Chapter Summaries

Key plot points

• After dinner, Gao Yue takes Chen Miao to a soundproofed basement room for a private briefing. He identifies himself as an overseas investigator for Great Xia’s Emergency Affairs Administration and Chen Miao’s local support in Kyoto; Chen introduces himself as a temporary consultant.
• Gao explains that the house’s feng shui formation was installed by an onmyoji. Such protections are common among Kyoto’s elite, who know something about onmyoji and yin cultivation.
• Gao briefs Chen on nearby locations. Kyōraku University, where Chen will report, is a twenty-minute walk away, and information on it is waiting in the secure room.
• Gao also describes Seimei Shrine, whose onmyoji the Administration considers orthodox. Their practice emphasizes balance, discipline, knowledge, and harmony with nature.
• Chen learns about the defunct Nine Chrysanthemums, an older organization whose doctrines of spirit sacrifice and dark cultivation survive in two successor groups: the radical Hundred Ghosts Seat and the more secretive Mountain Aspect. After the Hundred Ghosts Seat attacked Great Xia and was nearly destroyed in retaliation, it became more cautious—but now appears to be turning radical again.

Character developments and interactions

• Gao shifts from friendly host to serious professional during the private meeting, then resumes his warm manner once introductions are complete. He demonstrates both discretion and preparation by arranging the secure room and gathering university information.
• Chen shows curiosity about local customs and threat networks, asking about the household formation and the surrounding area. The explanation of Seimei Shrine particularly interests him, and he considers visiting it.
• Their interaction establishes a cooperative working relationship: Gao will guide Chen’s activities, while Chen will independently review information and investigate.

Significant themes

• Tradition and ethics: Seimei Shrine’s restrained, balanced approach contrasts with the Nine Chrysanthemums’ exploitation of spirits and power.
• Secrecy and surveillance: The soundproof room and Gao’s cover as an ordinary person reflect the need for secure communication and limited access to information.
• Power, restraint, and escalation: The Hundred Ghosts Seat’s history shows how radical ambitions can provoke devastating retaliation, while its recent shift back toward extremism raises the possibility of renewed conflict.

Plot and events

• Gao Yue briefs Chen Miao on three nearby locations: Seimei Shrine, Kifune Shrine, and Kiyotaki Tunnel. Kifune’s Onmyoji are outside the Administration’s definition of “righteous,” but their affiliations are unknown. Kiyotaki Tunnel is infamous for supernatural incidents, yet it remains a tourist destination; Chen Miao suspects the authorities may be encouraging people to visit rather than merely preventing public panic.
• Gao Yue also offers information about local contacts and neighbors, telling Chen Miao he can read the details later. As they leave the basement, he quietly reminds Chen Miao to bring a bottle of liquor upstairs each time, then resumes his warm, avuncular manner.
• Chen Miao plans to explore the neighborhood and the three sites before reporting to school. First, he uses Yin virtue to advance his ability from Yin Absorption (9) to tier-three Yin Control.
• The upgrade does not let him create yin energy from nothing, as he had hoped. However, it gives him a potentially powerful way to direct existing yin energy: he can designate an object to draw in nearby yin and continue attracting newly arising yin even after he leaves. The effect appears to persist like a rule until its conditions are broken or the object is destroyed.

Character development and interactions

• Chen Miao absorbs Gao Yue’s information thoughtfully and begins planning his next steps. Though disappointed that Yin Control cannot generate yin energy, he quickly shifts to examining its other capabilities and eagerly imagines how they might be used.
• Gao Yue acts as a practical guide, sharing local intelligence while showing understated affection toward Chen Miao. His request about the liquor hints at a private arrangement or habit, though its purpose is not explained.
• Their relationship remains familial and trusting: Gao Yue supplies what Chen Miao needs to know, while Chen Miao listens and prepares to act independently.

Significant themes

• Uneven supernatural power: The Island Nation’s lawful Onmyoji are portrayed as scarce and weaker than its evil factions, while supernatural incidents are often deliberately manufactured.
• Hidden motives and danger beneath tourism: Kiyotaki Tunnel’s popularity contrasts with its disturbing reputation, raising suspicion about why it remains accessible.
• Power through rules rather than raw force: Tier-three Yin Control’s ability to impose a lasting effect on an object suggests a new, more strategic form of power.
• Curiosity and experimentation: Chen Miao’s speculation about applying the ability to people, ghosts, and feng shui formations sets up future tests, though he does not try it yet.

Chapter summary

• Chen Miao explores the newly revealed abilities of tier-three Yin Control. He discovers that each cultivator’s yin energy carries a distinctive signature, which he can now perceive. By tracing a detached wisp of energy, he can potentially locate its owner.
• Yin-energy signatures fade as released energy is assimilated into the surroundings—usually within half an hour if it has not been used in a Mystic Art. Mystic Arts appear to bind a signature more firmly, so Chen Miao wonders whether some spells leave traces for much longer.
• His perception and control of yin energy have also improved. He can sense what is happening in nearby areas where yin energy is present, though the detail depends on how dense that energy is.
• Chen Miao can alter his own signature to imitate ordinary ambient yin energy or another cultivator’s. He recognizes this as useful for hiding his identity and covering his trail, and suspects signatures may help explain how certain Mystic Arts work.
• These discoveries lead him to speculate that understanding yin signatures could eventually let him create Mystic Arts of his own. He checks his excitement with Clearheart, reminding himself that this is only a possibility.
• He then tests another ability: concealing the yin energy within his body. The concealment is stronger than that of his necklace and can persist even while he uses yin energy, though it does not hide fluctuations in vital blood.
• By the time testing ends, it is past midnight. Feeling more confident about his coming trip to the Island Nation, Chen Miao decides he can take further action there, framing it as a chance to help its suffering people.

Character developments and themes

Chen Miao becomes more confident and imaginative as his abilities expand, but he also shows self-awareness by restraining his ambition when it runs ahead of what he has actually achieved. The chapter emphasizes observation and discovery, the strategic value of concealment and deception, and the idea that deeper knowledge of a supernatural system may enable new forms of power. His enthusiasm about intervening in the Island Nation also hints at how readily he turns new capability into a justification for action.

Key plot points and events

• Chen Miao wakes early and accepts Cai Yin’s offer to show him the way to her café. He helps her prepare the small neighborhood guesthouse café, then heads to Seimei Shrine.
• At the shrine entrance, he senses unusually strong yin energy. His Qi Observation reveals a clearly defined barrier surrounding the grounds; passing through the torii restores his ability to sense within the shrine.
• A second barrier blocks his perception of the rear half of the shrine. Chen Miao sees an enormous, cloudlike azure dragon coiled atop it. When the dragon opens its eyes and fixes its gaze on him, his Clear Heart, Mystic Mirror ability instinctively shuts off Qi Observation, ending the encounter.
• Chen Miao keeps up the appearance of an ordinary tourist. A shikigami-like stone statue briefly emits yin energy and soul power and seems to scrutinize him, but the attention soon passes.
• He follows the other visitors’ ritual at the Main Hall, then leaves without investigating the shrine’s other notable sites.

Character developments

• Chen Miao demonstrates caution and self-control: despite discovering powerful supernatural forces, he conceals his awareness and avoids provoking them.
• His abilities prove significant: Yin Control can sense the shrine’s energy but is blocked by its barriers, while Qi Observation reveals the barriers and the dragon. His defensive mental ability reacts automatically to the dragon’s gaze.
• Cai Yin’s friendly, practical side is shown as she welcomes Chen Miao and helps him orient himself in the neighborhood.

Significant themes

• The ordinary and the supernatural coexist: a popular urban tourist site hides formidable spiritual defenses and a dragon.
• Concealment and restraint: Chen Miao survives the encounter by appearing unremarkable and choosing not to investigate further.
• Cultural contrast and perception: the chapter contrasts the Island Nation’s beautiful, almost anime-like sky with the hidden “filth” beneath it, while Chen Miao encounters an Eastern dragon far from Great Xia.

Character interactions

• Cai Yin hosts Chen Miao for breakfast, guides him to her café, and introduces him indirectly to its elderly regulars.
• At Seimei Shrine, Chen Miao has no direct conversation with the supernatural beings, but the azure dragon’s gaze briefly overwhelms his attention, and the stone shikigami statue appears to inspect him before looking away.

Key plot points and events

• After visiting Seimei Shrine, Chen Miao goes to Auntie Cai’s café, unsettled by the Azure Dragon’s gaze at the shrine gates. He had meant to assess the shrine and test his new tier-three Yin Control status, but the encounter makes clear he underestimated the power and defenses of his surroundings.
• Over coffee, Chen reflects on how recent victories had inflated his confidence: he had defeated the Mountain Physiognomy Organization’s scheme, killed Curse Cult members, and escaped serious consequences after killing Feng Ping. He recognizes that Seimei Shrine is an established organization with formidable barriers, and that the Island Nation’s home-ground formations should not be dismissed. He resolves to plan his mission more carefully.
• At Seimei Shrine, Sato Genichi learns that a shadowy spirit could not find the visitor. He concludes that the Azure Dragon opened its eyes but did not attack, indicating the visitor meant no harm.
• Sato recalls that decades earlier, the previous Heavenly Sword Star’s presence at the shrine awakened the Azure Dragon. The Administration withdrew from Snowcap Mountain not because it could not overcome the barrier, but because breaking it risked triggering a volcanic eruption and killing many people.
• Sato sends the spirit back to Wraith Bridge to observe people and wonders how long the current peace will last.

Character development and interactions

• Chen Miao confronts his growing arrogance and acknowledges that his strength does not make him invulnerable. The Azure Dragon’s reaction forces him to reassess his assumptions and approach.
• Sato Genichi appears composed and discerning. He understands the Azure Dragon’s response, remembers the restraint shown by Great Xia, and counsels the spectral figure to abandon its fixation on fighting.
• Auntie Cai quietly comforts Chen by bringing him another coffee.
• The spectral figure obeys Sato’s rebuke and returns to Wraith Bridge, though its lingering anger remains apparent.

Significant themes

• Humility and limits: Recent victories can distort a person’s judgment; Chen’s encounter reminds him that power must be matched with caution.
• Restraint and responsibility: Great Xia chose not to break Snowcap Mountain’s barrier because doing so could have caused a catastrophic eruption.
• Peace and impending danger: Sato’s final question suggests that the calm between powerful factions may not last.

Key plot points and events

• After visiting Seimei Shrine, Chen Miao explores Kifune Shrine and senses yin energy in every lantern lining its paths. The energy travels underground but is stopped by a barrier. Beneath the Inner Shrine, he detects a downward-sloping cave—apparently the site of the shrine’s rumored Dragon Vein—but a barrier prevents him from entering or seeing its end.
• At Kiyotaki Tunnel, Chen Miao senses abundant yin energy. He watches three young visitors enter; they flee within ten minutes after a strange strand of yin energy coils around one man’s ankle. The strand remains attached as they leave, but disappears after they visit Seimei Shrine.
• Chen Miao returns to Matsukaze Town and weighs what he has learned. He decides to avoid probing Seimei Shrine’s most sensitive area, investigate Kifune Shrine gradually, and leave Kiyotaki Tunnel for Zhang Huan and his colleagues to handle until the mission ends.
• He turns to the document naming him a visiting researcher at Kyōraku University, with a project on links between island-nation folk culture and Kyoto’s local traditions.

Character developments

• Chen Miao grows more cautious and methodical, choosing observation over risky investigation when barriers block his abilities.
• His curiosity about Kiyotaki Tunnel shifts into certainty that it contains something dangerous after he witnesses the ankle-bound energy.
• He remains willing to investigate later, but recognizes the value of relying on others’ expertise and gathering information gradually.

Significant themes

• Faith and the supernatural: Visitors may seek help at shrines because they believe, even without recognizing supernatural forces directly.
• Secrecy and legitimacy: Kifune Shrine’s hidden practices contrast with Seimei Shrine’s public presence and official recognition.
• Danger turned into commerce: Shops profit from Kiyotaki Tunnel’s ghostly reputation even as its yin energy may pose a genuine health risk.
• Knowledge and restraint: Chen Miao’s abilities reveal much, but barriers and uncertainty force him to choose when not to push further.

Character interactions

• Chen Miao observes the three tunnel visitors but does not intervene; their frightened reaction confirms the tunnel’s threat.
• The visitors seek help at Seimei Shrine, after which the strange energy disappears, reinforcing Chen Miao’s suspicion that the shrine can address supernatural problems.
• He greets Uncle Gao on returning home, then considers leaving the tunnel investigation to Zhang Huan and the others.

Plot points and events

• Chen Miao walks from Matsukaze Town to Kyōraku University to check in. The campus’s golden ginkgo grove attracts him because he senses unusual yin energy beneath it.
• Using the Mystic Mirror, he discovers a vast collection of human bones buried beneath the grove—a mass grave. A barrier blocks his ordinary perception, but the mirror reveals five inscribed steles arranged in a pentagram, apparently suppressing the grave.
• Chen cautiously activates Qi Observation. He sees that the ginkgo trees are part of the system: their roots draw up yin energy, their trunks conduct wood energy, and their crowns’ yang energy helps neutralize it.
• Students’ abundant yang energy also helps disperse whatever yin escapes, suggesting the university’s location and the grove may have been deliberately chosen to protect the site. Chen leaves, then heads to the check-in office.

Character development

• Chen shows growing caution and methodical thinking. Having encountered the Azure Dragon before, he checks the area with the Mystic Mirror and yin control before risking Qi Observation.
• He gains respect for the skill behind the barrier and recognizes that Island Nation yin cultivation has sophisticated techniques.
• He remains curious about testing Qi Observation on the Azure Dragon, but acknowledges that upgrading the ability would cost more resources than he can currently spare.

Themes

• Balance and containment: The barrier does not simply seal away yin energy; the trees and students help channel and neutralize it.
• Human-made defenses: Feng shui, natural forces, and the university’s daily life work together to keep the mass grave from becoming dangerous.
• Caution and limits: Chen’s investigation highlights both the risks of supernatural perception and the cost of pursuing greater power.
• Hidden history beneath ordinary places: A lively campus and picturesque grove conceal a disturbing burial site and a carefully maintained formation.

Character interactions

• Chen has no direct conversation with other characters in this chapter. His main interaction is with the campus environment: he observes students photographing the ginkgo trees and infers that their presence contributes to the protective arrangement.

Key plot points and events

• After joining Professor Yamada Shingo’s folklore seminar at Kyōraku University, Chen Miao introduces himself fluently in the Island Nation’s language, establishing that he can communicate confidently with local students.
• The seminar has eighteen students, divided among three research groups. Chen joins a six-person group that includes Jiang Fei, another student from Great Xia.
• Chen recognizes Oshima Masao as the young man he followed the previous day—the one who emerged from Kiyotaki Tunnel with strange yin energy around his ankle. Chen greets him with a nod, then settles into the lecture.
• After class, Oshima offers to show Chen around campus and buy him a meal to make up for failing to return his greeting. Jiang Fei also offers to show him around, emphasizing that they share a country. Chen turns toward Oshima.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Miao is socially strategic: he chooses to speak the local language to avoid seeming difficult to communicate with, and he remains focused on class rather than trying to make an impression. His recognition of Oshima links his university life to his earlier supernatural investigation.
• Oshima Masao is polite and conscientious. Flustered that he failed to respond to Chen’s greeting, he resolves to make amends by welcoming the new classmate.
• Jiang Fei is immediately attracted to Chen, impressed by his appearance and language ability. His lack of attention disappoints her, and her pride surfaces in her thoughts. She nevertheless approaches him after class.
• The encounter sets up a contrast between Oshima’s earnest hospitality and Jiang Fei’s confident, somewhat haughty manner.

Significant themes

• Cultural differences: The chapter contrasts class-based social life in Great Xia with the Island Nation’s emphasis on clubs and focused academic seminars.
• Belonging and social connections: Clubs and seminars create closer bonds than ordinary classes, making Chen’s first interactions important to fitting in.
• Courtesy and first impressions: Chen’s greeting, Oshima’s embarrassment, and Jiang Fei’s expectations show how small gestures shape relationships.
• The ordinary and the supernatural: Chen’s seminar on folklore provides a natural connection between academic study and the strange incident involving Oshima.

Key plot points and events

• After rejecting Jiang Fei, Chen Miao earns Oshima Masao’s respect. The two exchange contact details and become friends, though Chen Miao is careful not to overdo the relationship.
• Three days into his university cover, Chen Miao meets Zhang Huan at Gao Yue’s home. Zhang confirms that Gao Yue and Cai Yin are trustworthy, apparently having vetted them with his ability.
• Chen Miao reports the supernatural activity he has observed at Seimei Shrine, Kifune Shrine, Kiyotaki Tunnel, and Kyōraku University—including the spirits attached to Oshima and his companions and the mass grave beneath the campus ginkgo tree.
• Zhang explains that Kifune Shrine contains another world within its Dragon Vein, which the bureau is investigating. Kiyotaki Tunnel is more dangerous than records indicated: a barrier conceals multiple branching passages, and even Yu Hui’s exploration revealed ten branches without allowing her to make progress.
• The bureau plans to monitor the tunnel for Onmyoji activity and search the nearby mountains. Zhang tells Chen Miao to stay undercover at the university and not concern himself with the mass grave.
• After Zhang leaves openly as Gao Yue’s apparent friend, Chen Miao decides to strengthen his Feng Shui Arts. He spends his yin virtue to receive the Mountain Physiognomy Organization’s Five-Wheel Earth Vein Regulation Technique.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Miao builds a promising friendship with Oshima while maintaining caution about how quickly he gets close.
• His exchange with Zhang shows his growing investigative skill: he has identified several major supernatural sites in only a few days. He also questions whether he himself was part of Zhang’s trust assessment.
• Zhang acts as both a source of intelligence and a reassurance, confirming the allies’ reliability and clarifying the bureau’s plans. Gao Yue’s warm send-off makes Zhang’s covert visit appear ordinary.
• Chen Miao responds to the tunnel’s hidden barriers by choosing to improve his feng shui expertise rather than pursue an assignment outside his role.

Significant themes

• Secrecy and trust: The operation depends on undercover identities, vetting allies, and carefully managing relationships.
• Hidden worlds and incomplete knowledge: Ordinary maps and official records conceal supernatural structures, while even powerful investigators cannot fully navigate them.
• Preparation and restraint: Chen Miao stays within his cover duties and invests in new skills instead of acting recklessly.
• The supernatural as institutionalized danger: Zhang’s comparison between the campus grave and similar sites in Great Xia suggests that such threats are widespread and sometimes contained rather than eliminated.

Summary

Chen Miao’s classmate Oshima Masao invites him to join the Folklore Club, arguing that club activities and field trips would complement Chen’s interest in Kyoto’s history and folklore. Oshima offers to share the admission questions in advance, but Chen declines, confident he can handle the assessment honestly.
At the clubroom, Chen meets the members: Sato Shunsuke and Takumi Suzuki, whom he recognizes from an earlier visit to Kiyotaki Tunnel; the cool, muscular Koji Hosokawa; friendly, fashionable Miyuki Yamazaki; wealthy-looking vice president Koizumi Shinichi; and club president Kyoko Kuroda, who arrives shortly afterward. Chen notices Koji’s chilly manner seems to follow Miyuki’s warm greeting, suggesting possible jealousy or tension.
Kyoko leads the group into a dimly lit meeting room, where everyone takes seats around a long oval table. She explains that Chen’s admission assessment has three parts and begins the first: he must name ten yokai from Japanese folklore and describe their legends.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Miao shows integrity by refusing advance access to the questions and remains composed as the assessment begins.
• Oshima Masao is enthusiastic about recruiting Chen and tries to reassure him, though his warning hints that the test may be intimidating.
• Kyoko Kuroda is composed, direct, and in control of the formal assessment.
• Miyuki Yamazaki welcomes Chen warmly, while Koji Hosokawa responds with coolness that may be connected to her attention.
• The club members’ varied personalities and the theatrical test setting establish an atmosphere of formality and intrigue.

Significant themes

The chapter contrasts book learning with practical experience, presenting clubs and fieldwork as ways to test knowledge in the real world. It also emphasizes honesty and self-confidence through Chen’s refusal to cheat, while the formal, dramatic assessment introduces folklore as both an academic subject and a source of mystery.

Plot points and events

• Chen Miao takes the Folklore Club’s first entrance test: write down ten monsters from Island Nation folklore. Though the club members later question the accuracy of his answers, four of the seven vote to pass him, so he advances.
• The club’s members debate whether Chen’s unusual descriptions reflect mistaken research or deliberate invention. Oshima Masao defends him, while Koji Hosokawa argues Chen simply made everything up.
• Chen returns to the dim meeting room for the second test: tell three ghost stories, with at least one judged engaging by more than three members.
• Given permission to tell stories from Great Xia, Chen chooses to recount one of his experiences, planning to make it more compelling. He begins: “Cold Storage Administrator at the Funeral Home.”

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Miao remains calm under scrutiny and appears unfazed by the club’s tense, theatrical tests. He uses his knowledge from supernatural legacies rather than relying on conventional folklore research, and shows a playful willingness to heighten his story.
• Oshima Masao is invested in Chen joining, seeing him as a composed person who could strengthen the club. He defends Chen even when the others doubt his answers.
• Koji Hosokawa openly challenges Chen’s credibility, and his hostility is heightened by his interest in Miyuki Yamazaki.
• Takumi Suzuki questions specific inaccuracies but ultimately votes to pass Chen. Miyuki Yamazaki and club president Kyoko Kuroda also support him; Sato Shunsuke does not.

Significant themes

• The club’s tests distinguish genuine nerve and composure from ordinary interest in folklore.
• Folklore can shift or be misinterpreted across cultures, raising questions about who gets to define what is “accurate.”
• Chen’s hidden supernatural knowledge contrasts with the club members’ conventional expectations—and may make his ghost stories more than mere entertainment.

Key plot points and events

• Koji Hosokawa resents Miyuki Yamazaki for supporting Chen San Shui, and privately resolves to oppose Chen’s admission regardless of how well he performs.
• Chen tells a ghost story about Old Wang, a funeral-home worker who hears knocking from a refrigerated cabinet. When he opens it, he discovers a corpse with his own eyes—and realizes the body is himself.
• The story becomes so vivid that Koji experiences it as if he were Old Wang. He panics, falls off his stool, and crashes to the floor, startling the rest of the club.
• Kyoko Kuroda calls a vote on whether Chen’s story was unengaging. Only Oshima Masao raises his hand, mistakenly thinking the vote is to show support. Chen therefore passes the second assessment.
• Chen reveals to the reader that he used a small amount of soul power to create a Nethermist Domain, drawing the club members into illusions. Koji experienced the strongest effect; the others felt only a lighter version.
• Kyoko invites Chen to the third assessment, which will take place off school grounds. Her warmer form of address, along with Oshima’s smile, suggests Chen’s admission is nearly assured.

Character developments and interactions

• Koji shifts from contemptuous confidence to genuine terror and embarrassment, showing that his hostility toward Chen cannot protect him from the story’s power.
• Chen demonstrates control and ingenuity, using his supernatural ability subtly to enhance his performance without seriously harming the group.
• Kyoko remains composed after being frightened, quickly organizes the vote, and signals growing acceptance of Chen.
• Oshima inadvertently votes the wrong way, then lowers his hand once he realizes his mistake; his response highlights how thoroughly the story has unsettled everyone.
• The club members’ shared fear creates a brief silence and changes the group’s earlier skepticism toward Chen into wary respect.

Significant themes

• Stories as immersive power: Chen’s tale blurs the boundary between narration and lived experience.
• Pride and vulnerability: Koji’s bias and confidence collapse when he becomes the story’s unwilling participant.
• Performance and persuasion: Chen wins approval not merely through plot, but by shaping the audience’s experience.
• Appearance versus reality: The apparent haunting is an illusion, while the characters’ fear—and its effect on the vote—is real.

Key plot points and events

• Chen Miao travels with Kyoko Kuroda, Koizumi Shinichi, and Oshima Masao to a modest house outside Kyoto, where they prepare a curtained, secluded room for the third assessment.
• Kyoko asks whether Chen believes in ghosts. He gives a cautious answer, saying he is open to the idea but has never seen one.
• Kyoko opens a marked box containing a purplish-black gourd. Chen notices the box holds a concealed miniature feng shui barrier and recognizes that a soul is inside the gourd.
• Kyoko releases the soul body to prove that spirits exist. Chen pretends to be startled, while Oshima reassures him that the apparition is harmless.
• Kyoko explains that the club wants to investigate the hidden truths of the world and challenge the powerful people who keep ordinary people from accessing it. Oshima invites Chen to join, and Chen accepts.

Character developments

• Chen Miao carefully maintains his cover as an ordinary student: he acts surprised by the ghost and excited by the club’s cause, while privately recognizing the danger and pursuing his own mission.
• Kyoko Kuroda emerges as the club’s earnest, idealistic leader. She takes the supernatural seriously and believes ordinary people deserve access to the hidden world.
• Oshima Masao is enthusiastic and sociable, first excited by Chen’s ghost stories and later eager to recruit him.
• Koizumi Shinichi remains reserved, though Kyoko’s speech stirs visible excitement in him.

Significant themes

• Appearance versus reality: Chen’s outward reactions conceal his knowledge and intentions.
• Curiosity and danger: The club sees spirit contact as a doorway to discovery, while Chen understands it may expose them to lethal risks.
• Access to hidden knowledge: Kyoko frames exploration as a right that powerful people should not deny ordinary citizens.
• Performance and trust: Chen agrees to join not because he shares the group’s naïve confidence, but because the role offers a plausible way to enter the world he seeks.

Character interactions

• Oshima enthusiastically asks Chen for more ghost stories, but Kyoko stops him to avoid distracting Shinichi while he drives.
• Kyoko treats Chen respectfully and warns him before revealing the spirit; Chen responds with carefully staged fear.
• Oshima comforts Chen after the demonstration, then offers his hand in welcome. Chen takes it and publicly commits to the group.

Key events

• Chen Miao learns how the Folklore Club collects and verifies urban legends, then records cases as in progress, false, true, or sealed.
• He finds that roughly half the club’s files have been investigated. Three cases remain in progress, including reports of crying and a vanishing figure at Kiyotaki Tunnel.
• The records show that investigators often visit Seimei Shrine for protection. One case was confirmed real and sealed after club members used talismans to restrain a spirit and took it to the shrine.
• Chen realizes the club must have a connection to a yin cultivation practitioner, likely through president Kyoko Kuroda or vice president Koizumi Shinichi. This could help with his own mission.
• On his fourth day in the club, Kyoko announces an investigation of the “Field Scarecrow Haunting.” She selects Chen, Miyuki Yamazaki, and Koji Hosokawa to accompany her.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen approaches club records analytically, using them to assess the club’s experience and possible supernatural resources. He asks Oshima Masao about the talismans, but Oshima says Kyoko will explain them when Chen works with her.
• Oshima encourages Chen to study the files and confirms that Kyoko and Koizumi, the club’s founders, usually join investigations.
• Miyuki eagerly volunteers for the scarecrow case; Koji follows suit, prompting Kyoko to assign both of them alongside Chen.

Significant themes

• Verification and uncertainty: The club distinguishes rumors from confirmed supernatural events through research and field investigation.
• Preparation and protection: Shrine visits and talismans suggest that facing genuine supernatural threats requires both caution and practical means.
• Knowledge and hidden networks: Chen’s discovery hints that the club’s leaders have access to resources and connections beyond what their members openly discuss.

Key plot points and events

• The Folklore Club’s file describes a strange incident in Thatched-Roof Old Village. After two visiting men drank and went into a rice field to urinate, one frightenedly mistook a scarecrow for a person, then urinated on it.
• The following morning, the man was found pinned to the scarecrow’s cross-shaped frame, while the scarecrow had vanished. His companion’s account was the only testimony.
• About half a month later, a different person was found on the same frame, despite having no connection to the first incident. The village had already removed its scarecrows, but the repeated event drew attention online and prompted the Folklore Club to investigate.
• After two days of watching the site without incident, the club guessed that the phenomenon might recur every half month and organized the current operation.
• Chen Miao suspects a human scheme rather than a ghost: the events are widely separated, caused no deaths, and might be intended to damage the village’s reputation. Nearby villages compete for the same tourist visitors.
• Before the group heads out, club president Kyoko Kuroda distributes protective charms. They must be activated with a drop of blood and last three days.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Miao studies the case and quickly forms a skeptical, practical theory, also noting the differences between Island Nation and Great Xia talismans.
• Kyoko Kuroda takes the operation seriously, briefs the group on the charms, and urges everyone to watch out for one another.
• Miyuki Yamazaki offers to help Chen fold his charm, smiling warmly and calling him “San Shui.” Chen politely declines, saying he knows how.
• Koji Hosokawa reacts with jealousy or displeasure to Miyuki’s attention toward Chen. Kyoko notices the exchange and privately reflects that Miyuki’s personality can be difficult to manage.

Significant themes

• Ambiguity and skepticism: The apparent supernatural events may instead have a human explanation.
• Fear and rumor: A frightening incident, supported by little evidence, spreads online and becomes a local legend.
• Competition and motive: The surrounding villages’ shared tourist economy gives Chen a possible reason someone might target Thatched-Roof Old Village.
• Trust and protection: The group prepares to face uncertainty together, relying on charms and mutual vigilance.

Key plot points and events

• Chen Miao and three members of the Folklore Club arrive at Miyama Town’s Thatched-Roof Old Village to investigate reports of a supernatural scarecrow. They discover that all the village’s scarecrows have been removed.
• Kyoko Kuroda initially suggests splitting up to search. Chen Miao challenges the plan: if they came to confront the phenomenon, they should take initiative rather than search aimlessly.
• He proposes having a new scarecrow made to see whether it triggers the reported events. Kuroda agrees and sends Koji Hosokawa and Miyuki Yamazaki to find a villager willing to build one. They succeed, with the scarecrow due before ten that night.
• Later, Kuroda and Chen walk through the village but find nothing. While they sit together, she explains the talismans she carries: one creates a protective barrier, and another seals supernatural beings for purification at a shrine.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen demonstrates practical, proactive thinking, persuading the group to test the scarecrow legend directly.
• Kuroda accepts his reasoning and reveals her deeper motivation: she founded the Folklore Club with Shinichi because she wants to face the supernatural world herself and retain control, rather than depend on others.
• Kuroda says she obtained her talismans through family connections and recommends Seimei Shrine as a place to seek help or purification.
• Chen questions whether Kuroda’s parents approve of her dangerous involvement. She admits they do not, and that she acts behind their backs. Chen doubts she can be talked out of her ambitions and fears she may learn the risks through a painful real-world experience.
• Hosokawa and Yamazaki follow Kuroda’s instructions, while the group otherwise trusts her leadership.

Significant themes

• Taking initiative versus passive observation: Chen argues that investigating a threat means actively testing it, not merely waiting for evidence.
• Curiosity and risk: Kuroda is drawn to the supernatural despite her parents’ concerns, valuing knowledge and independence over safety.
• Preparedness and control: The talismans and the plan to create a scarecrow reflect the group’s attempt to manage dangers they do not fully understand.

Plot points

• Chen Miao and Kyoko Kuroda begin watching the scarecrow while their companions patrol elsewhere. Near 2 a.m., Chen detects an approaching disturbance in the village’s yin energy. Using the Mystic Mirror, he identifies two men carrying a scarecrow.
• The men, Kitamura Toshio and Matsumoto Taizo, are secretly placing scarecrows around villages to frighten away visitors and protect the village’s tourist income. They hope to repeat the scheme in Chayama Village.
• In a field, Kitamura spots a scarecrow already standing and tells Matsumoto to transfer the clothes from theirs onto it. As they finish, Chen’s group closes in.
• Kyoko and Miyuki photograph the men. Kitamura demands their phones and attacks when they refuse, knocking down one of the young men. Chen intervenes and quickly incapacitates both intruders.
• Chen questions Kitamura, whose answers are affected by the voice’s prompting; Kitamura begins revealing why they came.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen’s supernatural senses and Mystic Mirror enable him to detect and identify the intruders before they reach the field.
• Kitamura is domineering toward Matsumoto, scolding and ordering him around, but his concern for the village’s income persuades Matsumoto to cooperate. When confronted, Kitamura becomes threatening and violent to protect their scheme.
• Matsumoto is timid and easily led, but grows enthusiastic when promised money. He follows Kitamura’s orders without resistance.
• Kyoko and Miyuki document the men, while Chen and the others confront them. Kitamura’s assault on the group is stopped by Chen’s swift intervention.

Significant themes

• Deception and exploitation: The scarecrows are part of a deliberate campaign to scare visitors away and increase local profits.
• Greed and complicity: Kitamura’s plans for greater income draw Matsumoto into the scheme.
• Power and accountability: The villagers’ attempt to intimidate witnesses collapses when Chen’s group exposes and overpowers them.

Key plot points and events

• After a dangerous encounter at the Thatched-Roof Old Village, Kyoko Kuroda visits Koizumi Shinichi at dawn and explains what happened. Koji was treated at the hospital and has returned to the school dormitory with Miyuki.
• The group’s investigation uncovered both a deliberate village rivalry and a real supernatural phenomenon. A straw hat and ragged clothes, when used to dress a scarecrow, can cause whoever wears the hat to exchange places with it.
• The group tested the legend on Kitamura Toshio. Before their eyes, he turned into straw as the scarecrow became a living person; Kitamura then appeared in the scarecrow’s place, unconscious. They removed the items and took them away.
• The Sealing Talisman had no effect on the hat and clothes. Unlike the ghost they previously encountered, the phenomenon does not act on its own and cannot be sealed in the usual way.
• Koizumi argues that the objects could serve as reusable supernatural tools and urges the club to build its own collection rather than depend on Seimei Shrine. Kyoko is left unsure whether keeping them is wise.

Character developments and interactions

• Kyoko recounts the events and admits how startling the transformation was. She also recalls Chen Miao swiftly defeating the two men, impressing her with his fighting ability.
• Koizumi is pragmatic and ambitious: he sees the objects as a way for the club to protect itself and gain independence from the shrine and their parents.
• Kyoko shifts from reporting the incident to weighing Koizumi’s proposal, caught between caution and the possibility of greater autonomy.
• Koizumi and Kyoko share their concerns about the shrine’s refusal to teach them and discuss how the club might become self-reliant.

Significant themes

• Supernatural danger and uncertainty: The objects are neither conventional ghosts nor easily controlled spirits, and their power is demonstrated at terrible cost.
• Independence versus authority: Koizumi wants the club to rely less on Seimei Shrine and parental oversight.
• The ethics of experimentation: Testing the legend on Kitamura reveals the truth, but the group’s coercive actions and the victim’s transformation raise unsettling moral questions.
• Power as a resource: The straw hat is frightening, yet Koizumi views it as a potentially valuable tool for future encounters.

Chapter Summary: “Returning to Seimei Shrine”

Key plot points and events

• Kyoko Kuroda decides to take the scarecrow’s hat and clothes to Seimei Shrine. Although Koizumi Shinichi offers no further objections, Kyoko chooses to put her Folklore Club members’ safety ahead of her own curiosity.
• Chen Miao recognizes that both items are rare polluted objects. He is especially intrigued by their ability to swap a living person with a scarecrow—a form of direct replacement unlike the doubles or mirror travel he already knows. He finds no sign that an Onmyoji or yin cultivator is controlling them.
• Over the next two weeks, Chen joins the Folklore Club on three investigations. Two rumors prove to be ordinary misunderstandings. The third, “The Disappearing Money,” turns out to be a setup by three muggers. Chen knocks them down, earning the club’s reputation as its “number one enforcer.”
• Chen’s investigation mission makes little progress, but Zhang Huan’s team uncovers an altar-like structure near Kiyotaki Tunnel and finds a Feng Shui Master familiar with the name “Mountain Aspect.” They place the master under surveillance while continuing to investigate the tunnel.
• Kyoko later invites Chen to Seimei Shrine, explaining that the shrine has asked her to collect the two scarecrow-related items. She also offers to introduce him to an Onmyoji. Chen agrees.

Character developments and interactions

• Kyoko demonstrates responsibility and maturity: despite her personal interest in the supernatural, she refuses to risk her club members for uncertain gains. Koizumi understands that her decision is final and accompanies her to the shrine.
• Chen remains curious about the polluted objects but respects his mission rather than taking them for himself. His confidence and fighting ability earn the club’s respect, including Takumi’s acknowledgment that Chen is the stronger fighter.
• Chen and Kyoko grow closer through their investigations. Her invitation to Seimei Shrine gives Chen a new opportunity to learn about the objects and meet an Onmyoji.
• Zhang Huan’s team makes significant progress on the Mountain Aspect lead, giving Chen hope that information will soon reach Great Xia.

Significant themes

• Responsibility versus personal curiosity: Kyoko chooses her members’ safety over her desire to explore the supernatural.
• The supernatural and the mundane: Several eerie rumors have ordinary explanations, while the polluted objects reveal that genuine anomalies also exist.
• Trust and growing relationships: Shared club investigations strengthen Chen’s ties with the others and lead Kyoko to invite him into a more serious supernatural inquiry.

Key plot points and events

• Chen Miao returns to Seimei Shrine with Kyoko Kuroda, noticing a stone figure near Wraith Bridge that seems to contain a spirit body.
• Kyoko explains that Seimei Well produces spirit water capable of cleansing impurities from divine bodies, though ordinary people have limited access to the supernatural world.
• They use the shrine’s customary bell signal to request an audience with Master Yoshioka. Chen observes that the shrine’s main hall has surprisingly little yin energy.
• Kyoko introduces Chen as her Great Xia friend and classmate, and presents Yoshioka with a tea set from Great Xia—apparently a thoughtful gesture meant to build a relationship.
• Yoshioka returns the straw hat and clothes the shrine had kept and explains the two objects’ powers and side effects. He calls them “polluted objects,” explaining that they are vessels inhabited by spirits and that the spirits disappear once fused with them.

Character developments

• Chen Miao becomes more observant and curious about the shrine, its customs, and its unusual lack of yin energy. He also worries about the dangers Kyoko might face if she enters the supernatural world.
• Kyoko Kuroda shows both ambition and envy toward the Onmyoji, while also demonstrating care for Chen by arranging a potentially useful introduction to Yoshioka.
• Yoshioka Yusuke comes across as courteous, knowledgeable, and receptive to Great Xia culture. His detailed explanation suggests the shrine may have expertise in identifying or handling polluted objects.

Significant themes

• The risks of entering the supernatural world: Kyoko longs for access to it, but Chen’s memories of people harmed or abducted there make him wary.
• Cultural exchange and relationship-building: The tea set and friendly conversation help establish a connection between Chen and Yoshioka.
• Knowledge and unequal access: Seimei Well offers ordinary people a rare benefit, while most supernatural resources remain beyond their reach.

Character interactions

• Kyoko guides Chen through the shrine, explains its customs, and quietly helps him make a favorable impression on Yoshioka.
• Chen responds politely to Yoshioka and offers hospitality should he ever visit Great Xia.
• Yoshioka reassures Kyoko about the objects before explaining their effects, showing consideration for her concern.