Chapter Summaries

After returning from Ruixing Supermarket, Qin Xiaoxia discovered that one of his slippers had gone missing and spent the day searching and cleaning his apartment. He finally found the slipper wedged beneath an overturned chair.

• Qin Xiaoxia returned to his apartment with groceries and noticed that one slipper was missing.
• Qin Xiaoxia searched the apartment and checked for signs of a break-in, but found nothing else missing or disturbed.
• Qin Xiaoxia decided to clean the entire duplex while looking for the slipper and uncovered several long-lost items.
• Qin Xiaoxia accidentally knocked over a chair and found the missing slipper wedged underneath it.

After finding his slipper hidden beneath a chair, Qin Xiaoxia suspected someone was playing tricks on him but tried to resume his ordinary routine. He returned from filling in at a job fair for his neighbor Gou Junbao and discovered that both his spatulas had vanished, renewing his suspicions.

• Qin Xiaoxia found his slipper stuffed beneath an old chair and suspected a prankster or thief, but decided against calling the police.
• Qin Xiaoxia ate instant noodles, used an automated program to buy discounted products, and wrote and posted a horror story inspired by the hidden slipper.
• Qin Xiaoxia dressed up and went to a job fair in Yue City to cover Gou Junbao's recruiting shift while Gou pursued a matchmaking opportunity.
• Qin Xiaoxia returned home, checked that his slippers and shoes were still on the rack, and went to the kitchen to cook.
• Qin Xiaoxia discovered that both his spatulas were missing and connected their disappearance to the person who had hidden his slipper.

After a mysterious intruder hid Qin Xiaoxia’s spatulas in his apartment, he called the police, who found no evidence of a break-in. The next morning, he discovered an unfamiliar gold-colored coin beneath his pillow.

• Qin Xiaoxia called the police after realizing someone had entered his home and hidden his spatulas.
• Officers Zhao and Xiao Liu searched the apartment, found the spatulas behind the water heater, and advised him to change his lock and secure his windows.
• Gou Junbao returned with a young woman, collected the résumés Qin Xiaoxia had prepared, and went into the apartment opposite.
• Qin Xiaoxia cooked dinner, checked his online sales and the traffic on his horror story, then wrote a continuation before going to bed.
• Qin Xiaoxia woke when a coin rolled off his bed and picked up an ornate gold-colored coin with unfamiliar writing.

Qin Xiaoxia discovered that the strange visitor in his home was a ghostly child who ate his pizza and stole his keyboard, while the coin left beneath his pillow proved to be genuine gold. He ended the chapter intrigued rather than afraid, eager to return home and encounter the strange kid again.

• Qin Xiaoxia found a gold coin beneath his pillow, checked that his home was secure, and installed a new lock and surveillance cameras.
• Qin Xiaoxia took the coin to a pawnshop, where appraiser Lu confirmed it was genuine gold with unfamiliar markings.
• Qin Xiaoxia opened the surveillance app and saw a strange, filthy child wandering through his living room and kitchen.
• The child nervously opened the refrigerator, ate Qin Xiaoxia's leftover pizza, and took his keyboard from the bedroom.
• After hiding the keyboard beneath the refrigerator, the child vanished into thin air, convincing Qin Xiaoxia that he was a ghost.
• Qin Xiaoxia reconsidered the ghost as harmless and felt eager to return home.

Qin Xiaoxia used food and an elaborate performance to coax the invisible thief into revealing more about its habits. After watching the thief eat leftovers for several days, he discovered it was not very strong and struggled to lift a heavy chair.

• Qin Xiaoxia returned home, staged a dramatic reaction to the missing keyboard, and left prepared food for the thief.
• The next morning, Qin Xiaoxia found that the thief had eaten all the leftover food and felt reassured that it was a childlike creature rather than a ghost.
• Over the next two days, Qin Xiaoxia kept leaving food, while the thief ate it and took household items; no more gold coins appeared.
• Qin Xiaoxia studied the surveillance footage and concluded that the thief could turn invisible but probably could not pass through walls and was not very strong.
• On the third day of surveillance, Qin Xiaoxia watched the invisible thief struggle to set a heavy chair upright, which excited him.

Qin Xiaoxia tried to find a powerful sleeping agent to deal with the little thief secretly entering his home. After a pharmacy refused to sell him sleeping pills, he got Gou Junbao to connect him with a seller of restricted goods, and found a potent sleeping agent on the seller’s listings.

• Qin Xiaoxia went to a pharmacy in Kehua District but left after an employee told him he needed a doctor’s prescription for sleeping pills.
• Qin Xiaoxia searched online for knockout drugs, dismissed the suspicious advertisements, and decided to ask Gou Junbao for help.
• Qin Xiaoxia met Gou Junbao for lunch, gave him pastries, and accepted 588 yuan for their earlier work.
• Qin Xiaoxia told Gou Junbao a fabricated story about Huang Jiutian being cheated on to explain why he needed a knockout drug.
• Gou Junbao agreed to help and shared his seller’s contact; afterward, Qin Xiaoxia found a potent sleeping agent listed on the seller’s phone page.

Qin Xiaoxia lured the little thief into eating cakes and drinking soda laced with a powerful sedative, then hurried home after seeing it collapse on surveillance. He entered his apartment and found the gray-skinned, childlike thief unconscious on the table, ready to take it down.

• Qin Xiaoxia bought five doses of a sedative and waited for the package to arrive.
• Qin Xiaoxia mixed the pills into cakes and drinks, then pretended to leave for lunch to tempt the little thief out.
• The little thief ate all the cakes and drank the soda before swaying and collapsing on the table.
• Qin Xiaoxia rushed back to his apartment and saw the unconscious little thief up close.

Qin Xiaoxia captured and bound the supernatural little thief, then discovered it had been pretending to be unconscious. He failed to understand its angry speech, and returned with a tablet and a medical box, leaving the creature uneasy about what he planned to do next.

• Qin Xiaoxia bound the unconscious little thief with chains, cords, and tape, then waited beside it for hours.
• Qin Xiaoxia ordered noodles and fried rice, and noticed the little thief's eyelashes twitch while he ate.
• Qin Xiaoxia teased the little thief with braised pork until it woke and tried to bite the food.
• Qin Xiaoxia offered food in exchange for answers, but the little thief spoke in a language he could not understand.
• Qin Xiaoxia fed the little thief a piece of braised pork and returned with a tablet and a medical box.

Qin Xiaoxia frightened the captive sprite into revealing its gold coins, but the sprite used one to make a Wish that let them understand each other and sharpened Qin Xiaoxia’s perception. The sprite explained that its Wish had limits and revealed that it had three gold coins left and could no longer mint more in this other world.

• Qin Xiaoxia played a video of a child getting an injection and waved a syringe at the bound sprite to intimidate it into revealing more gold coins.
• The sprite stared at Qin Xiaoxia’s gold coin and invoked Wish and Inspiration Sharing, causing the coin to vanish and linking their languages and perceptions.
• Qin Xiaoxia learned that the captive was a Saroba Sprite and understood the sprite’s explanation of Inspiration Sharing.
• Qin Xiaoxia threatened the sprite with the syringe over the missing coin, and the sprite promised it had more gold coins.
• The sprite explained that Wish had limited power and revealed that it had three gold coins left but could no longer mint any in this other world.

Qin Xiaoxia learned how the Mischievous Sprite had crossed into Earth and decided to keep him close by frightening him with the dangers of human society. The sprite ended the chapter terrified and crying about what kind of world Earth was.

• Qin Xiaoxia questioned the Mischievous Sprite and learned that he had crossed over from Margeson after falling into a hole and using a Wish Coin to overcome Earth's rejection.
• Qin Xiaoxia accused the sprite of stealing his coin to grant the wish that brought him into the house, then decided he needed to keep the sprite tethered to him.
• Qin Xiaoxia told the sprite that Earth was dangerous and promised to release him if he compensated him for his losses.
• Qin Xiaoxia showed videos of animal cruelty, traps, accidents, crime, war, and weapons to convince the sprite that humans and their world were deadly.
• Qin Xiaoxia warned that surveillance and scientists could expose and dissect the sprite, leaving him trembling and crying in terror.

Qin Xiaoxia released Ma Gulu and used his fear of the outside world and the cost of feeding him to make him ask to stay. Qin Xiaoxia agreed to take him in temporarily, provided he stopped disappearing and helped with the housework.

• Qin Xiaoxia untied Ma Gulu, gave him leftover Golden Fried Rice, and demanded repayment for the gold coin he had spent.
• Ma Gulu introduced himself and admitted he was afraid of humans and the scientists who might capture him.
• Qin Xiaoxia gave Ma Gulu three reasons he could not stay: he was a stranger, his presence could bring danger, and feeding him was expensive.
• Ma Gulu offered to find a way to mint more gold coins, while Qin Xiaoxia called himself too softhearted and handed him tissues.
• Qin Xiaoxia allowed Ma Gulu to stay temporarily on the condition that he stop turning invisible to disappear and help with the housework.

Qin Xiaoxia took in the otherworldly Mischievous Sprite, named him Doudou, and charged him rent before the two gradually grew closer. After forcing Doudou through his first bath, Qin Xiaoxia promised him a feast and a trip outside, leaving Doudou eagerly watching him cook.

• Qin Xiaoxia talked Doudou into paying three gold coins toward rent and expenses, and let him owe the fourth coin.
• Qin Xiaoxia renamed the sprite Doudou, who stayed in the house despite realizing he had been deceived about several things.
• After more than ten days of bickering and growing familiarity, Qin Xiaoxia dragged Doudou into the bathroom for a bath.
• Doudou struggled and accidentally broke a heat-lamp bulb, but Qin Xiaoxia eventually finished washing him and set a rule for future baths.
• Qin Xiaoxia promised Doudou a feast and an outing, and Doudou eagerly watched him cook while asking for tastes.

Qin Xiaoxia took Doudou out to the old family house to perform his regular upkeep, despite the worsening stench from Crooked Loach River. After checking the house, they prepared to return and faced crossing the foul-smelling river again.

• Qin Xiaoxia coaxed Doudou into leaving the house with him, but Doudou fled indoors when Gou Junbao greeted them.
• Qin Xiaoxia and Doudou walked toward Crooked Loach River, where the river’s stench made them both nearly gag.
• Qin Xiaoxia and Doudou held their breath and sprinted across the bridge, noticing the murky water and the absence of the usual fishing enthusiasts.
• Qin Xiaoxia and Doudou reached the old house, which Doudou found dusty despite Qin Xiaoxia’s claims of regular cleaning.
• Qin Xiaoxia removed cobwebs and checked the house for damage with Doudou’s help, then they worried about crossing Crooked Loach River again.

Qin Xiaoxia and Doudou suspected that a creature from another world might be causing the Crooked Loach River’s worsening pollution, and they agreed to use a wish to investigate. Meanwhile, Section Chief Liu’s sampling patrol encountered an inexplicable disappearance, and he and his colleagues failed to return to the bureau before closing time.

• Qin Xiaoxia asked Doudou whether other things could cross the barrier of world power, and Doudou explained that objects might sometimes be thrown over it.
• Qin Xiaoxia wondered if a monster from another world had polluted the Crooked Loach River, and Doudou suggested making a wish to find out.
• Qin Xiaoxia agreed to make the wish once Doudou’s wish power recovered, and they hurried across the bridge toward the river.
• Section Chief Liu and two young civil servants collected river samples near the closed dyeing and printing factories, where Liu saw a dead dog’s carcass vanish from the water.
• Five minutes before closing, a woman at the bureau learned that Section Chief Liu, Shao Feng, and Zhang had not returned and found Liu’s phone unavailable.

Qin Xiaoxia and Doudou used a wish to discover what had polluted the Crooked Loach River, and the Wish Coin transported them through the air and into the river. They found they could breathe underwater, but Doudou panicked as they sped through the water.

• Qin Xiaoxia heard that three environmental protection employees had disappeared after investigating pollution near the Crooked Loach River.
• Qin Xiaoxia stopped Doudou from playing and asked whether they had enough wish power to make a wish.
• Qin Xiaoxia wished to know what had recently caused the river's pollution.
• The wish sent Qin Xiaoxia and Doudou flying on their sofa through mist and plunging into the river.
• Qin Xiaoxia discovered he could breathe underwater and tried to calm the water-frightened Doudou.

Qin Xiaoxia and Doudou discovered that a newly formed Dread Marsh was contaminating the Crooked Loach River, and learned that a planned drainage project might expose it. Qin Xiaoxia sensed the Dread Marsh’s location as workers prepared to isolate and drain the river section where it remained.

• Qin Xiaoxia and Doudou rode the sofa to a mass of rotting filth in the river, where they saw decomposing animal and human corpses.
• Doudou identified the mass as a Dread Marsh and explained that it formed from accumulated resentment and was usually difficult to find and destroy.
• Qin Xiaoxia and Doudou realized the Dread Marsh was newly formed and confined to the Crooked Loach River, but doubted they could defeat it themselves.
• Qin Xiaoxia heard that workers were damming and draining sections of the river, then went with Doudou to watch them install temporary dams.
• Qin Xiaoxia sensed the Dread Marsh’s location while it stayed in the section the workers planned to drain.

Qin Xiaoxia awakened an unknown kind of magic power while sensing the Dread Marsh near the Minghua Dyeing Factory, and Doudou explained what magic power meant. They searched for a way to destroy the marsh, leaving Qin Xiaoxia wondering whether it might catch fire.

• Qin Xiaoxia sensed the Dread Marsh in the river and briefly became surrounded by unfamiliar magic power, alarming Doudou.
• Doudou asked Qin Xiaoxia when his magic power had awakened and explained that it affected a creature’s soul, body, and vitality.
• Qin Xiaoxia described how he had located the Dread Marsh, and Doudou guessed his power might be based on perception.
• Qin Xiaoxia asked how to destroy the Dread Marsh, and Doudou recalled a legend about the Child of the Flame Star burning one to ash.
• Qin Xiaoxia concluded that fire might work against the Dread Marsh and wondered if it could catch fire.

Qin Xiaoxia discovered that his magic could manipulate chemical reactions, then theorized that the world itself had answered his wish and caused his awakening. He decided to test that theory through further experiments.

• Qin Xiaoxia recalled that gas from the Crooked Loach River contained methane and wondered whether he could ignite the Dread Marsh.
• Qin Xiaoxia sensed his magic and asked Doudou to light a lighter so he could examine how it interacted with flame.
• Qin Xiaoxia amplified the lighter's flame until it exploded, scorching the wall but leaving Doudou unharmed.
• Qin Xiaoxia identified his magic as a possible new kind of magical application, which he called a "Reaction Formula."
• Qin Xiaoxia suggested that the world itself might have answered his wish and influenced his magic, and Doudou admitted it was possible.
• Qin Xiaoxia settled on that explanation for now and decided he would need further experiments to verify it.

Qin Xiaoxia and Doudou planned to burn the Dread Marsh, but the creature surfaced before they could act. It attacked people at the Crooked Loach River, and Qin Xiaoxia urged the crowd to flee.

• Qin Xiaoxia learned basic fire magic from Doudou and planned to ignite gas from the Dread Marsh.
• Qin Xiaoxia called the police to clear spectators who had gathered to catch fish at the Crooked Loach River.
• The Dread Marsh moved into shallow water and revealed its enormous, foul body to the crowd.
• Officer Zhao ordered the crowd cleared as the Dread Marsh grew agitated and people began fleeing.
• The Dread Marsh covered two people filming and dragged them and an officer into the river, prompting Qin Xiaoxia to shout for everyone to run.

Qin Xiaoxia ignited the poisonous gas pouring from the Dread Marsh, causing a massive explosion that dried out the Crooked Loach River and left him near death. He regained consciousness in the hospital three days later, with Doudou and Huang Jiutian at his side.

• Officer Zhao and the other officers collapsed after inhaling the poisonous gas from the Dread Marsh.
• Qin Xiaoxia used magic to ignite the gas, triggering a huge explosion and an intense fire that burned the Crooked Loach River dry.
• The magic overwhelmed Qin Xiaoxia, and he collapsed; Doudou stayed beside him until emergency responders arrived.
• Doctors treated Qin Xiaoxia for severe injuries while the city bureau chief and Tian Zhuang investigated the scorched riverbed.
• Qin Xiaoxia woke up on the third day with Doudou and Huang Jiutian beside him.