Chapter Summaries

Key plot points and events

• The old teacher withdraws from consideration for City God. He realizes his strong instinct to teach and forgive could distort the balance of reward and punishment, especially when judging ghosts who have no chance to start over. Wen Ning respects his integrity and records his evaluation.
• The next candidate, a young soldier, hears the case of Sun, a fourteen-year-old who bullied a classmate and extorted money before dying in a traffic accident.
• Sun admits to his behavior but says he did it because he thought it was fun and his victim would not fight back. The soldier learns that the victim changed schools, suffered serious distress, and still has trauma linked to the end-of-class bell.
• The soldier orders Sun to visit the victim in a dream and apologize. Wen Ning challenges whether such a light punishment can address the lasting harm.
• The soldier admits that he was bullied as a child and would not be able to forgive his own tormentors. Wen Ning ends the questioning, acknowledging the case is difficult and letting the soldier leave.

Character developments

• The old teacher recognizes that his compassion and faith in reform make him unsuited to judge the dead. He chooses principle over the chance to become City God.
• The young soldier makes a measured ruling, but his own bullying scars shape his response. Wen Ning’s questions force him to confront the gap between an apology and genuine repair.
• Wen Ning continues testing candidates’ judgment, pressing them to consider victims’ suffering as well as offenders’ age and circumstances. He also shows restraint by stopping when he sees how personally painful the case is for the soldier.

Significant themes

• Justice versus mercy: Compassion can become unfair when it weakens accountability, but punishment must also be proportionate.
• The limits of apology and forgiveness: Saying sorry cannot erase lasting trauma, and victims are not obligated to forgive.
• Responsibility and consequence: Sun’s death was an accident, not punishment for his bullying; the case concerns the harm he chose to cause in life.
• The difficulty of judgment: The offender’s young age complicates the question of how to impose meaningful consequences.

Character interactions

• The old teacher thanks Wen Ning for challenging his assumptions, and Wen Ning responds with respect despite disagreeing with his approach.
• Wen Ning questions the soldier’s lenient sentence, centering the victim’s lasting pain.
• The soldier shares his own childhood experience, revealing why the case is difficult for him; Wen Ning recognizes this and ends the examination rather than pressing further.

Plot points and events

• After reviewing the previous candidates, the panel concludes that the former teacher is compassionate but too soft for judging, while the soldier lacks experience. Both showed the important ability to recognize their own limits. Wen Ning argues that there is no time to train someone for the City God role.
• The final candidate, Acting City God Chen Yang, hears the case of Ma Fang, who was killed by her husband after years of demanding money for luxuries while he worked and went into debt supporting her. Her husband has already been sentenced by mortal authorities.
• Ma Fang blames her husband and protests Chen Yang’s questions, but Chen lays out how hard her husband worked and how little care or consideration she showed him.
• Chen distinguishes the two cases: the husband must answer for murder, while Ma Fang must answer for her own treatment of him. He sentences her to Underworld penal labor lasting until her husband dies, matching the duration of his mortal prison term.
• As Ma Fang is taken away, Judge Lu records the ruling and smiles, apparently approving Chen’s judgment.

Character developments

• Chen Yang demonstrates calm authority and a firm sense of justice. He refuses to be distracted by Ma Fang’s theatrics, while making clear that her husband’s crime does not erase her own wrongdoing.
• Ma Fang begins arrogant and self-pitying, but her composure breaks when confronted with her husband’s sacrifices and the length of her sentence. Her protests continue, though they lose force.
• Judge Lu shifts from evaluating candidates to showing approval of Chen Yang’s ruling.
• Wen Ning emphasizes the need for someone who can take up the role immediately rather than undergo years of training.

Significant themes

• Justice and accountability: Wrongdoing is judged separately; one person’s crime does not cancel another’s responsibility.
• Empathy and perspective: Chen asks Ma Fang to understand the labor and hardship her husband endured.
• Authority versus entitlement: Ma Fang’s tantrums once went unchecked, but they carry no weight in the Underworld court.
• Work and reciprocity: The sentence is designed to teach Ma Fang what her husband’s labor and family burden were like.

Character interactions

• The interviewers discuss the strengths and limitations of the earlier candidates, with Wen Ning stressing the urgency of the appointment.
• Chen Yang confronts Ma Fang’s accusations without excusing her husband’s murder, keeping the trial focused on her conduct.
• Ma Fang attempts to appeal to sympathy and fairness, but Chen maintains his ruling and orders the ghost officers to carry it out.

Key plot points

• After the City God candidates’ assessments, Judge Lu, the King of Hell, and Meng Po unanimously select Chen Yang. His impartial, consistent judgments make him the best fit; the old teacher and soldier remain eligible for future vacancies.
• Wen Ning learns that A Ning has reincarnated after fulfilling her long-held wish. Zhang Siyu asks where her mother went and whether she will remember her family, but Wen Ning explains that the Underworld keeps reincarnation details private and Meng Po’s soup erases past-life memories. Zhang Siyu honors her mother with incense and bows.
• The next morning, the bathhouse is unusually quiet: almost all the regular monster customers are absent.
• Gong Kai urgently takes Wen Ning to lunch and privately asks whether Wen Ning can see monsters. Gong Kai says he thinks he saw a tail on Hu Jiumei. Wen Ning asks whether her nature matters if she likes Gong Kai. Gong Kai is left uncertain and silent.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Yang is confirmed as fair-minded and emotionally steady, earning the City God post.
• Wen Ning supports the decision, accepts A Ning’s departure, and gently helps Zhang Siyu face the finality of her mother’s reincarnation. He also responds cautiously to Gong Kai’s question about Hu Jiumei.
• Zhang Siyu moves from longing to a solemn farewell, then keeps her promise to open the shop the next day.
• Gong Kai appears anxious and conflicted after noticing a possible sign that Hu Jiumei is not human. Wen Ning’s question—whether that changes her feelings for him—forces him to confront what matters most to him.

Significant themes

• Justice and impartiality: Chen Yang’s lack of bias is presented as essential to governing the Underworld.
• Letting go and renewal: A Ning’s reincarnation brings an end to her long wait, even as it means losing her memories.
• Privacy and acceptance: The living cannot control or know every detail of the dead’s next life.
• Love beyond appearances: Gong Kai must consider whether Hu Jiumei’s possible nonhuman identity changes his feelings.

• Gong Kai learns the truth about Hu Jiumei. Over hot pot, Wen Ning reminds him that Hu Jiumei has consistently cared for him—cooking, bringing him food during late nights, and staying with him when he was ill. Gong Kai admits she treats him very well, though he worries that monsters feed on human vitality. Wen Ning points out that Gong Kai has only become healthier and better cared for since they got together.
• Wen Ning explains their history. As a child, Gong Kai rescued a fox from a trap, secretly cared for her, and named her Little Red. After his father released her, the fox cultivated for more than a decade so she could return to him. As Hu Jiumei, she first showed her devotion by secretly cleaning Gong Kai’s home. Gong Kai vaguely recalls the rescue and realizes their connection began in this life, not a past one.
• Gong Kai’s fears are eased. He worries that a monk or Taoist might pursue Hu Jiumei as in The Legend of the White Snake. Wen Ning assures him she has broken no laws and says he has already arranged protection for the couple. Relieved, Gong Kai turns his attention back to the meal—and gets the last piece of tripe before Wen Ning can.
• The scene shifts to the bathhouse. Wen Ning returns with fried rice for Zhang Siyu, who is working as usual. She mentions that Xiong Batian came by and invited Wen Ning to Black Wind Mountain. Before they can discuss it, a middle-aged woman arrives, saying Zhou Hu sent her because Wen Ning may be able to help.
  Character developments and interactions: Gong Kai moves from anxious suspicion toward acceptance, gradually recognizing Hu Jiumei as the same devoted companion she has always been. Wen Ning acts as his blunt but supportive confidant, explains Hu Jiumei’s past, and reassures him that he has handled potential dangers. Their teasing, especially over Gong Kai’s food-first habits, preserves their familiar friendship. Wen Ning also shares an easy, caring rapport with Zhang Siyu.
  Themes: Love is defined by care and constancy rather than supernatural identity; genuine kindness can create lasting bonds; and trust helps people move beyond fear and misunderstanding.

• Plot: Ma Lanlan seeks Wen Ning’s help, worried that her son, Zhou Ming, may be possessed. Once a consistently top-ranked high-school student, Zhou’s grades have recently collapsed, and he now keeps to himself. Wen Ning resists Zhang Siyu’s eager leap to an exorcism, noting that exam stress could explain the change and that Ma has noticed no sinister presence. Ma then recounts Zhou’s extraordinary lifelong good fortune: her family’s fortunes improved during her pregnancy, a giant turtle rescued her from drowning, and Zhou repeatedly excelled and won prizes with little effort. Unsure whether that luck came from a protective force that has now disappeared—or whether something else is wrong—Wen Ning agrees to investigate. At the family’s tidy home, he senses a calm, scholarly aura.
• Character developments: Wen Ning shows patience and caution, gathering details before drawing conclusions. Zhang Siyu is enthusiastic and confident in her supernatural expertise, but Wen Ning’s restraint—and Ma’s unusual story—makes her reconsider her initial assumption. Ma moves from anxious urgency to sharing the history behind her fears.
• Interactions: Wen Ning repeatedly reins in Zhang Siyu and gently guides Ma through her account. Zhang and Wen exchange a look when Ma describes the turtle and Zhou’s luck, recognizing that the case may be unusual. They travel to Ma’s home together to examine it.
• Themes: The chapter contrasts superstition with careful inquiry, raises the possibility that exceptional good fortune may have a supernatural source, and hints at the pressure and isolation facing students nearing major exams.

Plot points and events

• Wen Ning and Zhang Siyu visit Ma Lanlan’s home and hear her quiz her son, Zhou Ming, relentlessly about his schoolwork and falling grades.
• Ma Lanlan links his academic performance to getting into Tsinghua or Peking University, but Zhou finally says he never wanted to attend either university and has only been pressured to aim for them.
• Ma Lanlan tries to show care by bringing him homemade pigeon soup, despite his repeated preference for other soup and his dislike of soup. Zhou silently drinks it, then returns to his untouched math paper.
• Wen Ning goes to speak with Zhou. Zhou initially challenges him for assuming he understands, then describes the strain of facing his mother’s constant questioning and feeling that every conversation becomes about grades.
• Wen Ning acknowledges he cannot know exactly what Zhou experiences, but reminds him that his own interests matter. He notices Zhou’s battered book about Chinese rockets and names his genuine interests: spaceflight, machinery, and rockets—not elite universities. Zhou listens but does not yet respond.

Character development and interactions

• Zhou Ming shifts from withdrawn silence to an emotional outburst, revealing how exhausted and anxious he feels at home. His interest in rockets offers a glimpse of a personal aspiration obscured by academic pressure.
• Ma Lanlan sees her pressure and insistence as parental care, expressed through questions about grades and preparing nutritious food. She does not recognize that Zhou’s silence and refusal are signs of distress.
• Wen Ning observes the mismatch between Ma Lanlan’s intentions and Zhou’s experience. Rather than interrupting or dismissing Zhou, he listens, admits the limits of his understanding, and helps identify what Zhou actually wants.
• Zhang Siyu is present as a visitor but has no significant direct interaction in the scene.

Significant themes

• Care versus control: Ma Lanlan’s actions are intended as love, but her relentless scrutiny leaves Zhou feeling trapped.
• Academic pressure and parental expectations: The demand to reach a prestigious university has eclipsed Zhou’s own wishes.
• Being heard and recognized: Wen Ning’s quiet listening allows Zhou’s suppressed feelings—and his interests—to emerge.
• Personal identity and aspiration: Zhou’s passion for rockets suggests a future defined by his own interests rather than someone else’s expectations.

Key plot points and events

• Zhou Ming longs to visit the space museum but initially insists he no longer wants to go, afraid to express his wishes.
• Wen Ning encourages him and promises to persuade his mother, Ma Lanlan.
• To secure Ma’s permission, Wen Ning falsely claims Zhou Ming is possessed by a dangerous spirit and needs an exorcism outside the city. Zhang Siyu backs him up with an elaborate explanation for why Ma cannot come along.
• Frightened for her son, Ma agrees. Wen Ning tells Zhou Ming they will leave at nine the next morning; the boy’s quiet smile reveals how much the outing means to him.
• After leaving, Wen Ning and Zhang discuss the real reason for the plan: Zhou Ming needs a break from the pressure at home. Wen Ning hints he has another important matter to handle that night.

Character developments and interactions

• Zhou Ming shows how deeply he has suppressed his own preferences under his mother’s expectations. His guarded demeanor briefly gives way to anticipation and a genuine smile when the trip is approved.
• Wen Ning acts as Zhou Ming’s advocate, using deception not for personal gain but to create space for the boy to enjoy something he wants. He recognizes that Ma’s love has become overbearing.
• Ma Lanlan is protective and anxious, but her focus on Zhou Ming’s academic future leaves little room for his individual wishes. She is easily persuaded by Wen Ning’s frightening story.
• Zhang Siyu supports Wen Ning’s scheme with a convincing improvised explanation, then teases him about his talent for deception. Their banter reflects their growing ease with each other.

Significant themes

• Love becoming pressure: Ma’s devotion is sincere, but placing all her hopes on Zhou Ming turns affection into a burden.
• Growing up and autonomy: Zhou Ming’s reluctance to voice his desire shows the cost of excessive restriction; a small outing gives him a chance to reclaim some choice.
• Deception as protection: Wen Ning and Zhang lie to Ma, presenting the trip as an exorcism so Zhou Ming can get a needed break.

Key events

• Dipper Mother confirms Wen Ning’s suspicion: Zhou Ming is an incarnation of the Star of Literary Excellence. Unlike earlier incarnations, who inspired literature, Zhou Ming’s mission is to advance his nation’s science and technology—especially spaceflight.
• Zhou Ming’s extraordinary academic ability, family circumstances, and deep interest in rockets are all part of that mission. He has sensed its pull without consciously understanding it.
• Dipper Mother tells Wen Ning to take Zhou Ming to the space museum and help awaken his purpose. She also advises him to continue the cover story that he is performing an exorcism, reassuring Ma Lanlan with the claim that Zhou Ming is the Star of Literary Excellence as a figurative auspicious saying.
• Wen Ning leaves the heavenly realm before dawn, returns to his shop, and rests briefly.
• At nine, Wen Ning and Zhang Siyu collect Zhou Ming from home. Ma Lanlan, exhausted and worried after a sleepless night, wants to accompany them, but Wen Ning persuades her that a relative’s presence would interfere with the supposed ritual.
• The three set off by taxi for the space museum. Zhou Ming asks whether it is fun; Wen Ning admits he has never been there.

Character developments and interactions

• Wen Ning gains a clearer understanding of Zhou Ming’s destiny and accepts the task of guiding him toward it, though he still approaches the situation with practical, improvised explanations.
• Dipper Mother acts as a mentor, explaining the Star of Literary Excellence’s changing role and pushing Wen Ning to help Zhou Ming discover his calling for himself.
• Zhou Ming remains quiet and obedient, but his battered book on Chinese rockets and his questions about the museum reveal how strongly spaceflight already draws him.
• Ma Lanlan’s protective anxiety is evident as she struggles to let Zhou Ming go. Wen Ning uses a fabricated exorcism explanation, while Zhang Siyu reinforces it to calm her.
• Dipper Mother hints that the Jade Emperor, too, has descended to undergo mortal trials—an ominous suggestion Wen Ning does not hear.

Significant themes

• Destiny and choice: Zhou Ming carries a great mission, but he must awaken to it and choose his own path.
• The individual and the nation: His personal interests and talents are tied to the country’s future scientific progress.
• Hidden identities and mortal misunderstanding: Divine truths can sound like harmless sayings or ordinary interests to people who do not know the larger reality.

Key plot points and events

• Wen Ning, Zhang Siyu, and Zhou Ming visit the Space Museum. Zhou is captivated by a full-scale rocket, carefully examining its construction and explaining why its rivets must be inspected precisely.
• In the satellite hall, Zhou recognizes the significance of an old satellite still orbiting Earth. He then studies the history of China’s space program, pausing at a blank section marked, “The future is yours to write.”
• At the museum’s Shenzhou X reentry capsule, Zhou reflects on the dangers astronauts faced during reentry and realizes what he wants to do with his life: pursue spaceflight or aerospace.
• On the way home, Zhou asks whether someone can refuse a task they feel destined to perform. Wen Ning answers that a true calling cannot simply be set aside.
• Zhou returns home with newfound confidence. His mother, Ma Lanlan, anxiously checks that he is unharmed. Wen Ning says Zhou’s problem is resolved, but Ma Lanlan herself still has a problem.

Character developments

• Zhou Ming moves from timid and withdrawn to visibly confident and purposeful. His deep fascination with space becomes a clear sense of vocation.
• Wen Ning recognizes Zhou’s potential and gives him room to discover it for himself. He frames Zhou’s choice as a matter of calling and destiny.
• Zhang Siyu observes Zhou’s transformation and shares Wen Ning’s sense that the museum visit has changed something fundamental.
• Ma Lanlan appears protective and worried, but Wen Ning’s final remark hints that her own unresolved issue remains.

Significant themes

• Calling and destiny: Zhou’s passion is presented as more than an interest; it feels like a purpose he is awakening to.
• Discovery and transformation: The museum’s exhibits help Zhou see a future for himself, symbolized by the blank space on the timeline.
• Scientific ambition and national progress: Zhou’s fascination with rockets, satellites, and space exploration connects his personal dreams to the country’s larger scientific future.
• Confidence through purpose: Once Zhou understands what he wants to do, his posture and manner change.

Character interactions

• Wen Ning and Zhang Siyu quietly observe Zhou’s fascination rather than interrupting it.
• Wen Ning encourages Zhou, including by answering his question about destiny with a statement that reinforces the seriousness of his calling.
• Zhou turns to Wen Ning for guidance and later acknowledges him before returning home.
• Ma Lanlan’s anxious reunion with Zhou contrasts with his newly confident demeanor; Wen Ning then shifts attention to the problem he says she still faces.

Key plot points

• Wen Ning confronts Ma Lanlan about how her devotion to Zhou Ming has become a burden. She insists that her sacrifices—working hard, saving money, and paying for tutoring—are meant to secure his future.
• Wen Ning points out that Ma Lanlan’s hopes revolve around Zhou Ming’s grades, university prospects, and career, leaving little room for what Zhou Ming wants for himself.
• When asked directly if he is happy, Zhou Ming admits he fears that choosing a different path would make his mother feel her sacrifices were wasted. He loves her, but her expectations make him feel indebted and afraid to disappoint her.
• Ma Lanlan realizes that what she intended as support has felt like pressure. Wen Ning urges her to let Zhou Ming’s life be his own, reassuring her that it will be “brilliantly colorful.”
• Mother and son leave together. That night, Ma Lanlan dreams of Zhou Ming as a respected rocket chief engineer and feels pride in the life he might build.
• The next morning, she quietly returns his Complete Book of Chinese Rockets to his bedside instead of taking it away, and makes him a different soup.

Character development

• Zhou Ming finally voices his fear and personal desires, moving from silence toward honest communication with his mother.
• Ma Lanlan begins to recognize that loving Zhou Ming does not mean directing his entire future. Her small acts the next morning suggest she is starting to respect his interests.
• Wen Ning acts as a calm mediator, helping both mother and son understand the emotional cost of Ma Lanlan’s expectations.

Character interactions

• Wen Ning challenges Ma Lanlan without dismissing her sacrifices, then gives Zhou Ming space to explain how those sacrifices affect him.
• Ma Lanlan initially seeks reassurance from Zhou Ming, but his honesty shifts her from defensiveness to confusion and reflection.
• Zhou Ming silently thanks Wen Ning before leaving with his mother, while Wen Ning and Zhang Siyu return to the shop.

Significant themes

• Love versus control: Good intentions can still become oppressive when affection is tied to expectations.
• A child’s right to an independent life: A parent’s hopes should not replace a child’s own ambitions.
• Communication and understanding: Honest conversation allows Ma Lanlan to see her son’s feelings for the first time.
• Hope and possibility: Ma Lanlan’s dream reframes Zhou Ming’s interest in rockets as a potential future rather than a distraction.

Plot points and events

• Wen Ning discovers Big Gray, an old friend of Big Yellow’s, waiting outside and lets him in. Zhang Siyu feeds the stray dog.
• Big Gray and Big Yellow exchange information in dog language. Unable to understand them, Wen Ning makes the Sparrow Spirit translate.
• Big Gray reports that an unfamiliar older man has been feeding the stray dogs near the ruins for several days—but dogs have recently begun disappearing, including one of Big Patches’s puppies.
• Big Yellow is outraged and decides to investigate. Wen Ning leaves Zhang Siyu to mind the shop and follows Big Yellow, with Big Gray and the Sparrow Spirit accompanying them.
• They find the man in the ruins, surrounded by several strays. He appears gentle with them, feeding them sausages and bones and providing clean water. The chapter ends before his intentions are revealed.

Character developments

• Wen Ning is attentive to Big Yellow’s signals and quickly acts when he learns dogs may be in danger. Though he cannot understand the dogs, he finds a way to get their message.
• Big Yellow shifts from his lazy, affectionate self into a confident, protective leader determined to defend the dogs on his turf.
• Big Gray is thin but composed and serves as a trusted messenger between the stray dogs and Big Yellow.
• The Sparrow Spirit complains about being used as a dog translator but gives in when Wen Ning reminds him of his own food-stealing.
• Zhang Siyu is amused by Wen Ning’s growing collection of animal companions, yet readily helps by feeding Big Gray and watching the shop.

Significant themes

• Loyalty and community: Big Yellow treats the strays as his responsibility, and Big Gray comes to him for help.
• Compassion and suspicion: The man’s kindness toward the dogs seems genuine, but the recent disappearances make his presence troubling.
• Communication across differences: Wen Ning relies on the Sparrow Spirit to understand a conversation between animals.

Character interactions

• Wen Ning welcomes Big Gray after confirming Big Yellow knows him; Zhang Siyu provides food.
• Big Gray and Big Yellow hold a serious, untranslated conversation, which the Sparrow Spirit interprets for Wen Ning.
• Wen Ning recruits Big Yellow to lead the investigation, while teasing the Sparrow Spirit into continuing as translator.
• At the ruins, the man’s calm, affectionate interaction with the strays contrasts with the danger suggested by the missing dogs.

Plot points

• Wen Ning recognizes Lin Hao, whose past cruelty to small animals had brought him under the effects of Grudge Poison. The punishment left him prematurely aged.
• Wen Ning finds Lin Hao feeding stray dogs and suspects him of taking one of Big Spot’s puppies.
• Lin Hao admits he took the puppy, but says it climbed into his vehicle. He retrieves it and brings it back.
• The puppy is happy with Lin Hao and insists he is its owner. Big Spot challenges Lin Hao’s trustworthiness, but after hearing the puppy defend him, accepts food from him and returns to the pack.

Character developments and interactions

• Lin Hao appears markedly changed: he is calm, feeds the dogs regularly, and has cared well for the puppy. His remorse and attempt to do good suggest a turn away from his former cruelty.
• Wen Ning remains wary of Lin Hao but lets Big Spot’s complaint be heard and sees the puppy’s attachment for himself.
• Big Spot is protective and initially distrustful, confronting Lin Hao over her missing puppy. She ultimately shows cautious acceptance.
• The puppy is energetic and devoted to Lin Hao, arguing that he treats it well.
• The Sparrow Spirit translates the dogs’ speech, adding comic flair that Wen Ning has to rein in.

Significant themes

• Reform and redemption: Lin Hao’s past remains serious, but his present actions suggest he may be changing.
• Trust and accountability: Big Spot does not excuse Lin Hao’s history; his care for the puppy and the puppy’s testimony begin to rebuild trust.
• Family and chosen bonds: The puppy’s affection for Lin Hao coexists with its bond to its mother, Big Spot.

Plot points and events

• Wen Ning notices that Lin Hao has changed and asks what brought it about.
• Lin Hao admits he once hated Wen Ning for the life-years taken as punishment for killing animals. Unable to return to school or find work, he spent months dwelling on his anger—until he realized that resentment hurt only himself.
• While feeding dogs, Lin Hao was approached by a puppy whose affection reminded him of the cats and dogs he had killed. Holding it made him recognize, on his own, that his past cruelty was wrong. He now cares for the dogs rather than resenting them.
• Wen Ning explains that all living beings have equal worth, regardless of species or status. Lin Hao acknowledges that he used to believe humans were superior and that he had been ignorant.
• Lin Yuwei arrives. Wen Ning greets her and remarks that her brother is doing well. Lin Hao leaves with her, while the puppy playfully says goodbye to Big Flower.
• Back at the shop, Wen Ning tells Zhang Siyu that he encountered someone he knew who had changed in an unexpected way.

Character developments

• Lin Hao moves from bitterness and self-justification toward remorse and empathy. His change comes not from fear of punishment but from recognizing the animals’ vulnerability and feeling their value for himself.
• Wen Ning treats Lin Hao without accusation, offering a broader moral perspective while allowing him to reach his own understanding.
• Lin Yuwei appears after an absence, and her reunion with Lin Hao suggests a renewed connection, though their interaction is brief.
• Zhang Siyu remains relaxed and teasing, contrasting the reflective conversation Wen Ning has just had.

Significant themes

• The equal worth of life: No species or class of living being is inherently lesser.
• Personal moral change: Genuine remorse emerges when someone recognizes wrongdoing internally, rather than merely being told it is wrong.
• Resentment and responsibility: Hatred cannot undo harm and often wounds the person holding it.
• Empathy through connection: Caring for one puppy helps Lin Hao see the animals he once harmed as individual, affectionate lives.

Character interactions

• Wen Ning listens as Lin Hao confesses his former hatred, then responds with a calm, nonjudgmental explanation of equality among living things.
• Lin Hao’s bond with the puppy—its trust, affection, and playful farewell to Big Flower—shows his change more vividly than his words.
• Wen Ning greets Lin Yuwei and reassures her about Lin Hao’s progress; Lin Hao then goes to her.
• At the shop, Wen Ning shares the encounter with Zhang Siyu, who had saved food for him and jokes about his habit of getting involved in things.

Plot points and events

• Wen Ning’s life has settled into a routine: he tends the incense and kowtows for his godfather, while Zhang Siyu handles most of the shop’s work.
• After studying the Book of Changes, Wen Ning discovers he can use its method to perceive people’s auras. He begins watching passersby and interpreting their vitality, though Zhang Siyu teases him for neglecting the business.
• Wen Ning notices Old Zhao, a frail, isolated man whose aura suggests his life is nearly spent. He sees him struggle home with a few groceries and buns.
• Old Liu explains that Zhao was once healthy and devoted to his wife. After she developed late-stage cancer, Zhao spent their savings, sold their belongings, borrowed heavily, and worked exhausting jobs to pay for her care. He neglected his own health and now suffers from declining strength and numerous ailments.

Character developments

• Wen Ning is increasingly attuned to the supernatural and begins using his ability to notice suffering around him. His decision to ask about Zhao suggests growing compassion and concern.
• Old Zhao is revealed as a loving, self-sacrificing husband whose devotion to his wife has cost him his health, livelihood, and financial security.
• Zhang Siyu remains practical and hardworking, chiding Wen Ning for watching the street instead of helping.
• Big Yellow appears perceptive and responsive, drawing Wen Ning’s attention to Zhao and silently urging him to act.

Significant themes

• Love and sacrifice: Zhao gives up nearly everything for his wife, embodying the enduring love Wen Ning has come to believe in.
• Misfortune and mortality: Zhao’s wife’s illness, debt, and his own failing health show how hardship can compound until a person is nearly broken.
• Compassion and responsibility: Seeing another person’s suffering raises the question of whether Wen Ning will do more than observe.
• The unseen currents of life: Wen Ning’s aura-reading links spiritual perception with ordinary human struggles.

Character interactions

• Wen Ning and Zhang Siyu exchange light teasing over his mystical hobby and lack of help in the shop.
• Wen Ning and Big Yellow communicate through looks and gestures, with the dog prompting Wen Ning to pay attention to Zhao.
• Wen Ning asks Old Liu about Zhao, and Liu recounts the man’s past and hardships, giving Wen Ning—and the reader—a deeper understanding of the stranger he has been watching.

Key plot points and events

• Old Liu tells Wen Ning that Old Zhao has worked himself into serious illness, but refuses help or hospital care because he is spending what he earns on his wife’s treatment.
• Old Zhao’s wife has an incurable illness. He remains devoted to her, hiding his own worsening condition and pretending he has eaten and is doing well.
• Though Wen Ning says he cannot help everyone who suffers, he is moved enough to follow Old Zhao. He sees him buy only cheap painkillers at a small clinic, then struggle to reach the hospital.
• At his wife’s bedside, Old Zhao conceals his pain, cheerfully claims he is healthy, and lovingly feeds her porridge. His wife also urges him to care for himself, unaware of how gravely ill he is.

Character developments and interactions

• Wen Ning moves from reluctant detachment toward quiet concern. He does not yet intervene, but chooses to witness Old Zhao’s life firsthand.
• Old Zhao is shown as self-sacrificing and determined, enduring illness and poverty to stay beside his wife.
• Old Zhao’s wife is tender and worried about her husband, while trusting his reassuring words.
• Old Liu expresses the neighbors’ helpless compassion, explaining the couple’s hardship to Wen Ning.
• Big Yellow silently accompanies Wen Ning, prompting him to reflect on whether he can truly ignore the suffering around him.

Significant themes

• Love expressed through sacrifice: The couple each tries to protect the other from worry.
• Poverty and unequal suffering: Old Zhao’s inability to afford proper care forces him to neglect his own health.
• Dignity and pride: He refuses neighbors’ assistance and persists in earning money himself.
• Compassion and helplessness: Wen Ning’s hesitation reflects the difficulty of responding to suffering when there is so much of it.

Key plot points and events

• After leaving the hospital, Wen Ning helps the frail, coughing Old Zhao sit down and offers him water.
• Wen Ning introduces himself and acknowledges that he knows about Zhao’s illness and the sacrifices he has made for his wife.
• Zhao breaks down and reveals that he sold their home, borrowed money, and worked odd jobs to pay for her cancer treatment. His own illness is incurable, and he lives in constant pain.
• Although he sometimes longs for death as an end to his suffering, he cannot bear to die while his wife still depends on him and does not know how ill he is.
• Wen Ning promises that the neighbors—and he himself—will look after Zhao’s wife if Zhao is no longer able to. Zhao remains unable to let go, wishing only for a little more time with her.

Character developments

• Old Zhao is shown not as unafraid of death, but as torn between unbearable physical suffering and devotion to his wife. His grief and fear finally surface after he has tried to endure alone.
• Wen Ning responds with empathy rather than judgment. Hearing Zhao’s confession deepens his understanding of the powerful attachments that keep people holding on.

Significant themes

• Love expressed through sacrifice: Zhao has spent his resources and strength caring for his wife.
• The conflict between suffering and responsibility: He longs for relief but feels duty-bound to remain alive.
• Fear of leaving loved ones behind: Zhao’s greatest terror is his wife’s loneliness and grief, not death itself.
• Compassion and community: Wen Ning’s offer of support suggests that care need not end with one person’s ability to provide it.

Character interactions

• Wen Ning gently steadies Zhao, gives him water, and invites him to speak without condemning him.
• Zhao confides the pain and fear he has hidden from others, explaining why he cannot accept death.
• Wen Ning reassures him that his wife will not be abandoned, though Zhao still struggles to trust that he can let go.

Plot points and events

• Old Zhao dies quietly in his rented room after a night of rain. He has been enduring cancer and severe pain in secret, surviving on cheap painkillers while continuing to care for his hospitalized wife, Xiulian.
• The next morning, Xiulian learns of his death and collapses in grief. She had been waiting for him to bring her porridge, unaware of how ill he was. She begs to stop treatment and says she wants to die and join him.
• Old Zhao appears as a ghost, still distressed by his wife’s anguish. Unable to touch or speak to her, he asks Wen Ning for help.
• Wen Ning promises to care for Xiulian and lets Old Zhao convey his final words through him. Old Zhao apologizes for hiding his illness and leaving first, then urges her to keep living, recover, and accept help from the neighbors.
• After Wen Ning promises to honor his wishes, ghost officers arrive to escort Old Zhao away. He gives one last look toward home and leaves.

Character developments and interactions

• Old Zhao is revealed as a devoted, self-sacrificing husband who concealed his cancer to spare Xiulian worry and keep her focused on treatment. Even after death, his strongest concern is her survival.
• Xiulian is shattered by the sudden loss of her husband and initially feels unable to go on. Her recognition of his pain and her response to his message suggest a first moment of connection across their separation.
• Wen Ning moves from witnessing the couple’s tragedy to taking responsibility for Xiulian’s care. He serves as Old Zhao’s messenger and offers the reassurance Old Zhao cannot give her himself.
• The couple’s bond is shown through their imagined reunion, Old Zhao’s memories of caring for her, and his final plea that she live safely until they can meet again.

Significant themes

• Love expressed through sacrifice: Old Zhao hides his suffering and keeps caring for Xiulian, though that secrecy also leaves her unprepared for his death.
• Grief and letting go: Xiulian’s despair and Old Zhao’s reluctance to leave show how painful separation is for both the living and the dead.
• Community and responsibility: Wen Ning and the neighbors offer Xiulian support, helping her face a future without her husband.
• The dignity of ordinary devotion: Their modest life is marked by small acts of care—especially Old Zhao’s daily porridge—that carry profound meaning.

Key events

• After Old Zhao dies, Wen Ning visits his wife, Xiulian, in the hospital and finds her refusing food, medicine, and further treatment.
• Xiulian explains that she sees no point in living without her husband and grieves that she could neither say goodbye nor comfort him before he died.
• Wen Ning shares Old Zhao’s final thoughts: he hid his illness to spare her worry and fought to secure her treatment because he wanted her to survive and live well.
• Remembering her husband’s love, Xiulian agrees to eat and continue treatment. Wen Ning helps her with meals and promises ongoing support.
• Over the following days, Wen Ning and visiting neighbors help Xiulian gradually regain hope and cooperate with her care. Old Zhao’s lingering attachment finally fades, and his love remains a source of comfort.

Character developments and interactions

• Xiulian moves from despair and self-neglect toward acceptance and a renewed will to live. She comes to understand Old Zhao’s secrecy as an act of love rather than abandonment.
• Wen Ning acts with compassion and persistence, listening to Xiulian, conveying her husband’s wishes, and supporting her through practical care and daily visits.
• Old Zhao, though absent, remains central through the memories and wishes Wen Ning shares. His devotion helps his wife choose life.

Significant themes

• Love expressed through sacrifice and care, even when it involves painful choices.
• Grief can soften into acceptance when mourners understand the intentions of those they have lost.
• Continuing to live well can honor a loved one’s memory.
• Human kindness and community support can help restore hope.

Plot points and events

• After visiting Old Zhao’s wife in the hospital, Wen Ning goes to the Underworld to find Zhao Shuisheng and tell him that Xiulian has resumed eating and cooperating with her treatment.
• White Impermanence, Xie Bi’an, checks the register and confirms that Old Zhao arrived two days earlier and is waiting to reincarnate.
• Wen Ning finds him at the very end of an enormous, overcrowded queue. Old Zhao is relieved to hear his wife is looking after herself, and explains how afraid he had been that she would give up without him.
• Seeing how long Old Zhao might have to wait, Wen Ning asks Xie to move him forward. Xie writes him a priority slip, and Wen Ning escorts him to the front of the line.
• A ghost officer takes Old Zhao to Meng Po to begin the reincarnation process. Before leaving, Old Zhao thanks Wen Ning.

Character developments and interactions

• Wen Ning shows continued compassion toward Old Zhao, following through on his concern for Xiulian and using his influence to spare Old Zhao a punishing wait.
• Old Zhao remains deeply devoted to his wife. He is reassured by news of her recovery and expresses gratitude, while Wen Ning gently rejects the idea that he owes repayment for his kindness.
• Xie Bi’an is friendly and readily helps Wen Ning, highlighting their familiar relationship. He also invites Wen Ning to drink with him and Old Fan after work.
• Meng Po accepts Old Zhao for processing without questioning the arrangement.

Significant themes

• Care and loyalty: Old Zhao’s concern for Xiulian continues beyond death, while Wen Ning’s actions reflect a commitment to helping people he has met.
• Second chances and compassion: Wen Ning hopes Old Zhao’s next life will be kinder after the hardships of this one.
• Bureaucracy and inequality: The Underworld’s massive queue and shortage of staff expose its inefficiency; Wen Ning’s connections secure Old Zhao a “green channel,” suggesting that influence can bypass the system.

• Key events: After helping arrange Zhao Shuisheng’s reincarnation, Wen Ning is called back to Meng Po’s pavilion. She asks him to investigate a woman whose memories of her previous life survived drinking Meng Po’s soup. The soup worked normally for every other soul, and Meng Po confirms the woman has no unusual divine identity. Because Underworld officials cannot appear before mortals, Meng Po cannot investigate the woman directly and needs Wen Ning as an intermediary. Wen Zhong has already approved the task, calling it a chance for his idle godson to do something useful. Meng Po agrees to tell Wen Ning who the woman is in her current life, but says he must discover her past identity himself.
• Character developments: Wen Ning moves from awkwardly deflecting Meng Po’s teasing to treating the matter as a serious investigation. His connection to Wen Zhong gives him the standing to take on the assignment. Meng Po shifts from playful teasing to cautious concern, though she later lightens the mood. Wen Zhong’s unseen influence emerges through his instructions and affectionate, blunt criticism of Wen Ning.
• Character interactions: Wen Ning and Meng Po share familiar banter before discussing the anomaly. Meng Po explains the Underworld’s limits and recruits Wen Ning to act in the mortal world. She also relays Wen Zhong’s decision, which Wen Ning recognizes as typical of his godfather.
• Significant themes: The chapter highlights the strict boundary between the Underworld and the mortal world, the importance of forgetting past lives to the reincarnation cycle, and the consequences of an apparent exception to that order. It also sets up a mystery about why one ordinary soul retained her memories, while framing Wen Ning’s investigation as both a duty and a form of training.