Recaps

Wen Ning faced eviction and the collapse of his struggling agency, then poured out his troubles to the statue of his longtime godfather, Wen Zhong. After Wen Ning fell asleep, the statue’s eyes lit up and Wen Zhong spoke to him, but Wen Ning slept through it.

• Wen Ning carried the last chair into his shabby storefront and learned from his landlord that he had until the following Monday to pay his overdue rent.
• Wen Ning remembered how his mother had made him Wen Zhong’s godson when he was a sickly baby and how he had kept worshipping Wen Zhong’s statue ever since.
• Wen Ning checked his bank balance, found only 223.70 yuan, and despaired over his failing business, breakup, and inability to pay rent.
• Wen Ning confided in his godfather and asked for help making money before falling asleep on his folding bed.
• The incense ash formed a perfect circle, Wen Zhong’s statue opened its glowing gaze, and he asked what there was to seek in mortal wealth while Wen Ning snored.

After falling asleep, Wen Ning found himself at the Heavenly Court civil service interviews, where his godfather Wen Zhong had registered him for the Thunder Department. Despite being unprepared and surrounded by divine relatives, Wen Ning decided to face his interview as Group C was called in.

• Wen Ning woke in a dreamlike Heavenly Court and learned that Wen Zhong had registered him for a Thunder Department interview.
• A Thunder Department official identified Wen Ning and escorted him to the interview office, where he received candidate token C-74.
• Wen Ning met Lu Ming and Bai Lu, who explained that the other candidates were relatives of powerful deities and revealed Wen Zhong’s status as the Thunder Department’s chief deity.
• Bai Lu lent Wen Ning a jade slip of past interview questions, and he realized the exam would test detailed Heavenly Court regulations and governance.
• When Group C was called to prepare, Wen Ning took a deep breath and resolved to give the interview a try.

Wen Ning entered his Heavenly Court interview after hearing Lu Ming recount a punishing examination, only to discover that his godfather Wen Zhong was one of the interviewers. The panel gave Wen Ning an absurdly easy interview, leaving him to suspect that Wen Zhong had arranged special treatment.

• Lu Ming told Wen Ning that interviewers had rejected him after testing his knowledge of laws and impartial enforcement.
• Wen Ning entered the interview room and recognized the central examiner as his godfather, Wen Zhong.
• Wen Zhong disclosed that Wen Ning was his godson but told the other examiners to assess him on merit alone.
• The examiners asked Wen Ning his name and age, then checked his answers without further scrutiny.
• Officer Zhang asked whether Wen Ning had offered incense to Wen Zhong, and another officer described the Thunder Department's benefits instead of testing his knowledge.

Wen Ning completed his Thunder Department interview, where Wen Zhong and the Heavenly Officials made the questions deliberately easy before Wen Zhong asked him to compare his godfather with the God of Wealth. Wen Ning affirmed Wen Zhong was more powerful, and after the interview he waited outside with Lu Ming for their results.

• A young Heavenly Official asked whether the Thunder Department should strike mortals who swore to heaven during a thunderstorm, and Wen Zhong urged the interviewers to ask harder questions.
• The old Heavenly Official asked Wen Ning what three times seven was, and the interviewers praised his answer of twenty-one.
• Wen Zhong asked Wen Ning how his godfather compared to the God of Wealth, and Wen Ning said his godfather was more powerful before admitting he had not known better.
• Wen Zhong smacked Wen Ning lightly on the back of the head, ended the interview, and told him to wait outside for the results.
• Wen Ning left the interview room and waited with Lu Ming and Bai Lu, then learned Lu Ming was also waiting because his ancestor had told him to stay.

Wen Ning waited outside the Thunder Department interview room while the Lord of Mount Tai intervened to help Lu Ming. After Lu Ming left with his ancestor, Wen Zhong took Wen Ning inside.

• Wen Ning and Lu Ming waited together after their interviews and wondered whether they had passed.
• The Lord of Mount Tai arrived, scolded Lu Ming, and took him into the interview room to speak with Wen Zhong.
• Lu Ming emerged after being asked only three questions and told Wen Ning that the interviewer had allowed him to learn what he did not know.
• Wen Zhong and the Lord of Mount Tai came out joking together, and the Lord of Mount Tai took Lu Ming home to Mount Tai.
• Wen Zhong told Wen Ning to come with him.

Wen Zhong taught Wen Ning the Five Thunder Righteous Method and approved his appointment as a probationary Heavenly Official. Back in the mortal world, Wen Ning confirmed the encounter was real, joined the Thunder Department work group, and prepared to start work.

• Wen Zhong implanted the Five Thunder Righteous Method in Wen Ning’s mind and warned him that using it would exhaust him.
• Wen Zhong gave Wen Ning an appointment approval scroll for the Thunder Department Celestial Registry and told him to wait for his reporting date.
• Wen Ning returned to his storefront, tested the lightning in his palm, and found the appointment scroll with Wen Zhong’s note telling him to speak to the statue if he needed anything.
• Wen Ning offered incense to Wen Zhong, then accepted an invitation to the Thunder Department work group, where Lu Ming welcomed him.
• Wen Ning raised the storefront shutter and told the statue he was heading to work.

Wen Ning’s agency gained new business when he discovered that Sister Zhou’s husband was secretly playing Game for Peace, then helped two students rent an apartment. After his old roommate Gong Kai arrived at the shop, he told Wen Ning that he felt something had happened to him.

• Sister Zhou hired Wen Ning to investigate whether her husband was having an affair, and Wen Ning found that Old Zhou was playing Game for Peace at an internet café.
• Wen Ning told Sister Zhou what Old Zhou had been doing, and she decided to download the game and play with him.
• Wen Ning helped two college students rent an apartment and earned enough from his recent jobs to cover his rent and utilities.
• Wen Ning’s godfather’s statue seemed to react to his complaints about his finances.
• Gong Kai visited Wen Ning’s shop and said he felt that something had happened to him.

Gong Kai told Wen Ning that an invisible presence had been cleaning his apartment every day, and asked him to investigate. Wen Ning accepted the case and went with Gong Kai to inspect the apartment, relying on his supernatural connections if needed.

• Gong Kai explained that he had rented a cheap apartment and that it had been cleaned mysteriously each day while he was away.
• Gong Kai said a hidden camera recorded static between four and five in the afternoon, and he could not afford to move out.
• Gong Kai asked Wen Ning to find someone who could investigate supernatural events.
• Wen Ning agreed to take the case and asked Gong Kai to bring him to the apartment.
• Wen Ning told his godfather's statue to watch his back, then left with Gong Kai.

Wen Ning investigated the mysterious daily cleaning in Gong Kai’s apartment and found no sign of danger. After consulting the Heavenly Court Work Group, he planned to wait for the unseen cleaner the next afternoon and speak with it.

• Wen Ning searched Gong Kai’s apartment and found it spotless, while the Five Thunder Righteous Method showed no reaction to an evil presence.
• Wen Ning noticed the mysterious cleaner had wiped away dust but left Gong Kai’s camera in place, and he asked the Heavenly Court Work Group for advice.
• Lu Ming suggested a spirit monster was responsible, while Bai Lu advised Wen Ning that it seemed harmless and recommended speaking to it face-to-face.
• Wen Ning told Gong Kai he would return the next afternoon while Gong Kai was at work, and Gong Kai gave him the apartment key.
• Gong Kai joked that Wen Ning seemed more confident and asked him to remember him if he became rich.

Wen Ning caught the supernatural woman who secretly cleaned Gong Kai’s apartment and discovered that she was a fox spirit. She recognized the immortal scent on him, and the chapter left Wen Ning asking why she cleaned Gong Kai’s place every day.

• Wen Ning waited in Gong Kai’s apartment to see who came to clean it, but no one appeared at four o’clock.
• Wen Ning sensed a supernatural presence behind him and watched a young woman quietly tidy the room.
• Wen Ning’s Five Thunder Righteous Method stirred, and the woman noticed his presence and said he smelled like an immortal.
• The woman considered erasing Wen Ning’s memory, then asked whether he was an immortal; Wen Ning said he would be one soon.
• The woman revealed she was a fox spirit, and Wen Ning asked why she cleaned Gong Kai’s apartment every day.

Hu Jiumei told Wen Ning how Gong Kai had rescued her as a child and why she now secretly cleaned his home. She feared that revealing herself would make Gong Kai send her away, leaving Wen Ning to consider how to handle their situation.

• Hu Jiumei showed Wen Ning her Yao Qi and explained that his Thunder Arts had reacted to it.
• Hu Jiumei recalled being trapped as a fox during her human tribulation until young Gong Kai freed her, hid her, and called her Little Red.
• After Hu Jiumei was released back into the mountains, Gong Kai called for her until his father took him home.
• Hu Jiumei said she had returned after attaining human form but could only stay in the human world for one hour a day, which she spent cleaning Gong Kai's home.
• Wen Ning realized Hu Jiumei feared Gong Kai would drive her away if he saw her, and he considered the difficulty of their situation.

Wen Ning asked the Heavenly Court group whether Hu Jiumei and Gong Kai could be together, and learned that human-demon marriage was permitted if both consented and Hu Jiumei could contain her Yao Qi. Wen Zhong advised Wen Ning to let Hu Jiumei register her identity and handle the matter with Gong Kai herself, leaving their relationship to develop gradually.

• After Hu Jiumei left, Wen Ning called Gong Kai and told him the apartment was safe, but kept the details to himself.
• Wen Ning returned to his shop and asked the Heavenly Court Work Group about Hu Jiumei, her debt to Gong Kai, and whether humans and demons could marry.
• Lu Ming explained that human-demon marriage was legal if both parties consented and the demon could keep their aura from harming the human.
• Wen Ning realized Hu Jiumei could not yet contain her aura, and Lu Ming said she would need more cultivation before living with Gong Kai long-term.
• Lu Ming admitted he envied Gong Kai for having someone who cared about him, and Heavenly Venerable Wen teased him by offering him cleaning work.
• Heavenly Venerable Wen told Wen Ning to have Hu Jiumei register her identity and speak to Gong Kai herself, while letting them spend an hour together each day until her aura was safe.

Wen Ning told Hu Jiumei that human-demon marriages were legal and promised to help her register, but warned that her uncontrolled Yao Qi still endangered Gong Kai. He reassured Gong Kai that the strange events were resolved and left Hu Jiumei waiting until she could safely reveal herself.

• Wen Ning explained the Three Realms Intermarriage Regulations to Hu Jiumei and said he would help her register with the Marriage Bureau.
• Wen Ning warned Hu Jiumei that her Yao Qi could harm Gong Kai, and she agreed to stop visiting until she could control it.
• Wen Ning told Gong Kai the problem at his home was resolved but refused to explain what had happened.
• Wen Ning asked Gong Kai about rescuing a fox as a child, and Gong Kai recalled naming it Little Red.
• Gong Kai thanked Wen Ning and decided to keep living in his rented home, while Wen Ning imagined Hu Jiumei meeting him once she could control her aura.

Wen Ning received his notice to report to the Heavenly Court's Thunder Department and prepared gifts for his godfather before traveling to the Southern Heavenly Gate. He met Lu Ming and Bai Lu there, where Lu Ming realized he was the only one who had arrived without a gift.

• Wen Ning received his reporting notice, and Lu Ming and Bai Lu announced that they had received theirs too.
• Wen Ning gathered cigarettes and liquor as gifts, cleaned his shop, and prepared to travel to the Heavenly Court.
• Wen Ning's soul arrived at the Southern Heavenly Gate with the gifts still in hand.
• Lu Ming greeted Wen Ning in a new robe and showed off the magical bell on his antlers.
• Bai Lu arrived carrying a gift, and Lu Ming lamented that he was the only one who had brought nothing.
• Wen Ning teased Lu Ming about being sent to America, and Bai Lu told him to stop scaring the little deer.

Wen Zhong assigned Bai Lu, Lu Ming, and Wen Ning their Thunder Department duties, including turning Wen Ning's agency into the department's mortal-world office. Meng Jiang arrived as a seconded worker from the Underworld, teased Lu Ming about arriving without a gift, and joined the team.

• Wen Ning, Bai Lu, and Lu Ming reported to Wen Zhong, and Lu Ming confessed that he had eaten the two thousand-year-old lingzhi mushrooms he meant to give as a gift.
• Wen Zhong assigned Bai Lu to organize paperwork, Lu Ming to copy and proofread it, and Wen Ning to work from his agency, which became the Thunder Department's mortal-world office.
• Wen Zhong told them that Meng Po had seconded someone to the Thunder Department, and Meng Jiang arrived with a bowl of soup for him.
• Meng Jiang called out Lu Ming for failing to bring a gift and teased him about the possibility of being sent to sweep the Bridge of Helplessness.
• Meng Jiang greeted Wen Ning and Bai Lu and said she looked forward to working with them, while Wen Ning anticipated that things would become lively.

Bai Lu explained why Lu Ming feared Meng Jiang, recounting the pranks and mishaps that had fueled their feud. Wen Zhong gave Wen Ning a three-thousand-year immortal peach, granting him Earth Immortal cultivation and preparing him for his new post at the Thunder Department Human World Office.

• Bai Lu told Wen Ning how Lu Ming drank forgetfulness-water mung bean soup, turned himself into a tree, and angered Meng Jiang by giving her an immortal peach pit.
• Wen Zhong asked Wen Ning about using the Five Thunder Righteous Method in the mortal world and explained that his mortal body could not sustain it without cultivation.
• Wen Zhong gave Wen Ning an immortal peach, and Wen Ning ate it, gained Earth Immortal cultivation, and used the Five Thunder Righteous Method without becoming weak.
• Wen Zhong told Wen Ning to practice diligently, use his merit to improve his cultivation, and report to the Thunder Department Human World Office the next day.
• Lu Ming, Meng Jiang, and Bai Lu joined Wen Ning in the corridor, where a Heavenly Official summoned them to collect office supplies and complete their onboarding paperwork.

After completing his onboarding, Wen Ning toured the Imperial Garden with Lu Ming, Meng Jiang, and Bai Lu, where he met Dipper Mother and discovered she was his grandmaster. She gave him a jade token containing the Eight-Nine Mysteries and asked him to tell Wen Zhong to send her cigarettes.

• Wen Ning completed his Heavenly Court onboarding after the officials verified his identity through his soul information.
• Lu Ming offered to show Wen Ning the Imperial Garden, and Meng Jiang and Bai Lu joined the tour.
• Dipper Mother approached the group and recognized the Five Thunder Righteous Method within Wen Ning.
• Wen Ning introduced himself as Wen Zhong's godson and respectfully addressed Dipper Mother as his grandmaster.
• Dipper Mother gave Wen Ning a jade token containing the Eight-Nine Mysteries and asked him to request cigarettes from Wen Zhong.
• Bai Lu explained that the Eight-Nine Mysteries was True Lord Erlang's signature art, and Meng Jiang remarked that Wen Ning's connections surpassed her aunt's.

Dipper Mother told her master about Wen Ning and learned that the fifth Heaven and Earth Calamity was approaching, while Wen Ning began practicing the Eight-Nine Mysteries. After his failed attempts to transform into a dog, someone knocked at his shop door.

• Dipper Mother met her master, reported that Wen Ning had received the Eight-Nine Mysteries, and heard that the fifth Heaven and Earth Calamity was coming.
• Dipper Mother told her master that Wen Zhong's agency sign would read “Thunder Department Human World Office,” and her master asked her to suggest a punchier name.
• Wen Ning woke as an Earth Immortal and used Dipper Mother's jade tablet to learn the first stage of the Eight-Nine Mysteries.
• Wen Ning successfully transformed into a folding chair, then mistakenly became a weasel when he tried to turn into a black dog.
• Wen Ning returned to human form, offered incense to Wen Zhong, and heard someone knock on the shop door.

Wen Ning received a plaque naming his shop the Heavenly Court Bathhouse, Mortal Realm Branch, and reluctantly opened it as a bathhouse for local spirits. After serving three satisfied customers, he was left cleaning up the mess while Lu Ming had escaped.

• Lu Ming and a Thunder Department Heavenly Official delivered Wen Ning a plaque altered by Wen Zhong to read “Heavenly Court Bathhouse, Mortal Realm Branch.”
• Local spirits gathered at Wen Ning’s shop, believing the plaque meant it was an authentic Heavenly Court bathhouse, and demanded baths and back scrubs.
• Wen Ning threatened to tell Meng Jiang that Lu Ming wanted to marry her, so Lu Ming offered to handle the back scrubbing.
• Wen Ning announced a trial opening, set rules for bathing, and used hot water from his thermos to serve the Mushroom Spirit, rat spirit, and Weasel Old Man.
• The three spirits left satisfied, while Wen Ning cleaned the splashed water and Lu Ming had already run off.

Wen Ning’s Heavenly Court Bathhouse became busy as neighborhood spirits flocked to his shop, leaving him overwhelmed with customers. Gong Kai arrived and, unable to see the spirits, mistook the bathhouse for a pet-washing business and began to suspect Wen Ning himself was an anomaly.

• The Mushroom Spirit, rat spirit, and Weasel Old Man spread praise for Wen Ning’s bathhouse, drawing a steady stream of spirit customers.
• Wen Ning accepted cherries as payment from a Hedgehog Spirit and scattered a peony spirit’s petals into the bathwater.
• A Big Golden Retriever paid fifty yuan for a bath, and its excited shake set off chaos among the other spirits.
• Wen Ning asked the Weasel Old Man about anything unusual in the neighborhood, but the old man said the university district was peaceful.
• Wen Ning asked the Heavenly Court Work Group for help, but Lu Ming claimed he was working overtime until Meng Jiang revealed he had been asleep.
• Gong Kai entered the shop, saw only the Big Golden Retriever, and joked that Wen Ning and his company were the real anomaly.

Gong Kai told Wen Ning that his coworker Zhou Hu had suffered a month of bizarre misfortune, which began after Zhou Hu’s grandfather died. Wen Ning agreed to investigate after receiving Zhou Hu’s birth details, then returned to work at the bathhouse.

• Gong Kai described Zhou Hu’s relentless bad luck, from broken transport and food mishaps to a crashed leave system that marked him absent.
• Wen Ning asked whether Zhou Hu’s bad luck had begun after any major change, and Gong Kai revealed that Zhou Hu’s grandfather had died the previous month.
• Wen Ning asked Gong Kai to send Zhou Hu’s Eight Characters of Birth and quoted a fee of 18,888, which Gong Kai accepted.
• Gong Kai left to get Zhou Hu’s birth details, and Wen Ning resumed tidying the bathhouse.
• A chicken spirit arrived and asked Wen Ning to scrub his back.

Wen Ning investigated Zhou Hu’s extraordinary run of bad luck by contacting Broom Star, who ruled out the Heavenly Court’s Misfortune Department. Wen Ning concluded the cause must lie with Zhou Hu or his ancestors and decided to ask Meng Jiang for help.

• Gong Kai sent Wen Ning Zhou Hu’s birth details and asked him to investigate the mortal’s relentless misfortune.
• Wen Ning prayed to Wen Zhong, who gave him Broom Star’s number and warned him not to ask about it in the Heavenly Court group.
• Wen Ning called Broom Star, who paused his mahjong game to hear about Zhou Hu’s troubles.
• Broom Star checked the duty roster and confirmed that neither he nor any other Misfortune Department worker had caused Zhou Hu’s bad luck.
• Broom Star explained that the cause had to be in the Heavenly Court, among Zhou Hu’s ancestors, or with Zhou Hu himself.
• Wen Ning decided to contact Meng Jiang, Meng Po’s niece, to investigate the ancestral possibility and planned to solve Zhou Hu’s problem the next day.

Wen Ning traveled to the Underworld to ask Zhou Weiguo whether he was causing his grandson Zhou Hu’s sudden bad luck. Zhou Weiguo denied it and revealed an unresolved worry about a missing military medal, then began describing something unusual he once possessed.

• Wen Ning asked Meng Jiang to help investigate Zhou Hu’s ancestors, and she arranged a temporary Underworld pass for him.
• Wen Ning and Meng Jiang found Zhou Weiguo in the reincarnation hall, where he had not yet been assigned to reincarnate.
• Wen Ning told Zhou Weiguo about Zhou Hu’s troubles, and Zhou Weiguo denied causing them and vowed to protect his grandson.
• Zhou Weiguo explained that he had wanted to give Zhou Hu his military medal before he died, but the medal had gone missing at the hospital.
• Wen Ning asked whether Zhou Weiguo had captured anything unusual during the war, and Zhou Weiguo began to tell him about something unusual he once had.

Wen Ning learned that a Japanese lieutenant’s ghost was attached to a bone in Zhou Weiguo’s old family home and had been causing Zhou Hu’s misfortune. He received an Underworld Summoning Talisman and prepared to find the bone and deal with the ghost.

• Zhou Weiguo told Wen Ning that he had kept a piece of a Japanese lieutenant’s arm bone in his old family home for decades.
• Meng Jiang explained that many Japanese ghosts had never been processed by the Underworld and identified the bone’s lingering ghost as the cause of Zhou Hu’s misfortunes.
• Meng Jiang gave Wen Ning an Underworld Summoning Talisman and told him to subdue the ghost before using it to summon a ghost officer.
• Wen Ning messaged Gong Kai to bring Zhou Hu to his shop the next day and said he had asked Zhou Weiguo about his grandfather.
• Wen Ning returned to the mortal world, checked that he had the talisman, and asked his godfather to back him up if he could not handle the ghost.

Wen Ning went with Gong Kai and Zhou Hu to Zhou Hu’s grandfather’s abandoned house, where he destroyed a Japanese soldier’s ghost and summoned Underworld messengers to take it away. He returned Zhou Hu’s grandfather’s military medal to him, and Zhou Hu’s month of bad luck ended.

• Wen Ning recognized the dark cloud of bad luck over Zhou Hu and learned that it had followed him for a month.
• Wen Ning went with Gong Kai and Zhou Hu to Zhou Hu’s grandfather’s empty house and sensed the lingering stench of old blood.
• Wen Ning used the Five Thunder Righteous Method to overpower a Japanese soldier’s ghost, then summoned Xie Bi'an and Fan Wujiu to take it into the Underworld and investigate its mention of Yamamoto.
• Wen Ning found the real military medal in Zhou Weiguo’s bedroom and burned the soldier’s arm bone to ash.
• Wen Ning gave Zhou Hu the medal on his grandfather’s behalf, and Zhou Hu’s bad-luck cloud vanished.