Chapter Summaries

Wu Xue and Xiao Ai recounted how Ranran deteriorated after learning that a truck driver had killed the woman in Shaozhuang, then died by suicide. They also described seeing a figure in red and revealed that Li Peng had recently died after being pushed into traffic, with Hu Jie identifying the ghost in red as the one responsible.

• The girls learned that a long-haul truck driver had hit the victim, and they told Ranran, who remained cold and withdrawn.
• Ranran became increasingly distressed, argued with her classmates, took a long leave from school, and was later seen by them screaming as if she saw a ghost.
• After Ranran died by suicide, Wu Xue and Xiao Ai visited her home and saw a motionless figure in red inside the apartment entrance passage.
• The girls fled, kept the sighting secret, and told Li Peng that no one had been home when they visited Ranran.
• The speaker revealed that Li Peng had died after being hit by a car, and Hu Jie said the ghost in red had pushed him.

The investigators questioned two students about a red-clad ghost and learned that Hu Jie had seen it before a fatal road accident. They investigated the recording and identified the dead woman as Tao Fangfei, whose husband described her long history of sleepwalking and separation from him; the chapter left her whereabouts before the crash unclear.

• The students said Hu Jie had seen a woman in red before Li Peng stepped into the path of a car and was killed, while the others saw no ghost.
• The students explained that the woman had been mentally ill and estranged from both her husband's and parents' families, and agreed to let the investigators contact Hu Jie.
• On June 16, the investigators reviewed the audio and video, concluding that the students had not been targeted and that the apparent impact had been a tire.
• On June 17, the investigators identified the woman killed in the expressway accident as Tao Fangfei.
• On June 19, Xu Anping told the investigators that Tao had sleepwalked since childhood, that they had separated, and that she had been staying with her parents on Yiju Road before possibly being sent to their hometown.

Investigators questioned Xu Anping and Tao Shihui about Tao Fangfei’s death, her sleepwalking, and the family’s role in her care. The accounts conflicted over the divorce dispute and compensation, while no one knew exactly how she died.

• Xu Anping said Tao Fangfei’s family sent her to live alone in the countryside, and he arranged and partly paid for her funeral after she was killed.
• Investigators visited Tao Fangfei’s grave and found nothing unusual, then analyzed an audio recording of her sleepwalking history.
• Tao Shihui accused Xu Anping of worsening Tao Fangfei’s mental state by questioning her and spreading stories about her sleepwalking.
• Tao Shihui said his family sent Tao Fangfei to their grandfather’s vacant countryside house because they could not care for her at home.
• Tao Shihui said no one knew how Tao Fangfei reached the road where she died, and that his family received the compensation while Xu Anping kept the house.

Hu Jie told investigators that after the highway incident, he saw a red-clad female ghost at school and believed it pushed Li Peng to his death. He had stopped seeing it after carrying a protective talisman, while the investigators planned to question Tong Ranran's parents.

• Hu Jie said he had feared legal and disciplinary trouble after the highway incident and was relieved when he learned Ms. Tao had been killed by a truck.
• Hu Jie recounted rumors from Wang Ning that Tong Ranran had played supernatural games in high school and had once worn a protective bracelet.
• Hu Jie said he saw a red-clad ghost push Li Peng, though he could not identify its face or confirm it was Ms. Tao.
• Hu Jie described seeing the ghost several times at school and said he took sick leave and obtained a talisman through Wang Ning.
• Hu Jie told the investigators he had not seen the ghost since carrying the talisman, and they said they would contact Tong Ranran's parents.

Investigators interviewed Tong Ranran's father, Tong Yun, about her history of fear and belief in ghosts before her death. The interview ended with a question about whether Tong Yun had seen his daughter's ghost or experienced anything unusual at home.

• Tong Yun explained that his family had once indulged Tong Ranran's interest in religious rituals because she had been frail as a child.
• Tong Yun described how Tong Ranran became frightened after a high school pen-spirit game and mistakenly believed a classmate had died because of it.
• Tong Yun said Tong Ranran later became convinced she had encountered a female ghost after reading about a fatal highway accident, despite his efforts to reassure her.
• Tong Yun recounted Tong Ranran's worsening behavior, the family's mixed use of medicine and spiritual rituals, and finding her dead at home.
• An investigator asked Tong Yun whether he had seen Tong Ranran's ghost or noticed unusual occurrences in the house.

The investigators questioned Mr. Tong about the footsteps he and his wife heard after their daughter Tong Ranran died, then accompanied him to their abandoned home. They found her bedroom in disarray, but the investigators said Ranran was gone.

• The investigators persuaded Mr. Tong to describe hearing footsteps and finding incense burning after Tong Ranran died.
• Mr. Tong said the footsteps later stopped outside his bedroom, and he and his wife moved out after failing to contact Ranran.
• On June 25, 2003, the investigators returned with Mr. Tong to his former home and found Tong Ranran's bedroom badly disturbed.
• The bedroom photos showed a pillow torn open, the words “Go die, go die, go die” written in bloodlike strokes, and a shattered Bodhisattva statue smeared with incense ash.
• Mr. Tong realized the room had changed since he left, and the investigator told him Tong Ranran had stayed there for a long time but was gone now.

A case file recounts Tong Ranran’s attacks on Wu, Hong Xiao Ai, and Hu Jie before the agency confirms Ranran has been eliminated. After reading the report, the narrator is pulled into the past and realizes they have possessed Hu Jie as Tong Ranran attacks him at the garbage dump.

• Wu told the agency that Tong Ranran appeared on a road at night, seized Hu Jie, and dragged him away.
• Tong Ranran attacked Wu and Xiao Ai at a phone booth; Xiao Ai’s protective charm burned the ghost, while Xiao Ai was badly injured and Hu Jie remained missing.
• Hong Xiao Ai recovered, and police found Hu Jie’s body at a landfill.
• The agency confirmed that Tong Ranran had been eliminated and closed the investigation.
• After reading the case file, the narrator was pulled into a vision of the garbage dump and recognized Tong Ranran as the evil spirit attacking the body they had possessed: Hu Jie.

The narrator relived Tong Ranran’s trauma, watched her die by suicide and become a vengeful ghost, then returned to work with newfound sensitivity. A message about his sister’s book delivery seemed harmless until the package information made his heart pound.

• The narrator witnessed Tong Ranran’s memories of a fatal road accident and her worsening fear that the dead woman was haunting her.
• Tong Ranran’s fear overwhelmed her, and she died after taking an overdose; as a ghost, she grew more malicious when Wu Xue and Hong Xiao'ai visited.
• The narrator woke from the vision and wondered whether his increased sensitivity marked progress in his training.
• The narrator received a message from his younger sister asking him to collect books she had ordered, and he confirmed she had bought them herself.
• After worrying about the escaped delivery ghost, the narrator returned home and saw information on the package that made his heart pound.

The narrator discovered that the comic artist Bai An had drawn a horror comic resembling the “Daytime Barking” case and posted images of ghosts and monsters the narrator recognized. Convinced that the artist had seen these supernatural beings in real life, the narrator called Wu Ling for answers.

• The narrator searched online for comic artist Bai An after receiving a package addressed to their younger sister.
• The narrator read Bai An’s horror comic Mad Dog and recognized its story as closely resembling the “Daytime Barking” case file.
• The narrator considered whether Bai An was the same person connected to the case and messaged Wu Ling to ask about the client’s family.
• The narrator examined Bai An’s social media and found frightening illustrations resembling known ghosts and monsters, including the Green-faced Ghost.
• Wu Ling replied, and the narrator called her without reading the message.

After studying Bai An’s paintings, Lin Qi grew increasingly uneasy and dreamed of a moonlit pond. He woke with a vision tied to Nan Tian and learned Nan Tian was filming at a hot spring in Country J, where someone had just gone underwater.

• Lin Qi asked Wu Ling whether Bai An’s paintings suggested he had a supernatural ability, and Wu Ling said Bai An might unknowingly dream of real ghosts and monsters.
• Lin Qi spent hours viewing Bai An’s paintings, became drenched in cold sweat, and struggled to sleep as he imagined monsters around him.
• Lin Qi dreamed of something rising beneath a moonlit pond, then woke to voices calling Nan Tian and describing a director.
• Lin Qi called Wu Ling and learned Nan Tian was filming The Hot Spring Villa Murder Case at a hot spring in Country J.
• Nangong Yao shouted that someone on Nan Tian’s set had gone underwater, and Lin Qi tried to enter the dream to reach Nan Tian or his assistant.

Lin Qi saw a vision connected to Bai An and learned that a crew member had drowned during filming in Nantian. Wu Ling later reported that heavy snow had trapped the crew on a mountain with a vengeful ghost, possibly the presence Lin Qi had seen.

• Lin Qi saw a torii, a ruined shrine, a catlike creature, and a dead man rising from water before waking from his vision.
• Wu Ling told Lin Qi that a crew member had drowned on the Nantian set and that the production had halted.
• Lin Qi found Bai An's post describing a bad feeling that something big was about to happen.
• Lin Qi went to Workers and Peasants Sixth Village with his colleagues to meet Song Xian's family.
• Wu Ling told Lin Qi that heavy snow had blocked the mountain roads and severed the signal, trapping the crew.
• Wu Ling said she and the others sensed yin energy and a vengeful ghost on the mountain, which might be the presence Lin Qi had seen.

Lin Qi planned to investigate the snowbound film crew by entering a crew member’s dream and focused on the deceased production assistant, Honda Shota. Through Honda’s consciousness, he witnessed the crew filming at Ootama Hot Spring Villa and learned that Director Otsuka Ichiro had invited the Shimada family to take small roles.

• Lin Qi told Wu Ling he would investigate the crew, and Nangong Yao asked him to help save his younger brother, Nan Tian.
• Wu Ling sent Lin Qi the incomplete crew list, which identified Honda Shota as the crew member who had died the previous day.
• Lin Qi reviewed the crew’s backgrounds, then concentrated on Honda Shota’s photograph and began separating his soul from his body.
• Lin Qi entered Honda Shota’s consciousness and saw Mrs. Shimada, her family, and their young great-grandson at Ootama Hot Spring Villa.
• Lin Qi learned that Otsuka Ichiro had invited the Shimada family to play small roles because the inn was in his hometown and had inspired the story.

The narrator followed Honda as he worked on a film crew at Ootama Hot Spring Resort, searching for the shrine and ghost connected to Nan Tian’s disappearance. On the seventh day, Honda glimpsed a strange green eye in a paper door, and the white creature escaped into the forest.

• Honda helped the crew prepare the neglected resort, while the narrator searched in vain for the abandoned shrine and its red torii gate.
• The actors arrived on the fourth day, but Nan Tian was still missing and the crew spoke dismissively of him.
• On the seventh day, Honda washed vegetables alone, then went looking for the cook and the filming area.
• Honda saw a flash of white and a luminous green, vertical-pupiled eye through a hole in a paper door and cried out.
• The white creature leaped through an open window into the forest, while the Shimada family's son suggested it had been a stray cat.
• Honda noticed the hole was at his shoulder height and wondered whether the cat could float.

Honda continued working with the film crew as the narrator investigated the hot spring and grew anxious about his approaching death. After Nantian arrived, Honda was sent to deliver a bag to the Shimada family and found their grandson and granddaughter-in-law beside a stone Jizō statue.

• Honda helped dress the hot spring murder scene while the narrator searched its bottom and wondered whether the haunted shrine was nearby.
• The Shimada family's son visited the filming, and the crew later finished the day's scenes.
• Nantian arrived at the inn on the thirteenth day of filming, and the narrator realized Honda's predicted disaster was two days away.
• The narrator spotted Han Ji with Nantian and saw no yin energy as Honda watched the filming from the crowd.
• Honda delivered a bag bought by the Shimada family's grandson, found the couple outside, and saw a stone Jizō statue in front of them.

Honda and the film crew encountered a mysterious black-backed white cat at the inn, while Honda grew increasingly exhausted and sensed an odd fishy smell. That evening, Shimada’s young son chased the cat deeper into the inn, and Honda and the others rushed after him.

• Honda delivered a plastic bag to Shimada’s grandson and spoke with him and his wife beside the Jizo statue.
• The next morning, the film crew complained about their sleeping arrangements, and Honda sensed a faint fishy smell without finding its source.
• A white cat with black fur along its back appeared in the corridor, and Shimada’s granddaughter-in-law said the family did not own it.
• The director decided to add a strange black cat and taxidermied cats to Mrs. Shimada’s room for the film.
• That evening, Shimada’s son spotted the cat and ran after it, so Honda and the others hurried after him.

The narrator followed Honda as he searched the hot springs for Shimada Daiki, but the child was nowhere to be found. When Honda drowned in the pool, the narrator realized the water and the white cat were connected to something sinister.

• Honda searched the men’s bath and found no sign of Shimada Daiki, while a leaking faucet and a strange odor drew the narrator’s attention.
• The white cat startled Honda into falling into the men’s hot spring, but Honda searched the pool and confirmed the child was not there.
• Honda heard splashing in the women’s bath and found the cat pawing at the water beside the pool.
• Honda entered the women’s hot spring to search for Daiki, then slipped when the cat darted out and injured his ankle.
• The pool’s stench intensified as Honda struggled in the water, and he sank to the bottom and died.

Honda died in the hot spring, and his body was discovered by a staff member while his confused soul lingered nearby. As Mrs. Shimada covered Honda’s eyes, she secretly removed a strip of red scarf from his mouth, which the wind carried into the spring.

• After Honda died, yin energy filled the hot spring and inn as gray snow fell, and Honda’s soul remained in a daze.
• A staff member searching for Honda found his body floating in the women’s hot spring and fled to alert the others.
• The director confirmed Honda was dead, sent the crew back to their rooms, and spoke with the Shimada family’s son about Honda’s movements.
• Mrs. Shimada arrived and insisted that Honda’s body be removed before the police came.
• As men pulled Honda’s body from the water, Mrs. Shimada covered his eyes and took a strip of red scarf from his mouth.
• The wind swept the scarf from Mrs. Shimada’s hand into the hot spring.

Lin Qi discussed the hot spring resort haunting with Wu Ling, who warned that Nangong Yao could become dangerously unstable if Nantian was harmed. Lin Qi resolved to rescue Nantian if she reentered the dream, and after a day without another dream, she woke to icy water splashing on her face.

• Lin Qi woke from Honda’s dream and wondered whether Mrs. Shimada or a vengeful ghost was behind the deaths.
• Wu Ling told Lin Qi that Yoko Shimada’s undocumented husband had died long ago and that an older haunting on the mountain was also possible.
• Wu Ling warned that Nantian’s danger could cause Nangong Yao to lose control if his seal failed.
• Lin Qi promised to prioritize getting Nantian out of the dream, even if she had to leave the other people at the inn behind.
• After a day without dreaming, Lin Qi fell asleep thinking of the Great Jade Hot Spring Resort and woke as cold water splashed across her face.

Takahashi witnessed Ono die in a washroom when a broken faucet kept filling a sink that held his head underwater. As panic spread, Shimada Hikaru warned the production crew that heavy snow had cut off the mountain and delayed the police.

• Takahashi noticed water still running from the faucet after he turned it off, then left the washroom as Ono went inside.
• People heard banging from the washroom and forced the door open, finding Ono drowned with his head in the overflowing sink.
• The crew questioned Takahashi, who said the faucet had malfunctioned and then exclaimed that he could have been the one to die.
• Shimada Hikaru told the director that the snow had blocked the roads and that the police could not reach the mountain for several hours.

After Ono’s death, Takahashi panicked as the others speculated that a ghost was responsible and he was marked by the same spirit. When the group took him outside, the narrator sensed the ghost’s presence beneath the inn just as something touched Takahashi’s finger.

• Takahashi trembled and imagined the sound of running water while the others whispered about Ono’s death.
• A guest accused the inn of being haunted, and Takahashi shouted that he knew nothing about the broken faucet that had drowned Ono.
• The narrator sensed yin energy marking Takahashi and suspected the ghost would come for him.
• Takahashi smelled a fishy stench in his curry and water, retched, and was led outside for fresh air.
• The group spotted a black cat with emerald-green eyes in a snowy tree, and it leapt down and ran away.
• The narrator sensed dense yin energy beneath the stilted inn, and something touched Takahashi’s finger in the darkness.