Chapter Summaries

A team investigating haunted houses toured two units in a residential complex and found that the first still held traces of the dog’s bloody death. After listening to an audio recording, they identified two dogs in that house but no human voices, and decided to investigate the families’ histories and contact the homeowners.

• A real estate agent explained that one family’s dog had died on a balcony, their parents had blamed neighbors, and the owners later lowered the selling price after a family death.
• The agent showed the team the first unit, where they found blood remaining in the balcony tile grout.
• The team toured a smaller, empty unit on the tenth floor and said they would consider whether to buy either house.
• On January 5, 2001, the team analyzed an audio file and heard a pug and a large mixed-breed dog in the first house, but no human voices.
• The team decided to check both families’ histories, contact the homeowners, and search property transaction records.

Tang Yingxiong told reporters how his dog died after he sent it to his hometown, a loss that contributed to his divorce. He denied keeping a key to the house and said Li Guang's family later suspected him of killing their dog.

• The reporters interviewed Tang Yingxiong about the house on Tianmu Road and what had happened while he lived there.
• Tang Yingxiong said his wife wanted a dog after miscarrying, so he brought home a puppy that she grew attached to.
• As the dog grew destructive and noisy, Tang Yingxiong and his wife confined it and eventually sent it to his hometown, where it died.
• Tang Yingxiong said a friend suggested his family had eaten the dog, causing arguments that ended in divorce and the sale of the house to Li Guang.
• Tang Yingxiong denied keeping a house key and said Li Guang's family came to suspect him after their own dog was killed.

A magazine interviewer questioned Xiao Li’s former coworker about the strange events surrounding Xiao Li’s dead pug and his mother’s death. The coworker also recounted a local tale about a dog that died inside a house and haunted the family that ate it, leaving the magazine considering further inquiries into Xiao Li and his hometown.

• The coworker said Xiao Li had blamed him for the house sale, the pug’s death, and possibly his mother’s death, then described the pug’s haunting behavior and the family’s unexplained misfortunes.
• The coworker recalled that the pug had damaged things around the house, while Xiao Li said his mother had been frightened to death and his father had nearly suffered a heart attack.
• The interviewer asked about local dog stories, and the coworker told a tale of a mistreated dog that died inside a family’s house and whose meat was followed by barking inside the family members’ stomachs.
• The coworker explained that people in his hometown believed dogs should not die inside the house and were taken elsewhere before being killed.
• The interviewer said the magazine might contact Xiao Li and visit the coworker’s hometown, and the coworker offered to help and asked to be credited if the story was published.

On January 9, investigators interviewed Li Guang about Wangwang’s death and the frightening events that followed. Li described how he and his wife began to suspect each other before experiencing what seemed to be Wangwang’s ghost.

• Investigators reviewed an earlier recording in which a man said his wife had dreamed about the dog and wondered why it had not attacked him.
• Li Guang explained that his parents had raised Wangwang lovingly and that the dog had seemed healthy and calm when left at Li and his wife’s home.
• Li recounted finding Wangwang reduced to scraps of fur and flesh, while police discovered a locked cage that neither he nor his wife admitted using.
• After Wangwang’s death, Li suspected his wife might have killed the dog, and he and his wife became afraid of each other.
• Li described hearing panting behind him in bed and later feeling Wangwang lick his hand before sensing a presence watching him in the dark.

Mr. Li recounted how Woof-Woof’s apparent haunting followed him from Manager Tang’s former house to his parents’ home, where his mother died under unexplained circumstances. He suspected Tang knew more than he admitted, but no strange events had occurred lately.

• Mr. Li said Woof-Woof’s death convinced him and his wife that something had entered their house, so they moved and sold it.
• Mr. Li recalled that Manager Tang had sold them the house during his divorce and later denied that his former dog might be connected to the haunting.
• After Mr. Li and his wife moved in with his parents, they discovered that food left in Woof-Woof’s bowl was being eaten.
• Mr. Li’s mother was found dead inside a wardrobe after he and his wife returned home, and the police could not determine whether she had suffocated or suffered a heart attack.
• Mr. Li said Tang had advised him to sell the house and described a local belief that a dead dog might return to haunt a household.
• Mr. Li told the interviewer that nothing strange had happened at home since his mother’s death.

On January 12, Ms. Qiu called Greenleaf after her son An'an saw a dog in the vacant apartment where a dog had died. The investigators found no dog inside the Qiu home, but An'an described seeing a small yellow puppy downstairs before a large yellow dog appeared on the balcony; after his father arrived, he asked how the investigators planned to handle it.

• On January 10, the investigators discussed the unexplained death of Li Guang's mother and rejected searching the underworld for her soul because it could harm their karma.
• On January 12, Ms. Qiu reported that An'an had seen a dog in the vacant unit and feared it had latched onto her son.
• The investigators visited the Qiu residence and confirmed that no dog had entered the home.
• An'an told the investigators he had seen a small yellow puppy downstairs, then a large yellow dog on the balcony, and thought they might have been the same dog.
• Bai Guoping arrived and asked the investigators what they had learned and how they would deal with the dog.

The investigators traveled to Tang Yingxiong’s hometown to learn about the dangerous dog’s past. Secretary Xiang described how the dog was mistreated and revealed that it had fatally bitten a child, leaving the investigators with a disturbing account of its history.

• The investigators told Mrs. Qiu they believed the ghost dog had killed the eleventh-floor pug and might endanger people, and promised to protect her son with talismans.
• On January 18, 2001, the investigators interviewed Secretary Xiang in Yuhe County about local customs surrounding dogs and death.
• Secretary Xiang recounted that Tang Yingxiong and his wife had spoiled their golden-coated dog in the city, then returned it to his parents, who beat and starved it until it stopped barking.
• Secretary Xiang said the dog seemed wrong and behaved like a mad dog, unlike the village’s dependable dogs.
• Secretary Xiang recalled that after a child teased the dog and was knocked over, Old Tang’s wife struck the dog, and a few days later the child was bitten to death.

A village resident recounted how the Tang family’s dog supposedly killed a child before villagers beat it to death, while the Tang family denied the story. After Liu Dahu was found dead in a wild-animal attack, Tang Yingxiong told the investigators that Dahu had killed his dog and that his mother had now seen the dog again.

• A villager described how the Tang family’s dog escaped and allegedly mauled Feng Xiaoshu’s child, after which Tang Yingxiong paid the family and urged them to conceal what happened.
• The villager said Liu Dahu’s family caught the dog stealing sausages, and Feng Xiaoshu’s mother beat it to death in the road; the Tang family later denied the incident.
• The villager reported that Feng Xiaoshu’s family had moved away and that the Tang family refused to discuss the dog, then announced that Liu Dahu had been killed by an animal.
• Investigators confirmed residual yin energy at the scene and noted that Tang Yingxiong’s large dog had not been found.
• Tang Yingxiong called the investigators and said someone in his hometown had been bitten to death by a creature resembling the one involved in the earlier child’s death.
• Tang Yingxiong explained that Liu Dahu had beaten his dog to death and said his mother had recently seen the dog pass by her house.

A report traced a dog’s return to Yuhe County and the deaths of Tang Yingxiong’s family. Tang described how the dog entered his home and began bleeding before attacking, leaving him alive but unable to explain what happened.

• A villager reported hearing the dog bark again and said an old man had died suddenly; the investigators noted increased yin energy in Yuhe County but could not find the dog.
• Tang Yingxiong called for help as barking and crashing sounds came through the recording, then the call ended abruptly.
• Investigators confirmed that Tang Yingxiong’s ex-wife, Lin Ai, and his parents had died in a bloody attack.
• Tang Yingxiong said he had invited Lin Ai to dinner after his parents became frightened, and the dog scratched at the door before his mother let it inside.
• Tang Yingxiong said Lin Ai recognized the dog and fed it, but it suddenly began bleeding and changed before attacking the family.

Tang Yingxiong considered an offer to help destroy the dog’s ghost, and investigators recorded that they later reached an agreement and concluded the case. The dog’s memories revealed how its owners spoiled and indulged it before it suddenly bit a stranger, leaving the man furious.

• Investigators urged Tang Yingxiong to cooperate in drawing out the dog’s ghost, and he asked for time to think.
• The dog remembered being taken from a dark, cramped place and welcomed by a woman who named it Toffee.
• Toffee learned that the woman’s affection brought it food and comfort, while the man disliked it and cleaned up after its mischief.
• Toffee bullied another woman’s dog, enjoyed its owner’s praise, and felt an unsettling sense that its memories were unreal.
• Toffee suddenly found itself biting a stranger who tried to pet it, and the man confronted it angrily at home.

Toffee’s growing, strange consciousness led it to test its limits until the woman’s boyfriend took it to his mother’s home, where it was killed after attacking a child. As a ghost, Toffee followed the woman and watched her suspect the truth and fight with the man, but she eventually left and never returned.

• Toffee deliberately disobeyed the woman during a bath and destroyed furniture when left alone, while the man brought home a cage.
• The man took Toffee to his mother’s home, tied it outside, and left it there despite its distress.
• Toffee attacked and ate parts of a child, was beaten and killed by the villagers, and died longing for the woman to come back.
• Toffee’s ghost followed the woman, who suspected that the man’s family had eaten the dog and confronted him.
• The woman later left home and never returned, while Toffee remained unable to make her see it.

The dog’s ghost relived its hatred and attacked the people who had mistreated it, but Ye Qing intervened before it could kill the man. The narrator woke from the experience at home, realizing that reading the file had sent him into a dream where he possessed the dog.

• The dog’s ghost tormented a new tenant’s dog, then entered its home and attacked the owner when its resentment grew.
• The ghost recognized the woman who had abandoned it and killed her, then broke into a room to pursue Tang Yingxiong.
• Tang Yingxiong fought the ghost with a belt, but the ghost’s resentment drove it to attack him again.
• Ye Qing’s gaze and chant stopped the ghost, which fled back to the village before Ye Qing appeared behind it.
• The ghost’s memory shifted to the narrator’s home, where Mom woke him after he fell asleep at his laptop.
• The narrator realized he had possessed the dog in a dream after reading its file and wondered whether Ye Qing had prevented him from losing himself.

Lin Qi learned that Ye Qing controlled his ability rather than merely borrowing it, and that the others had kept their abilities and their side effects at a distance from him. He left with a clearer sense of why Ye Qing had withheld the truth, but the consequences of taking control of his ability remained unresolved.

• Lin Qi visited Wu Ling, Nangong Yao, Gu Mo, and Liu Miao to discuss his ability going out of control in a dream.
• Liu Miao asked how well Lin Qi could control his ability, and Gu Mo warned that trying might kill him.
• Wu Ling explained that Ye Qing borrowed the others' abilities but controlled Lin Qi's ability and bore its side effects.
• Nangong Yao described Ye Qing's immense burden, while Gu Mo explained that Greenleaf's members had become closely bound through their partnership.
• Wu Ling said Ye Qing might not be able to borrow Lin Qi's ability if Lin Qi learned to control it completely.
• Gu Mo admitted he had told Lin Qi to leave things to fate because he believed doing less was safest.

Liu Miao explained that the supernatural events in Yangshan District had strengthened the group’s abilities and advised Lin Qi to learn to control his own before it killed him. The group discussed how their abilities had caused their deaths in the future, and Liu Miao encouraged Lin Qi to keep practicing.

• Wu Ling and Liu Miao suggested that Ye Qing had relaxed his control over Lin Qi or that the Yangshan District events had strengthened their abilities.
• Liu Miao revealed that Ye Qing was followed by many vengeful ghosts and explained how the group controlled their abilities.
• Liu Miao warned Lin Qi that people often died because of their own abilities and said a vengeful ghost had killed him in the future.
• Gu Mo and Nangong Yao joked about their deaths, and Nangong Yao described being trapped in a game-like world before he and a spirit were killed.
• Lin Qi suspected Liu Miao’s ability might have been connected to his parents’ deaths but dismissed the thought.
• Liu Miao reassured Lin Qi that he could sense and gradually control his ability if he kept trying.

Lin Qi struggled to sense and control his ability while Greenleaf debated whether he should keep training or leave the crisis to Ye Qing. Chen Xiaoqiu suggested that Ye Qing and Liu Miao might know Lin Qi’s fate from the future world, leaving Lin Qi shaken by the possibility.

• Lin Qi spent a week trying to sense his ability but made no progress, while Greenleaf searched for a safe dream subject and preferred to leave the danger to Ye Qing.
• Lin Qi discussed training with The Skinny and Fatty, who also could not sense or control their abilities, and compared their difficulties with Greenleaf’s members.
• Chen Xiaoqiu noticed Liu Miao’s urgency and suggested that he and Ye Qing might have seen the future world, while the others trusted Ye Qing’s approach.
• Lin Qi guessed that Greenleaf’s members had chosen to leave the outcome to fate, since either he or Ye Qing might get only one chance to change the future.
• Chen Xiaoqiu suggested that Greenleaf might have seen Lin Qi in the future world or learned what fate held for him, and Lin Qi was stunned.

The narrator and Chen Xiao Qiu considered whether the future world they had glimpsed was a continuation of their present, and the narrator questioned Liu Miao about his death and Greenleaf’s plans. Liu Miao urged the narrator to prepare for a decisive moment, but the conflicting advice left the narrator unsettled and unable to meditate, so they turned to the files in the bookcase.

• Chen Xiao Qiu suggested that the future had diverged and that both sides had hesitated to interfere with the narrator’s actions.
• The narrator called Liu Miao, who explained that he had died after his uncontrolled ability killed him in the future world.
• Liu Miao said Greenleaf believed the narrator should master their power, while Wu Ling and the others wanted them to wait until the world changed fundamentally.
• Liu Miao told the narrator that the chief might be preparing them to survive until the right moment to use their ability.
• The narrator told Chen Xiao Qiu about the call, then abandoned meditation and went to look through the files in the bookcase.

Wu Xue and Hong Xiao'ai brought a video to investigate the suspicious death of their friend, and Wu Xue narrated footage of a trip with Tong Ranran, Li Peng, and Hu Jie. The video reached the group’s late-night drive home, where tiredness and bickering left them struggling to stay alert.

• Wu Xue and Hong Xiao'ai visited Greenleaf and asked the investigators to watch a video connected to a friend's suspicious death.
• The video showed Wu Xue, Tong Ranran, Hong Xiao'ai, Li Peng, and Hu Jie setting out for Shaozhuang in Hu Jie's family car.
• Wu Xue narrated that the friends spent several days in Shaozhuang and ran into trouble on their return journey after Hu Jie took a wrong exit.
• The video showed the group driving back to Minqing after dark, with Hu Jie tired at the wheel and Li Peng also drowsy.
• Tong Ranran blamed Hong Xiao'ai for distracting Hu Jie with a joke, while Hong Xiao'ai defended herself and the group discussed how to stay awake.

The group passed time in the car by telling ghost stories, with Tong Ranran frightened and the others trading tales. After Li Peng and Hong Xiaoai finished, Wu Xue volunteered to tell a story before Ranran.

• Hu Jie suggested they talk to stay awake, and Li Peng proposed telling ghost stories.
• Li Peng told a tale about his grandfather's squad following a floating lantern through a grove and discovering they had circled a pile of corpses.
• Hu Jie said he had heard the same story from an old man, and Hong Xiaoai teased Li Peng that his grandfather had not experienced it himself.
• Hong Xiaoai told a school rumor about a girl who died after jumping from the school building and supposedly tugged at students' feet before exams.
• When Li Peng asked Tong Ranran to tell a story, she refused, so Wu Xue offered to go first.

Wu Xue and Li Peng told ghost stories to their companions during a car ride. Li Peng’s tale stopped just as Tong Ranran and Hong Xiaoai screamed at the strange wet bed.

• Wu Xue told the group a Shaozhuang ghost story about a woman who drowned herself after her lover died and whose family was haunted until they were buried together.
• Li Peng dismissed Wu Xue’s story as boring, and Tong Ranran objected to telling more ghost stories.
• Li Peng began a road-side ghost story about a driver who saw his wife in front of his car after speaking with her on the phone.
• In Li Peng’s story, the driver reached home and found his wife asleep, then noticed that the bed and blankets felt wet.
• Tong Ranran and Hong Xiaoai suddenly screamed as Li Peng’s story continued.

Wu Xue recounted how she and her friends encountered a woman in red on the highway, then hit something as they drove away. The group later learned the woman had been struck and killed that night, and Wu Xue began explaining how they investigated what happened.

• Li Peng’s video showed Hu Jie’s car passing a woman in red on the highway, and the frightened passengers urged Hu Jie to drive on.
• The car jolted as it drove away, and the camera showed a tire lying on the road behind them; the passengers argued over what Hu Jie had hit.
• Wu Xue recalled that the five friends parted after reaching Minqing, and that Tong Ranran seemed haggard when they met again at school.
• Wu Xue said Hu Jie found a report that a mentally ill woman from Minqing had wandered onto the highway and been killed that night by a hit-and-run driver.
• Wu Xue explained that the friends believed they had not hit the woman, while Tong Ranran feared the encounter involved a ghost and began praying, eating vegetarian food, and collecting strange items.
• Wu Xue said the friends later asked a journalism student to help investigate the incident indirectly.