Chapter Summaries

Key plot points and events

• Chen Miao uses the Six Jiangzhen Secrets to turn his incense sticks into smoke and send it into the Cherry Blossom Kimono in each altar node. Since the smoke cannot enter from outside, he uses his Mirage Shadow Doppelganger inside the nodes. His iceheart state lets his subconscious control his body when the altar overwhelms his main consciousness.
• He clears five nodes, while the Investigators protect him from more than a hundred Ninjas. The Investigators repel an initial assault with wind machines, special rockets, and a formation that creates a huge, half-formed turtle from their vital blood power.
• Mirror Pillar orders the Ninjas to spread through the altar and occupy nearly all the remaining perimeter nodes, forcing the altar toward full activation.
• Lei Zhan attacks the triangular prism mirror three times, severing Mirror Pillar’s connection to the factory buildings and ending the building’s suction effect. Mirror Pillar, however, reveals he anticipated disruption and has activated the altar through the blood and souls of those trapped within it.
• The Ninjas, Investigators, and ordinary people in the altar are drained of blood energy and soul power. Their sacrifice completes the ritual: an ancient, illusory door appears above the altar, resembling the Yin Gate to the Mortal World.

Character developments

• Chen Miao demonstrates resourcefulness and growing command of his unusual abilities, using his subconscious and doppelganger to keep working despite the altar’s influence.
• Lei Zhan shows his formidable strength by breaking Mirror Pillar’s connection to the factory, but cannot stop the ritual’s final activation.
• Mirror Pillar shifts from confidence in the altar’s defenses to a calculated fallback plan, revealing that he had prepared for interference.
• The Investigators coordinate effectively under pressure, accepting a costly defensive role to buy Chen Miao time.

Significant themes

• Sacrifice and exploitation: The altar consumes both enemies and bystanders to achieve its purpose.
• Determination under psychological pressure: Chen Miao’s subconscious enables him to act when his conscious mind is compromised.
• Tactical adaptation: Both sides adjust quickly—Investigators defend Chen Miao, while Mirror Pillar redirects the Ninjas and activates the altar.
• Escalating mystery: The Yin Gate’s appearance raises the stakes and links the ritual to a larger supernatural world.

Character interactions

• The Grade-B Investigators follow Chen Miao’s lead and defend him, while the Grade-C Investigator who knows Chen Sen’s instructions helps keep them focused.
• Lei Zhan and Mirror Pillar exchange a tense confrontation: Lei Zhan disrupts the Mirror Realm’s connection, but Mirror Pillar calmly counters that the altar has already been activated.
• Chen Miao witnesses the final transformation through his doppelganger and recognizes the door as the Yin Gate.

Key plot points and events

• The Yin Gate appears above the factory, convincing Lei Zhan that the crisis has become too severe to wait for headquarters. He warns the Investigators to stop the altar.
• Chen Miao tries the Resolving Grievances with Jiangzhen Incantation on the forty-nine souls above the altar. The incense smoke returns unused, revealing that they are all Flawless Resentment Bodies.
• The souls begin powering the Yin Gate, forcing it open slightly. Mirror Pillar reveals that the Hundred Ghosts Seat intends to send souls to the Mortal World, believing their allies there will become gods and free them.
• Chen Miao discovers a way to weaken the souls: using [Status: Illusion] to awaken their lingering humanity. One soul recognizes an imagined reunion with his wife, escapes the Gate’s pull, and is dissolved by the incense. Chen Miao begins doing the same to others.
• Mirror Pillar attacks Chen Miao and throws him toward the Gate. Lei Zhan tries to rescue him, but a cold light from inside the Gate tears Chen Miao apart and draws away what remains of his soul.
• Lei Zhan destroys the altar’s core, but the Yin Gate remains open and the surviving souls continue toward it. Mirror Pillar taunts him and hides among the factory’s mirrors.
• A strange fog and an unexplained shout distract Mirror Pillar. Lei Zhan then uses incense to draw several more souls away and dissolve them. Mirror Pillar tries to block him with mirrors, but Lei Zhan smashes them. The chapter ends as cold light is reflected across the Investigators, revealing a shadowy figure behind Lei Zhan.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Miao demonstrates resourcefulness and empathy, using his knowledge of the souls’ memories and residual humanity to disrupt the ritual. His apparent death makes his fate uncertain.
• Lei Zhan shifts from containment and warning to direct combat. He risks himself to save Chen Miao, destroys the altar’s core, and then continues fighting the ritual’s effects with incense.
• Mirror Pillar’s zeal for the sacrifice gives way to desperation when Chen Miao and Lei Zhan begin thwarting the plan. He attacks Chen Miao, then relies on mirrors to shield the remaining souls.
• Lei Zhan and Chen Miao briefly work in tandem: Chen Miao disrupts the souls while Lei Zhan protects the site. Their efforts are interrupted by Mirror Pillar’s attack and the Gate’s deadly defense.

Significant themes

• Humanity amid supernatural corruption: A remnant of personal feeling can break the souls’ “flawless” state.
• Sacrifice and exploitation: The Hundred Ghosts Seat’s promise of godhood masks its use of souls as offerings.
• Limits of control: Destroying the altar cannot undo the Gate’s opening; the danger has moved beyond ordinary intervention.
• Uncertainty and sacrifice: Chen Miao’s fate and the identity of the newly revealed shadow remain unresolved.

Key plot points and events

• Three minutes earlier, Chen Miao used a weakened Mirage Shadow to hide his real body and secretly joined the Investigators. He warned Grade-A Investigator Lei Zhan through his ability, then helped him stage a convincing confrontation with Mirror Pillar.
• Chen Miao reads his booklet and realizes an Investigator may be secretly aiding Mirror Pillar. When he reveals himself to begin the Transcendence Rite, he senses malice from two people. One secretly throws a mirror, allowing Mirror Pillar to emerge and attack.
• Chen Miao evades the attack with Mirage-Escape Form. Lei Zhan grabs Mirror Pillar, but Mirror Pillar escapes by shedding a mirrored shell. Chen Miao strikes the mirror with Heavenly Heart Fire, severely damaging it; Lei Zhan pulls Mirror Pillar partway out, and the mirror shatters, apparently killing him. The other mirrors collapse as well.
• The Yin Gate remains, shielding the remaining Soul Bodies with cold light. Chen Miao’s incense and illusion, and Lei Zhan’s attack, cannot break through. Lei Zhan combines the Investigators’ Vital Blood Power into a giant tiger phantom, which weakens the barrier but exhausts the group. The Yin Gate absorbs the remaining Soul Bodies and vanishes.
• Many Investigators and Ninjas around the altar survive and begin to recover, though the forty-nine ordinary people in the altar’s second ring remain dead.
• Lei Zhan offers Chen Miao a place at Headquarters, but Chen Miao declines, preferring to remain a Peripheral Investigator in Shannan City. Lei Zhan promises him contribution points, temporary Grade-B store access, and an open invitation to join later.
• Chen Miao asks that his reward instead be used to ensure the forty-nine victims’ cases are properly resolved.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Miao’s caution and ingenuity are central: he conceals himself, communicates discreetly, identifies the hidden threat, and uses Heavenly Heart Fire at the critical moment. He remains independent despite Lei Zhan’s offer, and chooses compassion over personal gain.
• Lei Zhan proves powerful and protective, but even his strength cannot stop the Yin Gate from taking the Soul Bodies. He respects Chen Miao’s choice and recognizes his contribution.
• Mirror Pillar demonstrates a final, dangerous escape tactic, but Chen Miao’s intervention destroys the mirror he depends on, leading to Mirror Pillar’s apparent death.
• Chen Miao and Lei Zhan move from covert cooperation in battle to a respectful exchange afterward. Their conversation highlights Chen Miao’s autonomy and Lei Zhan’s willingness to support him without pressure.

Significant themes

• Sacrifice and compassion: Chen Miao gives up a potentially substantial reward to help the victims’ families.
• Independence and duty: He wants to contribute on his own terms rather than join Headquarters.
• Limits of power: Even coordinated effort cannot prevent the Yin Gate from claiming the remaining Soul Bodies.
• Trust and hidden motives: The concealed traitor’s presence underscores how danger can come from within the Investigators’ ranks.

Chapter Summary

Plot and events

• After the factory battle, Lei Zhan says he will report Chen Miao’s situation to his superiors, though he cannot decide what the organization will do. He asks about Chen Miao’s burst of yang energy; Chen identifies it as Heavenly Heart Yang-Locking, but keeps the details of his abilities private.
• Chen checks the time: it is 1:30 a.m., with about three hours until Entering the Mortal World. His belongings were destroyed in the battle, so Lei lends him a sturdy watch.
• The chapter’s settlement awards Chen 2 jin, 4 taels, and 9 qian of yin virtue, eight memory fragments, and two inheritances: Swordsmanship: Iaijutsu—Flash of Light and Shinto: Yin-Yang Mirror Escape. Chen is pleased with the substantial reward, despite the resources he spent.
• The swordsmanship inheritance teaches a fast, practiced draw and a blinding “Flash of Light Slash,” which can be enhanced with powders—including combustible ones—to add a fiery effect.
• Yin-Yang Mirror Escape includes travel and evasion through mirrors, plus three mystic arts: Yata Mirror Guard, a defensive space; Divine Mirror Reflecting the Heart, which creates illusions and can train willpower; and Mirror Realm, which can create a mirror-filled domain. Its cultivation depends on an unclear quality called “spatial aptitude.”
• Two more powerful, Grade A investigators arrive. Chen reflects that Great Xia’s preparations may be aimed not only at hidden cults but also at threats in the Mortal World.
• Chen leaves the factory after warning Lei Zhan about an investigator who seemed hostile, suggesting Lei check whether the man has a mirror. He stays at a nearby hotel and begins reading Kujo Kyoichi’s memory fragment.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen remains guarded about his origins and abilities, while Lei Zhan shows growing interest in recruiting him and offers practical help without pressing him for answers.
• Chen evaluates the new inheritances strategically, especially the Mirror Escape arts’ potential for survival and the heart-tempering technique’s possible value to himself and his students, Shi Manman and Xiang Shang.
• Chen’s warning about the suspicious investigator shows his caution and willingness to share a useful lead, though he avoids making an accusation he cannot prove.

Significant themes

• Power and its cost: Chen’s rewards are substantial, but so were the yin virtue and materials he spent to survive and win.
• Preparation and adaptability: Chen weighs how new techniques might address weaknesses in his current combat skills and expand his options.
• Will, self-control, and growth: The chapter distinguishes enduring willpower from temporary boosts, presenting inner discipline as something that can be cultivated.
• The larger conflict: The arrival of powerful investigators prompts Chen to suspect that Great Xia’s strength is being built for dangers beyond the hidden organizations.

Key plot points and events

• Kyōichi discovers that his parents have returned and hurt his grandfather, Kai, while demanding the Kujō family’s supposed secret inheritance. Kai explains that the inheritance is the mystic art Divine Way: Mirror Passage. His parents learned only its basic use and never realized its true potential.
• Kai reveals that Kyōichi once claimed he lacked the talent to learn the art, but Kyōichi admits to himself that he had lied because he resented his parents and wanted to avoid becoming an Onmyoji. He now decides to try again.
• Within a month, Kyōichi masters Mirror Passage and can enter the mirror realm. Six months later, when his parents return and threaten Kai, Kyōichi uses the art to trap them and their shikigami in the Mirror Realm.
• Kyōichi and Kai live together for a time, while the trapped couple remain confined. Later, Kyōichi’s parents host a family gathering for his graduation, though they appear fearful of him.
• Three years after graduation, Kyōichi finds Kai murdered. Kai’s note pleads with him not to kill his parents. Kyōichi places Kai’s body in a mirror and shatters it. A year later, he kills his parents; an Imperial Pillar tries to punish him but is killed. The leader of the Hundred Ghosts Seat then offers Kyōichi the vacant Imperial Pillar position, which he accepts.
• Ten years later, Kyōichi is captured in the Mortal World by a powerful Onmyoji. The memory then shifts to Chen Miao, who awakens from the dream and interprets what he has seen.
• Chen learns that Kyōichi later colluded with the Onmyoji in the Mortal World, sacrificing souls in pursuit of godhood. More importantly, Kyōichi’s memories reveal that Aperture Keys are condensed from the apertures of Grandmaster Yin Cultivators. Each of the nine keys corresponds to one aperture, and a person must nurture the matching aperture beyond awakening before using the key to enter the Mortal World.

Character developments

• Kyōichi moves from resentment and avoidance toward determined mastery of Mirror Passage. His power grows rapidly, but his later choices—killing his parents and pursuing godhood through sacrifice—show a descent into violence and ambition.
• Kai is patient and protective, hoping Kyōichi can live an ordinary life. His murder and final plea underline his compassion even toward the son who repeatedly abused him.
• Kyōichi’s parents are portrayed as entitled and violent, driven by their belief that the Kujō inheritance can make them powerful. Their fear of Kyōichi later suggests they understand how far he has surpassed them.
• Chen Miao gains practical insight into Mirror Passage and important knowledge about Onmyoji progression and the Aperture Keys.

Significant themes

• Talent, inheritance, and ambition: The family’s tragedy stems from mistaking a powerful art for a shortcut to status.
• Choice versus avoidance: Kyōichi’s decision to stop running from Mirror Passage changes his path, though mastery does not lead to peace.
• Family loyalty and revenge: Kai’s care contrasts sharply with the parents’ abuse; Kyōichi’s response ultimately rejects Kai’s plea for mercy.
• Power and corruption: Kyōichi’s rise from gifted practitioner to Imperial Pillar and his later pursuit of godhood suggest how power can deepen violence rather than resolve suffering.
• Hidden knowledge: The revelation that Aperture Keys are cultivated apertures reframes them as remnants of powerful Yin Cultivators, not merely tools.

Character interactions

• Kai explains the family’s history and warns Kyōichi not to become obsessed with Mirror Passage; Kyōichi nevertheless asks to learn it and promises to stop if he fails.
• Kyōichi demonstrates his mastery by leading Kai through a mirror, then later protects him by trapping his parents and their shikigami.
• Kyōichi’s parents confront Kai for the inheritance, while Kai calmly hints that their own son is stronger than they are.
• After Kai’s death, Kyōichi’s actions contradict the old man’s plea, leading to his parents’ deaths and his confrontation with the Imperial Pillar.
• Chen Miao, after experiencing Kyōichi’s memories, connects the events of his life to new knowledge about the Mortal World and Aperture Keys.

Chapter Summary

Key plot points and events

• Chen Miao learns that Aperture Keys are willingly created by Grandmaster Yin Cultivators who give up their cultivation to pass on a route into the Mortal World. The creators usually die within seven days, and each key can support only nine deaths in total before it crumbles.
• Because keys are scarce, they limit how many members major organizations can send into the Mortal World. Chen Miao realizes his own key may already have been used and resolves to be cautious during his next visit.
• Kujo Kyoichi’s memories reveal why he betrayed the real-world Onmyoji: a Grand Onmyoji promised him a closer link to the gods, a place in the Mortal World, and eventually the means to ascend himself. The ritual Chen Miao disrupted was part of their effort to obtain souls for that plan.
• Chen learns that reaching the Mortal World’s post-gate-knocking stage requires forging ninety-nine Heaven-Ascending Steps from blood, yin energy, and spirit. Only two cultivators completed the steps unaided.
• A later discovery showed that Otherworldly Fiend souls could greatly accelerate the process. Their souls provide otherworldly power, making newly arrived fiends valuable to ambitious Grandmasters. Chen realizes that many Mortal World cultivators may regard him as a resource rather than a person.
• After reviewing a new status, spatial perception, Chen enters the Mortal World again. In Dongying, an old Onmyoji senses the arrival of the otherworldly soul he had sealed in a Paper Cutout and welcomes Chen’s return.

Character development and interactions

• Chen Miao becomes more aware of the danger surrounding his visits. What he once thought were a few personal enemies may actually include countless cultivators seeking immortality. He remains wary, but does not panic over the Grand Onmyoji, trusting that distance and the political divide between Mortal World Dongying and Great Xia offer protection.
• Kujo Kyoichi is revealed as a calculating idealist: he saw betrayal as a way to gain divine power and improve the standing of Onmyoji in reality, while securing his own future.
• The Grand Onmyoji emerges as an ambitious figure seeking godhood through the souls of Otherworldly Fiends. His final reaction suggests he has been waiting for, or tracking, Chen’s return.
• Chen’s thoughts about the Aperture Key show his unease about its unknown history and limited uses, while his decision to enter again reflects his continued pursuit of progress despite the risks.

Significant themes

• The cost of ambition: Ascension demands extraordinary effort, sacrifice, or the exploitation of others.
• The value—and danger—of being different: Otherworldly Fiends are treated as rare opportunities, turning Chen’s unusual nature into a threat.
• Scarcity and inherited opportunity: Limited Aperture Keys shape the power and survival of families and organizations.
• Unequal power across worlds: Onmyoji in the Mortal World can access divine power far more directly than their real-world counterparts, while regional hierarchies constrain who can act where.

Chapter summary

Key plot points

• Chen Miao learns that Ying Xiu’s departure has moved Ge Feng’s and his own days off forward by one day. Chen Miao’s day off will therefore be tomorrow, giving him an earlier chance to earn Yin Virtue.
• He weighs how to spend his reserve of Yin Virtue. Although upgrading several survival-related statuses is tempting, he decides to prioritize completing his five hells immortal body, which is short of the required amount by about half a jin and one qian. He reasons that this may be his only opportunity to benefit from the Mortal World, and that completing the status would give him a lasting advantage even if he could no longer return.
• Chen Miao plans to earn at least six liang of Yin Virtue on his day off, allowing for the costs of making Paper Cutouts and exchanging for Incense Sticks.
• Zhu Sheng invites Chen Miao to the Bone Binding instructor. Chen Miao agrees, both to help him and to see whether Zhu Sheng’s instructor is the person Chen Miao suspects.
• During practice, Chen Miao discovers that Bone Binding suddenly feels effortless. The sensation returns on a second attempt, leading him to suspect that his newly acquired spatial perception is responsible.
• Zhu Sheng’s instructor arrives—and Chen Miao recognizes him as Ying Xiu, the apprentice who was recently expelled.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Miao shows increasing caution and strategic thinking: he weighs short-term defensive upgrades against a more durable investment in the five hells immortal body.
• Ge Feng leaves for his newly advanced day off, but seems subdued, possibly troubled by his and Chen Miao’s role in getting Ying Xiu expelled.
• Zhu Sheng proves more prepared and capable at Bamboo Splint work than Chen Miao had assumed. He approaches Chen Miao respectfully and accompanies him to the instructor.
• Ma Jie praises Chen Miao’s Bone Binding talent after seeing his work, prompting Chen Miao to consider whether his newfound ease reflects a genuine ability rather than a passing insight.
• The revelation that Ying Xiu is Zhu Sheng’s instructor creates a potential complication, especially given Chen Miao’s involvement in Ying Xiu’s expulsion.

Significant themes

• Risk and preparation: Chen Miao recognizes that more abilities cannot guarantee safety in a dangerous, unpredictable world, so he prioritizes a lasting foundation.
• Opportunity and scarcity: Yin Virtue and access to the Mortal World may be limited, making every upgrade a consequential choice.
• Hidden potential and perception: Chen Miao’s new status may be altering how he understands space and performs Bone Binding, suggesting that his abilities can have unexpected practical effects.
• Consequences of past actions: The group’s role in Ying Xiu’s expulsion resurfaces when Chen Miao discovers Ying Xiu in a position to interact with Zhu Sheng.

Key plot points and events

• Chen Miao discovers that Zhu Sheng’s instructor, Ying Xiu, has been turned into a paper effigy. Zhu Sheng recognizes him as Cao Xiu, a man reportedly taken away for breaking the rules, and is alarmed by his return.
• Chen Miao completes Bone Binding without Ma Jie’s help. Ma Jie dismisses him, saying he has learned the craft.
• Zhu Sheng explains that he joined Kong’s Paper Effigy Shop to protect his family’s wealth after secretly killing his father and others. Ying Xiu’s reappearance makes him fear that the shop may be dangerous to him. Chen advises him to keep his head down and avoid meddling.
• Ge Feng returns from visiting his family and a local hunter with two protective objects: a blood-marked Mountain-Breaking Awl, said to cut through bewildering miasma, and a spiral-marked Mountain God Bone, useful for confusing ghosts and mountain demons.
• Ge Feng shares the objects’ creation instructions with Chen Miao, explaining that he may leave the shop to learn mountain-foraging if paper-effigy work does not suit him. He gives Chen the notes, trusting him and asking him to help someday in return. The two share meat and liquor.
• Chen returns to Lin’an without a flight delay. At the airport, he senses unusually dense yin energy and spots an area secured by the Administration, but stays away because officials appear to have the situation contained.
• Back at the Funeral Home, Chen uses a mysterious utterance to address Blackie as though it were a person destined to become human. The dog freezes, while Qi Hui assumes Chen was merely greeting him.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Miao finishes his training, remains cautious about the Paper Effigy Shop, and shows increasing sensitivity to supernatural energy. He gives Zhu Sheng practical advice but avoids getting drawn into his troubles.
• Zhu Sheng is revealed as calculating and fearful: he entered the shop to shield his family’s assets after committing murder, but had not considered the danger of being trapped inside it.
• Ge Feng proves resourceful and adaptable, already considering a second career as a hunter. His generosity and trust deepen his friendship with Chen.
• Blackie reacts strongly to Chen’s seemingly cryptic words, suggesting Chen may have unusual influence or insight into the dog.

Significant themes

• Danger hidden beneath ordinary life: The shop, airport, and even a household dog are touched by supernatural forces.
• Adaptability and survival: Ge Feng plans for alternative livelihoods, while Zhu Sheng’s attempts to secure his family leave him vulnerable to new dangers.
• Trust and mutual obligation: Ge Feng shares valuable knowledge with Chen in exchange for possible future help.
• Fate and coincidence: Chen wonders whether the earlier flight delay—and the events it led to—were predetermined, while his uneventful return contrasts with the unsettling airport discovery.

Chapter Summary

• Chen Miao returns to Tianmen Funeral Home after nearly a week away and finds everything running smoothly. He jokingly considers asking for a raise.
• Since his Heavenly Heart Fire is gone, he can no longer dot his Paper Offerings’ eyes at night. He decides not to test the limitation on his day off, especially after learning about Aperture Keys, and instead prepares other tools.
• He makes one Yōkai Smoke Wraith to patrol his territory. It costs four qian of Yin Virtue, but he judges a second one unnecessary because it would add little benefit.
• Seeking another way to find Ghosts and Yin Energy, Chen Miao notices that “Three Figures in the Mirror” can attract a nearby Ghost or Soul Body when he raises a cup at night. He plans to buy cups in town rather than spend resources exchanging for them.
• He tests Spatial Perception, confirming that it helps him sense an enclosed space and locate features such as doors and windows. Unlike Eyes-Closed Perception, it offers only a vague sense of layout, not detailed visual information. His experience also convinces him that Spatial Perception is a genuine spatial talent, potentially useful for puppet-making.
• More interested in “Divine Art; Yin-Yang Mirror Escape” than puppet arts, Chen Miao begins practicing in the bathroom mirror. The technique requires a cinnabar rune on the forehead and contact with a mirror to sense the space within it.
• His first attempt—trying to visualize a mirror world—fails after an hour. Suspecting that visualization is the wrong approach, he tries again with an empty mind.
• After about ten minutes, the rune glows dark red. Chen Miao has apparently sensed a space inside the mirror, marking his first breakthrough toward initiating Yin-Yang Mirror Escape.

Character Development and Themes

Chen Miao is methodical and resource-conscious: he weighs the benefits of additional tools against their Yin Virtue cost and avoids experiments he considers risky. He is also curious and willing to revise his assumptions when a cultivation method does not work as expected.
The chapter focuses on experimentation, perception, and the boundary between the real and the supernatural. Chen Miao’s failed visualization attempt highlights the difficulty of translating theory into practice, while the glowing rune suggests that the mirror’s hidden space is real—and that his spatial talent may help him access it.

Plot and events

• After first briefly sensing the Mirror Space through the rune on his forehead, Chen Miao returns to the bathroom to think through what he experienced. He suspects it is a vast, directionless realm distinct from the Mortal World, and wonders whether different cultivation paths might access other hidden spaces—or even connect the Mortal World to reality.
• Intrigued by the possibilities, he decides to develop his spatial-perception ability after improving his Five Hells Immortal Body. He continues cultivating for several hours, entering the Mirror Space more quickly each time and gradually learning to sense it without the rune. Exhausted, he stops, estimating he may master rune-free perception in two or three days.
• Chen Miao then enters the Mortal World. Ge Feng offers him his Mountain God Bone for protection on the journey. Chen Miao accepts, partly to avoid raising suspicion by repeatedly returning late; he notices Ge Feng’s hesitation, apparently because Ge Feng fears losing the valuable object.
• After buying incense, spirit money, wine, cups, and nuts, Chen Miao travels toward Grave Mountain to investigate its potential as a source of yin virtue. He reaches Twin Bridge Town, Ge Feng’s hometown.
• There, he finds a Yizhuang marked with the same “Lin” character as the one in Qingjiang Town. Based on what he has learned about Yizhuang services, Chen Miao suspects it belongs to a wider corpse-driving network. The Yizhuang caters mainly to wealthy families, transporting bodies and providing rites and burial arrangements; its fees also function as protection against graves being disturbed.
• While asking around town, Chen Miao learns that this Yizhuang sells paper offerings and that locals dislike the products. Just as he is about to visit the local Grave Mountain, he hears that a corpse retriever is going out to collect a body. Curious, he follows the spectators.

Character development and interactions

• Chen Miao shows growing curiosity and ambition, treating the Mirror Space as a potentially important cultivation realm rather than merely a survival tool. He remains cautious, however, obeying warnings not to wander too far before he can navigate the space safely.
• He is practical and socially perceptive: he accepts Ge Feng’s Mountain God Bone to conceal the pattern of his late returns, and recognizes Ge Feng’s reluctance to lend it.
• His relationship with Ge Feng remains friendly, though Chen Miao quietly understands Ge Feng’s self-interest. Ge Feng urges him to return early because the bone has not yet been tested.
• Chen Miao’s investigation of the Yizhuang and Grave Mountain shows his growing interest in the Mortal World’s institutions, supernatural economy, and possible sources of power.

Significant themes

• Knowledge and risk: Chen Miao is eager to explore the unknown, but progress depends on patience and caution.
• Hidden worlds and interconnected realities: His questions about the Mirror Space suggest that multiple realms may overlap or connect in ways ordinary people cannot perceive.
• Pragmatism and self-interest: Ge Feng’s offer, the Yizhuang’s fees, and the town’s services all reveal how protection and supernatural customs are tied to personal gain.
• Mystery and investigation: The repeated “Lin” mark and the corpse retriever hint at a larger network and further secrets surrounding Grave Mountain and the Yizhuang.

Key plot points and events

• Chen Miao follows a crowd to the river near Twin Bridge Town, whose two historic stone bridges are cherished by the townspeople.
• A teenage boy drowned while trying to recover a borrowed fishing net. He had caught several fish, but the basket beside the river is now empty.
• The boy’s grieving mother hires a corpse retriever, despite having only two-tenths of a tael. The retriever accepts it, though the job normally costs two taels; locals explain that the corpse itself can be sold for a tael.
• The retriever performs a ritual: he makes offerings of rice, recites an incantation, and fits a fish-shaped calamity-guarding object to his boat.
• He propels the boat into the river with an impressive maneuver, then uses a red cord, a nearly invisible thread, and copper coins to work on the strangely stationary corpse.
• As he chants, the corpse begins moving toward his boat.

Character developments

• Chen Miao observes the scene closely, noticing details others miss, including the retriever’s physical skill and hidden thread. He remains curious about the retriever’s methods and the supernatural objects involved.
• The mother is determined to recover her son, willingly spending nearly all the money she has.
• The corpse retriever appears practiced, physically capable, and perhaps compassionate: he begins the work despite receiving only a fraction of his stated fee.
• The bystanders reveal mixed attitudes, including callousness toward the boy’s death and suspicion about the retriever’s motives.

Significant themes

• Poverty and desperation: The boy risked his life to recover a net he could not afford to replace.
• Community indifference and judgment: Onlookers question whether anyone should have saved a stranger and dismiss the boy as a “gambler.”
• Grief and devotion: The mother insists on retrieving her son despite her family’s objections and lack of money.
• Tradition and supernatural practice: The retriever’s offerings, incantation, cord, coins, and protective object suggest a formal system governing dangerous work on the river.
• Compassion versus economics: The retriever’s apparent kindness is complicated by the fact that the corpse has monetary value.

Character interactions

• Chen Miao listens to townspeople discuss the drowning and the retriever, using their conversation to piece together what happened.
• The boy’s relatives argue over the cost, but his mother overrides their protests and authorizes the retrieval.
• Bystanders debate whether the retriever is kind-hearted, while the retriever ignores the argument and focuses on the mother’s decision.
• As the retrieval begins, the crowd—including Chen Miao—watches and seeks explanations, though even the most knowledgeable onlooker admits he does not understand every step.

Chapter Summary

Plot points and events

• The Corpse Retriever pulls a drowned young man from the river using careful, ritualized methods, then takes his body to Grave Mountain. The man’s grieving mother insists on seeing him before he is buried.
• Chen Miao follows the procession and discovers that both bridges leading out of Twin Bridge Town register as enormous yin objects. This raises questions about the town’s history and who funded the bridges, though he decides not to pursue the mystery for now.
• At Grave Mountain, the Corpse Retriever hands the young man’s body to the Corpse Keeper and receives one tael of silver.
• The mother’s relatives refuse to lend her money. She kills herself with scissors, apparently to repay her debt. The Corpse Retriever then offers to take her body for one tael; her relatives protest, but ultimately leave to claim her possessions. He delivers her body to the Corpse Keeper as well.
• When the Corpse Retriever and Corpse Keeper go farther into the mountain, Chen Miao sees a chance to investigate. He hides a Mirage Shadow in the trees, checks his booklet, and enters Grave Mountain under concealment.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Miao remains curious and opportunistic: he studies the Corpse Retriever’s craft, notices the bridges’ yin energy, and decides to explore Grave Mountain for ghosts he might help transcend.
• The Corpse Retriever appears disciplined and experienced, following specific procedures with the body and treating both corpses as paid work. He confronts the relatives’ complaints without raising his voice, but his authority silences them.
• The mother’s grief gives way to a final act of despair after her family rejects her request for help. Her relatives’ later concern appears hollow beside their earlier refusal and eagerness to claim her belongings.
• The crowd respects the mother and avoids challenging the Corpse Retriever, while Chen Miao quietly observes rather than drawing attention to himself.

Significant themes

• Grief, debt, and social cruelty: The mother’s devotion to her son contrasts with her relatives’ selfishness and neglect.
• Death as a trade: The Corpse Retriever’s rituals and fees show that death-related work is governed by specialized knowledge and practical rules.
• Mystery and ambition: The yin-charged bridges and Grave Mountain hint at hidden history, while Chen Miao’s pursuit of yin virtue motivates him to investigate.

Plot points and events

• Chen Miao crosses into Grave Mountain, marked by a boundary between yellow and dark, damp-looking soil. The yin energy grows sharply denser beyond it and seems to increase with elevation.
• He suspects the mountain’s supernatural conditions may be deliberately maintained by the Great Xia Exorcism Office—and wonders whether the ghosts and corpses there are treated as trade goods.
• Near what appears to be a renovated cave, a Corpse-Guarding Dog detects his concealment and attacks. Chen Miao retreats downhill, but the dog tracks him even after he leaves the mountain’s boundary.
• His usual deception techniques barely work. He ultimately halts the dog with a frightening illusion and makes it flee by inflicting [Status: Hunger].
• A much larger Corpse Hound King arrives with the dog shortly after Chen Miao escapes. The Corpse Keeper dismisses the intruder as a “petty thief,” knocks the now-agitated dog unconscious, and leaves with the Corpse Retriever.
• Chen Miao returns to Qingjiang Town to eat and recover, then heads toward the Deserted Village. He hopes to learn whether anyone has noticed his transcendence rites on the village corpses—and whether those responsible are still active there.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Miao remains cautious and resourceful, choosing escape over killing the dog because a fight could draw the Demon-Suppressing Bureau and disrupt his plans in Twin Bridge Town.
• The encounter reinforces his awareness that unfamiliar yin cultivators and supernatural creatures may have abilities he cannot anticipate. He resolves to investigate opponents before engaging them.
• The Corpse Keeper appears to control and manage the dogs, while the Corpse Retriever is curious but deliberately stays out of the matter. The Retriever privately doubts that an ordinary thief could have caused the dog to lose control.

Significant themes

• Uncertainty and vigilance: Chen Miao’s concealment and illusions fail against an unfamiliar creature, showing the limits of his established abilities.
• Power, commerce, and institutional control: The mountain’s dense yin energy raises the unsettling possibility that the Exorcism Office cultivates and trades supernatural beings.
• Pragmatism and restraint: Chen Miao prioritizes his longer-term goals over winning a potentially costly fight.
• Distinctive abilities: The chapter emphasizes that yin cultivators—and the creatures and systems associated with them—may possess unique powers requiring careful study.

Key plot points and events

• Chen Miao returns to the Deserted Village, first hiding his real body in a tree and sending Mirage Shadow ahead. He realizes soil from Grave Mountain may have allowed the Corpse-Guarding Dog to track him, reinforcing his habit of checking small details.
• Before entering, he consults the booklet and finds a new epilogue describing the village’s dangers. It predicts that people have replaced the corpses in the houses with new ones, including hidden Leaping Hopping Corpses.
• Chen Miao defeats three Leaping Hopping Corpses with his Peach Wood Sword, talismans, and Transcendence Rite, growing more confident in his ability to handle them.
• In another house, incense smoke reveals an ambush: a bell-laden net drops over him, while four Leaping Hopping Corpses are rigged with ropes to make them hop and repeatedly trigger the bells. The sound disorients him and keeps the corpses from reaching him, trapping him in a deliberate “perpetual motion machine.”
• He remains trapped until night, exhausted and repeatedly losing consciousness. Two men arrive; one recognizes him as an apprentice from Kong’s Shop. They take him away, intending to use him to surprise Shopkeeper Kong. Chen Miao is buried in a coffin and suffocates.

Character developments

• Chen Miao is more capable and composed than before, successfully killing several dangerous corpses. But his confidence and preparation cannot overcome a carefully designed trap.
• His attention to practical details deepens: he considers how even dirt on his shoes might expose him.
• The attackers show planning and adaptability, using traps and Chen Miao’s connection to Kong’s Shop against him.

Significant themes

• Preparation versus uncertainty: Chen Miao’s caution helps him identify threats, but cannot prevent every ambush.
• Small details and consequences: The soil on his shoes may explain how he was tracked.
• Ingenuity and entrapment: The attackers turn the corpses and bells into a self-sustaining mechanism that controls both their victims and the zombies.
• The cost of confidence: Chen Miao’s recent victories are real, but his growing strength does not make him invulnerable.

Character interactions

• Chen Miao uses Mirage Shadow to conceal his real body, reversing its usual role as his public stand-in.
• He fights the hidden corpses alone, then is helpless against the bell trap.
• The two young men discuss his identity and his connection to Kong’s Shop; their plan to exploit that connection frames his capture as part of a wider threat to Kong.

Plot points and events

• Chen Miao identifies the person responsible for burying corpses in the deserted village as Hunchback Lin, the undertaker from Qingjiang Town’s Yizhuang. He suspects the village is used to nurture corpses and decides to act before nightfall, when the village is likely unoccupied.
• Using the notebook’s chapter-immersion feature, Chen Miao maps the locations of the leaping hopping corpses and traps. He also recalls an unusual, arrogant young man who seemed close to Hunchback Lin and resolves to watch for him.
• Chen spends two jin of Yin Virtue restoring more of the Five Hells Immortal status. The Five Prisons True Form Diagram gains two new markings: bowel-extraction prison and heart-excavation prison.
• He enters a courtyard and tests bowel-extraction prison on a leaping hopping corpse. It draws out translucent, soul-like intestines rather than physical organs.
• Chen uses the soul intestines to bind the corpse’s arms and legs, preventing it from jumping. The restraints eventually snap under the corpse’s strength. The corpse launches through the roof, while the intestines dissolve into light.
• Chen detects that the corpse’s soul is now dissipating through a gap left by the broken intestines, and wonders what effect this will have.

Character development

• Chen is cautious but increasingly confident in his growing abilities. Rather than retreat from the threat of Hunchback Lin, he assesses the risks and prepares to exploit his knowledge of the village.
• He approaches the new prison ability experimentally, testing its limits and quickly recognizing an unexpected combat use.
• His curiosity about the mysterious young man and the purpose of Hunchback Lin’s corpse-nurturing operation remains unresolved.

Significant themes

• Knowledge as power: Mapping the village and understanding its traps turns a dangerous situation into a manageable one.
• Experimentation and adaptation: Chen discovers that an ability he initially considers specialized or disappointing can restrain a powerful enemy.
• Soul and body: The chapter distinguishes physical anatomy from the soul body, suggesting that damage to the latter can affect even a corpse.
• Power with limits: The soul intestines can bind the zombie, but they cannot withstand its strength indefinitely.

Character interactions

• Chen’s main interaction is with the leaping hopping corpse: he tests his new ability, restrains it, and observes the consequences when the restraint breaks.
• Hunchback Lin remains an indirect presence as Chen considers his role in the deserted village. The unidentified young man is also introduced as a potentially important figure in Lin’s affairs.

Plot and key events

• Chen Miao reasons that a zombie’s body is sustained by yin energy in its seven po, while residual soul power provides the yang needed to keep them together. Destroying a zombie’s soul body may therefore leave it uncontrolled at first, then cause it to decay once its remaining soul power runs out.
• He tests this theory on several leaping hopping corpses. Removing their intestines or heart from the soul body makes them frenzied; the heart-extraction test destroys the soul body especially quickly. One corpse eventually collapses and dissolves into black liquid and decayed remains.
• Chen Miao uses fire-pit hell to destroy the test subjects, then confronts a final house containing four zombies concealed beneath a bell-strung net.
• He sends in the Horseless General Effigy, which is unaffected by the Soul-Seizing Bells and cuts through the net and its ropes. As the zombies attack, Chen Miao uses fire-pit and bowel-extraction marks to disable and burn them, while the General Effigy holds off the remaining attackers. All four are destroyed, though its paper blade is damaged.
• Chen Miao performs a transcendence rite for the corpse in the house and leaves to continue the work elsewhere in the village.

Character development and interactions

• Chen Miao acts as a methodical investigator, turning his knowledge of corpse-driving into practical experiments. He revises his conclusions when the first zombie does not collapse immediately, then develops a more complete explanation from later tests.
• He grows more confident in using his prisons against zombies and coordinates closely with the General Effigy: it breaks the trap and keeps the zombies occupied while he applies his marks.
• Chen Miao treats the General Effigy with care, promising to make it a new knife after its blade is damaged.

Significant themes

• Knowledge through experimentation: Chen Miao tests uncertain theories and adjusts his understanding based on what he observes.
• Life, death, and balance: The zombies’ existence depends on a fragile balance between yin and yang; exhausting their remaining soul power lets their bodies decay.
• Control and its limits: A zombie deprived of its soul body does not simply stop—it becomes dangerous and uncontrolled before finally collapsing.
• Duty amid danger: Even while investigating and fighting, Chen Miao continues the work of granting the dead peace.

Key plot points and events

• After escaping the first deserted village, Chen Miao reflects on the cost of his abilities: Mirage-Escape Form and ten uses of the Five Prisons Mark consumed about half his Soul Power, leaving him tired and heavy. He resolves to use them more carefully.
• The booklet reports substantial rewards: five taels and five mace of yin virtue, seven Memory Fragments, fourteen Leaping Hopping Corpse teeth, the gratitude of twenty Wang Family villagers, and seven strands of obsession. Chen Miao’s total reaches nine taels of yin virtue.
• He travels to two more deserted villages. In each, he finds fifteen corpses but no sign of Leaping Hopping Corpses or the traps found in the first village. Using General Effigy to check each house, he safely performs rites for all thirty corpses.
• The additional rites bring his yin virtue to one catty and two taels, while Yin Absorption rises from (V) to (VIII). He saves the yin virtue rather than spending it, expecting more corpses—and stronger defenses from Hunchback Lin—when he returns.
• With night approaching, Chen Miao heads back toward Twin Bridge Town. The chapter ends with a lotus-leaf chicken shop owner happily selling him the last two chickens and giving him flatbreads for free.

Character development

• Chen Miao becomes more attentive to the practical limits of his powers after experiencing Soul Power depletion firsthand.
• His growing rewards strengthen his confidence and ambition: he hopes to restore the Five Hells Immortal Body and advance his states, while remaining cautious about confronting Hunchback Lin directly.
• He shows disciplined planning by conserving his yin virtue and using the General Effigy to check for danger before approaching corpses.

Significant themes

• Power has a cost: Even effective abilities can cause fatigue and impair the user when overused.
• Caution and preparation: Chen Miao survives by scouting, managing resources, and avoiding unnecessary risks.
• Accumulation and progression: Transcendence rites steadily increase his yin virtue and states, bringing major advancement within reach.
• Compassion amid danger: Chen Miao’s rites honor the dead and bring gratitude from those they left behind.

Character interactions

• Chen Miao has no direct confrontation with Hunchback Lin, but his actions are shaped by the threat Lin’s traps and future defenses pose.
• The booklet records the gratitude of twenty people from Wang Family Village, reflecting the human impact of Chen Miao’s rites.
• In the closing scene, Chen Miao’s brief, polite purchase delights the shop owner, who rewards him with free flatbreads.

Plot points and events

• After eating in Twin Bridge Town, Chen Miao leaves town and heads toward the river, curious about the corpse retrieval he witnessed earlier.
• He hides in the woods, changes clothes, and uses Mirage-Escape Form to stay concealed.
• Chen Miao spends one jin of yin virtue to complete the Five Hells Immortal Body, removing its “Incomplete” status.
• He studies the newly revealed abilities, considers how they might help him face the dangerous owner of the Paper Effigy Shop or Hunchback Lin, and recognizes that he is now better equipped to fight them—but not assured of victory.
• Returning to the river, Chen Miao tries to activate Three Figures in the Mirror with an empty wine cup. It fails because his Mirage Shadow has no physical shadow. After restoring his shadow, it still does not work until he pours wine into the cup. The status then activates, sending a soul-power ripple across a five-hundred-meter radius.

Character development

• Chen Miao gains confidence from the completed Five Hells Immortal Body, but remains cautious and recognizes that his new power has limits and unknowns.
• He is willing to use morally troubling abilities if necessary, yet avoids Five Hells Soul-Refinement because it seems evil and could cost him yin virtue.
• His habit of testing abilities methodically continues: when Three Figures in the Mirror fails, he examines its conditions and experiments until he identifies the need for wine.

New abilities

The completed body gives Chen Miao:

• Greater soul power and aptitude, including twice his former full capacity.
• The ability to implant multiple Five Prisons Marks at a distance, using only a glance, at increased soul-power cost.
• Five Hells Soul-Refinement, which links five marked soul bodies to extract and transfer their soul power. Chen Miao can use it to replenish or gradually strengthen a soul, but its exploitative nature makes it a last resort.
• Five Prisons Descent, which manifests the five hells over an area and subjects chosen targets within it to punishment. Its scale and duration depend on soul power; numerous targets could supply energy and prolong the effect.

Character interactions

• Chen Miao has no direct conversations with others in this chapter. He reflects on potential confrontations with the Paper Effigy Shop’s owner and Hunchback Lin, while acknowledging that he does not know their full capabilities or whether he can control the circumstances of a fight.
• His interaction with the river is investigative: he tests a status that may reveal or affect whatever is in the water.

Significant themes

• Power and moral compromise: Chen Miao gains abilities that resemble evil cultivation, forcing him to weigh survival against moral and practical costs.
• Preparation and uncertainty: New strength improves his chances but does not guarantee victory; patience and further preparation remain essential.
• Experimentation and limits: Even powerful abilities depend on specific conditions, and Chen Miao must test what he has learned rather than assume he understands it completely.

Key plot points and events

• Testing Three Figures in the Mirror, Chen Miao discovers that it steadily consumes soul power. It lures a water ghost from the river, apparently attracted by his wine.
• The first ghost attacks after Chen Miao spills the wine instead of giving it the cup. Chen Miao restrains it with Bowel-Extraction Prison, freezes it with Ice Prison, and experiments with how the two abilities interact.
• He learns that Ice Prison can make an incorporeal ghost tangible and temporarily seal damage to its soul body. When he releases the frost, the ghost’s injuries leak yin energy again; a later fire attack destroys it.
• A second water ghost bears aquatic plants resembling soul-binding grass Chen Miao found at a real-world reservoir. He suspects someone—possibly a Corpse Retriever—is raising water ghosts. Giving this ghost wine does not prevent it from becoming hostile.
• Chen Miao tests more of the Five Hells Immortal’s abilities: the ghost’s plants shrivel outside the water, and Ice Prison can seal the soul-body damage caused by Heart-Excavation Prison.
• He then combines Fire Pit Hell and Ice Prison. The frost traps the fire until Chen Miao abruptly increases its power, causing the ghost to explode. He names the result a Soulburst Bomb.

Character development

• Chen Miao approaches the ghosts as test subjects, carefully probing the limits and interactions of his newly completed abilities.
• His curiosity turns into tactical confidence when he realizes the blast’s soul-power shock could incapacitate or seriously harm powerful opponents, even if its physical force is limited.
• By the chapter’s end, he believes the complete Five Hells Immortal may make him nearly unbeatable below the Netherworld Realm.

Significant themes

• Experimentation and discovery: Chen Miao learns by testing abilities directly, sometimes at personal risk.
• Power’s versatility and danger: Combining skills creates unexpected effects, including an explosive attack that can damage the soul itself.
• The ethics of power: Chen Miao treats the ghosts as expendable materials, revealing his pragmatic, ruthless approach.
• Hidden supernatural systems: The soul-binding plants suggest that water ghosts may be deliberately cultivated, hinting at a wider organization or practice.

Character interactions

• Chen Miao lures the ghosts with wine, but both ultimately turn hostile; the second ghost’s reaction confirms that drinking the wine does not make it compliant.
• He uses restraint, freezing, and destructive techniques to control the ghosts and study them.
• The first ghost briefly escapes its bindings by turning into a puddle, but its intestines keep it tethered. The second attacks with aquatic plants, which prove less effective once it leaves the water.
• Chen Miao’s final experiment blasts him backward and briefly dazes his soul, demonstrating that his new weapon can threaten its creator as well as its targets.

Key plot points and events

• Chen Miao calculates that he has time to search Twin Bridge Town before returning to Qingjiang Town, and uses “three figures in the mirror” to lure another ghost.
• While a water ghost approaches, Chen senses a separate source of malice nearby. He suspects an enemy capable of disguising itself as a Dao Form and waits for it to reveal itself.
• Chen secretly places three hellish techniques on the water ghost, then runs toward the hidden threat. The Corpse Retriever springs an ambush with nearly invisible threads, but they pass through Chen’s feet.
• Chen stops the pursuing water ghost and lets it bind the Corpse Retriever. He freezes the binding and the water ghost, then uses an apparently instantaneous movement and a powerful strike to overwhelm the attacker.
• Convinced Chen is an Ascension Grandmaster, the Corpse Retriever begs for mercy. After recovering from the blow, he tries to rise, but Chen demonstrates control over his heartbeat, making him prostrate himself and plead again. Chen lets the pain subside, and the Corpse Retriever thanks him for sparing his life.

Character developments

• Chen Miao shows patience and tactical cunning: he identifies the ambush, uses the water ghost against its master, and conceals his true capabilities. His calm, deliberate intimidation makes him seem far more powerful than the Corpse Retriever can understand.
• The Corpse Retriever shifts from confident predator to terrified supplicant. His belief that Chen is an Ascension Grandmaster leaves him convinced resistance is hopeless.

Significant themes

• Deception and misjudgment: Chen exploits the Corpse Retriever’s mistaken assumptions about his identity and power.
• Control through fear: Chen’s displays of supernatural force and pain turn a failed ambush into complete submission.
• Hunter becoming hunted: The Corpse Retriever’s own water ghost becomes the instrument of his defeat.

Character interactions

• Chen and the Corpse Retriever’s encounter is defined by a reversal of power: the Corpse Retriever ambushes Chen, but Chen turns the attack against him and controls the confrontation.
• The water ghost, initially sent after Chen, is manipulated into restraining its master and is then frozen and struck down.