Recaps

An old teacher withdrew from the City God examination after realizing his urge to reform the dead would distort his judgments. A young soldier then judged a teenage bully, but Wen Ning challenged whether a dream apology could make amends for the victim’s lasting trauma, leaving the soldier’s approach under scrutiny.

• The old teacher thanked Wen Ning for his question, withdrew from the examination, and left the hall.
• Judge Lu presented the case of Sun, a fourteen-year-old who had bullied a classmate before dying in a traffic accident.
• The young soldier ordered Sun to visit his former classmate in a dream and apologize for the bullying.
• Wen Ning challenged the soldier, asking whether an apology could heal the victim’s lasting trauma and whether the soldier himself could forgive his childhood bullies.
• The soldier admitted he could not let his own bullying go, and Wen Ning ended the questioning and sent him away.

The interviewers discussed the previous City God candidates before Acting City God Chen Yang judged Ma Fang for how she treated her husband. He sentenced her to Underworld penal labor lasting until her husband’s mortal prison term ended.

• The King of Hell, Judge Lu, Meng Po, and Wen Ning assessed the old teacher and soldier, agreeing that neither could take the City God post immediately.
• Ghost Messengers brought Ma Fang before Chen Yang, and Judge Lu explained that her husband had killed her after years of debt and conflict over her demands for money.
• Chen Yang challenged Ma Fang about never working and condemned her for exploiting her husband, while distinguishing her wrongdoing from her husband’s murder.
• Chen Yang sentenced Ma Fang to penal labor in the Underworld for every day her husband served in prison, and ordered the Ghost Messengers to take her away immediately.
• Chen Yang recorded the judgment, and Judge Lu added a note to his book and smiled.

Chen Yang won the City God assessment and took office, while Wen Ning learned that A Ning had reincarnated and told Zhang Siyu the news. The next day, the bathhouse’s monster customers were absent, and Gong Kai privately asked Wen Ning about Hu Jiumei after seeing what looked like a tail.

• Judge Lu, the King of Hell, and Meng Po unanimously chose Chen Yang as City God, while the old teacher and the soldier remained eligible for future consideration.
• Wen Ning learned from Meng Jiang that A Ning had reincarnated, then told Zhang Siyu that her mother had left without regrets and would forget her past life.
• Zhang Siyu opened the bathhouse the next morning, but almost none of the monsters came, leaving only the Squirrel Spirit as a customer.
• Gong Kai took Wen Ning to a hot pot restaurant and asked whether he could see monsters after spotting what he thought was a tail on Hu Jiumei.
• Wen Ning asked Gong Kai whether Hu Jiumei’s nature mattered if she liked him, leaving Gong Kai speechless.

Wen Ning reassured Gong Kai about Hu Jiumei and explained how she was the fox Gong Kai rescued as a child. Back at the Bathhouse, a woman sent by Zhou Hu arrived asking Wen Ning for help.

• Wen Ning reminded Gong Kai that Hu Jiumei had cared for him and had never harmed him, easing his fears about her feeding on his vital essence.
• Wen Ning revealed that Hu Jiumei was the little fox Gong Kai rescued more than ten years earlier and described how she had cultivated to find him.
• Gong Kai remembered rescuing and naming the fox, then worried that someone might try to capture Hu Jiumei; Wen Ning assured him he had already handled things for them.
• Gong Kai treated Wen Ning to hot pot, and Wen Ning brought fried rice back to the Bathhouse for Zhang Siyu.
• A middle-aged woman arrived at the Bathhouse and told Wen Ning that Zhou Hu had sent her because he could help them.

Ma Lanlan asked Wen Ning for help because her once exceptionally lucky son, Zhou Ming, had become withdrawn and his exam rankings had fallen sharply. Wen Ning and Zhang Siyu went to Ma’s home to investigate, where Wen Ning sensed a peaceful scholarly aura.

• Ma Lanlan told Wen Ning that Zhou Ming’s grades had declined and that he now shut himself in his room.
• Ma Lanlan described how Zhou Ming had brought good fortune to the family and how a giant turtle had rescued her while she was pregnant with him.
• Wen Ning questioned whether Zhou Ming was possessed, and Ma Lanlan wondered if whatever had helped his luck had left him.
• Wen Ning and Zhang Siyu agreed to inspect Zhou Ming’s home and followed Ma Lanlan there.
• Wen Ning entered Ma Lanlan’s clean home and sensed a peaceful scholarly aura.

Wen Ning and Zhang Siyu witnessed Ma Lanlan pressure Zhou Ming over his grades and force him to drink pigeon soup, despite his repeated objections. Wen Ning recognized Zhou Ming’s passion for spaceflight and machinery, leaving him to consider a future beyond the universities his mother demanded.

• Zhou Ming came home, and Ma Lanlan immediately questioned him about his schoolwork and declining grades.
• Zhou Ming told Ma Lanlan he did not want to attend Tsinghua or Peking University, but she dismissed his objection and brought him pigeon soup.
• Zhou Ming drank the soup he disliked while Ma Lanlan insisted she was caring for him.
• Wen Ning spoke with Zhou Ming, who angrily described how his mother’s constant questions made him feel trapped.
• Wen Ning pointed out Zhou Ming’s worn copy of the Complete Book of Chinese Rockets and recognized his interest in spaceflight, machinery, and rockets.

Wen Ning arranged to take Zhou Ming to the space museum by convincing Ma Lanlan that an exorcism was necessary and that she could not come along. After leaving, Wen Ning and Zhang Siyu discussed how Ma Lanlan’s pressure over Zhou Ming’s grades had become a burden, and Wen Ning hinted that he had another secret plan for the night.

• Wen Ning encouraged Zhou Ming to visit the space museum, and Zhou Ming agreed after Wen Ning offered to get Ma Lanlan’s permission.
• Wen Ning told Ma Lanlan that Zhou Ming was possessed and needed an exorcism outside the city, while Zhang Siyu warned that a relative’s presence could cause the spirit to transfer to them.
• Ma Lanlan agreed to stay home, and Wen Ning told Zhou Ming they would leave at nine the next morning.
• Zhou Ming asked how Wen Ning had persuaded his mother, and Wen Ning admitted he had made the museum trip sound like an exorcism.
• Wen Ning and Zhang Siyu discussed how Ma Lanlan’s expectations weighed on Zhou Ming, and Wen Ning said he had something important to do that night.

Wen Ning learned from Dipper Mother that Zhou Ming was the Star of Literary Excellence incarnate, destined to advance the nation's science and technology. He took Zhou Ming to the space museum to help awaken his mission, leaving Ma Lanlan behind with an exorcism excuse.

• Dipper Mother told Wen Ning that Zhou Ming was the Star of Literary Excellence, whose mission in this life was to advance science and technology.
• Dipper Mother explained that Zhou Ming already felt his mission calling to him and urged Wen Ning to help him discover his own path.
• Wen Ning returned to his shop before dawn, rested briefly, and went with Zhang Siyu to collect Zhou Ming from Ma Lanlan.
• Wen Ning persuaded Ma Lanlan to stay behind by claiming her presence would interfere with the exorcism, and the three left by taxi.
• Zhou Ming asked whether the space museum was fun, and Wen Ning admitted he had never been there.

Wen Ning took Zhou Ming to the Space Museum, where the exhibits awakened Zhou Ming’s passion for spaceflight and clarified his sense of purpose. After bringing him home, Wen Ning told Ma Lanlan that Zhou Ming’s problem was resolved but that she still had a problem of her own.

• Zhou Ming was captivated by the rocket model and explained its rivets and structural requirements.
• Zhou Ming examined the satellite models and traced China’s spaceflight milestones, pausing at the blank space left for the future.
• At the Shenzhou X reentry capsule, Zhou Ming told Wen Ning he knew what he wanted to do with his future.
• Zhou Ming asked Wen Ning whether someone could refuse a calling, and Wen Ning answered that a calling could not be let go.
• Wen Ning, Zhang Siyu, and Zhou Ming returned to his residential complex, where Ma Lanlan checked that her son was safe.
• Wen Ning told Ma Lanlan that Zhou Ming’s problem was resolved but that she still needed help, leaving her incredulous.

Wen Ning helped Ma Lanlan understand that her pressure on Zhou Ming, despite coming from love, had made him afraid to pursue what he wanted. After dreaming of her son’s future as a rocket engineer, Ma Lanlan began giving him room to follow his own interests.

• Wen Ning asked Ma Lanlan whether her love had become a burden to Zhou Ming, and she defended the sacrifices she had made for him.
• Wen Ning asked Zhou Ming if he was happy, and Zhou Ming admitted he feared disappointing his mother by choosing a different path.
• Wen Ning told Ma Lanlan to treat Zhou Ming’s life as his own, and Zhou Ming thanked him before leaving with his mother.
• Ma Lanlan dreamed of Zhou Ming becoming Chief Engineer Zhou and launching a rocket, then woke up proud of him.
• Ma Lanlan returned the Complete Book of Chinese Rockets to Zhou Ming’s bedside and made pork rib and lotus root soup instead of pigeon soup.

Wen Ning learned that dogs had gone missing after a stranger began feeding strays in the urban village, so he followed Big Yellow to investigate. He found the man surrounded by dogs in the ruins.

• Big Yellow welcomed his old acquaintance Big Gray, and Zhang Siyu gave the hungry dog food.
• Big Gray told Big Yellow that an old man had been feeding the stray dogs, but dogs had recently started disappearing.
• The Sparrow Spirit translated the dogs' conversation, and Wen Ning set out with Big Yellow to investigate.
• Big Yellow led Wen Ning and the Sparrow Spirit through the urban village to a ruined clearing, where they found a man feeding and petting several stray dogs.

Wen Ning confronted Lin Hao about taking Big Spot’s puppy and learned that Lin Hao had been caring for it. After the puppy chose to stay with Lin Hao, Big Spot accepted his kindness and returned to the pack.

• Wen Ning found Lin Hao feeding the stray dogs and questioned him about his past cruelty and his changed appearance.
• Wen Ning identified Big Spot and confronted Lin Hao about taking her puppy; Lin Hao said the puppy had jumped into his vehicle.
• Lin Hao went to the parking lot and returned with the puppy, which ran to Big Spot before declaring that Lin Hao was its owner.
• Big Spot scolded the puppy for leaving and asked whether it feared Lin Hao’s past, but the puppy insisted that Lin Hao was good now.
• Lin Hao offered Big Spot and the puppy ham sausage, and Big Spot ate hers before returning to the pack.

Wen Ning heard Lin Hao explain how caring for a puppy made him recognize the harm he had done to animals and feel genuine remorse. Lin Yuwei arrived to take her brother home, and Wen Ning returned to the shop reflecting on how much Lin Hao had changed.

• Lin Hao told Wen Ning he had once hated him for shortening his lifespan, but eventually realized that dwelling on hatred only made himself suffer.
• Lin Hao explained that a puppy’s affection reminded him of the cats and dogs he had killed, and he now understood that his actions had been wrong.
• Wen Ning told Lin Hao that all lives carried equal weight, and Lin Hao admitted that he had not understood this before.
• Lin Yuwei arrived, and Lin Hao left with his sister while the puppy barked a farewell to Big Flower.
• Wen Ning returned to the shop, where Zhang Siyu had saved him food, and told her he had met someone who had changed unexpectedly.

Wen Ning used the Book of Changes to read people’s auras and noticed that Old Zhao’s vitality was nearly gone. Old Liu explained how Old Zhao’s wife’s cancer and his devoted care for her had ruined his health, leaving Wen Ning concerned for him.

• Wen Ning learned to read auras using the Book of Changes and began watching the people who passed his shop.
• Wen Ning saw Old Zhao looking gravely ill as he walked alone through the alley.
• Old Liu told Wen Ning that Old Zhao lived alone and had long suffered from poor health.
• Old Liu explained that Old Zhao had spent their savings and taken on debt to pay for his wife’s cancer treatment.
• Old Liu said Old Zhao’s exhausting work and sleepless nights caring for his wife had caused his own health to deteriorate.

Wen Ning learned that Old Zhao had ignored his own serious illness to keep working and pay for his wife’s treatment. After seeing Old Zhao hide his pain from her, Wen Ning was left watching the couple endure their hardships together.

• Old Liu told Wen Ning that Old Zhao had refused help and medical care, relying on cheap painkillers while caring for his hospitalized wife.
• Wen Ning followed Old Zhao to a clinic and saw him leave with only a small box of painkillers.
• Old Zhao went to the hospital, concealed his pain, and brought porridge to his wife.
• Old Zhao reassured his wife that he was healthy while Wen Ning saw him tremble from the pain he was hiding.

Wen Ning helped the gravely ill Old Zhao rest and listened as he confessed that he endured unbearable pain because he feared leaving his wife alone. Wen Ning promised that he and the neighbors would care for her, but Old Zhao remained unable to let go as he worried his body would fail before he could stay with her longer.

• Wen Ning helped Old Zhao sit on a bench and offered him warm water.
• Wen Ning told Old Zhao he knew about his illness, and Old Zhao admitted he had spent everything caring for his wife.
• Old Zhao described his severe pain and confessed he was afraid to die because his wife depended on him.
• Old Zhao explained that his wife did not know he was ill and feared she would be left alone and devastated.
• Wen Ning promised that he and the neighbors would look after Old Zhao's wife if he could no longer care for her.
• Old Zhao thanked Wen Ning but said he could not let go and was afraid he would die before seeing his wife again.

Old Zhao died alone after secretly enduring cancer, leaving his wife Xiulian devastated when she learned the news. Wen Ning helped Old Zhao’s ghost deliver a final message urging her to keep living, then watched him leave with the Ghost Messenger.

• Old Zhao died in his rented room during the night, still clutching the change from buying porridge for his wife.
• After a neighbor notified the hospital, a nurse told Xiulian that Old Zhao had died, and she collapsed in grief.
• Old Zhao’s ghost appeared to Wen Ning, distraught that he could not comfort his wife or leave her alone.
• Wen Ning promised to look after Xiulian and offered to relay Old Zhao’s final words to her.
• Old Zhao urged Xiulian to keep living, take her medicine, and remember that he loved her and hoped they would reunite in another life.
• The Ghost Messenger arrived, and Old Zhao left with him after one last look toward home.

Wen Ning visited Auntie Xiulian after Old Zhao’s death and told her how deeply her husband had wanted her to survive. Moved by his wishes, she resumed eating and treatment, while Wen Ning continued supporting her as she recovered.

• Wen Ning visited Auntie Xiulian in the hospital and found her refusing food, medicine, and treatment after Old Zhao’s death.
• Wen Ning relayed Old Zhao’s love and his wish for Xiulian to live well, persuading her not to give up.
• Xiulian ate porridge and promised to continue treatment so Old Zhao’s efforts would not be wasted.
• Wen Ning visited Xiulian daily, and she gradually cooperated with her treatment as her hope and strength returned.
• Old Zhao’s lingering obsession dissolved as Xiulian chose to carry on with his love in her heart.

Wen Ning went to the Underworld to find Zhao Shuisheng and tell him that his wife had begun cooperating with her treatment. Seeing the enormous reincarnation queue, Wen Ning used his connections to get Zhao priority processing and left him in Meng Po’s care.

• Wen Ning traveled to the Underworld and asked Xie Bi'an where Zhao Shuisheng was waiting to reincarnate.
• Wen Ning found Old Zhao at the back of the enormous queue and told him that Xiulian was eating and cooperating with treatment.
• Old Zhao thanked Wen Ning and shared his fear that Xiulian might stop eating without him to comfort her.
• Wen Ning asked Xie Bi'an to move Zhao Shuisheng up the queue, and Xie Bi'an wrote him a priority slip.
• Wen Ning led Old Zhao to the front, where a Ghost Messenger took him to Meng Po for reincarnation.

Wen Ning learned that an ordinary mortal had retained memories of her previous life after drinking Meng Po Soup, and Meng Po asked him to investigate. With Wen Zhong's approval, Wen Ning accepted the assignment, but Meng Po withheld the woman's past identity as part of his training.

• A Ghost Messenger brought Wen Ning back to Meng Po's pavilion after Zhao Shuisheng's reincarnation paperwork was processed.
• Meng Po told Wen Ning she needed his help finding a mortal who remembered her previous life after drinking Meng Po Soup.
• Wen Ning grew concerned that the soup had failed, but Meng Po confirmed the woman was an ordinary person and that the soup worked for everyone else.
• Meng Po revealed that Wen Zhong had assigned Wen Ning to investigate the case as training.
• Meng Po refused to reveal who the woman had been in her previous life, but offered to tell Wen Ning who she was in this life.

Wen Ning learned that Wang Manman was a twenty-two-year-old Jiangnan student at a nearby Project 985 university and went to investigate. After accidentally frightening Chen Haoran unconscious, he asked about Wang Manman, but Chen assumed he was romantically interested in her.

• Meng Po told Wen Ning that Wang Manman was twenty-two, from Jiangnan, and studying at a Project 985 university near his old school.
• Wen Ning returned to his shop, then appeared in a university grove and accidentally scared Chen Haoran unconscious.
• Wen Ning checked Chen Haoran, waited for him to wake, and tried to convince him that seeing Wen Ning appear out of nowhere had been a dream.
• Chen Haoran introduced himself as a third-year finance student and accepted Wen Ning's explanation that he had simply walked over.
• Wen Ning asked whether the university had anyone named Wang Manman, and Chen Haoran said there were two, including a campus belle.
• Chen Haoran took Wen Ning's chips and teased him for pretending he was not pursuing Wang Manman.

Wen Ning visited 985 University to identify which of two students named Wang Manman was connected to his Underworld case. After finding the gentle sophomore campus belle, he learned the other Wang Manman was a junior with a cold, aloof presence.

• Chen Haoran dragged Wen Ning to the library, expecting him to pursue the campus belle Wang Manman.
• Wen Ning watched Wang Manman politely turn away a persistent computer science student and judged that she did not seem to carry memories of a past life.
• Chen Haoran explained that the campus belle was a talented Chinese literature sophomore and that another Wang Manman was a junior in the department.
• Wen Ning asked Chen Haoran to help him find the junior Wang Manman and said he had mistaken the campus belle for her.
• Chen Haoran warned Wen Ning that the junior Wang Manman was cold and aloof, almost as if she were not from their time.

Wen Ning found Wang Manman and learned that she had remembered every lifetime despite drinking Meng Po Soup, deliberately letting Meng Po discover her secret so someone might investigate. He promised to search for the person she had waited for, though he did not know what came next.

• Chen Haoran led Wen Ning to Wang Manman, who was sitting beside the Old Library.
• Wen Ning asked Wang Manman why Meng Po Soup had not erased her memories, and she explained that it had never worked in any of her lifetimes.
• Wang Manman revealed that she had deliberately let Meng Po discover her secret because she feared the person she awaited would never come.
• Wen Ning admitted that Meng Po had only tasked him with finding Wang Manman and promised, on his own behalf, to investigate whom she was waiting for.

Wen Ning learned that Wang Manman had waited through countless reincarnations for Tang Sanzang, holding onto his promise from the Daughter Kingdom. He agreed to help find him and offered to help with her weakening soul.

• Wang Manman asked Wen Ning whether he believed Journey to the West was real, then revealed she was waiting for the man who had promised to be with her in the next life.
• Wen Ning realized Wang Manman was waiting for Tang Sanzang, and she confirmed it through her silence.
• Wang Manman explained that she had retained her memories through many reincarnations, but her soul was nearing its limit and Meng Po Soup might erase her memories in her next life.
• Wen Ning asked whether forgetting might free Wang Manman from the burden of endless searching, but she insisted someone had to remember Tang Sanzang's promise.
• Wen Ning promised to help Wang Manman find Tang Sanzang, warned that finding him could take time because he had become a Buddha, and offered help with her soul.

Wen Ning regretted promising the Queen of the Women's Kingdom that he would find Tang Sanzang, now the Sandalwood Merit Buddha, and asked his godfather for help. His godfather sent him to the Heavenly Court, and Wen Ning left before dinner to handle the official business.

• Wen Ning returned to the shop and slapped himself for agreeing to help the Queen of the Women's Kingdom find Tang Sanzang.
• Wen Ning told his godfather that Wang Manman had once been the Queen of the Women's Kingdom and had resisted Meng Po Soup because she refused to forget Tang Sanzang.
• Wen Ning explained that Tang Sanzang had become the Sandalwood Merit Buddha and that he could not navigate the Buddhist School’s jurisdiction or interdepartmental procedures.
• Wen Ning’s godfather sent him a message through the incense smoke: “Come to the Heavenly Court.”
• Wen Ning told Zhang Siyu he was leaving for the Heavenly Court on official business and promised to eat the dinner she had made the next morning.