Chapter Summaries

Key plot points and events

• Chen Miao organizes the final trap for the Incomplete Flying Jiangshi. The group moves his Substitute Corpse to an empty house, then destroys the Corpse Dissolving Incantations beneath every coffin to disrupt the underground feng shui network.
• To keep the village corpses from interfering, they restrain them with Spirit-Sealing Talismans, Ghost-Crying Spray, and nailed-down coffin lids. Qi Ning is stationed at the village entrance; Zhong Cai hides in a second coffin, while Chen Miao prepares the Substitute Corpse and his talismans.
• At six, Qi Ning places the Soul-Sealing Memorial Tablet. The underground flow of corpse qi stops, and two competing sources begin drawing it in. The western source wins, prompting the Flying Jiangshi to emerge and head toward Chen Miao’s house.
• Chen Miao senses the creature approaching and uses the Corpse-Control Bell to direct his Substitute Corpse. When the Jiangshi opens the correct coffin, Chen Miao performs a stabbing gesture that makes the corpse’s action appear to strike the wall, then lights twenty Incense Sticks. Their smoke pours into the Jiangshi through the Heart-Linked Talisman.
• Chen Miao calls Zhong Cai into action. Zhong Cai attacks with his Peach Wood Sword and talismans, but the Jiangshi turns toward him; he remembers Chen Miao’s warning to close his eyes, lands a strike, and drives the sword through the creature. The Jiangshi snaps the sword into three pieces, leaving the fight unresolved.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Miao shows careful planning and composure under pressure. When fear and doubts threaten to overwhelm him, he uses Negative Emotion Storage and Iceheart to steady himself. He coordinates the others and commits nearly all his prepared resources to the trap.
• Zhong Cai is uneasy about hiding in a coffin but chooses to trust Chen Miao, partly because of Xiao Bai. He follows the plan and attacks decisively, even when the Jiangshi turns toward him.
• Qi Ning helps with the preparations and accepts the dangerous task of standing watch. Though terrified when he sees the Jiangshi’s eerie eyes, he presses on toward the village rather than retreating.
• The group’s plan depends on trust and precise coordination: Qi Ning triggers the trap, Chen Miao controls the Substitute Corpse and creates the opening, and Zhong Cai delivers the physical attack.

Significant themes

• Trust under danger: Zhong Cai’s willingness to follow Chen Miao’s plan and the others’ coordinated roles are essential to the confrontation.
• Preparation and resourcefulness: Local customs, talismans, coffin modifications, and knowledge from Chen Miao’s book are turned into practical tools.
• Fear versus discipline: Each man experiences terror, but Chen Miao’s emotional control and Zhong Cai’s recall of instructions help them act despite it.
• Uncertainty and cost: Even a carefully designed trap cannot guarantee success; the Jiangshi survives the sword strike and destroys Zhong Cai’s weapon.

Key plot points

• Chen Miao uses the Heart-Linked Talisman, Corpse-Control Talisman, Corpse-Control Bell, and Corpse-Substitution Technique together to control his substitute corpse from a distance. He equips it with his sword and talismans, then channels incense smoke through their link to weaken the Incomplete Flying Jiangshi.
• Zhong Cai throws Premium Spirit-Sealing Talismans, which unfold and pursue the Jiangshi, briefly immobilizing it and creating openings for Chen Miao.
• Chen Miao retrieves his sword and pierces the creature’s chest, but its counterattack blasts him through a stone wall. Zhong Cai prepares a desperate last-resort move, believing Chen Miao may be dead.
• Chen Miao reappears with incense, and Qi Ning joins the fight. At Zhong Cai’s direction, Qi Ning pulls out the sword and decapitates the weakened, immobilized Jiangshi. Incense smoke pours into the corpse, dispersing its black qi.
• The three retreat from the dangerous corpse qi. Chen Miao checks his book and sees a new chapter title, confirming the fight succeeded—then discovers an unexpected afterword titled “Feng Bujue” and curses.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Miao demonstrates ingenuity and composure, combining his techniques in an unconventional way. Though badly struck, he survives and stays focused on confirming the outcome.
• Zhong Cai moves from panic and self-reproach to determined action. He uses the talismans effectively and gives Qi Ning the decisive instruction.
• Qi Ning, previously outside the fight, acts without hesitation when called upon. He kills the Jiangshi but is injured when its corpse qi corrodes his hand.
• The three coordinate under pressure: Zhong Cai creates openings, Chen Miao weakens and wounds the enemy, and Qi Ning delivers the final blow.

Significant themes

• Resourcefulness and teamwork: Victory depends on combining specialized abilities and trusting one another.
• Risk and sacrifice: Chen Miao’s plan exposes him to serious danger, while Zhong Cai prepares to stake everything and Qi Ning suffers an injury.
• Knowledge and uncertainty: Chen Miao’s book enables him to plan safely, but its new, unexplained entry hints that success may bring further complications.

Chapter summary

After the trio destroys the unfinished Flying Jiangshi, its newly formed soul appears and claims the creature had once been human. The soul then self-destructs, leaving the three afflicted by resentment. Qi Ning urges them to flee, but Chen Miao’s legs fail from the strain of using the Corpse-Substitution Technique, so Qi Ning carries him.
At the village entrance, they find the ghost wall still blocking their escape. The Soul-Sealing Memorial Tablet then shatters, releasing seventy-eight ghosts, while twenty-nine zombies also threaten them. Zhong Cai uses Heavenly Heart Fire, a flame made from yang energy he has stored between his brows for twenty years, to hold back the ghosts. Qi Ning fights beside him, and Chen Miao struggles to defend himself despite his injuries. In the apparent ending written in the afterword, the group is overwhelmed: Qi Ning is torn apart, Chen Miao loses an arm and his sword, and Zhong Cai is struck toward the entrance stone. A brief flare of fire makes the monsters retreat, but Chen Miao believes he dies from blood loss.
The narrative then returns to the present. After reading this grim account, Chen Miao realizes the danger is not over and stops Qi Ning and Zhong Cai from entering the room. He identifies the afterword’s fleeting fire as a possible clue: the large stone at the village entrance is the center of the area’s concentrated yin energy, while Zhong Cai’s Heavenly Heart Fire is pure yang. Chen Miao proposes using the flame to ignite the yin energy and trigger the destruction of the village’s underground feng shui formations, which should also eliminate the remaining supernatural threats.
Zhong Cai agrees to spend his twenty years of stored Heavenly Heart Fire, valuing their lives over his accumulated power. He launches the flame toward the stone using Chen Miao’s Seven-Star Peach Wood Sword. A web of fire flashes through the ground, dispersing the gloom and clearing the way out. With nothing left blocking them, Qi Ning carries Chen Miao as the three escape Wind Gate Village.

Character developments and relationships

• Chen Miao shifts from stunned despair to resourceful problem-solving. He treats the afterword as evidence, spots the significance of Zhong Cai’s fire, and takes responsibility for proposing their last chance.
• Zhong Cai reveals the depth of his hidden ability and his willingness to sacrifice twenty years of stored Heavenly Heart Fire to save his friends.
• Qi Ning remains practical and protective, carrying the injured Chen Miao and standing with Zhong Cai against the monsters.
• Their trust is central: Zhong Cai accepts Chen Miao’s plan without demanding proof, and the three continue acting together under extreme pressure.

Significant themes

• Friendship and sacrifice: Each character risks himself for the others, with Zhong Cai’s sacrifice especially decisive.
• Knowledge and adaptation: Chen Miao survives by reinterpreting the apparent ending and turning a small detail—the flash of fire—into a workable plan.
• Balance and opposition: The resolution depends on combining pure yang with concentrated yin.
• Hope after apparent defeat: The afterword suggests a fatal outcome, but its details ultimately provide the clue that allows the trio to escape.

Plot points and events

• After escaping Wind Gate Village, Chen Miao collapses from the strain of the Corpse-Substitution Technique and sleeps through the night. Zhong Cai retrieves Chen Miao’s dropped book and returns it without investigating it.
• Chen Miao wakes the next day at an inn, sore but with no serious injuries. His back bears a striking bruise shaped like a dark arm and clawed hand—the mark of the blow he survived.
• Qi Ning’s colleagues have arrived and gone to assess Wind Gate Village. Qi Ning has taken Chen Miao’s sword for protection, while Chen Miao is reassured that he is unlikely to enter the village again. Chen Miao’s concern is that the investigators might find the two Soul-Sealing Memorial Tablets and the Scripture hidden beneath them.
• Chen Miao confirms that Xiao Bai is safe at the bureau’s childcare center. Zhong Cai explains that children with unusual gifts like Xiao Bai’s are exceptionally rare, and that he had hoped to train him.
• Once Zhong Cai leaves, Chen Miao retrieves his book and prepares to check what he gained from the ordeal.

Character development and interactions

• Chen Miao’s exhaustion and injuries reveal the physical cost of using his technique, while his continued caution about the village shows his concern for what may be discovered there.
• Zhong Cai openly thanks Chen Miao for saving their lives and promises to help him in the future. Chen Miao responds warmly, reminding him that Zhong Cai had helped him before.
• Zhong Cai’s interest in mentoring Xiao Bai reflects his sense of responsibility toward children with dangerous or unusual abilities.
• Qi Ning is absent for much of the chapter, but his actions—alerting the bureau, taking Chen Miao’s sword, and arranging care for Xiao Bai—show his practical concern for the group.

Significant themes

• Trust and reciprocity: Chen Miao and Zhong Cai recognize that they have helped one another, strengthening their bond.
• Hidden powers and their costs: Chen Miao survives an extraordinary attack, but using his ability leaves him exhausted and injured.
• Secrecy and uncertainty: Chen Miao’s book, the hidden Scripture, and Xiao Bai’s gift remain sources of unanswered questions and potential danger.

Key plot points and events

• After surviving the week-long Wind Gate Village incident, Chen Miao rereads the chapter and receives yin virtue, Feng Bujue’s and Feng Laosi’s memory fragments, the Extreme Yin Corpse-Refining Secret Record, and the Soul-Summoning Notebook.
• He discovers that the three feng shui formations he had hoped to obtain are recorded in the books:
  • Three Pagoda Tree Yin-Gathering Formation gathers yin energy and guides the growth of its three core trees; destroying those trees breaks the formation.
  • Wind Gate Yin-Hiding Formation conceals yin energy underground through specially constructed doors and windows.
  • Ghost-Blinding Formation imposes rules on ghosts and visitors. Wind Gate Village’s “customs” were its rules: breaking them drew ghost attacks and could leave people unable to find their way out.
• Chen Miao considers using the Ghost-Blinding Formation at Tianmen Funeral Home to protect people from ghosts, especially since ordinary ghosts may not trigger warnings or chapters for someone of his strength.
• The secret record explains a dangerous method for turning oneself into a half-corpse, then nurturing the body with yin energy and corpse qi until becoming a Flying Jiangshi while retaining human consciousness. The two village formations could accelerate and support this process underground.
• The record also contains the Extreme Yin Body-Refining Art: practitioners draw in yin energy at night, then dispel it when yang energy peaks. The painful alternation strengthens the body without hidden injuries. Chen Miao hopes it may help him approach the physical abilities of Qi Ning and Zhong Cai.
• The Soul-Summoning Notebook includes a technique with roughly a 30% success rate that can summon the soul of someone dead no longer than seven days. Chen Miao wonders how Wind Gate Village produced so many ghosts, given that he saw seventy-eight and the method usually fails.
• Qi Ning interrupts his thoughts with news: the Investigation Bureau’s people have returned.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Miao is astonished that he survived, then carefully studies what he gained. He becomes more ambitious, seeing the formations as practical tools and the body-refining art as a possible route to greater strength.
• His deductions about the village chief suggest the man may have buried himself decades earlier to become a Flying Jiangshi, perhaps while still young and after building the village’s prosperity. Chen Miao admires his apparent ingenuity, while suspecting that genius and madness may overlap.
• Chen Miao compares himself with Qi Ning and Zhong Cai: Zhong’s long experience and training, and Qi’s Administration-backed yang cultivation, leave him seeking an alternative path.
• Zhong Cai and Qi Ning’s earlier intervention may have affected the yin virtue Chen Miao received; Chen also realizes that his book may reveal yin virtue rather than grant it, raising questions about whether everyone possesses it.

Significant themes

• Knowledge as both reward and danger: The books reveal powerful methods, but corpse transformation is hazardous and could permanently injure or kill its practitioner.
• Rules, protection, and control: Wind Gate Village’s customs were mechanisms governing ghosts; Chen Miao considers repurposing that system to safeguard others.
• The pursuit of strength and longevity: Corpse refinement promises an unnatural form of immortality, while body refinement offers a more human path to power.
• Uncertainty beneath apparent understanding: The source and distribution of yin virtue, the village’s large number of ghosts, and the chief’s history remain unresolved.

Plot points and events

• Chen Miao learns that Qi Ning and the Investigation Bureau entered Wind Gate Village after finding signs of yin energy and seeing the elderly villagers leave, convinced the village’s rules had been broken and its good fortune lost.
• Inside, Qi Ning found the entrance stone, three pagoda trees, coffins, and Chen Miao’s Soul-Sealing Memorial Tablets split apart. The ghosts were gone, and the bodies in the coffins had become ordinary corpses. The difficult-to-kill Flying Jiangshi was recovered and taken away.
• With his belongings returned and his injuries improving, Chen Miao leaves with Jiang Hong rather than returning to the village himself.
• Zhong Cai reunites with Xiao Bai at the childcare center. Overcome with relief and guilt, he embraces the boy; Xiao Bai thanks Chen Miao, who declines Zhong Cai’s invitation to dinner.
• Chen Miao visits Xiang Shang and Li Zi, eats a large meal, and keeps the details of Wind Gate Village to himself because the situation remains too mysterious to explain.
• That evening, Chen Miao is suddenly overwhelmed by agitation. He realizes the negative emotions he stored before the previous night’s fight have automatically released after a day because he forgot to retrieve them. He considers whether the ability could be useful in other ways, then begins reviewing the trip’s gains and losses.

Character developments and interactions

• Qi Ning shows concern for Chen Miao and takes responsibility for recovering his gear and the memorial tablets. Jiang Hong remains friendly, even inviting Chen Miao to join the bureau.
• Zhong Cai’s reunion with Xiao Bai reveals how deeply attached he is to the boy and how strongly he blames himself for nearly losing him. Xiao Bai’s quiet thanks expresses his gratitude to Chen Miao.
• Chen Miao is recovering but remains cautious: he withholds the village’s details from Xiang Shang and focuses on assessing what he learned and lost.
• Chen Miao and Xiang Shang share a familiar, informal relationship, while Li Zi is present during their reunion and dinner.

Significant themes

• Unresolved supernatural mystery: The village’s broken objects, vanished ghosts, changed bodies, and the elders’ belief in lost “good fortune” deepen the mystery surrounding its Village Chief and rules.
• Attachment and gratitude: Zhong Cai’s bond with Xiao Bai and both characters’ appreciation of Chen Miao underscore the human stakes behind the supernatural danger.
• Power and unintended consequences: Chen Miao’s stored emotions return unexpectedly, revealing that his abilities may have uses—and risks—he has not yet understood.

Key plot points

• After returning from Wind Gate Village, Chen Miao takes stock of the cost of the ordeal: he has used more than twenty talismans, all his ordinary Spirit-Sealing Talismans, several premium talismans, and all the yin virtue he had brought. He now has five taels and five mace of yin virtue, but few talismans remain.
• He reviews six newly acquired Miscellaneous Arts. The Extreme Yin Body-Refining Art and Ghost-Blinding Formation interest him most, though he recognizes the new techniques will make his already busy schedule even tighter.
• Chen Miao uses Feng Bujue’s Memory Fragment to learn how Wind Gate Village was created. Feng Bujue, born Feng Jue, found the Extreme Yin Corpse-Refining Secret Record and defied his father’s order not to pursue it. He used staged feng shui improvements, economic rewards, and supernatural punishments to win control of a village, transform it into Wind Gate Village, and enforce strict rules.
• Feng Bujue gradually became half-corpse and prepared a batch of corpses and ghosts. Before his plans were complete, an incense-burning practitioner arrived and destroyed the first batch. Feng Bujue killed the intruder but was wounded and buried by the villagers, leaving little time to explain his work.
• The memory does not explain where the village’s ghosts came from or who repeatedly used the Soul-Summoning Technique. Chen Miao also remains unsure where Feng Bujue found the secret record.
• Reflecting on the fight with the unfinished Flying Jiangshi, Chen Miao concludes that combining several modest Mystic Arts can be more effective than specializing in only a few. He considers the Curse Cult a model for this kind of layered approach.
• Chen Miao notices his status has advanced from yin gathering to Yin Absorption, which lets him store gathered yin energy inside his body. Unsure where it is safe to store it, he disperses the energy and plans to ask Zhong Cai about “entering yin.”

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Miao has grown more cautious about preparation and resource management, but the Wind Gate Village incident also broadens his thinking: versatility and combinations of arts may be essential to survival. He becomes curious about inherited Mystic Arts traditions such as the Feng family’s Corpse-Sewing Art.
• Feng Bujue emerges as ambitious and calculating. He rejects his father Feng Zhuoran’s concerns about family continuity, pursues immortality, and uses feng shui, wealth, ghosts, and fear to make the villagers obey him.
• Feng Zhuoran opposes his son’s plan, arguing that failure could end the family line and its craft. When Feng Jue refuses to yield, he slaps him, but cannot stop him from taking the secret record and leaving.
• The villagers first accept Feng Bujue’s plans for promised prosperity, then become dependent on the system he creates. After seeing people punished through failing health and fortune, they learn to obey the rules.
• The incense-burning practitioner disrupts Feng Bujue’s preparations and brings about his early “death,” though the reason for the practitioner’s arrival is not revealed.

Significant themes

• The danger of unchecked power: Feng Bujue’s abilities let him manipulate an entire village without meaningful oversight.
• Ambition versus duty: Feng Jue values immortality above his father’s concerns for family, descendants, and inherited craft.
• Control through belief and fear: Feng Bujue uses apparent prosperity, feng shui, and supernatural punishment to secure obedience.
• Versatility and cooperation: Chen Miao recognizes that combined techniques can overcome threats no single art can handle—and that an organization may achieve what an individual cannot.
• Knowledge with risks: Yin Absorption offers Chen Miao a new ability, but he hesitates because using it incorrectly may be dangerous.

Plot points

• Laosi, a lazy villager, hears that Feng Bujue is a Feng Shui master who can bring good fortune. Half a year later, after Feng Bujue announces that his formation has taken effect, Laosi searches for gold in the stream and finds a small gold nugget.
• Gold turns up in the village for several days, then stops. Though villagers initially doubt Feng Bujue’s claims, they gradually see their fortunes improve through hunting, gathering, and trade.
• At Feng Bujue’s direction, the villagers plant three Chinese pagoda trees, organize their work, and rebuild the village. They become prosperous, rename it Wind Gate Village, and make Feng Bujue their chief.
• Feng Bujue later tells them to relocate. Laosi follows him, while some villagers hesitate; when those who stayed later suffer setbacks, they eventually join the others.
• Laosi remains devoted to Feng Bujue, supports his rules, prepares for his own death as instructed, and mourns Feng Bujue when he dies. Decades later, Laosi dies content, asking his son to follow the village rules and return his body to Wind Gate Village.
• Chen Miao wakes after experiencing Laosi’s memories. He reflects on the older villagers’ loyalty, then sees that he has gained the status “Gold in Stone,” which lets him identify the highest-quality item among items of the same type, with a one-day cooldown.

Character development and relationships

• Laosi changes from a lazy, skeptical man chasing the chance of easy wealth into a prosperous, deeply grateful follower of Feng Bujue. His faith lasts through his old age.
• Feng Bujue is presented through Laosi’s eyes as a trusted guide whose advice transforms the village’s fortunes and way of life.
• Laosi and his wife begin with comic arguments over his idleness; later, they share in the improved life and follow Feng Bujue’s instructions together.
• Laosi and Goudan first joke about the possibility of finding gold, then compete to search the stream; their antics help spark the village’s gold rush.
• Chen Miao gains a more complicated perspective on the villagers’ devotion after seeing Laosi’s memories. He recognizes that, from Laosi’s point of view, Feng Bujue’s guidance genuinely enriched his life.

Significant themes

• Faith and gratitude: Laosi’s loyalty comes from the real benefits he believes Feng Bujue brought him.
• Luck versus lasting prosperity: The gold is temporary, while organized work and cooperation build a more secure life.
• Perspective and moral ambiguity: Chen Miao questions who was right or wrong, since the villagers’ loyalty makes sense within their own experience.
• Community and belonging: Wind Gate Village becomes more than a place; for its elders, it is home and a symbol of their bond with Mr. Feng.

Chapter summary

Chen Miao tests his new Gold in Stone ability on sunflower seeds, but learns it only helps identify the best item within a category—not transform it or reveal hidden value. He doubts it would be useful for gambling on jade or buying antiques, and concludes it may be more practical for checking food. After leaving Xiang Shang’s home, he visits Zhong Cai to ask about entering yin.
Xiao Bai recognizes Chen Miao before Zhong Cai does and eagerly opens the gate. Chen Miao gives him a Yin-Dispelling Talisman, continuing his habit of giving friends supernatural tools rather than ordinary gifts. Zhong Cai offers to help arrange feng shui for Chen Miao’s future home, then explains the basics of yin cultivation. Although Zhong Cai is knowledgeable compared with Chen Miao, he insists that he himself is only an apprentice by the standards of established Yin Gate lineages. He hints that his own master once showed him and his former fellow apprentice Zhong Fa the power of major yang-cultivation sects—an experience so overwhelming it discouraged them from pursuing greater heights—but decides not to tell Chen Miao the details.
Zhong Cai explains that a cultivator must nurture yin energy in one of nine apertures, grouped by risk: the little finger and left sole are safest; the navel and beneath the tongue are more dangerous; the eyes and spine can cause blindness or paralysis; and the heart, crown of the head, and perineum can be fatal if something goes wrong. The apertures are known respectively as the Ghost Meridian, Ghost Gate, Yin Well, Yin Bridge, Yin-Yang Eyes, Yin Pivot, Yin Cavern, Yin Aperture, and Life-and-Death Point. Chen Miao realizes these are the same locations his Yin Absorption ability had identified.
Contrary to Chen Miao’s assumption, cultivating multiple apertures is not necessarily better. Most cultivators can open only one, and dividing their single breath of yin energy among several apertures slows cultivation and risks bodily harm. Advanced cultivators can sometimes borrow other apertures’ abilities, so even exceptional practitioners generally focus on one.
Each aperture grants different abilities: the eyes can reveal ghosts and sinister entities; the foot senses and channels underground yin; the hand detects ghosts, seizes their souls, and improves talisman drawing; the navel stores more yin and can nurture yin sha; the tongue supports releasing yin energy and casting curses; the spine enhances limb control and blood-sensing; the heart grants great strength and recovery; the crown enables illusions; and the perineum protects the body’s vulnerable points and may allow survival even after the heart is destroyed. Zhong Cai cautions that such abilities vary by lineage, though the final three apertures are considered especially powerful.
The discussion makes Chen Miao eager to begin, but he still does not know how to open an aperture or nurture yin energy, leaving him dependent on Zhong Cai for further instruction.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Miao is cautious and inquisitive. He avoids rushing into cultivation without understanding the risks, connects Zhong Cai’s teaching to what Yin Absorption revealed, and becomes increasingly eager to learn. He also reassesses Xiao Bai as potentially far stronger than himself.
• Zhong Cai acts as a generous mentor, sharing everything he can despite not being Chen Miao’s master. His humility reflects his awareness of how much more powerful established cultivators are, while his decision to withhold the discouraging story shows concern for Chen Miao’s motivation.
• Xiao Bai shows an uncanny ability to recognize Chen Miao and possesses natural yin energy in his eyes. Zhong Cai suggests that, if Xiao Bai learns to control it, he may have a major head start in cultivation.
• Chen Miao and Xiao Bai share a warm, affectionate interaction: Chen Miao praises and pats him, then gives him a talisman. Chen Miao and Zhong Cai interact as friends and student-like companions, with Chen Miao seeking knowledge and Zhong Cai patiently explaining it.

Significant themes

• Knowledge and caution: Cultivation offers powerful abilities but carries severe risks; understanding the rules matters more than acting quickly.
• The cost of ambition: Trying to master multiple apertures may seem advantageous, but divided energy and added danger can hinder progress.
• Natural talent versus earned skill: Xiao Bai’s innate ability gives him a substantial advantage, while Chen Miao must learn through study and practice.
• Limits of perspective: Zhong Cai’s expertise is still modest within the wider cultivation world, revealing a much larger hierarchy of power and knowledge.

Key plot points

• Chen Miao asks Zhong Cai how to open an aperture and cultivate yin. Zhong Cai explains the probing method: proceed slowly, stop if it causes discomfort, and switch apertures after three failed attempts. Further attempts carry serious risks.
• Zhong Cai says aperture compatibility may be innate. He advises Chen Miao to test all nine apertures, then choose one suited to his legacy; the lower yin bridge should fit Chen Miao’s Incense-Burning Method.
• Successful yin cultivation lets someone use the energy in their aperture to draw in ambient yin, while aperture-related abilities may gradually emerge.
• Zhong Cai gives Chen Miao homemade medicinal patches and a copy of the Heavenly Heart Yang-Locking Art, a technique that takes three years to cultivate.
• Chen Miao reciprocates with a piece of century-old peach wood to replace Zhong Cai’s destroyed Peach Wood Sword, suggesting the scraps could be used to make talismans for Xiao Bai. After chatting, Chen Miao leaves to check on the Funeral Home.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Miao shows caution and humility, taking Zhong Cai’s safety advice seriously rather than gambling with his body. His access to other cultivation paths makes him especially unwilling to take needless risks.
• Zhong Cai acts as a generous mentor, sharing practical knowledge and gifts without expecting repayment. He is briefly tempted by the valuable peach wood, then accepts it with gratitude.
• Their exchange reveals mutual trust: Zhong Cai gives Chen Miao useful items, and Chen Miao answers with a meaningful gift. Zhong Cai tells Xiao Bai that sincere kindness can naturally be returned in kind.

Significant themes

• Knowledge and lineage: A legacy’s value lies not only in its techniques but also in the experience and specialized methods passed down with them.
• Patience and risk: Careful cultivation is safer than yielding to the urge to force progress.
• Innate limits and choice: Talent and physical compatibility can constrain cultivation, even for gifted practitioners.
• Sincerity and reciprocity: Acts of generosity need not be transactional, though sincere kindness often inspires kindness in return.

Key plot points

• Chen Miao returns to Tianmen Funeral Home after his time away and catches up with staff. He learns Luo Zhiyong hired classmates to write eulogies in his absence, so Chen Miao reimburses the costs and authorizes discounts if the service is needed again.
• Shi Manman gives Chen Miao a careful record of the funeral home’s affairs. Impressed by her reliability, he decides to teach her the real Corpse-Sewing Art, possibly starting with the Coffin-Linked Corpse technique.
• After a busy day, Chen Miao begins entering yin. He uses Yin Absorption to guide yin energy into the Life-and-Death Point at his perineum. Though the process is painless and initially seems uneventful, his perception reveals a new aperture, confirming that it opened.
• Chen Miao discovers that an opened aperture lets him draw and control nearby yin energy, but doing so drains the aperture’s stored reserve. He learns that nurturing yin improves its quality and that he must retain a small amount as a “seed” to preserve that quality.
• Encouraged by his first success, Chen Miao tests the other apertures. In about ten minutes, he opens all nine: the crown, heart, eyes, spine, beneath the tongue, navel, little-finger meridian, soles, and perineum.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Miao shows growing trust in his staff and a stronger sense of responsibility as the funeral home’s director. He appreciates Luo Zhiyong’s initiative and Shi Manman’s diligence, and resolves to repay both with greater support.
• Luo Zhiyong’s lack of confidence in writing eulogies is offset by his loyalty and resourcefulness: he spends his own money to keep the funeral home’s work on track.
• Shi Manman continues to prove dependable, prompting Chen Miao to consider advancing her training rather than keeping her as a mere assistant.
• Chen Miao promises Li Fu that he will bring Xiao Bai to visit, lifting the old man’s spirits and prompting Chen Miao to wonder whether he, too, will one day long for family visits.
• Zhong Cai’s explanation of the apertures guides Chen Miao’s experiments, though Chen Miao’s success far exceeds what he expected.

Significant themes

• Trust and reciprocity: Chen Miao’s staff support the funeral home in his absence, and he responds with appreciation, fair compensation, and plans to share his knowledge.
• Loyalty and community: Small gestures—Luo Zhiyong’s effort, Shi Manman’s care, and Li Fu’s hope of seeing Xiao Bai—show the emotional bonds forming around the funeral home.
• Ambition and unexpected talent: Chen Miao begins by cautiously testing one aperture, then discovers he can open all nine, dramatically expanding his potential.
• Discipline and risk: His new ability requires careful management; power comes with a limited reserve that must be cultivated and preserved.

Key plot points and events

• After reaching the state where all nine apertures are open, Chen Miao wonders what caused it. He suspects his unusual Yin Absorption ability rather than any special talent.
• Testing the ability with his eyes closed, he discovers it can draw yin energy not only from the surroundings but also out of an already-open aperture—and, as he recalls, from supernatural structures such as a soul-suppressing field.
• He considers testing whether Yin Absorption can help someone else enter yin, but rejects the idea as too dangerous without a way to sense that person’s internal condition.
• Chen Miao experiments with storing yin energy in different apertures. His body can hold only one full portion at a time: filling one aperture seems to close the others’ “valves.”
• By splitting the energy among apertures, he could keep several abilities active, but each would be too weak to rely on. Instead, he finds he can transfer the energy from one aperture to another in about one minute.

Character development

• Chen Miao remains curious and analytical, carefully testing his abilities rather than trusting speculation. He also shows caution, abandoning experiments that could seriously harm someone.
• He accepts that he has no clear cultivation path: his only relevant manual, the Extreme Yin Body-Refining Art, is incomplete and provides no cultivation stages.
• He begins to see his nine open apertures as a practical advantage, even if they do not offer a straightforward route to greater cultivation.

Character interactions

• Chen Miao recalls Zhong Cai’s warning against advancing too recklessly, but recognizes that he lacks the knowledge to follow a conventional cultivation path.
• He thinks of Yue Xiaodao and Feng Bujue as examples of people who likely would not have imagined that yin energy could be extracted from formations or fields.
• Though he considers calling Zhong Cai with a question, he decides against it.

Significant themes

• Experimentation and restraint: Progress comes through testing, but Chen Miao recognizes the danger of experiments he cannot monitor.
• Power and limits: Nine abilities offer versatility, yet yin energy is finite, and distributing it weakens each ability.
• Unexpected gains: Chen Miao concludes that the chapter’s greatest benefit may be Feng Bujue’s memory fragments, which suggest that his statuses may contain other undiscovered “treasures.”

Plot points and events

• Chen Miao decides to nurture yin in four apertures first: the Yin Bridge beneath his tongue, Yin-Yang Eyes, Heavenly Spirit Yin Aperture, and Ghost Meridian. He prioritizes the Yin Bridge because it may strengthen the Six True-Descent Arts and reduce their yin-virtue cost.
• He practices talisman drawing and successfully makes a Spirit-Sealing Talisman, but finds that using the small amount of yin stored in an aperture is less efficient than gathering it directly.
• Chen Miao begins the Extreme Yin Body-Refining Art. After three rounds of yin-based practice, he senses pale-blue accumulations in his body. At dawn, rising yang energy triggers severe, body-wide cramping where the yin had gathered. He collapses, then resolves to practice much more cautiously.
• During an early-morning walk around the Funeral Home, Chen Miao sees Qi Hui on night duty, Old Yu taking cremated ashes to the river, and Li Fu practicing vigorous military-style martial arts.
• Chen Miao posts plans for a low-cost, short-term body-holding arrangement for financially struggling families. He also orders two cypress coffins, intending to use the arrangement to obtain a suitable corpse for Shi Manman to practice the Corpse-Sewing Art.
• He studies the Heavenly Heart Yang-Locking Art: a daily talisman-and-ink ritual for forty-nine days will eventually accumulate yang energy into heavenly heart fire, though the art has no practical effect during the three-year formation period.
• A week later, Qi Ning contacts him about the Wind Gate Village aftermath and the distribution of points. Kui Yang, a Grade-C Investigator, also invites Chen Miao to join the Investigation Bureau, but Chen Miao firmly declines and focuses instead on possible point rewards.

Character developments

• Chen Miao remains pragmatic and methodical, choosing cultivation goals according to immediate usefulness rather than pursuing every ability. His painful first attempt at body refining makes him cautious, but not willing to abandon the art.
• He shows a mix of compassion and self-interest: the new body-holding plan is meant to help poor families while also providing a way to support Shi Manman’s training.
• He is patient and ambitious about the Heavenly Heart Yang-Locking Art, even imagining using its eventual power to impress a powerful opponent.
• Chen Miao rejects the status and responsibilities of becoming an official Investigator, preferring the tangible value of his points.

Significant themes

• Practical cultivation: Chen Miao weighs each ability against its cost, usefulness, and fit with his fighting style.
• Pain and risk in advancement: Progress requires discipline and can be dangerous; the body-refining art’s promised benefits come with intense physical suffering.
• Balancing duty and personal goals: Chen Miao tries to help families in need while arranging circumstances that advance his own and Shi Manman’s training.
• Long-term preparation: The yang-locking ritual requires patience before it yields any benefit, reflecting the value of planning ahead.

Character interactions

• Chen Miao’s brief encounters with Qi Hui, Old Yu, and Li Fu reveal everyday routines at the Funeral Home and highlight his curiosity about its staff.
• He notes that Xiao Bai is comfortable with Old Yu but tends to stay with Li Fu, who is more welcoming to children.
• Shi Manman brings Chen Miao breakfast; his plan to teach her Corpse-Sewing motivates the new body-holding arrangement.
• Qi Ning reconnects with Chen Miao about the Wind Gate Village incident, while Kui Yang’s invitation presents him with a choice he decisively rejects.

Key plot points and events

• Chen Miao refuses Kui Yang’s offer to join the Shannan City Administration. Kui accepts his decision, warns Qi Ning not to share points unofficially, and remains impressed by Chen’s strong evaluations.
• Reviewing the Wind Gate Village evidence, Kui notices that the decapitated corpse resembles several people in the Administration’s database—two of them from the Feng Family. He suspects the family may be connected to the incident.
• Chen receives 50 points for Wind Gate Village, bringing his balance to 58. He spends 40 on basic supplies, including sprays and a Grade-D Yin-Sealing Pouch.
• Qi Ning surprises Chen by giving him a full tactical outfit and two Ghost Cubes. Chen learns Qi received substantial rewards and is pleased by the gesture.
• The next two months pass without supernatural incidents. Chen keeps up his funeral-home work and training, makes three new Soul-Sealing Memorial Tablets, and leaves the planned Soul-Sealing Room unfinished because it is too costly.
• Chen masters the Heavenly Heart Yang-Locking Art well enough to stop drawing a mark between his brows each day.
• Shi Manman learns the true Corpse-Sewing Art through five clients who choose the funeral home’s new service. Chen gives her a Soul-Sealing Memorial Tablet so she can gather yin energy and work without his constant assistance.
• Chen makes slow progress on the Ghost-Eye-Hiding Feng Shui Formation, but improves at the Extreme Yin Body-Refining Art, adapting from one round to two by using his Negative Emotion Storage state to lessen the pain.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Miao remains independent of the Administration but accepts its points and benefits. He is generous with Shi Manman, trusting her with both a technique and the means to practice it.
• Kui Yang respects Chen’s choice while continuing to investigate the Wind Gate Village case, particularly its possible Feng Family connection.
• Qi Ning demonstrates friendship and gratitude through his gifts, strengthening his bond with Chen.
• Shi Manman proves diligent and talented at corpse-sewing, eventually handling three clients’ corpses herself, though she still cannot manipulate yin energy independently.

Significant themes

• Trust and autonomy: Kui does not force Chen to join, and Chen chooses to trust Shi Manman rather than restrict her unnecessarily.
• Friendship and reciprocity: Qi Ning’s generous gifts reflect the value of personal loyalty beyond formal rewards.
• Steady growth through practice: Chen and Shi Manman make gradual progress in their respective skills, while financial and practical limits slow other ambitions.
• Unresolved mystery: The corpse’s resemblance to members of the Feng Family hints at a larger connection behind the Wind Gate Village incident.

Plot points and events

• After two months of practicing the Extreme Yin Body-Refining Art, Chen Miao learns to endure its painful surges of yang energy. At first, he uses stored sorrow to distract himself, releasing it during practice; repeated sessions eventually strengthen his body and will enough that he no longer needs the emotional aid.
• His basic fitness improves: he can do fifteen pull-ups instead of five and run longer. He believes the art may eventually make his body extraordinarily strong.
• After a month of nurturing his first aperture, the Yin Bridge beneath his tongue develops. It lets him fire a short-range cone of yin energy from his breath, potentially injuring people and harming ghosts.
• The Yin Bridge also helps him use the Six Jiangzhen Secrets more quickly. By speaking the first character of each line while mentally completing the rest, he shortens a lengthy incantation to about one second.
• Two months later, Chen Miao develops his second aperture, the Yin-Yang Eyes. They let him see yin energy as blue, ghosts as red, and ghost-countering objects as purple. He tests the ability on his supernatural tools and discovers the Ghost Cube glows pale red, suggesting it may be an artificial Polluted Object.
• The following morning, his uncle asks him to deliver food to an older female cousin in Shannan City, hoping the two relatives will grow closer. Chen Miao accepts and sets out.

Character development

• Chen Miao proves resourceful and persistent, finding an unconventional way to overcome the body-refining art’s initial pain and continuing until his endurance improves.
• He grows more confident in his abilities, while remaining curious and cautious about the limits of the apertures and the Administration’s methods.
• His affection for his family is clear: he welcomes his uncle’s effort to maintain family ties.

Significant themes

• Perseverance and adaptation: The art’s hardest barrier is its painful beginning; practice gradually makes it manageable.
• Focused cultivation versus breadth: A single aperture can produce specialized, powerful improvements, but Chen Miao chooses to develop all nine before concentrating on one.
• Knowledge through experimentation: Chen Miao tests his powers and equipment, learning how activation changes the apparent strength of supernatural objects.
• Family connection: His uncle’s delivery request reflects the importance of maintaining relationships beyond occasional holiday visits.

Character interactions

• Chen Miao acts on his uncle’s wish to strengthen his relationship with his cousin by delivering food prepared by his aunt.
• His reflections on Zhong Cai’s advice deepen his understanding of the trade-off between specializing in one aperture and cultivating all nine.

Plot points and events

• Chen Miao visits his cousin Chen Muqing in Shannan City and brings her a supplementary Thank Heaven black gold card, a rare privilege card given to him by Xie Songde. Chen Muqing is astonished that Chen Miao’s work arranging funerals has earned him such a connection.
• Chen Miao, Chen Muqing, and her boyfriend Shao Qidong go to a Thank Heaven bar. Shao initially avoids riding with Chen Miao, apparently wary of bad luck, but becomes more accommodating once he learns about the card and its potential value.
• At the bar, Chen Muqing chooses a booth rather than a private suite. Shao orders alcohol after spotting acquaintances, while Chen Miao has juice and observes the venue.
• Shao’s ex-girlfriend Huang Jinjin approaches with her current boyfriend and needles him about how considerate he is with Chen Muqing. The exchange turns pointed when Chen Muqing remarks that Huang’s boyfriend seems considerate too.
• Huang notices Chen Miao watching her, teases him by offering to date him, and sits beside him. Chen Miao abruptly asks whether she has ever had an abortion. Chen Muqing pulls him away, but Huang remains composed and asks how he knows. Chen Miao says he saw it: his yin-yang eyes reveal a small red-glowing figure clinging to her neck.

Character developments

• Chen Miao remains blunt and unusually perceptive. He takes his cousin’s welfare seriously, shares a valuable connection with her, and uses his supernatural sight to identify something disturbing about Huang.
• Chen Muqing is affectionate and protective toward Chen Miao, but worries that others—including Shao—look down on his funeral-home work. She is also socially confident and quick to defend him.
• Shao Qidong appears concerned with social standing and initially keeps his distance from Chen Miao. Learning about the card changes his attitude, suggesting he values the connections Chen Miao can offer.
• Huang Jinjin uses flirtation and sarcasm to provoke Shao and Chen Muqing, but reacts to Chen Miao’s question with restraint rather than anger, hinting that the accusation may touch on something real.

Significant themes

• Social prejudice and status: Chen Miao’s funeral-related profession carries stigma, while the black gold card gives him access and prestige that others recognize.
• Relationships and self-interest: Shao’s changing warmth suggests that people’s treatment of someone may depend on perceived usefulness.
• Supernatural perception and hidden truths: Chen Miao’s yin-yang eyes expose an unseen presence around Huang, bringing the chapter’s social banter to an abrupt supernatural cliffhanger.
• Family care: Despite their teasing and worries, Chen Muqing and Chen Miao show genuine concern for one another.

Character interactions

• Chen Muqing tries to shield Chen Miao from the judgment she senses from Shao, while Chen Miao refuses to make the issue a conflict.
• Shao and Chen Muqing exchange teasing remarks about drinking and driving, then privately discuss his acquaintances.
• Huang provokes Shao with comments about their past and challenges Chen Muqing by flirting with Chen Miao. Chen Miao’s direct question shifts the encounter from playful rivalry to alarm and mystery.

Key plot points and events

• Chen Miao’s blunt comment about Huang Jinjin’s pregnancy provokes her ex-boyfriend, Deng Chen, who tries to grab Chen Miao. Shao Qidong intervenes.
• Deng Chen claims the booth was his, but the server confirms it was reserved by Chen Miao, whose black gold card outranks Deng Chen’s platinum card. Deng backs down and leaves with his friends.
• Huang Jinjin also has a supplementary black gold card. She dismisses the server and asks Chen Miao how he knew about her situation.
• Chen Miao refuses to explain verbally. He places a small bottle and a makeup mirror on the table, instructing Huang Jinjin to look at herself before and after using the spray. She hesitates.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Miao remains composed despite the confrontation, but recognizes that his remark has alarmed Chen Muqing and Shao Qidong.
• Chen Muqing worries that Chen Miao has angered Huang Jinjin and quietly seeks Shao Qidong’s help.
• Shao Qidong tries to defuse the situation by apologizing for Chen Miao, but Huang Jinjin says her concern is how he learned her secret.
• Huang Jinjin shifts from anger to wary curiosity after discovering Chen Miao’s status and hearing his claim that he “saw” what happened.
• Deng Chen’s attempt to intimidate Chen Miao fails once the server reveals the booth’s reservation and card status.

Significant themes

• Status and power: The black gold card changes the balance of the confrontation and makes Deng Chen retreat.
• Secrets and exposure: Huang Jinjin’s reaction suggests Chen Miao has uncovered something deeply personal that she wants kept hidden.
• Trust and proof: Chen Miao offers a demonstration rather than an explanation, leaving Huang Jinjin—and the reader—uncertain about what the spray and mirror will reveal.

Plot points and events

• Chen Miao asks Huang Jinjin to use a special spray on her face and neck. Suspicious that it might be dangerous, she first tests it on Chen Miao’s hand and waits nearly ten minutes before using it herself.
• The spray reveals a small black handprint on Huang Jinjin’s cheek and neck. Chen Muqing and Shao Qidong recoil in fear; Huang Jinjin panics and tries to wipe it away, but Chen Miao tells her it will fade when the spray wears off.
• Chen Miao explains that the marks were left by a ghost baby attached to Huang Jinjin. He says he noticed the spirit when she approached and connects it to her past abortion.
• Huang Jinjin breaks down, blaming herself and asking whether the baby looks like her. Chen Miao says he cannot tell because it is too small.
• Chen Miao offers to help the spirit move on. Huang Jinjin asks if she can see it, but he explains that his spray reveals only traces left by ghosts, not the ghosts themselves.
• Learning that the abortion happened two months earlier, Chen Miao realizes the baby’s posture looks more like an embrace than an attack. Still, he believes the spirit cannot remain with Huang Jinjin indefinitely and offers to perform a Transcendence Rite.

Character developments and interactions

• Huang Jinjin shifts from suspicion and anger to grief and guilt. Her final concern is whether the rite will hurt the child, suggesting that she still feels a strong bond with the spirit.
• Chen Miao handles the situation calmly and compassionately. He reassures the others, distinguishes between helping the spirit and simply “dealing with” it, and recognizes the possible affection behind its behavior.
• Chen Muqing is frightened by the revealed handprint and hides behind Chen Miao. He comforts her and deliberately builds her confidence in turning to him when supernatural danger arises.
• Shao Qidong witnesses the marks appear and disappear, confirming that the threat is real. He voices the group’s fear about the spirit’s presence.
• Huang Jinjin’s test of the spray shows her distrust, while the group’s reactions bring them closer around Chen Miao as the person who understands the supernatural events.

Significant themes

• Grief and guilt: Huang Jinjin mourns the child and blames herself for what happened.
• Love and attachment: The ghost baby may be clinging to its mother out of affection rather than malice.
• Fear and trust: The characters confront the unknown, while Chen Miao’s reassurance encourages trust in him.
• Compassionate resolution: The proposed rite is framed as helping the spirit move on, not harming or destroying it.

Plot points and events

• Chen Miao agrees to help Huang Jinjin remove the ghost infant attached to her. After she slaps away Deng Chen, who tries to confront Chen Miao’s group, they leave the bar.
• Xie Songde recognizes Chen Miao and asks to accompany them. When Chen Miao reveals that a spirit is involved, Xie Songde—remembering a previous supernatural incident in his own family—nervously asks to observe.
• On the way to Huang Jinjin’s apartment, Chen Miao confirms through his Yin-Yang Eyes that the infant is attached to an object on her wrist. He reassures Chen Muqing and Shao Qidong, gives them protective talismans, and warns them how to respond if one breaks.
• At the apartment, Chen Miao performs a rite using incense and a deliverance incantation. The smoke flows into Huang Jinjin’s bracelet and shoulder, drawing out black vapor. The ghost infant appears without its former red glow or hostility, clings affectionately to Huang Jinjin, then vanishes.
• The rite is recorded as a completed chapter in Chen Miao’s book, rewarding him with yin virtue and a new ability: the Blood Infant Curse. Its description suggests a fetus can be transformed through a curse using blood steeped in resentment. Chen Miao realizes Huang Jinjin’s ordeal may have been deliberate and suspects someone targeted her.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Miao acts calmly and compassionately, protecting Huang Jinjin while also preparing Chen Muqing and Shao Qidong for future supernatural danger. The rite reveals that his Yin Bridge can enhance incense during a true deliverance.
• Huang Jinjin moves from grief and fear toward emotional release. She insists the infant leave from her home and is devastated—but also comforted—by its final affectionate gesture.
• Chen Muqing and Shao Qidong learn that Chen Miao’s abilities are real and far beyond what they expected. They accept his talismans and guidance; Chen Muqing comforts Huang Jinjin after the rite.
• Xie Songde shows deference to Chen Miao and recognizes him as a genuine master, deepening Chen Muqing and Shao Qidong’s suspicions about Chen Miao’s importance.
• Huang Jinjin’s hostility toward Deng Chen contrasts with the group’s care for her; Xie Songde also tells her they are both fortunate to have Chen Miao’s help.

Significant themes

• Compassion and release: The rite treats the infant as a lost spirit deserving peace, not as a threat to be destroyed.
• Protection and trust: Chen Miao shares safeguards with his companions, while Huang Jinjin places her trust in him.
• Hidden malice: The Blood Infant Curse implies the haunting was engineered, turning a personal tragedy into a possible crime and setting up a new mystery.

Key plot points and events

• Huang Jinjin thanks Chen Miao, who asks about her lost pregnancy. She explains that, at more than seven months, her baby was pronounced dead in the womb, but after labor was induced, only bloody fluid came out. Her husband blamed her and they divorced.
• Chen Miao tells her the loss was not her fault: someone likely harmed her through supernatural means, possibly with a curse. He cannot identify the culprit after so much time, and warns her to be certain before seeking revenge.
• Chen explains that the Administration’s Investigators handle such cases. Xie Songde admits to himself that he wants protection from supernatural threats, but decides to wait until his relationship with Chen is stronger before asking for help.
• Chen gives Huang Jinjin and Xie each a Peachwood Talisman and a Spirit-Sealing Talisman, explaining how to use them if danger arises.
• As Chen Miao and Chen Muqing leave, Huang Jinjin warmly asks to be invited to their wedding. Xie then calls Chen back to speak privately.

Character developments

• Huang Jinjin’s grief turns to anger when she learns her baby may have been deliberately taken from her. Though furious and determined to find the culprit, she listens to Chen’s caution and accepts his protection.
• Xie Songde grows more worried about supernatural attacks, especially given his recent rise to the head of the Xie Group. He is interested in securing Chen’s help but carefully chooses to build trust first.
• Chen Miao shows compassion by reassuring Huang Jinjin and giving both her and Xie protective charms. He also recognizes that supernatural cases are rare and sees the charms as a way to grow his business.
• Chen Muqing and Huang Jinjin share a friendly, affectionate moment, suggesting growing closeness.

Significant themes

• Hidden supernatural harm: Ordinary misfortune may conceal deliberate occult attacks.
• Grief, blame, and justice: Huang Jinjin was wrongly blamed for her loss and now seeks accountability, but Chen emphasizes the danger of acting on uncertain accusations.
• Trust and protection: Xie weighs when to ask for help, while Chen’s charms offer limited protection rather than a full solution.
• Changing attitudes: Chen’s practical interest in business begins to coexist with concern for others.

Character interactions

• Chen gently draws out Huang Jinjin’s painful history, then assures her she was not responsible.
• Huang Jinjin clings to Chen in anger and asks him to identify the culprit; he explains his limits and urges caution.
• Xie questions Chen about supernatural practitioners and how to stay safe, but keeps his deeper request to himself.
• Chen gives Huang and Xie matching protective items; Huang thanks him, while Xie quietly registers their value.
• Huang jokes warmly with Chen Muqing about attending their wedding, and Xie’s request for a private conversation closes the chapter.