Chapter Summaries

• After four hours trapped in the Old Mansion’s courtyard, Zhu Zhuqing and Liu Erlong urge action, fearing exhaustion. Bo Saixi has found no way through the black fog, but remains composed thanks to her Limit Douluo’s immense endurance. Ghost Douluo is also recovering and meditating.
• A vehicle engine suddenly sounds from the Old Forest. Seeing it as their only new lead, Bo Saixi, Ghost Douluo, Zhu Zhuqing, and Liu Erlong rush toward it.
• Aboard the Ghost Bus, Zhao Lei wakes after collapsing but says nothing about what happened or the ghost within his chest. Ning Rongrong stays cautious and silent, determined to remain aboard until the bus reaches her intended destination, Peaceful Ancient Town.
• At the second stop, one ghost gets off and the bus’s passenger count drops from 33 to 32. Injured Yu Tianheng, who has broken six fingers and fears he cannot fight effectively, is relieved that no new ghost boards and the bus is no longer close to capacity.
• His relief turns to terror when he sees four fast-moving figures charging through the forest toward the open bus doors. He assumes they are powerful ghosts; if they board, the bus will exceed its 35-seat capacity and become dangerously overloaded.
  Character developments and interactions: Zhu Zhuqing and Liu Erlong shift from waiting to seeking escape, while Bo Saixi remains patient and Ghost Douluo recovers. Zhao Lei’s silence leaves Ning Rongrong wary, and Yu Tianheng’s injuries heighten his fear and helplessness. The approaching four figures create a looming threat that may bring the courtyard group into direct contact with the bus passengers.
  Themes: The chapter emphasizes survival under supernatural rules, the tension between endurance and desperation, and how fear reshapes perception: Yu Tianheng interprets even approaching people as ghosts. The bus’s strict capacity limit turns an apparent rescue or encounter into a potential catastrophe.

Plot and key events

• The Ghost Bus is carrying 32 ghosts and can safely hold only 35 occupants. Four newcomers—Bo Saixi, Ghost Douluo, Zhu Zhuqing, and another companion—approach, which would push the bus over capacity if they all board.
• Realizing an overload would disable the bus’s supernatural restraints and unleash the ghosts, Ning Rongrong and Yu Tianheng block the entrance.
• Bo Saixi tries to force them aside with her Sea God Scepter. Her attack throws Rongrong across the bus, but Ghost Skin absorbs the impact, and she rises unharmed.
• Yu Tianheng uses his ghostly ability: after establishing contact with Bo Saixi, he snaps one of his own fingers, triggering a supernatural curse that severely breaks her spine. Though she survives due to her enormous soul-power reserves, she is left helpless.
• The newcomers back down. Ghost Douluo stays hidden, and Bo Saixi cannot move. Zhu Zhuqing then pleads with Rongrong to let her aboard, leaving the decision unresolved.

Character developments and interactions

• Rongrong and Tianheng act as disciplined guardians, putting survival rules above personal ties. Rongrong withstands Bo Saixi’s physical assault; Tianheng demonstrates the lethal, self-injuring cost of his power.
• Bo Saixi’s confidence collapses. Accustomed to commanding respect as a Limit Douluo, she learns that her rank and soul power offer little protection against the new world’s supernatural rules.
• Zhu Zhuqing appeals to her friendship with Rongrong. Rongrong feels sympathy, but suppresses it because allowing Zhu Zhuqing aboard could endanger everyone.
• Ghost Douluo’s caution contrasts with Bo Saixi’s initial aggression: once he sees the danger, he chooses not to intervene.

Significant themes

• Survival over compassion: A single extra passenger could threaten everyone, so friendship must be weighed against collective safety.
• Power depends on the world: Status and strength from the Douluo Continent are ineffective against supernatural laws.
• Rules and sacrifice: The bus’s capacity limit governs life or death, while Tianheng’s ability requires him to injure himself to attack others.

Key plot points and events

• Ning Rongrong allows the weakened Zhu Zhuqing onto the Ghost Bus, but refuses Liu Erlong. She threatens to kill Liu if she tries to board.
• Yu Xiaogang uses the Sky Screen’s one-time hint opportunity to order Zhu Zhuqing to challenge Ning Rongrong and demand that Liu be admitted. Zhu Zhuqing stays silent, fearing Ning will throw her off the bus; she endures Yu’s furious reproaches instead.
• On the Douluo Continent, the others argue over Ning’s refusal. Oscar defends her, reasoning that the bus may have strict limits, while Tang San privately thinks her caution is sensible. The Zhu Family head angrily blames Yu Xiaogang for wasting Zhu Zhuqing’s hint and threatens his life if he enters the Star Luo Empire.
• As the bus doors close, Bo Saixi and Ghost Douluo force their way aboard. Liu Erlong follows them inside.
• The bus display jumps from 32 to 36. Zhao Lei wakes long enough to warn that the bus is at capacity and everyone must get off, then collapses. Ning Rongrong and Yu Tianheng realize the overload has triggered danger; the Ghost Skin inside Ning becomes violently restless.

Character developments

• Ning Rongrong remains cold and pragmatic, prioritizing survival over compassion. Her refusal to admit Liu Erlong appears especially harsh, but the bus’s apparent capacity limit gives her caution a possible justification.
• Zhu Zhuqing shows fear and restraint: she recognizes that Ning has already taken a risk for her and refuses to jeopardize her place by confronting her.
• Yu Xiaogang lets anger override judgment, using Zhu’s rare hint to pressure her rather than protect her.
• Oscar and Tang San both see survival as a reason for Ning’s conduct, though Oscar openly defends her while Tang San keeps his agreement private.
• Bo Saixi, Ghost Douluo, and Liu Erlong act out of desperation, forcing their way onto the bus despite the danger.

Significant themes

• Survival versus compassion: Helping everyone may endanger the whole group.
• The cost of outside interference: Yu Xiaogang’s demand wastes a precious resource and puts Zhu Zhuqing at risk.
• Uncertainty and consequences: The newcomers do not know the bus’s rules, and their desperate choice may prove disastrous.

Character interactions

• Ning Rongrong permits Zhu Zhuqing aboard but bars Liu Erlong, establishing a sharp contrast in how she treats them.
• Yu Xiaogang tries to direct Zhu Zhuqing from afar, but she silently rejects his demand.
• Oscar disputes Dai Mubai and Ma Hongjun’s criticism of Ning, while Tang San privately shares her survival-first logic.
• Bo Saixi and Ghost Douluo’s forced boarding prompts Liu Erlong to follow, creating the overload that triggers Zhao Lei’s warning and the Ghost Skin’s reaction.

Key plot points and events

• The Ghost Bus stalls earlier than expected. Its suppressive force disappears, and more than thirty Fierce Supernaturals rise and leave the bus.
• Ning Rongrong, Yu Tianheng, and Zhu Zhuqing flee into the fog-shrouded Old Forest. They reach a clearing where the wandering Supernaturals refuse to enter—but a terrifying presence inside the Republican-era mansion keeps Ning and Yu from approaching it.
• Ning realizes why the Sheepskin Paper’s prediction failed: it could extrapolate events within this world, but not the Sky Screen’s cross-dimensional interference. Bo Saixi and the others were unexpectedly transported onto the bus, disrupting its passenger balance and making it stall early.
• Blaming Bo Saixi for triggering the chain of events that cost them their refuge, Ning and Yu turn on her. Yu uses the paranormal link he established by touching her wrist to attack her at a distance, snapping the bones in her limbs.

Character developments

• Ning Rongrong stays analytical under pressure, deducing the limits of the Sheepskin Paper’s predictions. Her fear of the mansion’s hidden threat is quickly overtaken by murderous anger toward Bo Saixi.
• Yu Tianheng recognizes that the mansion is dangerous and acts ruthlessly, weaponizing his established paranormal connection to punish Bo Saixi.
• Zhu Zhuqing proves quick-thinking and decisive, leading the escape without hesitation.
• Bo Saixi, already suffering from a broken spine, is left helpless against Yu’s paranormal attack. Ghost Douluo and Liu Erlong escape with her but do not intervene before the chapter ends.

Character interactions

• Ning, Yu, and Zhu act together to escape the bus and then avoid the mansion, whose threat they sense independently.
• Ning and Yu share an unspoken understanding that entering the mansion would mean certain death.
• Ning and Yu direct their anger at Bo Saixi, whom they hold responsible for the bus stalling; Yu’s attack turns that blame into immediate violence.

Significant themes

• Limits of prediction: Even an apparently infallible forecast cannot account for forces that operate beyond its world’s rules.
• Unintended consequences: The unexpected arrival of outsiders changes the bus’s conditions and brings disaster.
• Survival and dangerous refuge: The mansion offers protection from one threat but contains a worse one.
• Power and vulnerability: Even a near-ultimate martial expert can be overwhelmed by supernatural rules.

Plot points and events

• After being knocked down by Ning Rongrong and Yu Tianheng, Bo Saixi unleashes the full force of her level-99 soul power. Ning ignores the storm by using the Ghost Skin’s supernatural protection and reaches her.
• Ning’s Skinning power strips all of Bo Saixi’s skin away, but Bo survives through her extraordinary Limit Douluo vitality, despite having her limbs and spine broken.
• The attack triggers the Ghost Skin’s deadly revival effect, which begins crushing Ning. The Ghost Cabinet’s three-day protection activates, and its blood pushes back the Ghost Skin, leaving Ning alive but exhausted and unable to attack again.
• Ghost Douluo seizes the opportunity and kills the helpless Bo Saixi with his ninth soul skill, tearing her apart. He then flies out of reach, wary of Ning and Yu’s contact-dependent powers.
• Yu is badly injured, with only two fingers left on his right hand, and declines to spend another costly attack on Ghost Douluo while he poses no immediate threat.
• Reactions on the mainland are divided by allegiance: Spirit Hall and the Ning and Yu families welcome Bo Saixi’s death, while Sea God Island’s guardians mourn her and vow revenge.

Character developments and interactions

• Ning Rongrong displays fierce resolve, confronting Bo Saixi despite the overwhelming soul-power pressure. Her victory comes at severe physical risk, and she is left drained.
• Yu Tianheng remains calculating and composed despite his injuries, conserving his remaining strength rather than attacking Ghost Douluo without a reliable way to reach him.
• Ghost Douluo turns on Bo Saixi out of long-standing resentment over how she treated him as expendable. After killing her, he avoids confronting Ning and Yu directly.
• Bo Saixi, once an imposing and confident High Priest, is reduced to helplessness and killed after underestimating the danger of the group’s supernatural abilities.
• The mainland observers treat Bo Saixi’s death as a political or personal vindication; Sea Dragon Douluo and the other guardians respond with grief and fury.

Significant themes

• Power has limits: Bo Saixi’s immense strength and vitality cannot overcome the Ghost Skin’s supernatural rules.
• Survival through bargains and sacrifice: Ning’s escape depends on the Ghost Cabinet’s curse, while Yu’s dwindling fingers make every attack a costly gamble.
• Betrayal and resentment: Ghost Douluo’s opportunistic killing reflects the consequences of Bo Saixi’s earlier disregard for him.
• Competing loyalties and perspectives: The same death is celebrated as a strategic gain by some and experienced as a devastating loss by others.

Plot points and events

• In the Old Mansion courtyard, Ning Rongrong and Yu Tianheng recover after killing Bo Saixi. Ghost Douluo cautiously comes down from the air after Yu Tianheng promises not to kill him, since the bus is no longer overloaded and using their powers carries a price.
• The Sheepskin Paper gives Ning Rongrong a new account of events: it claims she can find a red item inside the Old Mansion, survive the encounter, and use it to control a third ghost, resolving the dangerous conflict in her body.
• Ning Rongrong distrusts the paper’s conspicuous attempt to make her trust it more, but believes its specific claims may be true. With her condition deteriorating, she decides the risk is worth taking and enters the Old Mansion.
• Yu Tianheng follows, claiming he wants to help. Ning Rongrong suspects he is hoping to share in the opportunity and warns him that he may die.
• Watching through the Sky Screen, Ning Fengzhi explains that Rongrong’s ghost revival is already underway and her current balance is fragile, so she has little choice but to seek a solution. Sword Douluo fears the mansion may contain something powerful enough to kill even a Limit Douluo.

Character developments and interactions

• Ning Rongrong remains wary of the Sheepskin Paper but is desperate enough to act on its information. Her decision shows both her resolve and the perilous position she is in.
• Yu Tianheng has begun healing from his injuries and follows Rongrong, though she reads his motives as self-interest rather than pure concern.
• Ghost Douluo shifts from maintaining a safe distance in the air to cautiously accepting Rongrong and Yu Tianheng as potential allies.
• Ning Fengzhi understands Rongrong’s choice as a necessity, while Sword Douluo emphasizes the danger; their concern highlights how little control they have over events.

Significant themes

• Trust and manipulation: The Sheepskin Paper offers useful guidance while openly nudging Rongrong toward greater trust, making its reliability difficult to separate from its influence.
• Desperation and risk: Rongrong enters a far more dangerous place because doing nothing may be fatal.
• Self-interest and uneasy alliances: Yu Tianheng’s decision to follow reflects the fragile, opportunistic nature of cooperation in a lethal world.

Key plot points and events

• Ning Rongrong and Yu Tianheng enter the Old Mansion’s main hall and see an ominous old man in a black burial robe. Both sense extreme danger and carefully avoid approaching him.
• Following the pull of the Sheepskin Paper, Ning Rongrong finds a Red Room containing a vanity table and takes a red comb, apparently the object required by the Ghost Cabinet.
• Seeing her succeed, Yu Tianheng greedily takes a small red pencil as well.
• On their return, they discover the old man has silently moved from one chair to another, now facing the courtyard they just left. Ning Rongrong reasons that a rule or environmental change has occurred, but that they have not yet triggered an immediate death condition.
• They inch past him and escape the mansion, shaken but alive.
• Outside, Ghost Douluo reports that the black fog briefly vanished and a streak of blue appeared. Ning Rongrong suspects Lin Cheng may have been present, but dismisses the report aloud as a hallucination.
• Zhu Zhuqing and Liu Erlong are relieved when the pair return. After roughly twenty minutes of waiting, the Ghost Bus’s engine starts again.

Character developments and interactions

• Ning Rongrong shows caution and composure: she follows the Sheepskin Paper, takes only the needed comb, and keeps her head under pressure. Her suspicion that Lin Cheng appeared reveals how closely she watches for his influence, though she conceals the thought.
• Yu Tianheng initially follows Ning Rongrong’s lead but lets greed overcome caution, taking the pencil without knowing whether it is safe.
• Ghost Douluo shares an unsettling observation but accepts Ning Rongrong’s dismissal rather than pursuing an explanation.
• Zhu Zhuqing and Liu Erlong remain outside, deeply affected by the mansion’s oppressive presence and relieved by the others’ survival.

Significant themes

• Survival through caution: In a hostile supernatural environment, small movements and restraint can mean the difference between life and death.
• Greed and risk: Yu Tianheng’s decision to take an extra object contrasts with Ning Rongrong’s disciplined approach.
• Unknowable rules and forces: The old man’s silent relocation and the fleeting blue light suggest powers whose causes remain beyond the characters’ understanding.

Key plot points and events

• After fleeing the Republican-Era Ancient House, Ning Rongrong and four companions board the Ghost Bus. Its passenger count rises from 21 to 26, and its supernatural force suppresses the clash between the Ghost Skin and the Ghost Cabinet’s blood inside Ning Rongrong.
• The bus reaches its third stop: Peaceful Ancient Town, a dimly lit old street that seems almost alive but is marked by ominous signs, including dark liquid seeping between the stones and dense fog.
• Ning Rongrong gets off and follows the route on her Sheepskin Paper. Yu Tianheng, Zhu Zhuqing, Liu Erlong, and Ghost Douluo choose to follow rather than risk being alone.
• The group encounters disturbing shops and apparent stalls selling supernatural objects, including figures made with human skin and severed fingers. Ning Rongrong avoids investigating them.
• She stops at the Great Harmony Chinese Medicine Shop and orders the others to wait outside, threatening to kill them if they interfere with her plan.

Character developments

• Ning Rongrong remains focused on her own survival. She is wary of the town and its strange merchandise, and makes clear that she has no intention of protecting the others.
• Yu Tianheng stays alert after his rescue and is shocked by the apparent trade in supernatural items.
• Zhu Zhuqing, Liu Erlong, and Ghost Douluo follow Ning Rongrong because staying with someone familiar—and with access to the Sheepskin Paper—seems safer than acting alone. Ghost Douluo remains especially cautious.

Significant themes

• Survival over loyalty: Ning Rongrong openly prioritizes herself, while the others stay together for practical safety rather than trust.
• The uncertain boundary between worlds: The town’s lantern-lit streets seem inhabited, yet its sinister details suggest a paranormal reality.
• Temptation and danger: Supernatural goods may offer power or useful resources, but even examining them could provoke catastrophe.

Character interactions

• Ning Rongrong’s blunt warning that she never promised to save the others establishes the group’s strained, transactional relationship.
• The others exchange wary looks but follow her, choosing the risks of the group over the unknown dangers of separation.
• At the medicine shop, Ning Rongrong sets a strict boundary: the others must stay outside and not disrupt her plan.

Plot points

• Ning Rongrong enters an Herbal Medicine Shop in Ancient Town, where the blind Zhang Bohua offers medicine to suppress the Ghost Skin’s revival in exchange for the baby growing inside her.
• Rongrong accepts: she knows the “Ghost Baby” is a dangerous supernatural being formed when paranormal power fused with her soul power, and that it may eventually kill her.
• Zhang Bohua removes the baby remotely and gives Rongrong medicine. Its removal disrupts the balance holding back the Ghost Skin, triggering an immediate revival—but the medicine calms it and restores her condition.
• Rongrong takes the remaining medicine and leaves. Zhang Bohua confines the Ghost Baby in a box, saying it is important to someone’s plan and will draw that person to him, since he still owes him a favor.
• On the viewing side, the revelation that Rongrong is pregnant shocks the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect and Shrek Academy. Oscar is devastated, while his friends try to reassure him.

Character developments and interactions

• Ning Rongrong is pragmatic and decisive: she accepts the exchange despite its disturbing nature, prioritizing survival and showing little interest in pleasantries afterward.
• Zhang Bohua appears detached and powerful, treating the Ghost Baby as a curiosity and the transaction as routine.
• Luo Qian questions why Zhang wants the creature; Zhang’s answer suggests a larger scheme involving an unnamed person who has accumulated favors from several people.
• Ning Fengzhi, Chen Xin, and Gu Rong react with disbelief and alarm. At Shrek, Oscar’s grief contrasts with Dai Mubai and Ma Hongjun’s attempts to comfort him.

Significant themes

• Survival through compromise: Rongrong trades away a dangerous part of herself to obtain temporary relief.
• Unstable supernatural balance: Removing one threat—the Ghost Baby—nearly lets another, the Ghost Skin, kill her.
• Hidden schemes and debts: Zhang’s final remarks imply that favors and the Ghost Baby are pieces in a broader plan.
• Misunderstanding across worlds: The observers interpret the pregnancy through ordinary assumptions, while Rongrong understands it as a supernatural phenomenon.

Key plot points and events

• After leaving the Chinese medicine shop, Ning Rongrong consults the Sheepskin Paper. It says she can permanently resolve her supernatural resurgence by returning to Dachang City, entering the Paranormal Forum’s Golden House, and merging with the Red Comb.
• Though suspicious of the paper, Ning Rongrong contacts Liu Xiaoyu for help getting out of Peaceful Ancient Town, where the Ghost Bus has already left.
• Liu Xiaoyu sends He Yin’er, a Forum member who guards the town. He escorts the group through the distorted fog and back to the human world, where they travel toward Dachang City.
• On the way, Ghost Douluo leaves the group, while Liu Erlong and Zhu Zhuqing stay with Ning Rongrong.
• At the Forum’s Building, Liu Erlong and Zhu Zhuqing ask to join the Forum. Ning Rongrong refuses to take responsibility for their survival, then enters alone to pursue her dangerous plan.
• It is 5:15 a.m.—the day the Sheepskin Paper predicted she would die. In the deserted lobby, Ning Rongrong notices a portrait of a young man and feels an unexplained sense of familiarity.

Character developments and interactions

• Ning Rongrong remains wary of the Sheepskin Paper but decides to act on its plan. Facing the possibility of death, she is resolute and bluntly rejects Liu Erlong’s and Zhu Zhuqing’s dependence on her.
• He Yin’er is revealed as a capable, reserved Forum member responsible for Peaceful Ancient Town. She says Boss Lin once asked her to help him “take action once in the future,” a request she finds puzzling given his power.
• Yu Tianheng tries repeatedly to befriend He Yin’er, then offers to introduce Liu Erlong and Zhu Zhuqing to the Forum. His efforts to build alliances contrast with Ning Rongrong’s detachment.
• Liu Erlong and Zhu Zhuqing seek the Forum as a means of survival, but Ning Rongrong’s refusal leaves them uncertain.

Significant themes

• Survival and self-reliance: The characters make choices under constant threat, and Ning Rongrong insists that each person must face their own risks.
• Trust and uncertainty: The Sheepskin Paper’s apparently straightforward instructions remain suspicious, while He Yin’er’s mysterious future obligation raises further questions.
• Power and connection: Boss Lin’s influence reaches even into a terrifying supernatural town, and Ning Rongrong’s unexplained recognition of the portrait hints at a deeper connection.

Plot points

• Ning Rongrong enters a sealed, gold-lined room to take control of the Red Comb, following the Sheepskin Paper’s instructions: break the comb and wrap it in the Ghost Skin.
• The process goes wrong. Rather than fusing, the Ghost Skin and Red Comb clash, while the comb’s supernatural attack strips off Ning Rongrong’s hair and begins tearing away her scalp.
• With the Ghost Skin occupied, Ning Rongrong loses its protection. The Ghost Cabinet then erupts, blocking the comb’s fatal attack but leaving her body rigid amid the conflict of three supernatural forces.
• The Sheepskin Paper lands on her exposed head and stitches itself to her flesh. This restores her clarity, and she realizes it is not helping her: it engineered the entire sequence to prepare her as a vessel and take possession of her in a sealed room, beyond outside detection.

Character developments and interactions

• Ning Rongrong moves from grim determination to horror, then to lucid understanding of the Sheepskin Paper’s true plan. Her earlier caution proves insufficient because she did not understand what possession meant.
• Ning Fengzhi is devastated by his daughter’s apparent suffering, while Sword Douluo lashes out in anger at the failed plan. Tang San recognizes that the Golden House prevents anyone outside—including Lin Cheng—from intervening.
• The Sheepskin Paper shifts from trusted guide to revealed antagonist. Its earlier advice was effective precisely because it preserved Ning Rongrong until the moment it could claim her.

Significant themes

• Trust and manipulation: reliable-seeming guidance can conceal a plan whose danger lies at the end.
• Isolation and helplessness: the room meant to contain supernatural danger also prevents rescue.
• Cost of power: Ning Rongrong’s attempt to gain control leaves her physically devastated and trapped.
• Limits of understanding: she guarded against being misled, but could not anticipate a threat built around a concept—possession—that was unfamiliar to her.

Key plot points and events

• Ning Rongrong survives a dangerous supernatural takeover. In the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, her distress fades and her condition appears stable. Ning Fengzhi and Sword Douluo conclude that the Sheepskin Paper helped her control the supernatural and achieve “paranormal balance,” though they do not understand the ordeal she endured. Bibi Dong watches with envy, amazed that the paper let Rongrong defy an otherwise fatal situation.
• Yu Tianheng recruits Liu Erlong and Zhu Zhuqing into his team. The Forum has no open positions, but Liu Xiaoyu says they can temporarily join Yu’s team and prove themselves. He promises to help them become Ghost Handlers if they show their worth. Both women accept because survival in this world depends on protection from paranormal threats. Yu privately relishes becoming their captain, especially since Liu Erlong was once a powerful Soul Saint he had to respect.
• Yan and Hu Liena learn more about the Forum. While enjoying a rare break in Dachang City, they discuss how dangerous their altered bodies remain and the need to find a reliable way to prevent evil ghost revival. They meet Zhao Kaiming, who mistakes them for civilians and offers the Forum’s services. Recognizing their earpieces, he explains that Boss Lin resolved his fatal problems, allowing him to return to ordinary life and support his family by managing the Forum office. Shaken by what this suggests about Lin Cheng’s abilities, Yan and Hu Liena head to the Building for their ten o’clock gathering.

Character developments and interactions

• Ning Fengzhi and Sword Douluo are relieved by Rongrong’s apparent survival, but their interpretation of what happened is incomplete.
• Bibi Dong responds with jealousy at Rongrong’s good fortune and the Sheepskin Paper’s power.
• Yu Tianheng presents himself as a reassuring leader, while privately enjoying the authority and status his new team gives him.
• Liu Erlong and Zhu Zhuqing accept dependence on Yu’s leadership in exchange for a chance to survive and eventually gain Ghost Handler abilities.
• Hu Liena remains analytical and cautious, warning Yan not to mistake temporary calm for safety. Yan is more eager to relax but takes her warning seriously.
• Zhao Kaiming offers the newcomers a glimpse of a possible alternative to the Ghost Handler’s life: Boss Lin can apparently save people from paranormal afflictions and restore ordinary stability.

Significant themes

• Survival and dependence: In a world ruled by paranormal danger, even powerful newcomers must rely on others.
• Power and reversal of status: Yu Tianheng’s relationship with Liu Erlong is transformed by their new circumstances.
• Hope amid terror: Rongrong’s survival and Zhao Kaiming’s restored life suggest that seemingly fatal supernatural problems may be overcome.
• The cost of complacency: Hu Liena stresses that a brief respite cannot replace continued preparation and growth.

Plot points and events

• Hu Liena, Yan, and Yang Jian meet Lin Cheng outside the Paranormal Forum Tower at ten o’clock. Lin Cheng arrives in pajamas, having just awakened, and casually insists they head to Headquarters.
• A check-in reward gives Lin Cheng another 1% of the Ghost Submarine’s power, bringing it to 61%. His Ghost Domain expands dramatically, and he uses it to transport the group to Dajing City.
• Before leaving, Lin Cheng briefly looks toward a sealed room on the tower’s fourth floor and hopes its occupant will not disappoint him. Yang Jian misreads the glance, assuming it concerns a paranormal experiment.
• At Headquarters, summoned novice Ghost Handlers complain and mock the Paranormal Forum, dismissing it as an insignificant independent group.
• Lin Cheng’s arrival overwhelms the entire city: his Ghost Domain turns the sky into a vast upside-down ocean, imposing immense pressure on everyone below. The newcomers are terrified, and even elite Handler Li Jun’s Ghost Fire is nearly extinguished.
• Zhao Jianguo realizes Lin Cheng has arrived, but doubts this is merely a visit for training; the display appears intended to establish terms with Headquarters.

Character developments and interactions

• Lin Cheng remains casual and unconcerned with convention, deliberately—or at least without caring—arriving in pajamas. His immense power and confidence are evident in the scale of his Ghost Domain.
• Yang Jian is surprised by Lin Cheng’s attire but understands that Lin Cheng’s disregard for Headquarters’ rules reflects his contempt for them. He also misinterprets Lin Cheng’s private interest in the sealed room.
• Hu Liena and Yan show respectful restraint, obeying Lin Cheng’s lead without commenting on his appearance.
• The novice Ghost Handlers move from arrogance and derision to fear when confronted with Lin Cheng’s power.
• Zhao Jianguo and Li Jun recognize the seriousness of the arrival: Li Jun identifies Lin Cheng’s presence, while Zhao suspects the display is a challenge to Headquarters’ authority.

Significant themes

• Power as political leverage: Lin Cheng’s citywide Ghost Domain functions as more than a show of strength; it signals that Headquarters cannot dictate terms to him.
• Contempt for institutions and convention: Lin Cheng’s pajamas and casual attitude contrast with Headquarters’ formal, political setting.
• The terror and cost of supernatural power: The newcomers know Ghost Domains can hasten a Handler’s demise, making Lin Cheng’s unprecedented display both frightening and seemingly impossible.
• Misunderstanding and hidden agendas: Yang Jian sees only a sealed experimental room, while Lin Cheng’s glance hints at an undisclosed concern involving someone inside.

Key plot points and events

• Lin Cheng arrives at Asian Headquarters in Dajing City with Yang Jian, Hu Liena, and Yan. His deep-blue Ghost Domain creates crushing underwater pressure across the plaza, pinning the rookie Ghost Handlers down.
• The pressure also suppresses the dangerous Fierce Supernaturals inside the recruits, temporarily halting their impending revivals. Lin Shan, whose Water Ghost was close to taking him over, is especially stunned by the effect.
• Yang Jian’s blunt assessment that the rookies are weak provokes them. When some try to resist, Lin Cheng intensifies the pressure, silencing them and preventing their paranormal powers from surfacing.
• Gao Ming challenges Lin Cheng, but Lin Cheng ignores him and addresses Captain Zhao Jianguo. Zhao asks him to ease the Ghost Domain, explaining that the recruits are valuable and Headquarters is short-staffed.
• Lin Cheng says he meant no lethal harm: he was checking for hidden revival risks and has, in fact, brought the recruits’ supernatural states back to a safer level. He then withdraws the Ghost Domain.
• Li Jun confirms that the suppression was effective and takes charge of the recruits, announcing two weeks of formal training and psychological intervention. Lin Cheng proceeds to meet Professor Wang, while Yang Jian, Hu Liena, and Yan are assigned to training.

Character developments

• Lin Cheng demonstrates overwhelming power and control, presenting his hostile-seeming intervention as a practical service to Headquarters. His casual manner contrasts with the severity of his actions.
• Yang Jian remains cold and direct; his detached comment about the rookies escalates their anger, while his Ghost Eye reinforces his intimidating presence.
• Li Jun shows restraint and professional judgment. Though ready to defend Headquarters, he recognizes that Lin Cheng’s power is helping contain the recruits’ revival risks.
• The rookies, especially Lin Shan, shift from anger and defiance toward fear and, in some cases, reluctant respect after experiencing the relief of suppressed revival.

Significant themes

• Power and authority: Lin Cheng’s ability to suppress an entire group makes formal rank and institutional authority seem secondary to supernatural strength.
• Danger and potential: The recruits are both promising assets and ticking threats, since their powers could revive uncontrollably.
• Provocation versus protection: Lin Cheng’s treatment looks like an attack, but he frames it as risk management; the scene leaves the boundary between intimidation and assistance deliberately uneasy.
• Institutional tension: Headquarters must accommodate a powerful outsider while trying to protect its recruits and maintain order.

Character interactions

• Lin Cheng’s show of force clashes with the rookies’ pride and anger; Yang Jian’s remark intensifies that conflict.
• Gao Ming confronts Lin Cheng, but Lin Cheng bypasses him and negotiates directly with Zhao Jianguo.
• Zhao Jianguo appeals for the recruits’ protection, while Lin Cheng insists his intervention has made them safer.
• Li Jun validates the practical effect of Lin Cheng’s actions, then restores order and directs the recruits toward training.

Key plot points and events

• After Lin Cheng leaves the square, the Sky Screen resumes showing the others. Spirit Hall’s Qian Daoliu concludes that Lin Cheng’s presence disrupts the broadcast, and admires Headquarters as a powerful, well-organized force. Chrysanthemum Douluo notes that Ghost has joined Headquarters and dismisses Shrek’s Liu Erlong and Zhu Zhuqing as limited by their association with Yu Tianheng.
• In Headquarters’ square, Yang Jian, Hu Liena, and Yan join the assembled newcomers. Several recruits resent Lin Cheng and turn their hostility toward Yan. Yan suppresses an explanation for his earlier gagging, choosing instead to defend the Paranormal Forum’s standing by meeting their glares with defiance.
• Yang Jian judges the recruits’ supernatural abilities crude and dangerous, then sizes up Li Jun, Headquarters’ order-keeper, as a potentially beatable opponent. Li Jun leads the group to underground training.
• In a top-secret conference room, Lin Cheng meets Headquarters captains Li Leping, Liu San, and Wang Chalin. Their presence is meant to serve as a safeguard in case Lin Cheng becomes dangerous. His supernatural pressure unsettles Liu San and Wang Chalin even though he is not deliberately exerting it.
• Li Leping’s Forgetting Ghost erases Lin Cheng’s memory of him, but Lin Cheng’s Ghost Fish and Ghost Brain counter the effect: the seven-second reset and replay of the recorded memory loss restore what he forgot. Lin Cheng recognizes Li Leping’s ability as an interesting and powerful supernatural.
• Zhao Jianguo intervenes to ease the tension and says the meeting concerns Professor Wang’s discovery of unusual humans, introducing Headquarters’ Captain Plan.

Character developments and interactions

• Yan shows pride and resolve, refusing to explain himself when he believes doing so would make him appear weak. His standoff with the Trench-Coat Man nearly turns the newcomers’ resentment into open conflict.
• Yang Jian remains cool and observant, assessing both the recruits’ weaknesses and Li Jun’s strength without engaging in the hostility around him.
• Lin Cheng stays casual despite unsettling the captains and being targeted by Li Leping’s memory-erasing power. His abilities prove capable of resisting even a conceptual attack.
• Li Leping, Liu San, and Wang Chalin are revealed as Headquarters’ top captains and a precaution against Lin Cheng. Li Leping’s attack briefly works, but Lin Cheng’s internal mechanisms undo it.
• Zhao Jianguo acts as mediator, trying to prevent the meeting from escalating and redirecting attention to its purpose.

Significant themes

• Power and perception: Different factions assess strength and organizational potential, while Lin Cheng’s presence affects even the Sky Screen’s ability to observe events.
• Strength versus vulnerability: Supernatural fighters wield formidable powers but risk losing control to the evil ghosts within them; Yang Jian recognizes this danger among the recruits.
• Pride and weakness: Yan’s choice not to explain himself reflects the harsh social code of the paranormal world, where justification can be mistaken for weakness.
• Memory and resistance: Li Leping’s ability challenges Lin Cheng’s mind, but Lin Cheng’s own supernatural systems restore what was erased, highlighting the limits of even powerful abilities.
• Caution and distrust: Headquarters’ decision to assemble its strongest captains reveals its wariness of Lin Cheng, despite inviting him for an important discussion.

Plot points and events

• Lin Cheng attends a Headquarters meeting, casually claiming he only wants to observe the Ghost Handler training system. He takes the seat at the head of the conference table, and no one challenges him.
• Lin Cheng notices that Wang Chalin is protected by four powerful ancestral apparitions, inherited from three generations of Ghost Handlers. He judges that Wang Chalin has great power at his disposal but little ability to use it.
• Professor Wang reveals that Headquarters has encountered people with abilities unrelated to Fierce Supernaturals. These people, called Soul Masters, use “soul power” to awaken a genetic projection called a martial soul.
• Wang demonstrates his own awakened martial soul: a pencil he can summon as a physical object. It offers modest physical improvements but cannot harm Fierce Supernaturals.
• Wang proposes combining martial souls with Ghost Handler powers—possibly implanting a supernatural “puzzle piece” during awakening, or awakening a martial soul just before a Fierce Supernatural revives. His goal is a new kind of being able to command paranormal rules rather than merely endure them.
• Lin Cheng recognizes the potential of the idea and teasingly points out that Wang has just revealed a highly classified plan in front of an outsider, asking whether he should leave.

Character developments and interactions

• Lin Cheng asserts his authority through his unchallenged choice of seat. Though outwardly relaxed, he becomes genuinely intrigued by Wang’s theory and playfully tests the room’s reaction.
• Wang Chalin is revealed to possess four formidable ancestral guardians. He initially hopes the newly discovered powers might offer a safer alternative to Ghost Handler abilities, then becomes alarmed by Wang’s proposed experiments.
• Liu San resents Lin Cheng’s takeover but knows his paper double cannot oppose him. He dismisses the martial-soul demonstration as irrelevant until Wang explains its possible use in combination with Ghost Handlers.
• Zhao Jianguo supports Wang’s account and tries to reassure Lin Cheng that Headquarters and the Forum share broader goals.
• Wang Xiaoming displays his characteristically cold rationality and scientific ambition, moving from a cautious report of new abilities to a radical proposal for merging two power systems.

Significant themes

• Power and its cost: Martial souls appear to offer abilities without the danger of Fierce Supernatural revival, but their usefulness against paranormal threats is uncertain.
• Scientific ambition and risk: Wang’s proposed fusion could transform Ghost Handlers, but it involves dangerous, untested experimentation.
• Authority and uneasy cooperation: Lin Cheng’s presence unsettles the meeting, yet Headquarters and the Forum remain nominally aligned.
• Inheritance and potential: Wang Chalin’s ancestral guardians embody extraordinary inherited power, while his apparent inability to use it contrasts with Wang Xiaoming’s drive to create a new form of power.

Plot points and events

• Wang Xiaoming explains to Lin Cheng that Headquarters is supporting the Paranormal Forum because cooperation is essential against the supernatural crisis. He admits the new Ghost Handler training is also a large-scale experiment: live combat will generate data and may accelerate the participants’ evil-ghost revivals.
• Lin Cheng suspects Wang has another reason for involving his group. Wang reveals he wants Lin Cheng, alongside Liu San and others, to help prevent the combat exercise from causing a supernatural disaster in Dajing City.
• Lin Cheng agrees to provide a safeguard but insists on negotiating compensation for the people he brought.
• In a sealed underground classroom, Professor Bai delivers a speculative lecture suggesting that ancient religious figures may have been early Ghost Handlers, while temples and rituals created stable structures for containing supernatural power.
• Yang Jian doubts the lecture, but Yan and Hu Liena take notes. Through the Sky Screen, Yu Xiaogang and Bibi Dong treat the theory as potentially valuable and order it recorded.
• Li Jun announces that the trainees will enter the underground training ground for live combat so Headquarters can measure the supernatural forces inside them. The Ghost Handlers protest that using their powers could hasten their deaths. Li Jun silences them by spreading his Ghost Fire Domain, suppressing their supernatural abilities.

Character developments and interactions

• Wang Xiaoming is revealed as willing to risk unstable trainees for research, while presenting the experiment as necessary in the desperate fight against supernaturals. He also recruits Lin Cheng as a safeguard against the danger his own plan may create.
• Lin Cheng sees through Wang’s stated rationale and remains wary, but pragmatically accepts the role in exchange for compensation. He dismisses concerns about the safety of Yang Jian and the others because he believes Yang can easily handle the newcomers.
• Yang Jian remains skeptical of Professor Bai’s theory and is uneasy about the reckless live-combat exercise, recognizing the danger of a participant losing control.
• Professor Bai presents a theory connecting ancient folklore, religious sites, and the containment of paranormal power.
• Li Jun responds to the trainees’ protest with force rather than discussion, demonstrating Headquarters’ authority and the danger of resisting its orders.
• Yu Xiaogang and Bibi Dong interpret the lecture through their own ambitions: Yu sees a possible way to suppress monsters, while Bibi Dong considers its value for controlling supernatural rules.

Significant themes

• People treated as experimental resources: Headquarters regards unstable Ghost Handlers as acceptable sacrifices for research.
• Power, risk, and control: Using supernatural abilities can accelerate revival, while attempts to control that danger may themselves become coercive.
• Pragmatic cooperation and mistrust: Lin Cheng and Wang work together out of necessity, but Lin suspects Wang’s motives and negotiates to protect his interests.
• The reinterpretation of myth: Professor Bai’s lecture recasts religious legends as possible records of an ancient supernatural system, though Yang remains unconvinced.

Plot points and events

• Li Jun tries to persuade the Ghost Handlers to accept Headquarters’ combat exercise by promising secure paranormal records and help finding a second entity to delay their supernatural resurgence. Most reluctantly agree.
• Yang Jian doubts Headquarters’ promises but is willing to observe the exercise.
• Gao Zhiqiang rejects the arrangement, announces he is quitting, and heads for the door. When Yang Jian does not move out of his way, Gao insults and kicks him, using the Liar Ghost to amplify his strength.
• The kick only pushes Yang Jian’s chair back slightly. Yang Jian stands to retaliate, but Li Jun attempts to intervene and offers to make Gao apologize.
• Gao continues insulting Yang Jian and prepares another supernatural attack. Yang Jian kills him almost instantly with the Ghost Hand and the Disassembly Rule, severing his head.
• Because the Liar Ghost inside Gao’s body is about to resurge, Yang Jian seals the corpse in a Golden Corpse Bag. He tells Li Jun he has neutralized a threat and claims the captured entity as his trophy.

Character developments and interactions

• Li Jun shifts from managing the group through promises to trying to contain the confrontation. He is left stunned by how quickly Yang Jian kills Gao.
• Yang Jian remains detached until Gao attacks him, then responds decisively and without hesitation. His unusual durability and lethal control demonstrate his power to the assembled handlers.
• Gao Zhiqiang goes from defiant confidence to shock when his enhanced kick fails, then escalates into a fatal confrontation rather than backing down.
• Yan and Hu Liena, familiar with Yang Jian’s capabilities, react with resigned awe; Yan remarks that Gao chose the wrong person to provoke.
• The other Ghost Handlers’ complaints give way to fear after they witness Gao’s effortless execution.

Significant themes

• The danger of supernatural power: a minor confrontation can become fatal, and even death does not necessarily prevent a ghost from resurfacing.
• Power and intimidation: Yang Jian’s overwhelming strength instantly changes the room’s balance of power.
• Institutional promises versus personal mistrust: Headquarters offers help as an incentive, but Yang Jian remains skeptical of its motives.
• Ownership and control: Yang Jian treats the captured ghost as both a contained danger and a reward, asserting his own claim within Headquarters’ system.

Plot points and events

• After Yang Jian kills Gao Zhiqiang, Li Jun lets the matter go, though he warns Yang not to repeat it. The onlookers’ view of Yang shifts, although some dismiss the kill as a surprise attack.
• Li Jun leads the Ghost Handlers to a gold-lined underground training arena for combat assessments. He offers valuable survival tools—including a red Ghost Candle or Substitute Death Doll—as rewards, encouraging participants to use their powers despite the risk of ghost revival.
• Yang suspects the “combat records” are really a pretext to provoke dangerous supernatural activity. As the first match begins, Li Jun orders Chen Yi to report both Yang’s kill and his apparent Splicing ability to Professor Wang.
• At a conference, Wang Xiaoming outlines the Captain Plan, which would devote most of Headquarters’ resources to developing elite fighters. He invites Lin Cheng to join, but Lin refuses and recommends Yang Jian instead.
• Zhao Jianguo objects that Yang is too inexperienced. Lin counters that Yang has already controlled four fierce supernaturals, stunning the senior Ghost Handlers. Chen Yi arrives with news of Yang’s kill and realizes the training matches may become disastrously one-sided.

Character developments and interactions

• Yang Jian remains wary and observant, recognizing that Headquarters may be manipulating the trainees. His effortless kill and hidden abilities make him seem far more formidable than a newcomer.
• Li Jun maintains control of the proceedings, while quietly ordering scrutiny of Yang.
• Lin Cheng turns down Headquarters’ offer for himself but strongly advocates for Yang, revealing the scale of Yang’s power.
• Zhao Jianguo challenges Yang’s suitability based on his sparse record; Wang Xiaoming and the other captains are visibly shaken by Lin’s claim.
• Chen Yi moves from gathering intelligence to fearing the consequences of placing Yang among unstable, less powerful trainees.

Significant themes

• Power versus appearances: Yang’s reputation as an inexperienced recruit contrasts with his actual capabilities.
• Risk and exploitation: Headquarters uses life-saving rewards to push Ghost Handlers close to revival into dangerous fights.
• Institutional desperation: The Captain Plan and Lin’s rejected invitation suggest Headquarters urgently needs powerful, independent fighters.
• The cost of supernatural power: The captains’ reactions emphasize how difficult and perilous it is to control multiple ghosts without losing one’s sanity.

Plot points and events

• Professor Wang asks Lin Cheng to reveal how he can control multiple supernatural entities, but Lin Cheng declines. Wang accepts the refusal, privately confident that Headquarters has other plans in motion.
• Chen Yi delivers a report describing Yang Jian’s intervention and his defeat of Gao Zhiqiang. Wang recognizes Yang’s abilities as strong enough to qualify him for the Captain Plan.
• Zhao Jian Guo worries about which faction Yang would serve. Lin Cheng agrees to let Yang assist Headquarters with supernatural incidents, while Zhao promises Yang freedom to choose his operations and access to Headquarters’ supplies.
• Lin Cheng sees the arrangement as mutually useful: Yang can grow through dangerous missions, gain access to Headquarters’ resources, and serve as Lin Cheng’s inside source.
• The meeting turns to the Underground Training Ground. Zhao urges the group to hurry, joking that Yang may kill all the recruited Ghost Handlers if they wait.
• In the first match, Lin Shan attacks Wang Jiang with the Water Ghost, hoping to win Headquarters’ reward and secure help with his impending revival. Wang counters with a deathly aura that freezes the water. Lin Shan’s ghost begins to revive, but Li Jun uses Ghost Fire to suppress it. Wang survives, and Li Jun asks whether he will enter the next round for another reward.

Character developments

• Lin Cheng remains guarded and strategic. He refuses to reveal his method but uses Yang’s appointment to advance the Paranormal Forum’s interests.
• Wang Xiaoming shows rare excitement at the possibility of replicating powerful Ghost Handlers, then quickly regains his composure after Lin Cheng refuses. He continues to distrust the captains and rely on contingencies.
• Yang Jian is recognized as a capable, near-captain-level Ghost Handler, though he does not appear directly in the chapter’s action.
• Lin Shan is desperate to survive his ghost’s revival and resorts to a sudden attack, but loses control.
• Wang Jiang is confident enough to pursue the training-ground reward and withstands Lin Shan’s attack.
• Li Jun demonstrates Headquarters’ ability to intervene decisively, containing Lin Shan’s revival.

Significant themes

• Power and secrecy: Lin Cheng withholds the source of his strength, while Headquarters struggles to develop comparable abilities.
• Political maneuvering and divided loyalties: Yang’s role becomes a negotiation between Headquarters and the Paranormal Forum, with both sides pursuing their own advantage.
• Survival under pressure: Ghost Handlers fight for scarce rewards that may delay or prevent their supernatural deaths.
• The cost of power: Combat can trigger a ghost’s revival, making victory and survival dangerously intertwined.

Character interactions

• Wang Xiaoming presses Lin Cheng for his secret, but accepts the refusal without abandoning his own plans.
• Lin Cheng and Zhao Jian Guo negotiate Yang’s involvement, balancing Headquarters’ needs against Yang’s autonomy and Lin Cheng’s interests.
• Lin Shan tries to manipulate Wang Jiang into lowering his guard, then attacks; Wang counters with his own supernatural power.
• Li Jun intervenes to contain Lin Shan’s revival and offers Wang Jiang the choice to continue competing.