qing with the Guangyuan Mountain ghost and concluded that the ghost and shrine keeper were ambitious new beings claiming territory.
• After recognizing a monster in a video as the creature from a dream, the narrator called Wu Ling and asked whether it was a Qilin.
• Wu Ling said the creature might be a demon from ancient legends, a spirit, an extinct species, or something from an alternate space.
• Wu Ling linked the narrator's dream to the vanished island of the Three Ancestors Temple, and the narrator considered whether other legends came from alternate spaces.
• The narrator told Wu Ling that the Guangyuan Mountain ghost might be another new kind of being, while Wu Ling suggested ghosts were changing and becoming more independent.
• Wu Ling said Nangong was watching Guangyuan Mountain and asked whether the narrator wanted to investigate earlier hauntings there.

The narrator studied Nangong Yao’s records of deaths and disappearances linked to Guangyuan, then entered a dream that returned to the days after Jin Shanshan’s death. The dream left the narrator watching Wu Qiren and Liu Liangwang infer that Shanshan’s trail led to Minqing, while the fortune-teller’s fingers left blood on the tarot cards.

• The narrator read Nangong Yao’s file and grew alarmed at the Guangyuan ghost’s extensive reach and apparent restraint.
• The narrator recognized Li Shi’s case in the records and recalled that his family had been released to reincarnate after the narrator drew the ghost’s attention.
• The narrator went to bed and entered a dream in which they possessed the fortune-teller, seated with Liu Liangwang and Wu Qiren.
• Wu Qiren asked the fortune-teller where Jin Shanshan was, and the fortune-teller answered that she was east.
• Liu Liangwang and Wu Qiren checked a map and concluded that Minqing was the only likely place along the eastern route.
• The fortune-teller gathered the tarot cards, and his fingers left a streak of crimson on them.