Chapter Summaries

Key events

• Chen Miao begins crafting a Soul Shrine using an obsession fragment, which he realizes is essentially the same thing as a Soul Crystal Fragment.
• He establishes a connection with the fragment and withstands the rush of negative emotions it carries, helped by his Iceheart State and his prior experience absorbing the fragment’s memories.
• He painstakingly carves a thirteen-branch rune formation into the shrine. The process nearly exhausts him, and he decides he should wait until after further soul tempering before attempting another.
• After adding his blood and drawing in yin energy, Chen Miao completes the shrine and senses a connection to it.
• He places Old Ghost inside. The ghost finds the shrine can shelter him from outside influences and let him absorb soul power, though he cannot take Chen Miao’s soul power directly.
• Chen Miao discovers that commands given through the shrine become binding rules for its occupant. A shrine can hold three rules; setting a fourth disables the first. These rules persist even when the occupant leaves and another soul enters.
• After testing the rules, Chen Miao prepares to cut off part of his own soul, apparently to test whether the shrine’s rules can affect him too.

Character development and interactions

• Chen Miao proves capable and methodical, but learns that crafting the rune formation—not acquiring the fragment or resisting its emotions—is the most demanding part. His experience also suggests his soul remains weaker than that of a Netherworld Realm yin cultivator.
• Old Ghost remains fearful and resentful of Chen Miao’s authority, but obeys because he believes resistance would leave him worse off. His astonishment at the shrine’s effects helps Chen Miao understand its capabilities.
• Chen Miao treats Old Ghost as both a subordinate and a test subject, using controlled experiments to discover the shrine’s rules and limits.

Significant themes

• Power and control: The shrine turns its occupant’s behavior into binding rules, giving Chen Miao a new way to command spirits.
• Experimentation and risk: Chen Miao learns by testing the shrine, but his final experiment—cutting his own soul—may carry serious consequences.
• Preparation and limits: His exhaustion shows that even successful cultivation requires careful pacing and sufficient soul power.
• Unequal loyalty: Old Ghost’s obedience stems from fear and necessity rather than trust.

Plot points and events

• Chen Miao tests whether a fragment of his soul can inhabit a Soul Shrine. It works: he can control the shrine’s functions through the fragment, including yin absorption, though the fragment cannot move freely.
• He imagines distributing Five Prisons Common-Faced God Shrines to protect ordinary people and earn yin virtue. However, he recognizes major obstacles: splitting his soul weakens him, shrine fragments consume soul power without naturally recovering it, and the Administration might mistake his shrines for the forbidden Curse Cult’s.
• Chen Miao continues training, adding Water Binding to his routine and considering how to combine it with his other abilities.
• Two weeks into exploring the Paper Effigy Underground Palace, Chen Miao has found no obvious opportunity related to Aperture Opening. Zhu Sheng grows anxious because becoming Boss Kong’s disciple is crucial to his future; he mistakes Chen Miao’s investigation of a bun shop for idling.
• Chen Miao notices oddities in the palace: paper buns are sold daily despite being inedible, and a female paper effigy has briefly vanished from her spinning wheel. He then finds the mill donkey asleep instead of following its usual routine.
• Suspecting the donkey’s unusual behavior is a “bug” and possibly the key to the opportunity, Chen Miao considers destroying it, but remembers Kong Xunzhen’s strict warning not to damage Paper Offerings. Instead, he puts on the donkey’s harness and pulls the millstone himself.
• After one revolution, a chill flows through him and leaves traces at nine points in his body. Chen Miao realizes this is the underground palace’s hidden method or “secret.”

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Miao demonstrates curiosity, patience, and caution. He thinks creatively about the Soul Shrine’s potential but weighs its practical and political risks before acting.
• Zhu Sheng’s frustration exposes how much he depends on this opportunity for his family’s prospects. His exchange with Chen Miao shows their different priorities: Zhu is focused on finding the path to advancement, while Chen Miao investigates small anomalies others overlook.
• Chen Miao respects Kong Xunzhen’s established rules, rejecting the tempting theory that breaking them is a test. His choice to investigate the millstone without harming the donkey reflects his careful approach.

Significant themes

• Innovation balanced by limits: The Soul Shrine could offer broad protection and rewards, but its promise is constrained by soul resources, personal risk, and authorities.
• Observation and unconventional thinking: Seemingly trivial irregularities—the missing spinner and sleeping donkey—may reveal the palace’s true mechanism.
• Rules and judgment: Chen Miao distinguishes between questioning a rule and recklessly violating it, trusting that Kong’s warning is genuine.
• Opportunity and ambition: Zhu Sheng’s urgency contrasts with Chen Miao’s more exploratory method, underscoring the high stakes of advancement.

Key plot points and events

• After nearly a week of exhausting searches, Xu Jin is about to rest when he notices Chen Miao turning a paper-effigy millstone.
• Suspecting the millstone is an opportunity, Xu Jin persuades Chen Miao to let him try, offering money and promises of friendship and assistance.
• Pulling the millstone gives Xu Jin a rush of cold energy. Chen Miao explains that the energy settles in specific places in the body, but seems to stop appearing after about an hour. He suspects other working paper offerings may provide similar opportunities.
• Chen Miao leaves Xu Jin to continue while he rests. Back in the real world, he reflects that the cold energy is the Underground Palace’s method of opening apertures: it reveals their locations and may help break through the nine.
• Chen Miao decides to keep searching for paper offerings that behave unusually, while recognizing that confronting Kong Xunzhen would be too dangerous for now.
• Xie Songde secures Shi Manman a forensic examiner job in Lin’an City. That evening, Shi Manman reports that she has sensed her Nine Apertures—another major step toward opening them.
• Chen Miao’s good mood ends when he enters the palace that night and encounters Zhu Sheng, setting up a new problem.

Character development and interactions

• Xu Jin is exhausted and frustrated, but his ambition makes him quick to seize on Chen Miao’s activity. He bargains rather than uses force, and learns the millstone’s secret. His confidence remains: he still hopes his own aptitude may let him open his apertures after turning it.
• Chen Miao shows patience and practical judgment. He shares what he has learned in exchange for Xu Jin’s promises, then focuses on rest and continued investigation rather than wasting time searching immediately. He also realistically weighs the danger of trying to kill Kong Xunzhen.
• Shi Manman makes rapid progress toward aperture opening and prepares for a career change, though she must first help find a replacement at the funeral home.
• Xie Songde supports Shi Manman’s job search despite being occupied with deaths and funeral arrangements.
• Xu Jin and Chen Miao’s relationship shifts toward cautious cooperation: Xu Jin offers future support, while Chen Miao shares useful knowledge but retains control of his own plans.

Significant themes

• Opportunity through observation and labor: A seemingly ordinary task—turning a millstone—may be the key to spiritual advancement.
• Knowledge, trust, and bargaining: Chen Miao’s discovery becomes valuable information exchanged for Xu Jin’s promises.
• Ambition tempered by caution: Xu Jin pursues advancement eagerly, while Chen Miao recognizes the limits of his strength and avoids a reckless confrontation.
• Progress and uncertainty: The cold energy appears to guide aperture opening, but its nature and the full set of opportunities remain unknown.

Plot points and events

• Chen Miao meets Xu Jin and Zhu Sheng in the Mortal World. Zhu Sheng resents that Xu Jin learned about the “opportunities” first, though the three agree to exchange information about the paper offerings that appear at night.
• By pooling what they discover, they help one another open their apertures. Xu Jin succeeds first and is escorted out of the Paper Effigy Underground Palace. Chen Miao later opens his right-hand ghost meridian and leaves quietly; Zhu Sheng, deprived of their exchanges, takes three days longer.
• Kong Xunzhen declares the three disciples of his lineage. When Zhu Sheng tries to take tea before being invited, Shopkeeper Li knocks him down and explains two of Kong’s rules: do not use cleverness to circumvent the rules, and do not presume to guess the master’s intentions.
• Kong then tests them with a Soul-Calming Talisman, which detects “otherworldly fiends.” The talisman begins to separate Chen Miao’s soul from his body, but his completed Five Prisons True Form binds them together and protects him. Chen realizes his earlier investment in completing the five hells immortal body has removed a major danger.
• After the inspections, the three formally become disciples by offering tea. Xu Jin receives an advanced booklet that includes the method for making true paper offerings; Chen Miao and Zhu Sheng receive basic paper-crafting instruction.
• Kong reveals that he belongs to the prestigious Cangzhou Kong Clan, a leading family of paper-effigy makers in the province. Xu Jin and Zhu Sheng are thrilled by the prospects this connection offers.

Character development and interactions

• Chen Miao remains cautious and composed, carefully testing his assumptions and trusting his notebook’s lack of warning. His cultivation and completed immortal body prove crucial when the talisman threatens to expose him.
• Xu Jin grows more cordial toward Chen Miao and takes pride in opening his aperture first. He is also ambitious, viewing Kong’s lineage as a path to greater status and opportunity.
• Zhu Sheng is driven by jealousy and resentment, first over being left out of information and later over Xu Jin’s success. His attempt to rush ahead during the tea ceremony earns him a public reprimand. Learning of the Kong Clan’s influence briefly shifts his focus toward his own future prospects.
• Kong Xunzhen establishes himself as a strict but unconventional master, emphasizing personal rules and testing the disciples before accepting them. His decision to give Xu Jin more advanced instruction recognizes Xu Jin’s stronger paper-crafting skills.
• The three disciples’ cooperation over the nightly opportunities helps them progress, but their differing ambitions and suspicions keep their relationships uneasy.

Significant themes

• Preparation and concealed strength: Chen Miao’s earlier cultivation choices save him from exposure.
• Competition and cooperation: The disciples benefit from sharing information, even as jealousy and ambition strain their alliance.
• Rules and discipline: Kong’s household rejects shortcuts and demands that disciples follow established procedure.
• Status and opportunity: The Kong Clan’s prestige prompts Xu Jin and Zhu Sheng to imagine futures far beyond their current station.

Chapter summary

Key events

• Kong Xunzhen tells Xu Jin, Zhu Sheng, and Chen Miao they will remain in Qingjiang Town for now, but exceptional Paper Effigy Makers may be sent to the Cangzhou Kong Family. Chen Miao’s naturally strong soul gives him the best prospects, followed by Zhu Sheng; Xu Jin is left feeling inferior.
• Kong confines Zhu Sheng and Chen Miao to the Paper Effigy Underground Palace until they can make complete paper offerings. They get one day to settle their affairs, then only one day off per month.
• Shopkeeper Li warns Chen Miao to return before dark because Hunchback Lin may hold a grudge. Chen Miao buys twelve bronze mirrors and incense, hiding most of the mirrors along his route to create escape points for Yin-Yang Mirror Escape.
• After finding no corpses in the deserted villages, Chen Miao considers a shortcut through the woods to Twin Bridge Town. He has already hidden ten mirrors, leaving two for experiments.
• The woods disorient him, but he realizes the cause is a naturally formed feng shui formation. Using Mist Condensation, he locates and smashes a strange rock formation, disrupting the effect and finding his way again.
• Chen Miao uses the mirrors as “save points,” jumping back through Mirror Space to retrace his route and test new directions. His perception range has grown to about 1.5 kilometers as his soul power increases.
• He hears cries for help and finds a man buried up to his head beneath vines. Though the man appears to be a mountain forager rather than a ghost, Chen Miao senses a sudden, intense malice from him. Activating Three-Eyed at close range, Chen Miao is astonished by what he perceives.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Miao accepts that Kong’s rules limit his freedom, but quietly looks for ways to preserve his independence and safety. He is cautious about antagonizing Kong, whose family connections and demonstrated power make him dangerous, while remaining confident enough to consider confronting Hunchback Lin.
• Xu Jin and Zhu Sheng are encouraged by the prospect of advancement, while Xu Jin is stung by being judged the least promising. Chen Miao’s aptitude sets him apart, though it also attracts attention.
• Shopkeeper Li shows concern for Chen Miao by warning him, but also doubts whether the young man will survive long.
• Chen Miao approaches the trapped stranger because he is curious, but the man’s inexplicable malice immediately makes him wary. The chapter ends on Chen Miao’s discovery that his Yin-Yang Eyes may not have revealed the whole truth.

Significant themes

• Power and opportunity: Natural aptitude, especially soul strength, shapes each disciple’s future prospects.
• Confinement versus independence: Chen Miao is placed under strict rules but finds practical ways to explore and protect himself.
• Caution and concealed danger: Apparent safety can be deceptive—the woods, the natural formation, and the supposedly helpless stranger all conceal risks.
• Knowledge earned through danger: Chen Miao’s growing understanding of the supernatural comes from experimentation and firsthand exposure.

Plot and events

• In the forest, Chen Miao investigates a trapped “mountain forager” whose yin energy is undetectable by his Yin-Yang Eyes and Yin Absorption. The man repeatedly invents openings in the vines to lure Chen closer, but Chen stays suspicious and prepares to cut through them.
• The vines reveal themselves as snakes. The apparent victim transforms into a human-headed serpent and attacks, but Chen evades it with mist and restrains it using strands of hair. He finds human bones nearby, questions the creature about its ability to hide yin energy, then kills it. Only after its death does its yin energy become perceptible.
• Chen’s notebook records the serpent as a side-story, awarding five qian of yin virtue, materials, a Memory Fragment, and obsession fragments. Its special material, the Yin Serpent’s Reverse Scale, balances yin-energy fluctuations but does not explain the serpent’s concealment. Chen suspects the effect may be connected to the Corpse Stitchers he has encountered.
• Chen leaves the forest, uses mirrors to orient himself, returns to Twin Bridge Town, and buys all the bronze mirrors in the general store. At the river, he finds another drowning and recognizes that the newly arrived Corpse Retriever is likely responsible.
• The chapter shifts to Jiang Fan, the new Corpse Retriever. He avoided Jiangya County because its artificial lake seemed dangerous, then chose Twin Bridge Town after learning its former Corpse Retriever had been absent. He registered with the Demon-Suppressing Bureau and discovered valuable Soul-Binding Grass, including a nine-leaf stalk.
• Jiang Fan has made a profitable arrangement with his Water Ghost, earning fifty taels in under half a month. Though he intends to leave soon with the grass, his greed keeps him working.
• As he retrieves another corpse, fog surrounds the river. His boat cannot reach shore, and hair beneath it reveals that a water ghost has latched on. His own Water Ghost suddenly becomes unreachable. Jiang Fan tries to escape by stepping across a floating cloth, but hair catches it and leaves him falling into the river.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Miao remains alert, pragmatic, and irreverently confident. He resists the serpent’s manipulations through observation and humor, then turns his attention to the mystery of its concealed yin energy and the Corpse Stitchers.
• The serpent first plays helpless to lure Chen into its trap, then attacks when its deception fails. It refuses to explain its ability before Chen kills it.
• Jiang Fan is cautious enough to avoid the dangerous artificial lake and investigate Twin Bridge Town before settling there, but his success and desire for profit make him linger. His Water Ghost, once his chief tool, is suddenly cut off from him.
• Chen’s arrival at the river coincides with Jiang Fan’s latest retrieval. The implication that Chen is about to confront him is sharpened by Chen’s remark, “Then I’ll start here.”

Significant themes

• Suspicion versus deception: Both the serpent and the river trap exploit appearances; Chen’s skepticism keeps him from being easily lured.
• Hidden supernatural forces: The serpent’s undetectable yin energy and the hair-bound water trap suggest abilities and mechanisms Chen does not yet understand.
• Greed and risk: Jiang Fan recognizes danger but remains tempted by money and Soul-Binding Grass, leaving him vulnerable.
• Ongoing mysteries: The possible involvement of Corpse Stitchers links the serpent to earlier strange creatures and points toward Chen’s future investigation.

Key plot points

• After defeating the Corpse Retriever and his Water Ghost, Chen Miao uses Water Binding to search the river for more ghosts. The side story rewards him with yin virtue, incense, materials, and the Floating Hemp Cloth Crafting Method, a practical tool for transporting corpses over water.
• Considering the river a promising source of yin virtue, Chen Miao nevertheless turns toward Moon Bay’s mountains, hoping to learn about mountain ghosts and gain unusual abilities.
• As soon as he enters the forest, his perception weakens. Mist Condensation reveals no clear cause, so he consults his notebook and discovers a chapter describing a disastrous future: he becomes trapped in a feng shui formation spanning three peaks, cannot escape, and dies after falling asleep.
• Chen Miao tests the danger with a mirror. The formation blocks his connection to mirrors outside it, confirming that he cannot rely on Yin-Yang Mirror Escape to get out. He withdraws rather than risk being trapped.
• Back in Qingjiang Town, Chen Miao asks Ge Feng to seek Mountain Wanderers’ Protective Objects, then meets Kong Xunzhen. Kong grants him a residence in the Paper Effigy Underground Palace, along with access to its cultivation facilities.
• Chen Miao chooses the room formerly used by the weaving-woman effigy. After testing the spinning wheel’s yin-energy effect, he studies the Human-Headed Snake’s Memory Fragment and gains the status Yin Concealment, which hides the yin energy within his body behind an internal barrier.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Miao remains curious and ambitious, but the notebook’s warning makes him act cautiously: he investigates the mountain formation, confirms its effect, and retreats instead of pressing on.
• He treats his encounters pragmatically, weighing the rewards of river ghosts against the greater potential of the mountain mysteries.
• Ge Feng agrees to help him find protective items after Chen Miao provides twenty taels of silver.
• Kong Xunzhen treats Chen Miao as an established apprentice rather than making a formal show of authority, giving him a home and cultivation access.
• The effigies vacate the chosen house, leaving Chen Miao alone there.

Significant themes

• Knowledge and caution: The Mortal World holds dangers beyond Chen Miao’s current understanding; learning when to withdraw is as important as gaining power.
• Curiosity versus survival: Chen Miao is drawn to unexplored mysteries and powerful rewards, but must balance that drive against the risk of becoming trapped.
• Practical use of power and resources: Skills, materials, and relationships are assessed for concrete value, from corpse-retrieval tools to protective objects and cultivation facilities.

Key plot points and events

• Chen Miao tests yin concealment outside the underground palace. It hides yin energy inside his body but cannot conceal energy or supernatural effects released into the outside world.
• He weighs two risky ways to escape the restrictions of the Paper Effigy Underground Palace: opening a mirror passage there or abandoning his current life and starting over. Uncertain how many uses remain in Fang Zheng’s Aperture Key, he decides not to commit to either.
• Instead, he spends one jin of yin virtue to upgrade the state to deep ravine breath concealment. The new ability lets him divert supernatural fluctuations and sounds into a hidden “ravine” anchored to a nearby gap or opening. This conceals mirror-making, footsteps, voices, and other effects; releasing the ravine makes stored sounds and energy emerge again.
• Testing reveals that the ravine has a fixed, limited storage capacity, though Chen Miao does not discover what determines it. Even so, he realizes the upgrade should let him use abilities in the underground palace without being detected and hide the sounds and energy of his body while concealed.
• At Tianmen Funeral Home, Chen Miao discovers that the new cosmetician’s makeup has become grotesque during a memorial ceremony. The family says she demanded a red envelope. Chen offers to redo the makeup and provide substantial services at no extra charge, then fires the cosmetician when she refuses to apologize.
• Chen suspects the woman was sent by the rival Fortune and Longevity funeral home. She leaves, and Chen spends the rest of the day repairing the damage. After nightfall, he leaves the funeral home alone.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Miao shows caution and strategic flexibility: rather than gamble on the mirror passage or abandon his life, he chooses a lower-risk upgrade. His successful tests restore his confidence and prompt him to think creatively about using the ability.
• As funeral-home director, Chen takes responsibility for the cosmetician’s misconduct. He negotiates calmly with the aggrieved family, compensates them generously, and dismisses the employee when she remains defiant.
• The cosmetician proves dishonest and entitled, demanding a tip and showing no remorse. Her reaction to Chen’s warning—and his suspicion that Fortune and Longevity recruited her—suggests possible deliberate sabotage.
• Luo Zhiyong alerts Chen to the memorial-service crisis. The client’s relatives initially confront Chen angrily but accept his remedies after he addresses both the damage and their dissatisfaction.

Significant themes

• Risk and resourcefulness: Chen faces uncertain choices but finds a practical alternative through upgrading his ability.
• Concealment and exposure: The ravine hides supernatural traces and sounds, yet whatever it stores becomes audible or visible when released; secrecy is powerful but conditional.
• Responsibility and trust: Chen accepts accountability for the funeral home’s failure, recognizing that clients’ trust must be protected.
• Rivalry and sabotage: The cosmetician’s behavior raises the possibility that business competition has turned hostile.

Key plot points and events

• At the Fushou Funeral Center, Du Xiang enjoys what he believes is a successful campaign to damage the rival Tianmen Funeral Home’s reputation. He has arranged publicity about a cosmetician who allegedly ruined a deceased woman’s makeup over an unpaid cash gift.
• While driving, Du Xiang hears a radio program, “Nighttime Chat,” amplify the scandal—but also suggest the incident was tied to Fushou’s rivalry with Tianmen. When Du Xiang tries to arrange a counter-story, his contact tells him the program stopped airing years ago.
• A ghostly figure appears in the road. Du Xiang escapes it at first, but then finds himself surrounded by supernatural fog. He recognizes the elderly woman from the cosmetician’s photograph, panics, and crashes into a tree. The fog clears, and he is later found unconscious.
• In the Mortal World, Chen Miao reflects on his impulsive behavior from the previous night, acknowledging its risks while enjoying the feeling of acting freely. He spends the day studying paper-offering craft, then works at the Spinning Wheel for three hours.
• At midnight, Chen Miao uses his Mirage Shadow and Paper Effigy Double to conceal his absence, then enters Mirror Space through a bronze mirror. From there, he travels to a distant mirror in Qingjiang Town and emerges near its entrance.
• Chen Miao unleashes supernatural mist through the town. It repeatedly sweeps the streets until 3 a.m., seemingly removing soul bodies while avoiding the Yizhuang, Paper Effigy Shop, and Demon-Suppressing Bureau.
• Shortly before dawn, two Demon-Suppressing Bureau members perform a ritual beneath the Great Banyan Tree, apparently to gather or locate souls. When the ritual ends, they discover that the souls are missing.

Character developments

• Du Xiang is exposed as willing to manipulate a tragedy for business advantage. His confidence collapses when his own scheme appears to bring supernatural consequences, and he regrets ignoring his brother Du Rui’s warning to seek help from Master Zhang.
• Chen Miao remains self-aware about his impulsiveness but is increasingly willing to use his abilities boldly. His careful preparation—covering his sleeping body and traveling through mirrors—shows that his daring is paired with planning.
• The Demon-Suppressing Bureau members shift from routine confidence to confusion when their ritual finds no souls.

Significant themes

• Conscience and supernatural justice: The radio’s warning that a clear conscience need not fear ghosts foreshadows Du Xiang’s encounter with the woman whose death he exploited.
• Greed and rivalry: Fushou’s effort to undermine Tianmen turns a funeral dispute into a moral transgression involving disrespect for the dead.
• Power, impulse, and restraint: Chen Miao recognizes the danger of acting on impulse, yet finds liberation in his newfound freedom.
• Hidden supernatural activity: The town’s ordinary nighttime life conceals a wider conflict involving spirits, mirror travel, and the Demon-Suppressing Bureau.

Character interactions

• Du Xiang argues with his publicity contact, then tries to recruit the nonexistent radio program into his scheme; both exchanges reveal how little control he has over events.
• The elderly woman’s apparition confronts Du Xiang with the image of the victim whose makeup was ruined.
• Chen Miao’s interactions are mostly indirect: he relies on Paper Effigies to bring supplies and uses his Double to hide his nighttime departure.
• The two Bureau members work together beneath the banyan tree, but their shared discovery that the souls are gone leaves them baffled.

Plot points and events

• Chen Miao reflects on finding only eighteen ghosts during his first town-wide sweep, far fewer than expected. His haul—three taels and six qian of yin virtue, eighteen Memory Fragments, and eighteen obsession fragments—nevertheless reassures him that his new method provides steady gains.
• He temporarily takes over as Cosmetician at Tianmen Funeral Home while a potential replacement returns from seeking work elsewhere. Chen Miao is willing to negotiate fairly but does not want to pay far above the industry rate.
• News spreads that Cosmetician Du Xiang survived and is hospitalized. Independent media accounts amplify the previous day’s cash-gift scandal, prompting booking cancellations and making customers and staff uncomfortable. Chen Miao cannot easily counter the coverage, so he reassures his staff that their year-end bonuses are safe, then visits Du Xiang, who remains unconscious.
• In the Mortal World, Chen Miao searches Qingjiang Town again and finds exactly eighteen ghosts, earning precisely the same yin virtue as before. Suspicious, he decides to investigate earlier the next night.
• Meanwhile, Demon-Suppressing Bureau agents Li Si and Zhang San fail twice to summon the town’s soul bodies. Li Si raises the alarm, and Director Xu Qingchuan orders the pair to arrest the rogue cultivator responsible.
• The bureau suspects an outsider is interfering with the ghosts. Xu warns them not to provoke Kong’s Shop, whose proprietor may belong to the powerful Cangzhou Kong Clan. Unable to enlist Kong’s help, Li Si and Zhang San ask Hunchback Lin for assistance; his disciple Lin Feng agrees to control Lin’s old Leaping Hopping Corpse.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Miao grows more confident in the steady rewards from ghost-hunting, but becomes increasingly curious about the identical nightly totals. At work, he shows a pragmatic, fair-minded approach to hiring and supports his staff amid the scandal.
• Li Si takes the failed summons seriously and assumes an outsider is disrupting the town. Though he initially wants more officers for the arrest, he accepts Xu’s assignment with Zhang San.
• Zhang San moves from joking about the problem to helping plan for a potentially dangerous opponent. His old favor with Hunchback Lin leads to Lin Feng’s unexpected offer of aid.
• Xu Qingchuan balances caution and authority: he protects the bureau’s relationship with Kong’s Shop while ordering Li Si and Zhang San to act against the suspected cultivator.
• Chen Miao and the bureau are unknowingly moving toward a confrontation: he is the rogue cultivator they plan to capture.

Significant themes

• Hidden consequences: Chen Miao’s ghost-hunting disrupts the Demon-Suppressing Bureau’s routine, though he does not know he has drawn their attention.
• Power and political caution: The bureau must weigh its authority against the influence of the Cangzhou Kong Clan.
• Public reputation and workplace fairness: The cash-gift scandal damages the funeral home even as Chen Miao tries to support his staff without imposing unfair policies or costs.
• Uncertainty and investigation: Repeatedly identical results suggest an underlying pattern, prompting both Chen Miao and the bureau to seek answers.

Key plot points and events

• Chen Miao’s fellow disciple Xu Jin visits him, eager to establish himself as Eldest Senior Brother. Chen Miao readily accepts the arrangement, and Xu Jin lets Zhu Sheng take the title of Second Senior Brother. Xu Jin gives Chen Miao fifty taels and invites him to a gathering.
• Chen Miao greets Zhu Sheng as Second Senior Brother at the gathering, easing Zhu Sheng’s hostility. The three share a drinking session, though Chen Miao remains focused on his own affairs.
• That night, Chen Miao leaves his underground-palace work early and returns invisibly to Qingjiang Town to investigate why ghosts have stopped appearing. He searches the quiet town using concealment techniques.
• Meanwhile, Demon-Suppressing Bureau agents Li Si and Zhang San arrive with Lin Feng and his unusual leaping corpse. They release marked ghosts as bait, hoping to locate the rogue cultivator responsible for trouble in town.
• When several ghosts vanish, the agents track them to a spreading bank of dense fog. They witness it swallowing a ghost and conclude the fog is behind the recent disappearances.
• Li Si and Zhang San activate the Bureau’s ghostly combat technique and enter the fog. Lin Feng, left outside with the Soul Banner, briefly considers tormenting a nearby household.
• Zhang San suddenly emerges and orders Lin Feng to fetch their bureau chief—but something shoots out of the fog, binds him, and drags him back inside. Lin Feng and his corpse try to flee, only for the fog to engulf them too.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Miao shows tact and pragmatism: he avoids a seniority dispute, wins Xu Jin’s favor, and accepts the money without changing his priorities.
• Xu Jin seeks recognition as the senior disciple and presents himself as a generous protector. He is pleased by Chen Miao’s deference and offers practical help.
• Zhu Sheng is less antagonistic after Chen Miao acknowledges his rank, though Chen Miao’s friendliness is largely strategic and accommodating.
• Li Si and Zhang San work methodically to trap the suspected rogue cultivator, but their confidence shifts when they mistake the fog for a powerful ghostly domain.
• Lin Feng is socially capable and intrigued by the Bureau’s powerful, exclusive cultivation method. His confidence and opportunism collapse when the fog traps him.

Significant themes

• Pragmatism and social maneuvering: Chen Miao treats rank and relationships as negotiable so long as they do not obstruct his goals.
• Power and institutional privilege: The Demon-Suppressing Bureau’s specialized technique gives its members a major advantage over other yin cultivators.
• Misjudgment and reversal: The agents expect to hunt a rogue cultivator, then confront a phenomenon they misunderstand; apparent confidence gives way to danger.
• Predation and vulnerability: The ghosts are bait for the Bureau, but the fog reverses the hunt, capturing the hunters and their allies.

Chapter Summary

While sweeping Qingjiang Town for ghosts, Chen Miao captures three wandering spirits. He then encounters two men surrounded by the same kind of hideous phantom he once saw around a jailer, and identifies them as members of the Demon-Suppressing Bureau. He quickly subdues them using Bowel-Extraction Prison, binding them with hair and Soul Intestines.
Chen next tests Heart-Excavation Prison on Lin Feng’s Leaping Hopping Corpse. The technique drains the soul inside the creature, triggering a frenzy that Lin Feng cannot control. The corpse attacks him, but a powerful charm around his neck releases a blast of light that clears Chen’s mist and blasts the corpse backward. The explosion kills Li Si, while Zhang San survives because his talisman protects him. Chen escapes inside a mirror just before the blast, realizing that his own concealment might not have saved him.
Xu Qingchuan, director of the local bureau, arrives and effortlessly crushes the weakened Leaping Hopping Corpse. The bureau’s members investigate the wreckage, while the mysterious Paper Effigy quietly leaves. The night grows quiet again, though nearby residents remain terrified.
Back in reality, Chen receives the chapter’s rewards, including more than six taels of yin virtue and Li Si’s memory fragment. The unusually high reward makes him suspect Li Si’s death accounted for much of it. After reviewing the memory, Chen connects the chapter title, “Ghost Driver,” with the strange ghosts seen earlier. Alarmed that the Demon-Suppressing Bureau may be involved in producing or directing ghosts, he concludes that it should be called the “Demon-Driving Bureau.”

Character Developments and Interactions

• Chen Miao confidently overwhelms the bureau’s ordinary members and discovers that his soul-based abilities are more effective than his physical strength. He also recognizes the danger posed by powerful protective artifacts and quickly adapts by escaping into a mirror.
• Lin Feng loses control of his corpse after Chen drains its soul. His bell and talisman cannot stop the creature, and the charm around his neck becomes his only defense.
• Xu Qingchuan is established as far stronger than ordinary bureau members: he destroys the corpse with ease and promptly takes charge of the survivors and the scene.
• The Paper Effigy observes the aftermath but remains unidentified and uninvolved.

Significant Themes

• Power and hidden vulnerabilities: Chen’s prison techniques dominate ordinary opponents, but artifacts and stronger authorities can overturn the balance.
• The danger of unintended consequences: Chen does not mean to kill a bureau member, but the death brings unwanted scrutiny and may disrupt his plans.
• Institutional corruption and suspicion: Li Si’s memory and the chapter’s title raise the possibility that the supposedly protective bureau is involved in driving ghosts—an unsettling implication for Great Xia.

Key plot points

• Chen Miao learns from Li Si’s memories that the Demon-Suppressing Bureau deliberately releases ghosts to produce casualties, then uses ghost souls to strengthen its guards. Xu Qingchuan justifies this as a way to regulate ghost numbers and make Calamity-Guarding Objects available to more people, arguing that those too poor to obtain one may as well die for the greater good.
• Chen Miao recognizes the bureau’s logic as the strong exploiting the weak. He considers fighting back and turning its members into yin virtue, but postpones the idea. Li Si’s unusually large yield of yin virtue suggests that guilt—and perhaps rank—affects the reward for killing someone.
• Chen examines the bureau’s Ghost Body cultivation method. It combines several yin arts and allows practitioners to advance without bottlenecks, but its ghost aspects are ranked by status and contribution. The instructions omit how to advance and how to devour ghost souls, implying that the bureau keeps essential parts of the method secret.
• After another visit from Chen leaves Du Xiang terrified and unconscious, Chen feels better and finds it easier to open the Mirror Space. He decides that, if the bureau can release ghosts, he can capture them—an action that triggers his “I Am Justice” status.
• At night, Chen stays cautious: his handbook shows no new warning, but he is unsure whether that means he is safe. Meanwhile, Xu Qingchuan, Zhang San, and Zhao Chong lie in wait for the dangerous fog-like entity encountered the previous night. Xu orders Zhang San to observe and assigns Zhao to use his Corpse Retriever techniques to disperse the fog.
• When the entity appears, Xu calls the group into action. Zhao thinks the faint fog may not be very dangerous and follows him; Zhang San hangs back as the chapter ends.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Miao shifts from avoiding the bureau to entertaining resistance, while still balancing his convictions against self-preservation. The “I Am Justice” status seems to reinforce his belief that his actions are right.
• Li Si had been devastated by the bureau’s exploitation of ordinary people, but eventually accepted Xu Qingchuan’s justification. Chen’s memories raise the possibility that Li Si’s own conviction helped persuade him.
• Xu Qingchuan presents the bureau’s cruelty as necessary public protection and now leads an ambush against the fog entity.
• Zhang San remains shaken by his previous encounter and is reluctant to approach the fog.
• Zhao Chong, a passing Corpse Retriever, resents being drawn into the danger but follows Xu’s orders.
• Chen and Du Xiang have a one-sided, frightening encounter: Chen’s appearance terrifies Du Xiang into pulling out his IV and fainting.

Significant themes

• Utilitarianism versus individual worth: The bureau claims sacrificing vulnerable people protects the majority, but Chen sees this as social Darwinism.
• Institutional hypocrisy and secrecy: The bureau protects people while manufacturing the danger it claims to control, and restricts access to the core of its cultivation method.
• Justice and moral certainty: Chen’s status affirms his conviction, but his growing willingness to kill raises questions about what “doing right” means.
• Power and sacrifice: Rank, contribution, and access to resources shape who gains power—and who is treated as expendable.

Plot and key events

• Xu Qingchuan enters the unnatural mist with Zhao Chong, whose ritual is meant to disperse it. He uses bloodied rice and salt, liquor, an iron hook, and a copper coin to prepare the Mist-Dispelling Art.
• As Zhao Chong recites the final incantation, he suffers a sudden attack: he can no longer move his tongue or sense his yin-bridge aperture. Xu Qingchuan’s Ghost Body Manifestation protects him, and the two try to escape.
• Black strands of hair attack them. Xu Qingchuan cuts through them, but an invisible rope binds Zhao Chong. Xu tears it apart and gets them out of the mist; Zhao Chong then proves dead. Xu suspects the rope caused his death.
• Zhang San urges Xu to report the threat and wait for help, but Xu refuses, hoping to use the unusual fiend to strengthen his Ghost Body Manifestation.
• Xu sends one of his twin souls into the mist as bait, intending to locate the fiend through their shared vision. The twin soul is caught by hair and then a rope; after colliding with a strange, glowing oval presence, it vanishes, severing Xu’s connection to it.
• Furious and desperate, Xu activates the Demon-Suppressing Token. It draws in the spirits of more than a hundred calamity-guarding objects across Qinghe Town, gathering enough power to bathe the area in red light.
• Other characters react to the token: Kong Xunzhen recognizes that Xu has been pushed to his limit, while Hunchback Lin and Lin Feng suspect the fiend is connected to the previous night’s events. Before Xu can strike, the mist disperses. He realizes half of his Ghost Body Manifestation is gone and is enraged.

Character developments and interactions

• Xu Qingchuan is powerful and confident, but his desire to capture the fiend and strengthen his ghost body leads him to ignore Zhang San’s caution. The fiend’s ability to kill Zhao Chong and destroy one of Xu’s twin souls shakes that confidence.
• Zhao Chong performs the dispelling ritual competently but becomes unable to speak or use his yin-bridge aperture. He dies after the escape, apparently from the mysterious rope’s effects.
• Zhang San is frightened by the fiend and prioritizes survival, contrasting with Xu’s ambition. He obeys Xu’s order to withdraw and watches from a safer distance.
• Kong Xunzhen, Hunchback Lin, and Lin Feng observe the token’s activation and connect it to the fiend and earlier disturbances, though they do not intervene.
• Xu protects Zhao Chong, then later uses a twin soul as bait; the fiend’s rope-like ability defeats this tactic and costs Xu part of his power.

Significant themes

• Ambition versus caution: Xu’s pursuit of greater strength overrides warnings about the danger.
• The limits of power: Even Xu’s formidable abilities cannot prevent Zhao Chong’s death or save the twin soul.
• Unseen threats and uncertainty: The fiend’s mist, hair, rope, and unidentified glowing form make its abilities difficult to understand.
• The cost of protection and power: The Demon-Suppressing Token draws on the town’s protective spirits, while Xu’s own ghost body is diminished in the encounter.

Plot points and events

• After trapping the ghost released from Xu Qingchuan inside the Mirror Space, Chen Miao escapes to the Paper Effigy Underground Palace. He had recognized that the chapter’s original ending—being crushed by Xu’s powered-up Demon-Suppressing Token—would be fatal.
• Chen had deliberately followed the chapter’s events while looking for a chance to flee. His attempt to mark Xu with the Five Prisons Mark failed, apparently because of Xu’s token. When the token began gathering power and exposed Chen’s outline, Chen changed the plan and used the mirror to trap the ghost instead.
• In the Mirror Space, Chen burns the now-uncontrolled ghost with Fire Pit Hell for ten seconds, then decides to avoid antagonizing people as powerful as Bureau directors.
• At the Qingjiang Town Demon-Suppressing Bureau, Xu’s dangerous state leaves the guards afraid to speak. Zhang San suggests using the incident to solicit funds from wealthy households and offers Xu a face-saving way to report the threat as defeated.
• Xu refuses to claim he killed the fiend, but orders Zhang San to contact the wealthy households and says he will hunt another Malevolent Fiend if the original does not reappear.
• After Xu leaves, Zhang San worries that repeated use of the token could anger the households and invite an investigation from Jiangya County. He realizes he may be blamed and decides to find another way out.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Miao shows caution and adaptability: he treats the chapter like a script, tests his escape plan, and changes course when the token becomes dangerous. He learns that even a short delay can matter in a fight.
• Xu Qingchuan remains formidable and angry, but turns to concealment and further action rather than accepting Zhang San’s proposed false report outright.
• Zhang San is politically resourceful, using money and a possible substitute target to shield Xu and the bureau. Beneath his composure, however, he fears being left responsible for the consequences.
• The guards defer to Zhang San to manage Xu’s anger, then avoid questioning Xu directly. Zhang’s exchanges with Xu reveal the bureau’s uneasy balance of authority, reputation, and self-preservation.

Significant themes

• Survival through foresight: Chen escapes by anticipating the chapter’s fatal outcome and exploiting the moment before the token completes its power-up.
• Power and vulnerability: Chen’s techniques cannot overcome Xu’s token, while Xu’s strength still leaves the bureau politically exposed.
• Institutional self-protection: The bureau considers fundraising, manipulating reports, and shifting blame as it tries to manage a threat it has not truly eliminated.
• Uncertain accountability: Zhang San’s final decision reflects the danger of serving an institution where responsibility may fall on whoever remains available.

Plot points and events

• Chen Miao reviews the previous night’s rewards: two ghosts destroyed, the Corpse Retriever killed, two taels of yin virtue, several fragments and materials, and the Corpse Retriever’s legacy. He notes the legacy is similar to his Water-Suppressing Mystic Scripture.
• He examines a new ability, Soul Link, which lets him connect to another soul body, influence its actions, and share its vision. He tests it on Old Ghost, preserved in the Scorpion Corpse Orb.
• Chen discovers that a linked soul can use some of his statuses—but only if it stops resisting him. Old Ghost’s voluntary surrender lets Chen manifest statuses on him and gives him an extra viewpoint through a temporary third eye.
• Experiments show Old Ghost can use three first-stage statuses at once, but only one second-stage status, and cannot use Soul Link himself. Using statuses through the link consumes Old Ghost’s soul power, suggesting the ability could greatly multiply Chen’s combat output.
• Chen recognizes that Soul Link’s potential is promising but still uncertain: Old Ghost is his only test subject, and the status that briefly makes Old Ghost receptive may not work on other ghosts or last long. Nevertheless, encouraged by a previous successful gamble, Chen spends yin virtue to upgrade Soul Link. The new status is Twin Birth.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen has become more selective about the value of rewards: he prefers keeping Old Ghost as a useful adviser over acquiring another legacy he may never use.
• Old Ghost begins the test obediently but is unsettled by Chen’s control, especially when a third eye appears. He eventually yields control, then briefly lowers his defenses after Chen activates Don’t Look Down on a Poor Middle-Aged Man.
• Chen proves curious and methodical, testing the ability’s limits before taking a calculated risk on an upgrade.

Significant themes

• Power and control: Soul Link depends on a soul’s willingness to surrender, not merely Chen’s strength.
• Experimentation and uncertainty: Chen methodically investigates a new power while acknowledging the limits of his evidence.
• Risk and reward: Despite unresolved questions, he gambles yin virtue on the possibility that upgrading the status will remove its weaknesses.

Chapter Summary: “Gambling Fools Never Meet a Good End”

Key events

• Chen Miao unlocks Twin Birth, hoping it will let him give Old Ghost a status. Testing it proves that it still cannot do so without Don’t Look Down on a Poor Middle-Aged Man.
• Twin Birth can make a connected soul body a controllable “twin,” allowing Chen to transfer soul power and share information. The target’s own will remains, however, so it is not full possession.
• Chen tests its range against Soul Link. Soul Link becomes increasingly expensive with distance and has a limit of about 100 meters. Twin Birth removes that limit, costs far less soul power, and remains stable at five kilometers.
• Chen uses Twin Birth to transmit the Ghost Body cultivation method to Old Ghost. Old Ghost recognizes the unusual method’s potential but notices that parts of its instructions are missing or unfamiliar.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen’s excitement over the new status turns to disappointment, and he jokingly laments that gambling fools never get a good outcome. He nevertheless explores its capabilities and finds that Twin Birth is useful for long-distance control.
• Old Ghost is startled when the cultivation method appears directly in his memories, briefly wondering whether Chen has reached Gate Knocking. He explains that advanced practitioners—or certain special methods—can transmit inheritances this way.
• Old Ghost is deeply impressed by Ghost Body, which combines yin-mark techniques with cultivation in a way he has never encountered. He regrets that a method like it might have helped him progress beyond the Solid Crossing stage.

Significant themes

• Risk and disappointment: Chen’s hopes for Twin Birth exceed what it can actually do, reinforcing the chapter’s warning about gambling.
• Power and its limits: Twin Birth improves distance and efficiency but does not erase the target’s independent will.
• Knowledge and cultivation: The chapter highlights how much remains for Chen to learn about soul techniques, while Ghost Body suggests that combining distinct systems can create powerful new possibilities.

Key plot points and events

• After Xu Qingchuan’s surveillance measures detect Chen Miao whenever he uses mist inside Qingjiang Town, Chen retreats to the western outskirts, where his coverage is weaker.
• Using a wine cup to attract ghosts, Chen finds a cleaver-wielding Soul Body. He connects to and controls it, but cannot achieve a perfect soul connection.
• Chen instead designates the ghost as a twin target and sends it into town. It provokes other ghosts into chasing it, allowing Chen to lure eight marked Soul Bodies away from the Demon-Suppressing Bureau’s collection point.
• Xu Qingchuan discovers that eight ghosts have failed to return and angrily reprimands the guards. Zhang San briefly recalls seeing the cleaver ghost but dismisses the thought.
• Chen safely performs Transcendence Rites on the captured ghosts, earning Yin Virtue and restoring his total to one catty, one tael, and two qian. He resolves to manage it carefully rather than gamble it away.
• In the ordinary world, Chen rejects an unqualified Cosmetician, then rehires a male applicant by offering a higher salary. He also checks the hospital for Du Xiang but finds he has left.
• Chen opens three Bathhouse Memory Fragments, gaining two [Steaming] statuses and [Sleeping in water], which improves recovery while floating and prevents drowning. He then returns to the Mortal World and begins another night of ghost-fishing.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Miao adapts to Xu Qingchuan’s surveillance by shifting his operations outside town and using a controlled ghost as bait. He is cautious about both exposing himself and spending Yin Virtue.
• Xu Qingchuan remains relentless in hunting the Malevolent Fiend and reacts harshly when his guards fail to account for the missing Soul Bodies.
• Zhang San is weary of his assignment and considers leaving Qingjiang Town. Though he witnesses the strange ghost chase, he chooses not to investigate or risk disrupting his remaining time there.
• Chen handles the Cosmetician’s hiring pragmatically, negotiating with the returning male applicant while worrying that another funeral-home mishap could reignite controversy.

Significant themes

• Adaptation and strategy: Chen finds new methods when his usual abilities are countered.
• Risk and caution: He avoids using mist, checks his notes before performing rites, and resolves not to squander his hard-earned Yin Virtue.
• Neglect and responsibility: Zhang San’s disengagement contrasts with Xu Qingchuan’s strict expectations.
• Work and reputation: Chen’s funeral-home staffing decisions show the practical pressures of running a business amid public scrutiny.

Plot and key events

• Zhang San spots the Cleaver Ghost repeatedly but avoids investigating, wary of risk. When his colleague follows it and fails to return, Zhang San alerts Bureau Chief Xu Qingchuan.
• Xu uses a Compass to trace the missing Demon-Suppressing Guard’s whereabouts to Yizhuang. Hunchback Lin denies that anyone is beneath the grounds, but the Compass points toward the corpse-nurturing chamber.
• Xu invokes his authority to force an investigation. In a coffin, they find the missing guard’s body stacked with another corpse.
• Lin Feng reveals his status as a core member of the Flying Corpse Lin Family. Xu backs down, expecting the family’s influence may benefit him.
• Before the group can leave, the coffins erupt open. Twenty-eight Black Jiangshi and eight Leaping Hopping Corpses attack. Hunchback Lin’s Corpse-Control Bell cannot control them.
• The scene shifts to Chen Miao in the Paper Effigy Underground Palace. He admits that using thirty-six Heart-Excavation Prison marks and exceeding Mirage-Escape Form’s range nearly exhausted his soul power, then falls asleep.

Character developments and interactions

• Zhang San chooses self-preservation over investigating the Cleaver Ghost, but acts responsibly once his colleague disappears by summoning Xu.
• Xu is forceful in confronting Hunchback Lin, then quickly shifts to negotiation when Lin Feng presents his family token. His duty is mixed with self-interest.
• Hunchback Lin’s confidence gives way to alarm as the evidence and uncontrolled corpses undermine his denials and authority.
• Lin Feng uses his family status to defuse the confrontation, though he remains baffled by the guard’s presence and the disturbance among the corpses.
• Chen Miao is revealed as the likely cause of the zombies’ uprising, having expended enormous power to disrupt them.

Significant themes

• Duty versus self-interest: Xu investigates a missing colleague but also weighs political leverage and possible compensation; Zhang San avoids danger until intervention becomes necessary.
• Power and status: Lin Feng’s family token changes Xu’s behavior, showing how political connections can soften official authority.
• Hidden consequences: Chen Miao’s unseen actions trigger chaos in Yizhuang, while the characters on-site initially misunderstand what is happening.
• Loss of control: The corpse-nurturing ground’s carefully managed defenses fail when the zombies awaken and the control bell proves useless.

Key plot points and events

• After a rare full night’s sleep, Chen Miao finds that his yin virtue has increased. The previous night, he killed a Demon-Suppressing Guard who had destroyed his cleaver ghost, then used the guard’s corpse to investigate Yizhuang through the Mirror Space.
• He discovers more than twenty mirrors there, including sixteen linked to the same Corpse-Nurturing Ground. He marks all thirty-six zombies in its coffins with Heart-Excavation Prison before leaving. Among the loot, he gains the mystic art Yin Dart, a powerful hidden-weapon technique that pairs well with Ghost Body Manifestation.
• Chen Miao begins opening the zombies’ Memory Fragments, hoping to finish raising yin absorption to its third phase. He also hires a male Cosmetician, allowing Shi Manman to leave again for Lin’an City.
• That night, Chen Miao discovers he has been killed again. The Demon-Suppressing Bureau, Hunchback Lin, and Kong Xunzhen have apparently joined forces, making ghost-fishing in town too dangerous.
• Chen Miao switches to his original plan: catch a ghost outside town, control it with Twin Birth, and send it to search for roadblock ghosts. After half an hour, he finally catches a target.
• Meanwhile, Hunchback Lin mourns the loss of all thirty-six zombies. He learns that their destruction resembles earlier incidents, suggesting a hidden yin cultivator is behind the malevolent fiend—possibly one connected to an incense-burning inheritor. He and Xu Qingchuan enlist Kong Xunzhen’s help and lie in wait for the culprit.
• Hunchback Lin invites Kong Xunzhen to the Flying Corpse Lin Family patriarch’s upcoming disciple-taking ceremony. Kong accepts on behalf of Kong’s Shop, though Hunchback Lin clearly hopes the visit will carry broader clan significance.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Miao grows more strategic: when ghost-fishing becomes unsafe, he returns to a plan that uses Twin Birth to investigate threats at a distance. He is also eager to develop his abilities, especially yin absorption and Yin Dart.
• Shi Manman leaves for Lin’an City again, while Chen expresses affectionate reluctance—humorously insisting it has nothing to do with losing his breakfast.
• Hunchback Lin is furious and grieving over the destruction of his zombies, especially the valuable leaping hopping corpses, but recognizes the pattern behind their deaths and shifts toward investigating the hidden enemy.
• Xu Qingchuan and Hunchback Lin set aside their immediate conflict to pursue the suspected culprit together; Xu had destroyed several zombies while escaping what he believed was an attack.
• Kong Xunzhen assists by sensing paper offerings placed around town, finds no trace of the fiend, and accepts Hunchback Lin’s invitation after clarifying whom he would represent.

Significant themes

• Cunning and adaptation: Chen changes tactics when his usual method becomes dangerous.
• Power and escalating consequences: Chen’s covert actions have drawn the town’s strongest figures into a coordinated search.
• Loss and competing obligations: Hunchback Lin’s personal losses are weighed against clan interests and earlier missions.
• Hidden identities and intrigue: The suspected enemy may be linked to a larger network of yin cultivators and incense-burning inheritors.