Chapter Summaries

Key events

• After seeing off Golden Retriever, Wen Ning listens as Gong Kai describes his coworker Zhou Hu’s extraordinary month of misfortune: repeated accidents, failed transport, ruined meals, computer crashes, disastrous blind dates, and even a leave request that failed on the only day Zhou tried to take off.
• Medical and psychological checks found nothing wrong, leaving Wen Ning convinced the pattern is genuinely abnormal.
• Gong Kai suspects Wen Ning knows about the supernatural. Wen Ning admits he has contacts who can investigate, but keeps his deeper connections secret.
• Wen Ning learns that Zhou’s bad luck began after his grandfather died. He asks Gong Kai to obtain Zhou’s birth details so he can look into the cause, quoting a fee of 18,888.
• Gong Kai agrees and leaves. Wen Ning returns to work at the bathhouse, where a chicken spirit arrives seeking a back scrub.

Character developments and interactions

• Wen Ning moves from skepticism to serious curiosity as Gong Kai’s evidence accumulates. He is willing to help, while carefully concealing how much he knows about the supernatural.
• Gong Kai is initially puzzled by Wen Ning’s strange life but becomes more focused on Zhou’s predicament. He trusts Wen Ning enough to ask for help and accepts the fee without hesitation.
• Zhou Hu, though absent, is characterized through Gong Kai’s account as someone enduring a relentless, seemingly impossible run of bad luck. His grandfather’s recent death may be connected.
• Wen Ning and Gong Kai’s exchange shows growing trust, though Wen Ning still chooses to reveal only part of the truth.

Significant themes

• The supernatural behind everyday misfortune: Zhou’s troubles exceed ordinary bad luck, suggesting an unseen cause.
• Secrecy and trust: Wen Ning gradually lets Gong Kai in, but keeps his most startling knowledge hidden.
• Grief and consequence: The timing of Zhou’s misfortune after his grandfather’s death raises the possibility that family loss has triggered something unusual.

Key plot points and events

• Gong Kai gives Wen Ning the birth details of his friend Zhou Hu, whose month has been plagued by unusually broad, persistent bad luck.
• Wen Ning recognizes the pattern from a reference book as potentially connected to Broom Star, the Heavenly Court deity responsible for misfortune.
• Rather than ask publicly in the Heavenly Court group, Wen Ning asks his godfather, Wen Zhong, for Broom Star’s number. Wen Zhong also warns him to remind Broom Star to behave.
• Broom Star answers while playing mahjong. He checks his duty records and confirms that neither he nor any other department worker caused Zhou Hu’s troubles.
• Broom Star explains that mortal misfortune generally comes from one of three sources: the heavens, a person’s ancestors, or the person himself. With the heavenly cause ruled out, Wen Ning decides to seek help from Meng Jiang, who is related to Meng Po.

Character developments

• Wen Ning takes initiative despite lacking formal knowledge of fortune-telling. He uses his connections and practical reasoning to investigate, then quickly identifies the next person who might help.
• Broom Star is initially impatient and preoccupied with gambling, but becomes cooperative once he learns Wen Ning is connected to Wen Zhong. He is defensive about his department’s professionalism, while also showing some self-deprecating humor about his unpopular job.
• Wen Zhong supports Wen Ning discreetly by providing Broom Star’s contact details and a pointed warning.

Character interactions

• Wen Ning handles Gong Kai’s request promptly and begins investigating Zhou Hu’s misfortune.
• Wen Zhong assists Wen Ning privately, reflecting both their godfather–godson relationship and Wen Ning’s access to Heavenly Court contacts.
• Wen Ning’s call with Broom Star shifts from awkward professional inquiry to a useful exchange: Broom Star rules out his department and offers a framework for further investigation.
• Wen Ning plans to approach Meng Jiang because of her connection to the underworld.

Significant themes

• Bureaucracy and accountability: Even supernatural misfortune is assigned, documented, and regulated.
• Connections and hierarchy: Wen Ning’s relationship with Wen Zhong helps him reach Broom Star and gain a more receptive hearing.
• Humor in the divine workplace: Mahjong interruptions, group-chat moderation, and Broom Star’s unpopular job make celestial administration feel comically ordinary.
• Persistence and problem-solving: Wen Ning adapts when he lacks expertise, methodically ruling out possible causes rather than giving up.

Plot points and events

• Wen Ning asks Meng Jiang whether the Underworld can check Zhou Hu’s ancestors, suspecting a connection between Zhou Hu’s month of bad luck and his grandfather’s recent death. Meng Jiang thinks a restless ancestor is possible and offers Wen Ning a temporary Underworld pass.
• Wen Ning travels to the Underworld, where Meng Jiang personally meets him and helps locate Zhou Weiguo in the area for souls awaiting reincarnation. Zhou Weiguo died at eighty-seven and has not yet reincarnated.
• Wen Ning finds Zhou Weiguo and explains his grandson’s troubles. Zhou Weiguo says he would never harm Zhou Hu and vows to help identify whoever is responsible.
• Zhou Weiguo reveals that his greatest regret was failing to pass a military medal to his grandson before dying; he believes it was lost during the confusion at the hospital.
• Before leaving, Wen Ning asks whether Zhou Weiguo captured anything unusual during the war. The old man recalls that he once had something unusual, prompting Wen Ning’s interest.

Character developments and interactions

• Wen Ning handles the Underworld visit calmly, uses his inspection privileges, and commits to resolving Zhou Hu’s case.
• Meng Jiang acts as a capable guide, arranging Wen Ning’s pass and helping him navigate Underworld records and facilities.
• Zhou Weiguo emerges as a disciplined, honorable veteran who deeply loves his grandson. His grief over the missed chance to pass on his medal reveals a lingering attachment, but he firmly denies causing Zhou Hu’s misfortune.
• Wen Ning and Zhou Weiguo develop trust: Wen Ning promises to investigate, and Zhou Weiguo agrees to rely on him.

Significant themes

• Family bonds and unfinished business: Zhou Weiguo’s concern for Zhou Hu and regret over the medal endure beyond death.
• Honor and responsibility: Zhou Weiguo’s military service and lifelong honesty shape his identity and his refusal to burden his grandson.
• The living and the dead remain connected: Wen Ning’s investigation links Zhou Hu’s present troubles with his family history and the Underworld.

Plot points and events

• Zhou Weiguo explains that the unusual object is a piece of bone from a Japanese lieutenant he killed during the war. The lieutenant had nearly crippled Zhou’s arm; after learning the man’s cousin had participated in the Nanjing Massacre, Zhou cut off the lieutenant’s arm and kept part of its bone. It remains in Zhou’s old family home.
• Wen Ning promises to find both the bone and Zhou’s missing military medal, and to help Zhou Hu.
• Outside the reincarnation hall, Meng Jiang explains that many Japanese wartime ghosts were never processed by the Underworld, which was overwhelmed by Chinese casualties. A judge’s question—who would verify the names of the 300,000 victims in Nanjing?—ended debate about how to handle the Japanese dead.
• Wen Ning and Meng Jiang conclude that the lieutenant’s ghost is attached to the bone and has caused Zhou Hu’s streak of petty misfortunes. The ghost can influence luck, but its power is limited.
• Meng Jiang gives Wen Ning a black Underworld Summoning Talisman. He is to subdue the ghost using the Five Thunder Righteous Method, then use the talisman to summon a ghost officer.
• Wen Ning messages Gong Kai to bring Zhou Hu to his shop the next day. Back in the mortal world, he lights incense and asks his godfather to help if the task proves too difficult.

Character developments and interactions

• Zhou Weiguo entrusts Wen Ning with resolving the problem, recognizing him as reliable.
• Wen Ning pieces together the cause of Zhou Hu’s bad luck and approaches the task with confidence, while also showing anger toward the Japanese ghost. He jokes with Meng Jiang about using lightning against it.
• Meng Jiang explains the Underworld’s wartime backlog and gives Wen Ning practical instructions and a talisman. Her wink suggests he may deal with the ghost forcefully, even if he must formally obey the rules.
• Wen Ning and Gong Kai exchange messages: Wen Ning asks for Zhou Hu to come in, while teasingly refusing to explain how he spoke with Zhou Hu’s grandfather.
• Wen Ning also turns to his godfather’s statue for backup, despite expecting to handle the matter himself.

Significant themes

• The chapter links present-day supernatural trouble to the unresolved suffering and injustice of wartime atrocities.
• It highlights the limits of institutions under overwhelming tragedy: the Underworld’s failure to process the Japanese dead is presented alongside the immense burden of caring for Chinese victims.
• Zhou’s bone preserves personal memory and anger, while the ghost’s minor interference shows how old resentment can linger and affect later generations.
• Duty and vengeance are held in tension: Wen Ning must follow supernatural procedures, but his anger at the ghost is understandable and tacitly indulged.

Plot points and events

• Gong Kai brings his friend Zhou Hu to Wen Ning’s shop. Zhou has suffered a month of escalating bad luck, which Wen Ning recognizes as a dark cloud of misfortune.
• Wen Ning traces the cause to the lingering spirit at Zhou’s late grandfather Zhou Weiguo’s abandoned house. He takes Zhou Hu and Gong Kai there, but tells them to wait outside.
• Inside, Wen Ning finds the ghost of a Japanese soldier in a tattered uniform. He subdues it with the Five Thunder Righteous Method after it attacks and threatens revenge in the name of “General Yamamoto.”
• Wen Ning summons Underworld officers Xie Bi’an and Fan Wujiu, who take the foreign spirit away for questioning and promise to investigate the Yamamoto lead and other lingering Japanese spirits.
• With the house’s resentment gone, Wen Ning finds a military medal belonging to Zhou Weiguo, burns the soldier’s arm bone, and returns to the others. Zhou Hu’s bad-luck cloud disappears.
• Wen Ning gives Zhou Hu the medal, explaining that his grandfather wanted him to keep it as a keepsake rather than worry about him. Zhou Hu thanks Wen Ning and offers to pay the agreed fee; Wen Ning postpones the payment.

Character developments and interactions

• Wen Ning shows confidence in his supernatural abilities, handles the ghost decisively, and treats Zhou Hu’s suffering with sympathy. He also acts as a messenger between Zhou Hu and his grandfather.
• Zhou Hu begins frightened and exhausted by his run of misfortune. Once it ends, he feels immediate relief and is moved by the medal and his grandfather’s message.
• Gong Kai supports his anxious friend and trusts Wen Ning’s judgment, waiting outside despite the ominous atmosphere.
• Xie Bi’an and Fan Wujiu appear as courteous, modernized Underworld officers. Their professional manner and business card add a matter-of-fact, comic touch to the supernatural proceedings.
• Wen Ning and the soldier clash directly; after the ghost is restrained, Wen Ning turns its mention of Yamamoto into a lead for the Underworld investigation.

Significant themes

• Duty and remembrance: The medal and Zhou Weiguo’s message connect military service, family memory, and the living’s responsibility to honor the dead.
• The persistence of violence: The soldier’s resentment continues to harm the living, while his threat hints at a wider supernatural problem.
• Compassion and relief: Wen Ning resolves Zhou Hu’s ordeal and eases his worry about his grandfather, not merely removing the curse but offering emotional comfort.
• Modernity alongside the supernatural: The Underworld’s formal suits, special-action group, and business cards contrast humorously with ancient spiritual forces and traditional exorcism.

Key events

• Zhou Hu pays Wen Ning 18,888 yuan for resolving the haunting and thanks both Wen Ning and Gong Kai. The three celebrate over hot pot before parting.
• Back at the shop, Wen Ning asks Meng Jiang why the Japanese soldier’s remnant soul only began haunting the family after Zhou Weiguo died.
• Meng Jiang explains that Zhou Weiguo’s warrior fiendish aura, earned through combat, had suppressed the soul for years. After his death, the soul—acting on instinct—began targeting his closest blood relative.
• Wen Ning asks Meng Jiang to tell Zhou Weiguo that Hu is safe, the military medal has been returned, and the bone has been destroyed. Meng Jiang agrees to relay the message in the Underworld.
• Wen Ning also asks about “General Yamamoto.” The Underworld is investigating and suspects a Japanese general’s ghost may be assembling dead souls to cause trouble.
• The Heavenly Court awards Wen Ning 1,200 merit points for the case and 500 more for his use of the Five Thunder Righteous Method, earning a top grade.
• Lu Ming complains in the group chat about Wen Ning’s unusually large reward, then asks to join him on future jobs. Bai Lu points out that the commendation came from Wen Zhong, and an administrator eventually mutes Lu Ming.
• Wen Zhong privately praises Wen Ning’s improved technique, advises him to smooth out his magical-power circulation, and urges him not to face danger alone.

Character developments and interactions

• Wen Ning remains matter-of-fact about the payment, but is thoughtful about Zhou Weiguo’s courage and wants to reassure him in the afterlife. He is pleased by the merit reward and receptive to Wen Zhong’s advice.
• Zhou Hu shows gratitude by paying Wen Ning and treating the group to dinner; his family crisis is resolved, and he has the military medal.
• Gong Kai celebrates the success and jokes about Wen Ning’s expanding supernatural work.
• Meng Jiang provides the explanation behind the haunting and updates Wen Ning on the Underworld’s investigation.
• Wen Zhong offers both professional feedback and personal concern, revealing a protective, godfatherly side.
• Lu Ming reacts with comic envy and tries to attach himself to Wen Ning’s future assignments; Bai Lu’s pointed reply quickly silences him.

Significant themes

• The lingering force of past violence: Zhou Weiguo’s wartime aura continues to protect his family even after death, while the soldier’s revenge persists as an instinctive remnant.
• Duty and remembrance: Wen Ning ensures Zhou Weiguo knows his grandson is safe and that the medal has been recovered.
• Merit and recognition: The Heavenly Court rewards effective work and skill, tying supernatural service to a formal system of achievement.
• Care beneath authority and humor: Wen Zhong’s warning, Meng Jiang’s assistance, and the group’s teasing show personal bonds alongside official duties.

Plot points and events

• After the Zhou Hu incident, Wen Ning’s bathhouse settles into a quieter routine, with familiar spirit customers and a golden retriever that now acts as an informal guard.
• The local Land God, Tian Fu, visits after hearing exaggerated rumors that Wen Ning’s bathhouse uses Jade Pool water and offers unmatched scrubbing. Since Wen Ning’s small shop cannot provide proper bathing facilities, he takes Tian Fu to a nearby public bathhouse.
• Tian Fu experiences a mortal bathhouse for the first time and delights in its showers and hot water, deciding he wants to return monthly.
• Celestial Master Zhong Kui arrives at the bathhouse and recognizes Wen Ning from his role in defeating the ghosts at the old house. He reveals that a dangerous former Japanese major general, Yamamoto, is being sought by the Underworld. Zhong Kui says the Thunder Department may be needed once Yamamoto’s location is confirmed; Wen Ning volunteers to help.

Character developments and interactions

• Wen Ning remains practical and hospitable, guiding Tian Fu through the unfamiliar bathhouse. He is also eager to join the investigation of Yamamoto.
• Tian Fu is revealed as a friendly, long-serving local Land God who has been isolated in his temple for centuries. His first bathhouse visit opens him to a new mortal pleasure and gives Wen Ning a chance to build a useful relationship with him.
• Zhong Kui is introduced as a formidable ghost-catching celestial authority. Though he recognizes Wen Ning’s ability, he judges his Earth Immortal cultivation only just sufficient for the coming danger.
• Wen Ning’s interactions with both officials establish mutual familiarity: Tian Fu treats him warmly, while Zhong Kui acknowledges his past work and discusses a possible future mission.

Significant themes

• The supernatural and ordinary life coexist: gods and spirits share familiar mortal routines, including bathing.
• Rumor versus reality: the bathhouse’s supposed Jade Pool water contrasts humorously with Wen Ning’s modest, kettle-heated setup.
• Connection through hospitality: a simple outing helps Wen Ning form ties with powerful local figures.
• Past atrocities remain present: Yamamoto’s crimes connect the chapter’s lighthearted bathhouse scenes to an ongoing investigation and the larger supernatural conflict.

Summary

Plot points and events

• The Heavenly Court Bathhouse’s growing fame brings a challenge from Xiong Batian, a powerful-looking demon from Black Wind Mountain, and his mountain’s specialist scrubber.
• Wen Ning is unsure how to answer: his only equipment is a cheap scrubbing mitt. Lu Ming arrives with office supplies, misunderstands the situation, then volunteers to defend Wen Ning and accepts the challenge.
• Bai Lu arrives to inspect the Mortal Realm Office and the bathhouse’s sanitation. Her mention of licensing and a possible Health Department inspection quickly unsettles Xiong Batian, whose shop lacks proper paperwork.
• Xiong proposes a timed back-scrubbing contest, with customers judging the results. The frightened Mushroom Spirit refuses to be a contestant, so Wen Ning recruits the Land God as an impartial judge.
• Xiong’s partner prepares a brush and steaming herbal bath, while Lu Ming offers Wen Ning dubious advice based on his experience scrubbing a dog. The Land God officially starts the competition.

Character developments and interactions

• Wen Ning is caught off guard by the challenge and Lu Ming’s impulsive commitment, but finds a way to keep events moving by asking the Land God to judge.
• Lu Ming shows loyalty and enthusiasm, readily standing up for his friend—even though his confidence and expertise may be exaggerated.
• Bai Lu remains composed and dutiful, turning a confrontation into part of her inspection and reminding the challengers that official rules apply.
• Xiong Batian is brash and competitive, but his bluster falters when Bai Lu raises the prospect of an inspection.
• The Land God agrees to judge fairly, while the Mushroom Spirit’s fearful refusal provides comic relief.

Significant themes

• Fame brings complications as well as success: the bathhouse’s popularity attracts rivals.
• Friendship and loyalty: Lu Ming steps in to support Wen Ning, albeit impulsively.
• Bureaucracy and regulation: Bai Lu’s inspection introduces a practical counterweight to the challengers’ bravado.
• Comedy through contrast: imposing rivals, official procedures, improvised equipment, and questionable expertise collide as the contest begins.

Chapter Summary

Key plot points and events

• Just before the scrubbing competition begins, the Mushroom Spirit withdraws from judging because his cap has already been scrubbed nearly bald. The Land God appoints the golden retriever instead, and Lu Ming persuades it with a promise of KFC.
• Xiong Batian’s contestant demonstrates precise, practiced scrubbing and herbal steaming. Lu Ming recognizes the skill, then counters with the fast, acupoint-focused Mount Tai Scrubbing Technique.
• When the rival performs an elaborate brush routine, Wen Ning activates the first level of Eight-Nine Mysteries, sprouting two extra arms. He and Lu Ming coordinate a spectacular six-arm scrubbing performance.
• The judges award both teams full marks for cleanliness and a tie for customer comfort. Wen Ning wins visual appeal by half a point; both teams lose points for splashing the floor.
• Xiong Batian protests that Wen Ning’s extra arms are unfair, but the Land God rules that magic was never prohibited. Bai Lu also rejects the appeal, ending the dispute.
• Keeping his word, Xiong Batian promises not to cause trouble again and volunteers to work as a bath scrubber once a month. Bai Lu declares the sanitation inspection a pass and suggests future scrubbing competitions be reported and organized as office activities.

Character developments and interactions

• Wen Ning reveals both his supernatural abilities and his willingness to use them creatively under pressure. His performance helps secure the win and the inspection pass.
• Lu Ming proves that his confidence in his scrubbing technique is justified. He adapts quickly to Wen Ning’s extra arms and is eager to become a permanent judge, though the mention of Heavenly Venerable Wen makes him reconsider.
• Xiong Batian moves from aggression and protest to honoring his promise, agreeing to cease his harassment and help at the bathhouse.
• Bai Lu remains impartial and strict, deducting points for mess regardless of intent and firmly handling the appeal.
• The golden retriever becomes an enthusiastic, if highly compromised, referee: both teams make it so blissfully comfortable that it loses any semblance of objective judgment.
• The Land God recognizes Wen Ning’s power and supports his eligibility, while the Mushroom Spirit avoids further scrubbing by withdrawing.

Significant themes

• Fairness and rules: The dispute over Wen Ning’s magic turns on the absence of rules banning it; Bai Lu’s sanitation standards are applied consistently.
• Skill and adaptability: Lu Ming’s technique, Wen Ning’s ingenuity, and their teamwork show different ways of meeting a challenge.
• Keeping one’s word and reconciliation: Xiong Batian’s pledge marks a shift from conflict toward cooperation.
• Humor through spectacle: The absurd judging arrangement, the golden retriever’s bliss, and Wen Ning’s extra arms turn a formal inspection into a comic competition.

Key plot points and events

• Wen Ning regrets winning the back-scrubbing contest: his bathhouse has lost its mortal customers, while monster clients keep him busy. He invests in a proper water heater, though the shabby office still contrasts with its impressive thunder deity statue.
• Wen Ning receives his first Heavenly Court salary: 5,000 merit points. Lu Ming invites him to a shopping-center sale and hints that he wants to borrow merit to buy a costly Spirit Silkworm Silk bathrobe. Wen Ning refuses and chooses cultivation instead.
• After Wen Ning prays to his godfather, Wen Zhong guides him through a basic qi-circulation method. Wen Ning’s qi becomes denser, his lightning grows stronger, and he can sustain it much longer.
• Wen Zhong confirms that Wen Ning has advanced from early-stage to mid-stage Earth Immortal. He says the next breakthrough will cost 12,000 merit points.
• Wen Ning again asks to remove the bathhouse sign. Wen Zhong refuses, instructing him to do his job properly and solve problems. Wen Ning does not know that Wen Zhong himself lacks the authority to remove it because the sign was ordered by a higher authority.

Character developments

• Wen Ning shifts from frustration over his odd job and humble workspace to taking cultivation seriously. He demonstrates practical restraint by saving his merit rather than spending it on shopping.
• Wen Zhong remains stern and cryptic, but his guidance helps Wen Ning make a major advance. His private thoughts reveal that he is constrained by orders from above.
• Lu Ming shows his enthusiasm for shopping—and his tendency to ask Wen Ning for financial help—while Bai Lu also takes interest in the sale.

Significant themes

• Work and purpose: Wen Zhong suggests Wen Ning’s bathhouse assignment is meant for more than scrubbing backs; he must notice and solve problems.
• Merit as currency: Heavenly Court merit can be spent on cultivation, but advancement requires increasingly large savings.
• Humor in the mundane and divine: Wen Ning’s shabby bathhouse, monster clientele, and impractical sign contrast with his genuine progress as an immortal.

Character interactions

• Wen Ning complains to the silent statue about the bathhouse and its sign, then solemnly prays when he wants to learn how to cultivate with merit.
• Lu Ming tries to lure Wen Ning into shopping and indirectly solicit a loan; Wen Ning ignores the request.
• Wen Zhong communicates through brief phone messages, providing cultivation instructions, confirming Wen Ning’s advancement, and reminding him of his duties.

Plot points and events

• Wen Ning receives his first routine patrol assignment from the Heavenly Court’s Thunder Department. The work earns no automatic Merit, but resolved problems can be compensated.
• On patrol, he breaks up a fight between two rat spirits over spoiled cat food. Rather than punish them, he orders them to clean up the mess.
• He catches a sparrow spirit—one of his bathhouse regulars—speeding through the air while testing a flying technique. Wen Ning reports the incident to the Heavenly Court work group; Lu Ming reacts emphatically, and Bai Lu suggests deducting the sparrow’s bath points.
• Just as Wen Ning is about to return to the bathhouse, he senses a faint trace of ghostly yin energy and discovers a timid, ragged young girl’s ghost following him.
• The girl cannot remember her name or where she came from. She says she has wandered for years and asks Wen Ning for help. Since her missing identity makes it impossible to locate her Underworld file, Wen Ning takes her with him rather than leave her alone.

Character developments

• Wen Ning moves from anticipating meaningful supernatural work to handling minor everyday offenses, showing a practical, compassionate approach. His first patrol becomes a more serious responsibility when he encounters the lost child ghost.
• The little ghost is revealed as vulnerable and disoriented, with a limp and no memory of her identity. Though frightened of Wen Ning, she gathers the courage to ask him for help.
• The rat spirits and sparrow spirit are introduced as familiar, somewhat comic residents of the local supernatural community; the sparrow’s connection to Wen Ning’s bathhouse makes the patrol’s enforcement personal.

Significant themes

• Routine duty and responsibility: Even small disturbances count as part of Wen Ning’s work.
• Compassion toward the vulnerable: Wen Ning responds to the child ghost’s helplessness instead of treating her as a mere case.
• Bureaucratic limits: The Underworld’s records system cannot help without identifying information, leaving Wen Ning to act on his own judgment.
• Community accountability: Wen Ning corrects minor misbehavior while keeping the neighborhood’s wellbeing in view.

Character interactions

• Wen Ning reprimands the rat spirits and gets them to clean up after themselves.
• He documents the sparrow spirit’s reckless flight and reports it, while the bird anxiously pleads not to be punished.
• Wen Ning speaks gently to the frightened ghost, asks what she remembers, and invites her to follow him. After hesitating, she does so.

Plot points and events

• Wen Ning brings the timid ghost Xiao Ya to his agency and reassures her that she is safe.
• With patience, he learns that she had cerebral palsy, which affected her movement, speech, and development. Though her parents initially sought treatment and continued to care for her, she was bullied and excluded at school.
• Xiao Ya recalls one boy in middle school who stood up for her when classmates mocked or pushed her.
• She has remained in the human world because she never got the chance to thank him. Wen Ning promises to find the boy and deliver her long-held message.

Character developments

• Xiao Ya gradually relaxes enough to tell Wen Ning about her painful past and the kindness she remembers. Her distress gives way to a hopeful smile when he agrees to help.
• Wen Ning responds with compassion and patience, then makes a firm commitment to resolve Xiao Ya’s lingering regret.

Significant themes

• Small acts of kindness can become a lasting source of hope amid loneliness and cruelty.
• The chapter emphasizes empathy toward people with disabilities and the harm caused by bullying and exclusion.
• Gratitude, unfinished wishes, and helping the vulnerable are presented as meaningful forms of compassion.

Character interactions

• Wen Ning speaks gently, gives Xiao Ya time to communicate, and comforts her without judgment.
• Xiao Ya entrusts him with her story and her wish; Wen Ning promises to help her thank the boy who once protected her.

Plot points and events

• Wen Ning tells Meng Jiang about Xiao Ya, a young ghost with cerebral palsy who wants to find and thank the boy who once protected her. Xiao Ya remembers neither her birth details nor the exact day she died, making a search through the Underworld’s records difficult.
• Meng Jiang explains that the Book of Life and Death normally requires a person’s Eight Characters of Birth. Xiao Ya’s ordinary merit and lack of resentment suggest she is lingering because of an unresolved attachment, so she should remain in the human world until it is resolved.
• Wen Ning asks Xiao Ya what she remembers. She recalls living somewhere with many mountains, a school with a large white-flowered tree at its gate, and a boy called A Cheng who waited beneath it and defended her from bullies. After more effort, she remembers her village was called Liujiabao.
• Meng Jiang says those clues may help narrow the search and promises to compile likely locations. Exhausted by the effort of remembering, Xiao Ya dissolves into mist and rests inside Wen Ning’s Thunder Department Token.
• Wen Ning lights incense and vows to his godfather that he will help Xiao Ya fulfill her wish, even if it means traveling for several days. The incense smoke seems to respond with a reassuring gesture.

Character development and interactions

• Wen Ning shifts from investigating Xiao Ya’s case to personally committing himself to her search. He is patient and gentle when questioning her, and treats her wish with solemn compassion.
• Xiao Ya’s memories are fragmented, but her determination to recall the boy and the tree reveals how deeply his kindness affected her.
• Meng Jiang is practical and sympathetic: she explains the Underworld’s rules while helping identify clues that could make the search possible.
• Wen Ning and Xiao Ya build trust through their quiet exchange; his promise to help contrasts with her vulnerability and exhaustion.

Significant themes

• Compassion and responsibility: Wen Ning chooses to help a vulnerable spirit despite the inconvenience and uncertainty.
• Memory and attachment: Small, emotionally charged details survive when names and other personal history have faded.
• Rules versus mercy: The Underworld cannot simply bypass its procedures, but its officials still work to help Xiao Ya move on.
• Kindness that endures: A boy’s protection left a lasting impression on Xiao Ya, shaping the wish that keeps her in the human world.

Plot points

• Meng Jiang gives Wen Ning three possible locations for Liujiabao and advises him to visit each.
• Wen Ning searches the southern village first, but finds no girl named Xiao Ya or a white-blossoming tree. The eastern village yields only an elderly woman who recalls an unrelated Xiao Ya who died in her eighties.
• For the remote third village near Black Wind Mountain, Wen Ning calls Xiong Batian, who knows the area and offers to guide him. They drive as far as the road allows, then walk through bamboo to a secluded valley.
• The village has a large cherry tree at its entrance, matching the clue about white blossoms. A local woman confirms Xiao Ya lived there, but says she drowned in a river a few winters earlier.
• Wen Ning asks where Xiao Ya’s home is and heads toward the house marked by a loquat tree.

Character developments and interactions

• Wen Ning is practical and persistent, methodically checking each location despite the difficult journey. His recollection of Xiao Ya’s strained appearance shows the search is emotionally affecting him.
• Xiong Batian is an enthusiastic, loyal helper. He guides Wen Ning and proudly explains that the mountain’s monsters pooled money to buy a delivery van, joking about his struggles learning to drive.
• Wen Ning speaks with residents at each village, but only the woman in the remote village provides meaningful information. Her initial suspicion softens into an account of Xiao Ya’s life and death.

Significant themes

• Memory and belated concern: Wen Ning seeks Xiao Ya only to learn that she has been dead for years.
• Isolation and vulnerability: Xiao Ya’s disability and the village’s remoteness underscore how easily a vulnerable person’s fate could go unnoticed.
• Persistence and companionship: Wen Ning’s determination, supported by Xiong Batian, carries the search forward.

Key events

• Wen Ning and the ghost Xiao Ya arrive at her impoverished childhood home, where her parents are grieving.
• He asks about Xiao Ya without revealing that he can see her. Her parents break down at hearing her name and tell him about her life.
• Xiao Ya was born with cerebral palsy, but her parents loved and cared for her. They borrowed money for treatment and sent her to school, though poverty eventually forced her to leave after middle school.
• At fourteen, Xiao Ya went to wash clothes in the winter river while her mother was ill. She slipped, drowned, and was found too late.
• Her parents blame themselves for her death and lost opportunities. Xiao Ya tries to comfort them, but as a ghost she cannot reach or be heard by them.
• Wen Ning reassures the parents that Xiao Ya never blamed them and resolves to help fulfill her remaining wishes: find the boy who once protected her and ease her parents’ loneliness in her place.

Character developments and interactions

• Xiao Ya is revealed as deeply considerate: she understood her family’s hardship, hid her disappointment about leaving school, and never resented her parents. Her grief shows that her attachments include both her parents and the unfinished thank-you to the boy who helped her.
• Her parents are loving but devastated, carrying guilt over their poverty and their daughter’s death. Their recollections show how much they cherished her.
• Wen Ning grows more emotionally invested in Xiao Ya’s story and takes on responsibility for helping her find peace.
• Xiao Ya’s attempts to comfort her parents underline the painful divide between the living and the dead.

Significant themes

• Parental love amid poverty: Xiao Ya’s parents did their best, but limited means shaped her opportunities.
• Regret and self-blame: Her parents believe they failed her, while Xiao Ya herself holds no resentment.
• Quiet sacrifice and kindness: Xiao Ya repeatedly puts others first, even in the circumstances that lead to her death.
• Unfinished attachments and compassion: Wen Ning’s help offers a path toward resolving Xiao Ya’s lingering regrets.

Key plot points and events

• After meeting Xiao Ya’s parents, Wen Ning travels to Qingshan Township Middle School to learn about her school years and find the boy who once protected her.
• Xiao Ya recalls the school with mixed feelings: she was mocked and bullied there, but her homeroom teacher, Teacher Wang, showed her kindness.
• Teacher Wang confirms that Xiao Ya endured bullying because of her cerebral palsy and speech and mobility difficulties. She also remembers Lin Cheng, a quiet classmate who repeatedly defended Xiao Ya and helped her.
• Teacher Wang gives Wen Ning Lin Cheng’s WeChat contact. Wen Ning and Xiao Ya leave for the city, hoping to meet him so Xiao Ya can thank him and finally release her lingering attachment.

Character developments

• Wen Ning presses on despite his exhaustion, motivated by the satisfaction of helping Xiao Ya find closure.
• Xiao Ya moves from nervousness and painful memories to renewed hope when Lin Cheng is identified. She expresses her gratitude and eagerness to see him.
• Teacher Wang is revealed as a compassionate, protective figure who remembers Xiao Ya vividly and remains concerned for her and Lin Cheng.
• Lin Cheng, though absent, emerges as a quietly courageous and considerate boy whose kindness left a lasting impression.

Significant themes

• Kindness amid cruelty: Teacher Wang and Lin Cheng offered Xiao Ya warmth in a school where she was also rejected and bullied.
• Memory and closure: Xiao Ya’s enduring recollection of Lin Cheng reflects how deeply compassion can affect someone; finding him may help her move on.
• Vulnerability and care: The chapter highlights the difficulties Xiao Ya faced and the importance of standing up for people who are mistreated.

Character interactions

• Wen Ning reassures Xiao Ya as they return to a place that brings back both painful and comforting memories.
• Teacher Wang shares Xiao Ya’s history with Wen Ning and describes how she and Lin Cheng supported her.
• Wen Ning receives Lin Cheng’s contact details, while Teacher Wang asks him to pass along her greetings.

Key plot points and events

• Wen Ning finds Lin Cheng, now a sixth-grade Chinese teacher, at the school where he works. He tells Lin Cheng that he has come on behalf of Xiao Ya, Lin Cheng’s former middle-school classmate.
• Lin Cheng remembers Xiao Ya immediately. Wen Ning explains that she had cerebral palsy, was bullied, and could not continue her education because of her family’s poverty. She died at fourteen after falling into an icy river while washing clothes.
• Wen Ning reveals that Xiao Ya’s unresolved wish was to thank Lin Cheng for protecting her at school. Lin Cheng is deeply moved and regrets not having done more, though he tells Xiao Ya that kindness was simply the right thing to do.
• Xiao Ya finally manages to say, “Thank you, Lin Cheng.” Her grief and lingering attachment fade, and she becomes ready to leave for reincarnation.
• Black and White Impermanence arrive. Xiao Ya bows to Lin Cheng and Wen Ning, then follows them into the Underworld.

Character developments

• Xiao Ya moves from overwhelmed silence to expressing the gratitude she had carried for years. Her final words release her from her attachment to the mortal world.
• Lin Cheng reveals that he never forgot Xiao Ya or the small acts of protection he offered her. His encounter deepens his understanding of how much those acts mattered, and he carries that lesson into his work as a teacher.
• Wen Ning acts as the bridge between the living and the dead, compassionately helping Xiao Ya complete her final wish.

Significant themes

• Small acts of kindness can have lasting effects: Lin Cheng’s protection gave Xiao Ya a rare source of comfort and became a defining memory of her life.
• The pain of unspoken gratitude and regret: Xiao Ya’s inability to thank Lin Cheng kept her spirit tied to the world, while Lin Cheng mourns not having helped her more.
• Compassion and remembrance: Treating vulnerable people with kindness can shape both their lives and one’s own.
• Closure and letting go: Once Xiao Ya voices her thanks, she can leave the mortal world and move on.

Character interactions

• Wen Ning gently tells Lin Cheng about Xiao Ya’s life and death, prompting Lin Cheng to confront his memories and grief.
• Lin Cheng speaks warmly to Xiao Ya, though he cannot hear her, acknowledging her pain and reassuring her that she need not thank him.
• Xiao Ya’s silent farewell to both men marks the end of her lingering attachment before she departs with the Impermanence.

Plot points and events

• After Wen Ning helps Xiao Ya pass on, he and Lin Cheng stand together outside the school. They feel relief that she has finally let go of her regrets and found peace.
• Lin Cheng explains why he protected Xiao Ya in middle school: he saw her struggle to speak during a class introduction, then witnessed classmates mock and mistreat her on the way home.
• Determined to make her remaining years at school kinder, Lin Cheng quietly watched over her, intervened when she was bullied, and sometimes walked her home.
• Lin Cheng is reassured that Xiao Ya remembered his kindness and left grateful. He resolves to do his best as a teacher and hopes she can be happy in another world.

Character development

• Lin Cheng reveals the depth and purpose behind his childhood actions: his protection of Xiao Ya came from empathy and a wish to make her school years feel safe. Learning that she remembered him fondly releases his long-held fear that he had failed her.
• Wen Ning recognizes how deeply Lin Cheng’s kindness shaped Xiao Ya’s memories and understands why Lin Cheng became a teacher. Helping Xiao Ya find closure also affirms Wen Ning’s sense that his difficult journey mattered.
• Xiao Ya, though absent for most of the chapter, reaches closure: her final gratitude allows her to leave her pain and regrets behind.

Themes

• Kindness can have lasting effects: Small acts of protection can become a source of comfort remembered for a lifetime.
• Dignity and compassion: Xiao Ya’s disability does not justify the cruelty she faced; Lin Cheng sees her worth and stands against bullying.
• Closure and healing: Xiao Ya’s gratitude frees her to move on, while Lin Cheng can finally set aside his worry.
• Teaching as care: Lin Cheng’s childhood instinct to protect vulnerable children carries into his life as a teacher.

Character interactions

• Wen Ning comforts Lin Cheng and assures him that Xiao Ya left with gratitude and peace.
• Lin Cheng shares the personal memories behind his actions, while Wen Ning listens and comes to understand him more fully.
• Their quiet exchange turns Xiao Ya’s departure into a moment of mutual reassurance: Wen Ning helped her let go, and Lin Cheng’s kindness gave her something good to remember.

Key plot points and events

• After Xiao Ya’s departure, Wen Ning learns that she has been appointed Mountain God of Black Wind Mountain. The Underworld restored her soul’s connection to her new body, so she can now speak and move without the impairments she had in life.
• Meng Jiang explains that Xiao Ya was a nine-lifetime good person: across nine lives, she consistently did whatever good she could. Her accumulated merit earned her an immediate Heavenly Court position, and the Underworld had waited for her unresolved attachment to fade rather than forcibly escorting her across.
• Xiong Batian excitedly reports that Xiao Ya has already begun improving life on the mountain. She plans to rebalance its spiritual energy, make the area safer for mortals, and grow medicinal herbs for the monsters. She also offers them free access to the temple’s hot spring.
• Wen Ning visits her Mountain God’s banquet. He finds a lively gathering of more than a hundred monsters, celebrating together in the Old Locust Grove.

Character developments and interactions

• Xiao Ya has changed from a frightened girl who struggled to speak and walk into a confident, capable young Mountain God. She thanks Wen Ning for helping her find Lin Cheng and warmly promises that he will always be welcome on the mountain.
• Wen Ning is surprised by Xiao Ya’s appointment and initially worries she may be unable to manage the role. Learning about her restored health and long history of kindness reassures him; seeing her thriving among the monsters fills him with joy.
• Xiong Batian is exuberantly proud of Xiao Ya and moved by the leadership and care she brings to Black Wind Mountain. He promises Wen Ning free baths, back scrubs, and meals.
• The mountain’s monsters, once seemingly isolated, gather in a friendly community, sharing food and celebrating their new leader.

Significant themes

• Kindness and merit: Ordinary, repeated acts of goodness can accumulate into extraordinary reward.
• Healing and second chances: Xiao Ya’s soul is no longer constrained by the physical condition of her former life, allowing her abilities and personality to flourish.
• Community and compassionate leadership: Xiao Ya’s practical plans and generosity unite the monsters and improve their shared home.
• Belonging and gratitude: Wen Ning’s help creates lasting bonds, and Xiao Ya’s welcome extends to both him and the mountain’s community.

Key plot points and events

• After the mountain god’s banquet, Wen Ning returns to his shop and sleeps. The next morning, the Heavenly Court Personnel Department informs him he has earned 10,000 merit points for resolving Xiao Ya’s lingering fixation and helping her pass peacefully into rebirth. He must report within three days with debriefing materials.
• Wen Ning is delighted by the unusually large reward and agrees to visit Lu Ming at the Thunder Department the following day.
• Before leaving, he makes offerings to the statue of his godfather, Wen Zhong, and buys cigarettes and liquor to bring him—this time choosing a more expensive brand after the previous cigarettes proved too strong.
• At the Heavenly Court, Lu Ming greets Wen Ning enthusiastically and takes him to the Thunder Department office, where Bai Lu and Meng Jiang are also present. They joke about Lu Ming’s neglected paperwork and Wen Ning’s gifts for Wen Zhong.
• Wen Zhong arrives and takes Wen Ning to his office. Wen Ning gives him the gifts and begins recounting the full account of how he helped Xiao Ya.

Character developments

• Wen Ning is rewarded for his compassion and effective work, and his growing status as a proper immortal is reflected in how easily he travels to the Heavenly Court. He remains thoughtful about maintaining relationships, especially with Wen Zhong.
• Lu Ming remains exuberant and eager for company, though his neglected paperwork shows his tendency to shirk office duties.
• Wen Zhong is reserved but accepts Wen Ning’s gifts, then focuses on the formal debriefing.
• Bai Lu and Meng Jiang continue to support and tease their colleagues, showing familiarity with Wen Ning’s habits and the office’s routines.

Significant themes

• Merit and service: Wen Ning’s reward recognizes the moral value of helping a virtuous soul find peace.
• Duty and bureaucracy: Even spiritual work must be documented and reviewed according to official procedures.
• Care and connection: Wen Ning’s offerings and gifts express gratitude and affection, while the office reunion highlights bonds among colleagues.

Character interactions

• Wen Ning and Lu Ming reunite warmly; Lu Ming jokes about his polished uniform, while Wen Ning teases him about his bells and unfinished work.
• Bai Lu offers practical advice about formatting the report, and Meng Jiang jokes about Wen Ning’s gifts and their lingering smell.
• Wen Ning and Wen Zhong share a quiet, familiar exchange over the cigarettes and liquor before Wen Ning begins his formal account.