Chapter Summaries

Key plot points and events

• Chen Miao tests “ghost bombing”: he uses Twin Birth to create a twin soul, then has it restrain a roadblock ghost with Bowel-Extraction Prison and burn it with Fire Pit Hell. The ghost is destroyed, proving the method works.
• He identifies the plan’s limits: twin souls are difficult to find and expendable, their intestines may be too weak to kill stronger ghosts, and controlling distant twins continually drains his soul power.
• On later nights, he finds few ghosts and earns only eight qian, then four and six qian of yin virtue. A roadblock ghost refuses to cross an invisible boundary, and the twin soul’s intestines break while dragging it out. Chen Miao persists despite the poor returns, partly because Hunchback Lin and his companions have also been waiting for days.
• Over three days, Chen Miao opens ten more zombie memory boxes, bringing his total to fourteen fragments, but Yin Absorption still does not advance. He suspects the notebook limits the technique and may need another upgrade; he has 2 jin, 6 liang, and 1 qian of yin virtue, short of the possible five-jin threshold.
• Chen Miao continues watching Gao Yi, the male cosmetician, and sees no suspicious behavior.
• One night, his instincts alert him to something wrong in the courtyard. His senses reveal a ghost caught in the pond’s Soul-Binding Grass. Rather than exorcise it, he plans to let the grass transform it into a water ghost.
• A second ghost, a young woman, slips through the gate and attacks him. Chen Miao restrains her, then uses an illusion to make her believe he is dead and releases her so he can follow the trail to whoever sent her.
• Concluding that someone has deliberately targeted him, Chen Miao suspects a particular person and summons Old Ghost, asking for his cooperation.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Miao remains resourceful, adapting his ghost-catching methods, but he becomes more realistic about their costs and lowers his expectations. His patience is tested, yet he refuses to give up.
• His suspicions sharpen when ghosts appear at the courtyard despite the lack of an obvious source. He responds strategically rather than confronting the attacker directly, using the female ghost as bait.
• Chen Miao’s relationship with Old Ghost takes on a more serious, potentially coercive tone: his cold manner unsettles Old Ghost, who braces himself to help.
• Gao Yi remains under observation but has given Chen Miao no reason for concern.

Significant themes

• Experimentation and limits: Chen Miao’s ingenuity produces a working tactic, but every method brings practical constraints.
• Persistence amid disappointing rewards: He continues ghost hunting despite diminishing returns.
• Suspicion and hidden threats: The unexplained ghosts shift the story from routine cultivation and hunting toward a deliberate attack.
• Control versus uncertainty: Chen Miao can manipulate ghosts and shape events, but he does not yet know who is targeting him—or why.

Plot points and events

• Du Xiang hires Master Zhang, a ghost-controlling practitioner, to kill the young man who has been haunting him. Master Zhang reports that the target’s courtyard resisted one ghost, but a second got through.
• Du Xiang asks Master Zhang to kill the funeral home’s former director as well. Master Zhang refuses, warning that a second suspicious death could draw investigators’ attention, especially after Du Xiang’s brother was exposed. He agrees to reconsider the job next year.
• After leaving Du Xiang, Master Zhang finds himself mysteriously redirected to Fushou Funeral Center. A ghost in one of his jars reappears and forces him, through a terrifying hallucination, to call Du Xiang outside and kill him.
• Master Zhang’s ghosts attack Du Xiang, killing him. Though he believes the supernatural force has temporarily spared him, flames suddenly appear in his eyes; his car crashes and burns, killing him too.
• Meanwhile, in the Paper Effigy Underground Palace, Chen Miao is summoned with Zhu Sheng and Xu Jin to leave. The paper effigy notifies Chen first, then Zhu, then Xu, provoking resentment from the senior disciples. Kong Xunzhen tells them something that makes all three think they are being summoned to watch another ceremony.

Character developments and interactions

• Du Xiang grows more openly vindictive, but his attempt to order another murder ends with him becoming the victim of the ghostly retribution he helped set in motion.
• Master Zhang shifts from confident hired killer to frightened, coerced participant. He obeys the mysterious ghost to save himself, only to die afterward.
• Chen Miao remains observant and amused by the disciples’ reactions. He recognizes that their anger comes from the perceived disrespect of being summoned according to the wrong order of seniority.
• Zhu Sheng and Xu Jin both show increased hostility toward Chen. Xu’s resentment reflects his fall from first to third in seniority; Zhu’s unchanged rank makes his displeasure less clear to Chen.
• The chapter contrasts Du Xiang and Master Zhang’s dangerous supernatural dealings with the more petty status tensions among Kong Xunzhen’s disciples.

Significant themes

• Retribution and consequences: Du Xiang’s scheme rebounds on him, and Master Zhang’s obedience does not ultimately protect him.
• Power and vulnerability: Even an experienced ghost-controller is helpless before a force he cannot understand.
• Status and resentment: The disciples’ reactions show how much recognition and hierarchy shape their relationships.

Key plot points and events

• Kong Xunzhen tells his three disciples they will attend a ceremony in Jiangya County, but not immediately. He plans to make two special paper offerings for each of them so they can practice in the Paper Effigy Underground Palace first.
• He describes Jiangya County’s major factions, especially the Flying Corpse Lin Family and the rival Coffin Zhang Family, warning the disciples to avoid getting caught in any conflict between them.
• Kong explains the Lin patriarch is a grandmaster whose strength depends on his flying corpses. He also demonstrates the Kong Clan’s unusual ability to create paper offerings rapidly, explaining the strengths and vulnerabilities of paper effigy arts.
• Afterward, Chen Miao weighs whether to remain under Kong Xunzhen. Though he values his freedom, he recognizes that protection and status within the Kong Clan could help him survive in a dangerous world.
• In the mirror space, Chen sees that Hunchback Lin and Xu Qingchuan are still waiting to ambush him and Kong Xunzhen. He considers leaving a Soul Shrine in Qingjiang Town while away, but has not yet devised a plan.
• Chen earns four qian of yin virtue by destroying two ghosts. Later, he checks the settlement for the previous chapter and receives two liang and four qian of yin virtue, two Memory Fragments, and the “Clay Pot Ghost-Nurturing Art.” He wonders who the chapter title “Ruthless and Merciless” refers to before opening Zhang Wuji’s Memory Fragment.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Miao becomes more cautious and strategic. His instinct to escape remains, but recent dangers make him consider staying with Kong Xunzhen for security, training, and possible entry into the Cangzhou Kong Clan. He also continues looking for ways to protect himself and profit from his abilities.
• Kong Xunzhen shows authority and protectiveness, preparing his disciples for the ceremony and explaining the balance of power in the region. His standing in the Kong Clan name helps shield him from local families.
• Xu Jin and Zhu Sheng are anxious about attending another ceremony after their previous humiliating experience, but perk up when Kong promises to settle their seniority.
• Kong’s explanation is directed at the disciples, but Chen is the one who asks probing questions about the Lin Family’s power and pays closest attention to the implications.

Significant themes

• Freedom versus security: Chen must decide whether independence is worth the risks or whether protection and status are more valuable.
• Power and dependence: Strength depends not only on personal cultivation but also on tools, allies, reputation, and factional ties.
• Caution in a dangerous world: Chen’s growing awareness that even a capable cultivator can be constrained by powerful people and local rules shapes his plans.
• Preparation and adaptation: The upcoming ceremony, new paper offerings, and possible Soul Shrine all present opportunities to prepare rather than act recklessly.

Key plot points and events

• Chen Miao tests his new [False Face] status. By directing yin energy to his face, he can reshape his features and later restore or readjust them. He concludes the ability reflects Zhang Wuji’s habit of using false identities for criminal jobs.
• Remembering that Zhang Wuji’s ghost is bound by Soul-Binding Grass in his pool, Chen Miao tries linking with it. The soul link becomes perfect while the grass suppresses the ghost’s will, but breaks once the ghost’s will returns.
• Chen Miao confirms that enough Soul-Binding Grass can silence the ghost again. He replaces ten ordinary leaves with a single hundred-year Trout Soul Grass leaf, purchased for one qian of yin virtue, and the perfect link holds.
• He gives the ghost [Twin Birth] and discovers that a twin soul can form another soul thread. Testing with Old Ghost reveals a limit: the extra thread’s soul-power cost comes from Chen Miao, not the twin soul.

Character developments

• Chen Miao remains practical and experimental, quickly turning unexpected discoveries into tests and considering their costs and benefits.
• He is unmoved by the deaths of Zhang Wuji and Du Xiang, though he recalls Zhang Wuji’s criminal method of hiding his identity.
• His confidence in the value of investing yin virtue grows when a small purchase makes a perfect soul link possible.

Significant themes

• Identity and concealment: False Face lets Chen Miao alter his appearance, echoing Zhang Wuji’s use of disguises.
• Control and agency: Soul-Binding Grass enables the perfect link by suppressing a ghost’s independent will; when that will returns, the link fails.
• Experimentation and trade-offs: Chen Miao’s discoveries come through testing, but expanded soul-linking still consumes his own finite power.

Character interactions

• Chen Miao manipulates Zhang Wuji’s bound ghost with Soul-Binding Grass, first linking with it, then weakening and re-suppressing its will to restore the perfect link.
• He grants the ghost Twin Birth and tests its abilities alongside Old Ghost, learning that the twin soul can create an additional soul thread only by drawing on Chen Miao’s soul power.

Plot points and events

• Kong Xunzhen delivers Chen Miao a case containing two specially designed paper effigies. The case stores Yin Energy and can deploy or retract its contents; a full charge powers two deployments and two returns.
• Chen tests the first effigy: an armored fighter suited to close combat. It is less agile than his previous effigy but stronger and capable of performing the Ironblood Eighth-Level Fist. Chen sees it as useful strength he can reveal openly if trouble arises in Jiangya County.
• The second effigy is a large turtle. Chen discovers webbing between its toes and realizes it is designed for swimming, not combat. He suspects the upcoming Flying Corpse Lin Family ceremony will take place on an island in Bright Moon Lake and require participants to cross the water.
• In the Mirror Space, Chen tests the limits of his Mirage Doppelganger Form by traveling beyond Qingjiang Town. Staying outside his normal range for about half a minute consumes a quarter of his Soul Power.
• With his Yin Virtue near three jin, Chen spends eight liang to upgrade his status from Iceheart (II) to Clear Heart, Mystic Mirror, which sharpens his ability to observe with a clear mind.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen is curious and practical: he tests both effigies, studies their functions, and draws strategic conclusions rather than treating them as mere curiosities.
• His respect for Kong Xunzhen’s craftsmanship grows. He recognizes that the fighter effigy was tailored to his fighting style and wonders whether the case contains a Kong Clan technique, but decides not to pursue reverse-engineering it.
• Chen remains cautious about concealing his cultivation progress and values the fighter effigy as a way to display strength without revealing too much.
• Kong Xunzhen’s gifts indirectly shape Chen’s expectations for the ceremony, though he has no direct conversation with him in this chapter.

Significant themes

• Preparation and strategic foresight: The effigies suggest challenges ahead, and Chen interprets their design as clues about the ceremony.
• Ingenuity and specialized tools: The case and its two very different effigies show how craftsmanship can provide practical advantages beyond raw power.
• Concealment and controlled strength: Chen seeks useful abilities he can show publicly while keeping his true cultivation hidden.
• Self-improvement through testing: Chen probes both the limits of his Mirror Space abilities and the value of upgrading his mental state.

Chapter summary

Key plot points and events

• Chen Miao upgrades Iceheart into [Clear Heart, Mystic Mirror] and tests its effects. Clear Heart quiets distractions and stills his thoughts; Mystic Mirror lets him observe from a remote, movable viewpoint, with a range of roughly ten kilometers.
• The upgrade doubles his perceptual range and the normal range of Mirage Doppelganger Form, letting him travel directly to a mirror at the Y-shaped intersection. However, his soul body has not grown stronger: beyond about four kilometers, soul power drains rapidly.
• Chen uses the Soul Shrine to capture ghosts. His Twin Soul collects four Soul Balls, then transfers into a fresh ghost when its soul power runs low, allowing it to continue hunting. It eventually returns with eight captured ghosts and turns itself into another Soul Ball; Chen adds all nine to storage.
• Over the following days, Chen captures more ghosts while carrying out his daytime routine. His stored Soul Balls reach twenty-two, and he develops three new applications that make the Soul Shrine suitable for remotely clearing Qingjiang Town.

New abilities and strategy

1. Chen discovers that his main body and split soul can open the same portable mirror space. Used simultaneously, it links their locations, allowing objects to pass between them across great distances.
2. Mystic Mirror can be activated separately from Clear Heart and by the split soul. Because Chen’s subconscious is shared, the mirror lets him observe and control his distant split soul, coordinate the portable space, and give it instructions.
3. Chen establishes a perfect Twin Birth soul link with his split soul. Its key benefit is transferring soul power over distance, supplementing the split soul’s otherwise strong connection to him.
   Together, these techniques let Chen operate the Soul Shrine remotely and plan to sweep Qingjiang Town’s ghosts while he is away in Jiangya County. He also considers leaving it somewhere in town to maintain a convincing alibi.

Character development and interactions

• Chen shifts from treating his abilities as tools with fixed limits to actively experimenting with their combinations. Clear Heart’s calm, analytical focus helps him uncover capabilities he had overlooked.
• His relationship with his split soul becomes more practical and coordinated: it acts independently, hunts and stores ghosts, while Chen monitors and directs it through Mystic Mirror and supplies soul power through their link.
• The chapter emphasizes Chen’s interactions with ghosts as targets rather than adversaries: the Twin Soul binds and compresses them into Soul Balls, transferring bodies when its energy runs low.

Significant themes

• Potential through experimentation: Existing abilities can have unexpected uses when combined or examined from a new perspective.
• Control at a distance: Remote vision, communication, transport, and energy transfer turn Chen’s Soul Shrine into a tool for managing events across town.
• Efficiency and limits: Chen’s growing reach does not eliminate the need to strengthen his soul body; greater range still carries a steep energy cost.
• Self-mastery: Clear Heart’s detachment and the mystic mirror’s observation give Chen a more deliberate, “high-spec” mode of thought—and suggest that his other status abilities may hold undiscovered potential.

Key plot points and events

• Chen Miao’s progress under [Clear Heart, Mystic Mirror] continues to accelerate: he advances his Extreme Yin Body-Refining Art from the tenth to the thirteenth repetition and speeds up his soul tempering by a third. He expects to complete the fifth prison in under half a year and hopes his soul body will eventually let him contend with Kong Xunzhen.
• Following the death of Du Xiang, the Fushou Funeral Center gets a new owner, Du Yuesheng, who lays off half the staff and increases the remaining workers’ workloads. He then offers to sell the business to Chen Miao for twenty million.
• Chen Miao counters with two million, explaining privately that this is genuinely all he can afford—and that, based on the center’s depreciated assets and limited market, even twenty million is far above its value. He dismisses Du Yuesheng’s threat that a future owner might squeeze him out.
• Chen Weiyi later calls to ask if Chen Miao wants to buy the funeral center and appears willing to fund the purchase. Chen Miao explains his position and persuades him not to invest.
• On his final night in Qingjiang Town, Chen Miao tests the Five Prisons Common-Faced God Shrine. After using [Mystic Mirror] to find a suitable location, he places the shrine outside town and returns to the woods. He plans to put his next scheme into action before leaving the following night with Kong Xunzhen.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Miao’s cultivation gains strengthen his confidence, but he remains practical about money and business: he refuses to borrow heavily for an overpriced acquisition.
• Du Yuesheng tries to pressure Chen Miao through a high asking price and a warning about future competition, but Chen Miao is unmoved.
• Chen Weiyi offers possible financial support, showing concern and trust in Chen Miao’s judgment; Chen Miao chooses to protect him from a bad investment.
• Chen Miao’s partnership with Kong Xunzhen continues to shape his plans, as their departure is set for the next night.

Significant themes

• Disciplined ambition: Chen Miao pursues rapid improvement while measuring his goals against real challenges, especially Kong Xunzhen.
• Pragmatism over greed: He refuses to overpay for a business or gamble on debt, even when it could offer greater market power.
• Power and leverage: Du Yuesheng relies on pressure and threats, while Chen Miao trusts his own capabilities and connections.
• Preparation and secrecy: Chen Miao carefully scouts the shrine’s placement and conducts a final test before acting on his plans.

Plot points and events

• In Qingjiang Town, a woman and her young son hide beneath their bed while what appears to be her possessed husband searches the room. A bang interrupts the search, and the footsteps vanish. At dawn, the woman finds no sign of her husband and believes he is gone.
• The child points out that his father is kneeling on the bed before a shrine. The man is alive but unconscious, and wakes after his wife shakes him. He recounts being possessed and unable to control his body until an unseen force dragged the ghost away.
• The man saw terrifying visions of punishments inflicted on ghosts, followed by a featureless divine figure bearing the character “mortal.” He remembers the name Five Prisons Common-Faced Deity. The couple accept the shrine as their protector and replace their household shrine with it.
• Meanwhile, Chen Miao practices coordinating his own martial arts with a paper effigy, using [Clear Heart, Mystic Mirror] to improve control. He recalls placing the Soul Shrine in the couple’s room and using the Bowel-Extraction Prison to remove the possessing ghost, then leaving before his illusion ended.
• Chen Miao learns that he and the others have half a day to prepare for a trip. He shops for supplies, then pauses at a tavern, reflecting on how completely cultivation and his plans for the Mortal World have consumed his attention. As townspeople hurry to leave, he walks calmly toward the Paper Effigy Shop.

Character developments and interactions

• The mother’s terror and grief turn to relief when she discovers her husband is alive. She comforts her frightened son and tries to explain his father’s absence, while the child innocently reveals that he can see him.
• The husband remains confused by his ordeal but recognizes the shrine as the force that saved him; the couple’s shared experience makes them devoted to it.
• Chen Miao grows more capable of fighting in tandem with his paper effigy and reflects on his purpose. His calm response amid the townspeople’s anxious flight suggests a growing sense of direction.
• Xu Jin informs Chen Miao of the break and remains cordial, though his lingering discomfort over Chen Miao’s “Senior Brother” status shows their relationship is not fully at ease.

Significant themes

• Faith born from experience: The couple need no further miracles after surviving the ghost attack.
• Fear, protection, and family: The mother’s efforts to protect her son contrast with the supernatural danger around them.
• Power and identity: Chen Miao’s growing abilities and religious influence are paired with uncertainty about what drives him.
• Purpose amid upheaval: As the town prepares to flee, Chen Miao’s reflective pause leads him toward a clearer answer about his path.

Plot points and events

• Chen Miao, Xu Jin, and Zhu Sheng are summoned to travel with Kong Xunzhen. Each carries a large case, and they board four paper sedan chairs led by paper-effigy bearers.
• The chairs speed out of town, moving faster as the surrounding yin energy grows stronger. Chen Miao worries they may still be traveling when yang energy rises, but his booklet shows no new warning.
• Chen Miao uses his Mystic Mirror to observe the journey. Based on earlier tests, he knows most people cannot see it; Kong Xunzhen can sense it only when Chen Miao’s attention is directed straight at him.
• The procession encounters Roadblock Ghosts. Kong’s bearers simply absorb them while charging onward. Each bearer can absorb seven ghosts before the next one takes over.
• Ahead, Chen Miao spots a vast mass of fog on the road—apparently a ghost domain, suggesting a powerful malevolent fiend is nearby.

Character developments

• Chen Miao remains cautious and observant, using the journey to study Kong’s abilities and assess the danger ahead. He is also envious of how easily Kong captures ghosts and resolves to use the same method himself someday.
• Xu Jin and Zhu Sheng hesitate briefly over which sedan chair to take, then quickly claim the second and third chairs, leaving Chen Miao the last.
• Kong Xunzhen appears confident and practical, traveling through danger without slowing down.

Themes

• Learning through observation: Chen Miao uses the trip to test and understand the Mystic Mirror and Kong’s techniques.
• Power and efficiency: Kong’s ghost-catching method shows how overwhelming strength can make danger seem trivial.
• Caution amid uncertainty: Chen Miao thinks ahead about the rising yang energy and avoids acting before he understands the risks.
• Escalating danger: The journey shifts from routine ghost encounters toward the ominous prospect of a ghost domain.

Character interactions

• Shopkeeper Li sees the group off, exchanging a nod with Chen Miao.
• Xu Jin and Zhu Sheng react to Chen Miao’s decisiveness by rushing to secure their own sedan chairs.
• Chen Miao observes Kong’s abilities from a distance, while Kong remains unaware of the Mystic Mirror as long as Chen Miao does not focus its gaze directly on him.

Key plot points and events

• Chen Miao and his companions encounter a ghost domain blocking the road. Kong Xunzhen’s Sixteen-Palanquin Sedan carries them through it.
• The sixteen paper bearers scatter joss paper that automatically clings to lesser ghosts, preventing them from reaching the sedan. When the malevolent fiend attacks through one of them, Kong uses bamboo splints to trap its split soul, turns the ghost into a paper effigy, and uses it to locate and capture the fiend’s true body.
• Chen realizes the sedan is more than transportation: it contains spare materials Kong can use to construct paper effigies, though even the Cangzhou Kong Clan has limits when traveling away from home.
• Later, Kong stops at another ghost encounter and invites his inexperienced disciples, Zhu Sheng and Xu Jin, to fight. They hesitate, so Chen volunteers instead.
• Chen coordinates a rapid assault with his Paper Effigy Boxer, repeatedly batting the ghost between them with martial techniques before crushing it with Mountain-and-River Suppression.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Miao studies Kong’s methods closely, compares their abilities, and recognizes both the power and practical limitations of Kong’s craft. He also demonstrates confidence and skill by stepping forward when the others freeze.
• Kong Xunzhen remains composed throughout the dangerous encounter, revealing formidable control and ingenuity. He later explains what they encounter on the road and gives his disciples an opportunity to gain real experience.
• Zhu Sheng and Xu Jin are thrilled by the paper sedans and imagine mastering similar techniques, but their excitement gives way to fear when asked to face a ghost themselves. Watching Chen fight exposes the gap between their aspirations and their current readiness.
• Chen’s team attack with the Paper Effigy Boxer highlights the close coordination between him and his creation.

Significant themes

• Experience versus imagination: The disciples’ excitement about ghost-fighting fades when they face actual danger, while Chen acts decisively.
• Ingenuity and preparation: Kong’s victory depends on adapting paper effigy techniques to trap and control a fiend rather than confronting it through brute force.
• Power has limits: Kong’s traveling sedan provides valuable resources, but Chen recognizes that paper-effigy makers are still constrained when away from their home territory.

Plot points and events

• Chen Miao returns to the sedan after defeating a ghost with his close-combat Paper Effigy Boxer. Kong Xunzhen explains that the effigy suits Chen Miao’s strength and martial skills, but warns him not to face especially powerful ghosts head-on. He also urges the apprentices to overcome fear, since they lack the experience of cultivators from yin-cultivation families.
• Zhu Sheng takes the next opportunity to fight. His small, exceptionally fast paper effigy has long, chain-like arms that scrape away the ghost’s soul, but he runs out of yin energy before finishing the fight. Kong advises him to practice controlling it efficiently.
• Xu Jin’s saber-wielding effigy lands a powerful blow, but loses its balance. The ghost possesses it, and a paper-effigy bearer has to remove and absorb the ghost. Kong tells Xu Jin not to rush his commands and to reflect on the mistake.
• Chen Miao repeatedly gets out of the sedan first, using his Mystic Mirror to anticipate stops. He disperses three ghosts in succession until his yin energy runs out. Kong eventually tells him to leave opportunities for the others; Zhu Sheng and Xu Jin then take turns fighting.
• Near dawn, the group reaches Jiangya County Town.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Miao is confident in his growing combat ability and enjoys close-quarters fighting. He understands that acting like a novice helps conceal his real capabilities, but no longer bothers trying to appease Zhu Sheng and Xu Jin. His repeated initiative provokes their competitive resentment.
• Zhu Sheng demonstrates a fast, agile effigy with promising but difficult-to-control arms. After his early success is cut short by depleted yin energy, he appears newly determined to compete with Chen Miao.
• Xu Jin is impatient to prove himself. His haste causes a failed attack and a near-possession, leaving him embarrassed and increasingly resentful of Zhu Sheng, whom he thinks is mocking him.
• Kong Xunzhen teaches through observation and measured correction: he emphasizes overcoming fear, conserving yin energy, and controlling effigies calmly. He also restrains Chen Miao’s repeated monopolizing of fights.
• The apprentices’ rivalries deepen as they watch one another succeed or fail, while Chen Miao mostly refuses to engage with their reactions.

Significant themes

• Fear, experience, and growth: Courage helps compensate for inexperience, but skill develops through practice and learning from mistakes.
• Control and restraint: Effigies are not extensions of the body; haste and inefficient use of yin energy can be dangerous.
• Competition and pride: The apprentices’ desire to prove themselves fuels rivalry and shapes how they interpret one another’s actions.
• Different strengths: The three effigies reflect distinct approaches—Chen Miao’s close-combat power, Zhu Sheng’s speed and unusual reach, and Xu Jin’s saber technique.

Key events

• Chen Miao and his companions reach Jiangya County Town at night and cross its closed walls in their paper sedan chairs. The town lies beside Bright Moon Lake, whose dark, mist-covered surface unsettles and fascinates him.
• A lantern-bearing night watchman carrying a bronze gong approaches. After checking the Lin Family’s invitation, he guides them to the family’s guest estate. Chen Miao notices that the watchmen are powerful yin cultivators and sees another patrolling the streets.
• At the estate, the group leaves its paper sedan chairs at the gatehouse. Kong Xunzhen stores the paper effigies and chairs, and Chen Miao carries the folded paper box inside. A servant explains that the ceremony is in two days and advises guests to avoid going out at night without their invitations.
• Before sleeping, Chen Miao uses the Mystic Mirror to survey Qingjiang Town. He plans to investigate the Demon-Suppressing Bureau and find out whether Xu Qingchuan is still there.
• In the morning, Chen Miao confirms he is still in the Mortal World, strengthening his conclusion that travel between worlds is possible only when yang energy rises. He sets out to explore the estate and town.
• A servant named Qingtian guides him around the extensive guest estate, which is about ten times the size of Kong’s Paper Effigy Shop. Chen Miao learns that visiting yin cultivators from neighboring counties are lodging there for the Lin Family ceremony.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Miao remains observant and cautious, studying the lake, night watchmen, and estate while testing the limits of the Mystic Mirror and his travel between worlds. His curiosity about Jiangya County and the upcoming ceremony grows.
• Kong Xunzhen handles the group’s arrival smoothly, presents the invitation, and directs Chen Miao to store the paper offerings. He gives Chen Miao permission to explore.
• The night watchmen appear as a regular part of town life. One respectfully escorts the guests but accepts a silver payment from the estate servant before leaving.
• The estate servants, particularly Qingtian, help orient Chen Miao and identify the guests as yin cultivators. Xu Jin and Zhu Sheng have already left their rooms by the time Chen Miao checks on them.

Significant themes

• The boundary between the living and supernatural worlds: Chen Miao’s travel depends on the rise of yang energy, while Jiangya’s night streets are patrolled by yin cultivators.
• Mystery and unease: Bright Moon Lake, the silent town, and the watchmen’s unclear purpose hint at hidden dangers and unanswered questions.
• Power and social standing: The Lin Family’s prestige brings elaborate hospitality and attracts yin cultivators from across neighboring counties.
• Investigation and preparation: Chen Miao gathers information and plans his next move as the ceremony approaches.

Plot points and events

• Chen Miao explores Jiangya County Town with Qingtian, learning that the county government governs by day while the Demon-Suppressing Bureau controls the town at night. Nearly ten guards patrol nightly, reducing—but not eliminating—ghost attacks.
• Chen doubts the Bureau’s benevolence. He suspects the patrols serve a hidden purpose, and that wealthy families’ banquets for the guards may be a way to avoid being targeted.
• Qingtian describes nearby Bright Moon Lake, the Moon Mountain Range, and the distant Evernight City, where a feng shui formation supposedly keeps ghosts out. Chen is curious but thinks a ghost-free city would not necessarily be free of human danger.
• In a restaurant, Zhu Sheng spots Chen and tells Lin Bai and other wealthy young Yin Cultivators about him. Zhu portrays Chen as a hypocrite, criticizing his alleged sacrifice of his younger brother to gain an apprenticeship and his private efforts to win favor with their master.
• Rather than condemn Chen, Lin Bai and Qian Chao admire his willingness to compete for advancement. Lin proposes introducing himself to Chen and helping settle the disciples’ dispute. Zhu reluctantly agrees.
• Chen senses hostility, sees Zhu with the group, and casually raises a pastry in greeting before leaving.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Miao remains skeptical and observant, questioning the Demon-Suppressing Bureau’s motives and recognizing the dangers of trusting appearances. He responds to Zhu’s hostility with amused indifference.
• Qingtian is proud of the night patrols and dreams of life in Evernight City, which he sees as a refuge where people can live normally.
• Zhu Sheng tries to turn influential locals against Chen, disguising his resentment as reluctant concern. His plan backfires when they interpret Chen’s ambition as admirable.
• Lin Bai and Qian Chao reveal that they understand social and family competition firsthand. They are sympathetic to Chen and seek reconciliation rather than joining Zhu’s attack.
• Xu Jin supports Zhu’s complaints, hoping to improve his own standing, but is caught off guard by the others’ response.

Significant themes

• Protection and hidden motives: The Demon-Suppressing Guards provide real safety, yet Chen suspects their work may conceal exploitation.
• Survival and ambition: Lin Bai and Qian Chao regard competing for opportunity as necessary, especially for those without exceptional talent.
• Appearances and social judgment: Zhu’s attempt to shape Chen’s reputation fails because the listeners interpret the same actions differently.
• The limits of safety: Evernight City may keep ghosts out, but Chen doubts that supernatural protection can make people harmless.

Chen Miao and Qingtian explore Jiangya County’s market, sharing pastries. As Qingtian relaxes, he tells Chen Miao local rumors, which Chen Miao treats as clues rather than mere gossip.
They discuss stories from the Moon Mountain Range about “Mountain Wanderers” who vanish and later abduct their wives; Chen Miao suspects these are the modified Human-Faced Beasts he has encountered. They also discuss strange faces appearing in Bright Moon Lake. Chen Miao believes water ghosts may be responsible, and suspects their apparent lack of victims is a public façade intended to keep the county calm—and its population intact.
Qingtian reveals that Jiangya County has no burial grounds: the dead are given water burials in Bright Moon Lake, where bodies, boats, and even leaves sink. The Qian Family handles these burials, while the Lin Family and Demon-Suppressing Bureau keep their own boats. Access to the island at the lake’s center requires an invitation or an escort.
Character development and interactions: Qingtian grows more comfortable accepting food and proves an eager source of local information. Chen Miao listens closely, tests the stories against his own experience, and probes for practical details. Their easy conversation builds as they leave the city and head toward the lake.
Themes: Local folklore may conceal real supernatural dangers; public order can depend on managing appearances; and Bright Moon Lake’s unusual role in both daily life and burial customs hints at deeper mysteries. The lake’s central island, where their upcoming ceremony will take place, remains unexplained.

Plot points

• Chen Miao uses the Mystic Mirror to scout Bright Moon Lake, finding many zombies—Leaping Hopping Corpses and Jiangshi—but no water ghosts. The sheer number suggests the Flying Corpse Lin Family has amassed a vast undead force.
• Qingtian leads him to the Three Treasures River, where elegant tower ships cruise over waters likely haunted by water ghosts. Chen learns each ship carries a Calamity-Guarding Object; the largest vessel’s object is a mermaid-shaped sculpture.
• Chen initially plans to board a cheap ship, but Lin Feng invites him onto the luxurious Moon-Gathering Vessel. Chen still buys Qingtian a ticket for the smaller ship, thanking him for his help.
• Zhu Sheng and Xu Jin watch Chen with hostility. Lin Bai and Qian Chao join them; Qian explains that Lin Feng recently rose from a collateral branch to core-member status, stirring resentment among the Lin Family’s direct descendants. The group boards the Moon-Gathering Vessel.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Miao is curious and observant, investigating both the lake’s undead and the ships’ protective objects. His generosity toward Qingtian contrasts with his caution about his uneasy alliance with Lin Feng.
• Qingtian is excited to experience a tower ship but is embarrassed to accept Chen’s help; Chen insists he take the ticket and go home afterward.
• Lin Feng shows no lasting resentment over Chen’s earlier defeat of him. He explains that befriending Chen is more sensible than seeking revenge, given Chen’s connection to the powerful Kong Clan. Chen’s view of Lin Feng improves, though he privately remembers his own role in Lin Feng’s past danger.
• Zhu Sheng remains hostile to Chen and takes satisfaction in the rift between Lin Feng and the Lin Family’s direct-line descendants. Lin Bai looks down on Lin Feng despite his new status, while Qian Chao explains the family politics.

Significant themes

• Power and pragmatism: Lin Feng chooses friendship over vengeance because of Chen’s connections; family standing also shapes who earns respect.
• Generosity and social difference: Chen uses his limited funds to give Qingtian an experience he could not afford.
• Hidden danger beneath refinement: The tower ships’ elegance and merriment conceal the threat of water ghosts, kept at bay by powerful protective objects.
• Unresolved threats and shifting alliances: Chen’s friendly exchange with Lin Feng occurs alongside concealed hostility, family factionalism, and the possibility of future conflict.

Key events

• Chen Miao boards the Moon-Gathering Vessel with Lin Feng and meets Lin Feng’s collateral-branch allies. Lin Feng introduces him as a disciple of the reclusive master from the Cangzhou Kong Clan. Chen Miao clarifies that he and his master are traveling on behalf of Kong’s Shop in Qingjiang Town.
• Lin Feng’s companions complain that Chen Miao seems arrogant, but Lin Feng warns them not to provoke him. He suggests that Chen Miao’s loyalty to his master may matter more than the other Kong disciples’ claims of status.
• Curious about the vessel’s Calamity-Guarding Object, Chen Miao tests it by capturing water ghosts and hurling them against the boat. The object traps them in bubbles and suppresses them temporarily, but does not destroy them; the ghosts recover after the vessel has moved on.
• Zhu Sheng, Xu Jin, and Lin Family main-branch disciples approach Chen Miao. When one disciple grabs at him, Chen Miao effortlessly crushes the man’s hand and swings him around like a pinwheel.
• Lin Feng and his group step in, creating a tense standoff. Chen Miao releases the injured disciple, who flies overboard. Qian Chao rescues him with a hooked rope, though the man returns to the deck marked by strange handprints from something beneath the water.
• Before the confrontation escalates further, an announcement warns that troublemakers will be expelled from the vessel and barred from returning.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Miao remains detached from the Lin Family’s politics, focused instead on investigating the boat’s supernatural defenses. His calmness contrasts with his overwhelming physical strength when attacked.
• Lin Feng shows both caution and political sense: he recognizes Chen Miao’s power and tries to protect the relationship, while encouraging his companions to see Chen Miao as a potentially valuable ally.
• Lin Feng’s collateral-branch allies are initially impressed by Chen Miao’s supposed connections, then resent his manner. Lin Feng’s explanation redirects their frustration toward the main-branch disciples.
• The main-branch disciples provoke Chen Miao and are swiftly overpowered, intensifying the rivalry between them and Lin Feng’s group.
• Qian Chao intervenes at a critical moment, saving the disciple from falling into the river, though the unseen danger beneath the surface leaves the incident ominous.

Significant themes

• Power and status: Chen Miao’s strength undercuts the Lin Family’s assumptions about rank and physical superiority.
• Loyalty and political maneuvering: Lin Feng tries to build influence by framing Chen Miao’s obedience to his master as a source of importance.
• Control versus destruction: The vessel’s protective object restrains water ghosts rather than eliminating them, suggesting that survival on the river depends on limited, carefully managed protection.
• Hidden danger: Even when the vessel’s defenses and its crew seem to contain threats, the hands beneath the water reveal that the river remains perilous.

Key plot points and events

• The steward of the Moon-Gathering Vessel stops tensions between Chen Miao and the Lin Family by reminding everyone that the river and pleasure boats are under government and Demon-Suppressing Bureau authority.
• Lin Bai challenges Chen Miao to show the skills of Cangzhou Kong Paper Effigies on the island the following day. Chen Miao sidesteps the challenge, while Zhu Sheng warns Lin Bai that Chen Miao is formidable in combat.
• Chen Miao explores Jiangya County with Qingtian, visiting local landmarks and a town where many Corpse Drivers live.
• Back at the Lin estate, Zhu Sheng and Xu Jin criticize Chen Miao for provoking their hosts. Chen Miao counters that they are the ones acting subserviently to the Lin Family, prompting a tense exchange.
• Kong Xunzhen summons them. Chen Miao serves him the food he bought, and Kong tells him to rest before the island visit, where his paper offerings may be needed.
• That night, Chen Miao reads a new notebook chapter describing a possible future encounter at Bright Moon Lake: he fights three powerful Flying Jiangshi, kills one, and escapes, but nearly ten break into his lodging and devour him after his Yin-Yang Mirror Escape ability is blocked.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Miao remains confident and sharp-tongued, refusing to defer to the Lin Family or to Zhu Sheng and Xu Jin. He also shows respect and practical care toward Kong Xunzhen by bringing him dinner.
• Lin Bai is eager to test Chen Miao but underestimates his martial ability and appears increasingly displeased by Chen Miao’s conduct.
• Zhu Sheng and Xu Jin are exposed as sensitive about whether they rely on the Kong Clan’s name and resent Chen Miao’s apparent closeness to their master.
• Kong Xunzhen remains reserved, but his warning to Chen Miao signals that he expects him to represent Kong’s Shop competently.
• Qingtian acts as Chen Miao’s guide around Jiangya County and offers to help him again.

Significant themes

• Status versus authority: The Lin Family’s local prestige is checked by the state’s control of the river.
• Pride and hypocrisy: Chen Miao mocks Zhu Sheng and Xu Jin for their deferential behavior, then pointedly serves Kong Xunzhen himself.
• Preparation and survival: Chen Miao gathers information before acting, and the notebook’s vision reveals that understanding local dangers may be as important as strength.
• Escalating supernatural threat: The Flying Jiangshi are far more powerful than previous foes, and their ability to suppress Chen Miao’s escape technique suggests the Lin Family has a means to counter spatial abilities.

Plot points and events

• Chen Miao decides not to enter Jiangya County blindly. The loss of his Yin-Yang Mirror’s escape function—and the apparent failure of his Mirage Doppelganger Form around the Flying Jiangshi—has made the mission too dangerous.
• Instead, he scouts through a twin soul. At the Yizhuang, he discovers that Hunchback Lin has heavily fortified the underground Corpse-Nurturing Grounds with barriers, talismans, corpse nails, and poisonous corpse-qi mist. The defenses destroy the twin soul before it can investigate fully.
• Chen Miao then sends another twin soul to Kong’s Paper Effigy Shop, hoping to spread the danger across his enemies rather than leave the shop untouched.
• The shop’s main entrance appears open but is guarded by Shopkeeper Li, so the twin soul enters through the apprentices’ side passage. A ghost-triggered paper thread sets off a trap: bamboo splints lash out and trap the soul in a ball.
• Chen Miao escapes by forming a mirror and entering it. Shopkeeper Li finds the bamboo trap empty and adjusts it so it is less likely to destroy the next intruder. Chen Miao later reappears and prepares to continue exploring.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Miao becomes more cautious, choosing reconnaissance and preparation over improvisation. He also shows restraint by avoiding premature attacks on the guarded Corpse-Nurturing Grounds.
• His investigation reveals that Shopkeeper Li’s side-passage trap is specifically designed to catch ghosts. Chen Miao realizes Li may have been resetting it after Chen repeatedly broke the thread on his late-night returns.
• Shopkeeper Li remains vigilant and methodical: he checks the trap, cannot explain the missing soul, and modifies the bamboo mechanism before resetting the paper thread.

Significant themes

• Caution and preparation: Chen Miao recognizes that recklessness could cost him his life and gathers information before acting.
• Layered defenses and hidden threats: Both Hunchback Lin’s Yizhuang and Kong’s shop contain elaborate traps, showing that danger is not limited to obvious enemies or entrances.
• Adaptation and resourcefulness: Chen Miao uses twin souls, concealment, and mirror travel to probe threats while limiting his own exposure.

Plot and key events

• Chen Miao awakens in reality after spending roughly twenty-nine hours unconscious because he missed the return window as yang energy rose. He concludes that missing the window causes a day-long sleep, a risk he hopes to avoid while working in the Mortal World.
• He reviews his exploration of Kong’s Paper Effigy Shop. His Twin Souls triggered traps and drew Shopkeeper Li and the paper effigies, but could not reach Kong Xunzhen’s room.
• Chen assesses the dangers and opportunities around Jiangya County. The Lin Family estate and Bright Moon Lake are protected by Feng Shui formations, making their resources difficult to access. Flying Jiangshi at the lake detected him despite his concealment techniques; he suspects the lake’s mist or formation may pierce concealment and records ideas to investigate.
• He recalls that the yin cultivators will gather on the Lin Family’s island that night, where they will trade, share information, and watch younger cultivators spar.
• Lin Feng has told him about the feud between the Flying Corpse Lin Family and Coffin Zhang’s family. Once allies, the Zhangs secretly trained Corpse Drivers and cut off coffin supplies after the Lin Family weakened. The Lin Family later discovered their operation but could not retaliate. Lin Feng confidently claims the Lin Family will soon gain a decisive advantage, though he does not reveal why.
• Chen Miao expects to spar with the other young cultivators. Reviewing his limited yin virtue, he decides to consider an upgrade and focuses on Water Binding.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Miao remains cautious and analytical: he checks his condition, weighs risks, records hypotheses, and looks for opportunities to benefit from future conflict.
• His interaction with Lin Feng gives him valuable information about the gathering, the rival families, and the Lin Family’s confidence. Chen Miao questions how Coffin Zhang’s resources might allow it to overtake the Lin Family.
• Chen Miao also recognizes why Kong Xunzhen did not prepare him for the gathering: Kong does not need the trio to establish the shop’s reputation, and troublemakers may simply become paper effigies.

Significant themes

• Risk and preparation: Chen Miao treats dangerous places and social gatherings as problems to study before acting.
• Concealment and uncertainty: His failure to evade the Flying Jiangshi shows that even advanced abilities have limits—and that he does not yet understand the rules governing them.
• Rivalry and shifting power: The Lin–Zhang feud reflects how setbacks, secrecy, and accumulated resources can reshape local power.
• Pragmatism and opportunity: Chen Miao considers exploiting conflicts and prioritizes how best to use his scarce yin virtue.

Chen Miao upgrades Water Binding with one jin of yin virtue, transforming it into Crimson Abyss Locks the Nether. Its first ability, Nether Locking, lets his hair burrow into a ghost’s soul and control it directly. He tests it on the pond ghost, lifting and moving it with ease, and wonders whether the same technique could restrain zombies at Bright Moon Lake—especially Leaping Hopping Corpses.
The status’s second ability, Crimson Abyss, draws in nearby yin energy while draining Chen Miao’s blood and qi. His hair turns blood-red and grows rapidly, forming a protective outfit that can support and move his weakened body. He discovers the strands can fuse into sharp, hair-connected darts. They pierce a stone formation and leave lasting damage on Scorpion Corpse, whose unusual toughness lets it recover most of the injury but not a small dent.
Once the hair retracts, Chen Miao’s color and strength return. He concludes the ability’s cost is manageable, but notes that relying on the blood-red hair makes his physical advantages—such as copper skin, iron bones, and ape leap—effectively useless. He plans to investigate whether he can overcome this drawback. After breakfast and a brief chat with acquaintances, he returns to the courtyard and activates Clear Heart, Mystic Mirror to continue experimenting.
Character development: Chen Miao approaches the upgrade as a practical way to improve his combat ability, then methodically tests its functions and limitations. His excitement at the power is tempered by a tactical concern: it may compromise the benefits of his other statuses.
Themes and interactions: The chapter explores the trade-off between power and physical cost, as well as experimentation and adaptation. Chen Miao controls the pond ghost and Scorpion Corpse as test subjects; he also briefly jokes about how Zhao Gongzi might react to his dramatic appearance.