Chapter Summaries

Jiang Xiang, disguised as Charles Kidd, persuaded Sheriff Sherlock to help prepare a prank aimed at the New York police. Sherlock finished setting up the props and left the clinic, while Jiang Xiang prepared to carry out his plan against Sheriff George.

• Jiang Xiang watched a news report about Kidd distributing notices that challenged the New York police.
• Sheriff Sherlock visited Jiang Xiang’s House Psychological Clinic and asked what trouble he was planning.
• Jiang Xiang persuaded Sherlock to help prepare balloons, streamers, and a basket for his prank.
• Sherlock finished preparing the props, collected his medicine, and left after warning Jiang Xiang not to call him next time.

Jiang Xiang ran his therapy clinic in Manhattan and gave Gwen Stacy a psychology reading list, then reflected on his life in the Marvel world and the system he used to gather emotional value and draw rewards. After receiving a Character Card for Cheng Yang, he faced the prospect of changing his plan to stay unnoticed until superheroes emerged.

• Jiang Xiang welcomed Gwen Stacy to his office, and she asked him for recommended books because she wanted to study psychology.
• Jiang Xiang gave Gwen Stacy Dr. Mace's reading list, and she left after chatting with him.
• Jiang Xiang recalled how his parents died, how he grew up with Ander Wilson, and how he learned that his world was connected to American comics.
• Jiang Xiang reviewed his system's emotional-value, lottery, and shop functions, along with the cards and items he had acquired.
• Jiang Xiang remembered that his first Silver Box had granted him a Character Card for Cheng Yang, whose abilities included Qi Magic and excellent memory.

Jiang Xiang used his master thief avatar to stage a supernatural spectacle over New York, hoping to surprise the public and earn emotion points. The stunt ended with a holiday greeting for Sheriff George Stacy.

• Jiang Xiang gave Old Man a fabricated backstory as his father's distant cousin and introduced him as a Qi Magic master.
• After a year of pranks and cautious crimes, Jiang Xiang saved over eight hundred emotion points and planned a larger spectacle before 2005.
• Sherlock helped Kidd prepare a hot-air balloon, neon lights, and a large basket, believing Kidd was planning a prank rather than a heist.
• At midnight, a figure appeared to fly among colorful balloons, startling onlookers and earning an emotion point from George Stacy.
• The airborne figure set off fireworks and revealed banners wishing Sheriff George a happy holiday.

After Jiang Xiang's Earthquake Card frightened the crowd, the New York Police Department faced ridicule in the media, earning him a large haul of emotion points. He spent some of the points on Silver Box draws, receiving sealed talismans, one of Jackie Chan's shirts, and a dried lizard.

• Jiang Xiang activated the Earthquake Card, causing slight tremors that shocked the crowd and Sherlock, then went to sleep.
• Police Chief George stayed awake after his officers' failed operation at Times Square, while newspapers mocked the New York Police Department the next day.
• Jiang Xiang woke to emotion-point notifications and considered how to earn more points by targeting influential people or creating widely noticed events.
• Jiang Xiang spent points on Silver Box draws guided by Old Man and received a Sealed Rooster Talisman, a Sealed Tiger Talisman, one of Jackie Chan's shirts, and a dried lizard.

Jiang Xiang drew a special Ah Xing avatar card and chose the Iron Fist advancement path, which required a rare Buddhist scripture. At Uncle’s antique shop, he obtained two scriptures, then listened as a worried man asked Uncle for help with his adopted son, who seemed to be a supernatural creature.

• Jiang Xiang drew the Ah Xing avatar card, considered its three advancement paths, and chose Iron Fist despite not yet having enough emotion points.
• Jiang Xiang visited Uncle’s antique shop and asked him for a one-of-a-kind Buddhist scripture; Uncle brought out two texts for him to examine.
• A well-dressed man entered the shop and asked Uncle whether supernatural things existed.
• The man explained that his adopted son resembled his deceased child, behaved like a beast, and caused electromagnetic equipment to fail.
• The man told Uncle that the boy had been found as a small child twenty years earlier and asked for a protective charm and help investigating him.

Old Man investigated John’s troubled household and recognized that John’s wife might be a Yinshenger. He reinforced the home, then returned to his antique shop to consult his hidden books of magic.

• Old Man noticed holes in John’s story, sent Jiang Xiang home, and tracked John to his house using a mark he had planted during their handshake.
• John replaced the damaged talismans and holy water protecting his wife, whose unsettling behavior eased as their effects weakened.
• Old Man used a dried lizard to place an emerald protective barrier around John’s home, creating a magical fluctuation that The Ancient One sensed from afar.
• The Ancient One dismissed the fluctuation as apparently harmless while continuing to guard Blue Star against malevolent entities.
• Old Man suspected John’s wife was a Yinshenger, hurried back to his antique shop, and found its entry in the Record of Strange Creatures.

Jiang Xiang advanced the Iron-Headed A Xing card and tested its strength while Old Man prepared to confront the evil spirit haunting John’s wife. After Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. arrived and unintentionally strengthened the spirit by dying, Old Man trapped it in his magic formation and attacked it.

• Jiang Xiang advanced the Ah Xing card to rank C, transformed, and tested the power of Great Strength Vajra Leg.
• Old Man prepared charms and magic measures while considering teaching Jiang Xiang magic.
• Coulson investigated reports that John’s dead wife had returned and led Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. to John’s house.
• The evil spirit attacked the agents, killing most of Coulson’s team and growing stronger with each death.
• Old Man used spells to weaken the spirit, which tried to flee but struck the magic formation he had prepared.

Uncle captured an evil spirit and met Ah Xing, a Level Three Investigator of the Containment Foundation, who asked for his help with a mission involving a magical item. They agreed to work together, but Uncle refused to exchange phone numbers and gave Ah Xing another way to find him.

• Uncle used a potion and a Dissolution Spell to weaken and capture the evil spirit in a bottle.
• Ah Xing warned Uncle that another evil aura had been detected on Bank Residential Street, and Coulson learned that another spirit might be nearby.
• Ah Xing invited Uncle to a Chinatown teahouse, where they introduced themselves as Ah Xing of the Containment Foundation and Cheng Yang of the chi wizard lineage.
• Ah Xing explained that his mission involved a magical item made by a certain person, and Uncle agreed to help in exchange for keeping the item.
• Uncle refused to use a phone and told Ah Xing where to find him, leaving Coulson frustrated that he could not get Ah Xing's contact information.

Coulson tried to make contact with Ah Xing, who claimed to represent the mysterious Containment Foundation and intimidated him into backing off. After Coulson returned to S.H.I.E.L.D., Nick Fury found no records of Ah Xing and called in Natasha and Barton to investigate the supernatural threat.

• Coulson considered how S.H.I.E.L.D. should approach the unfamiliar supernatural group after witnessing Old Man's powers.
• Coulson approached Ah Xing, who introduced himself as being with the Containment Foundation and refused S.H.I.E.L.D.'s offer to help.
• When Coulson asked about the Foundation, Ah Xing pressured him to confirm that S.H.I.E.L.D. was a government organization, then warned him before walking away.
• Nick Fury visited Coulson in the infirmary, learned that Ah Xing had left no trace in S.H.I.E.L.D.'s records, and reviewed Coulson's report.
• Nick Fury ordered Natasha to return from her mission and told Barton to end his vacation early.

Jiang Xiang reviewed the emotion points he had earned and opened one Bronze Box and four Silver Boxes. He added Alice and Yan Shuangying to his plans for the Containment Foundation and the Distillery, then considered how the system ranked character cards.

• Jiang Xiang checked his emotion-point gains from Coulson, Nick Fury, and New York residents before redeeming one Bronze Box and four Silver Boxes.
• The Bronze Box gave Jiang Xiang avatar card Zhang Fei and character card Soldier B.
• The Silver Boxes gave Jiang Xiang an AK-47, a Desert Eagle, Yunnan Baiyao, a deluxe nail-trimming kit, avatar card Alice, and special character card Yan Shuangying.
• Jiang Xiang decided Alice could join the Foundation and Yan Shuangying could join the Distillery, while the Premium Dried Pufferfish would strengthen Old Man's magic.
• Jiang Xiang compared the abilities of his cards and speculated about the differences between the system's ranks.

Jiang Xiang trained to strengthen his true body and improve his command of avatar skills while pursuing his ambition to become a god or immortal. In New York, his attempt to avoid Natasha Romanoff ended abruptly, as Coulson brought Nick Fury evidence of dozens of suspected Wraiths and possible psychological interference.

• Jiang Xiang decided to keep training because avatar cards did little to strengthen his true body, and practice helped him access more of his avatars’ abilities.
• In Kunlun City, Lei Gong told Fan Cheng that Shou-Lao had foreseen a calamity that might destroy the city, then returned with him as Kunlun City vanished.
• Jiang Xiang, in Ah Xing’s form, recognized Natasha Romanoff in a New York coffee shop, pretended not to speak English, and left her behind.
• Natasha reported that her contact attempt had failed, while Coulson brought Nick Fury a file listing dozens of people suspected of returning from the dead.
• Coulson said neighbors had seen the suspected Wraiths behave strangely before disappearing, and psychologists believed the pattern suggested hypnotic control or psychological interference.

Old Man recruited Jiang Xiang into his Qi Magic lineage while investigating the many wraiths haunting the area. After S.H.I.E.L.D. agents presented records of people returning from the dead, Coulson invited Old Man and Ah Xing to become S.H.I.E.L.D. consultants.

• Old Man returned to his antique shop and accepted Jiang Xiang as a disciple in his Qi Magic lineage.
• Old Man sent a paper talisman to contact Ah Xing and began teaching Jiang Xiang Qi Magic.
• Nick asked Coulson about the source of John’s paper talismans, and Coulson reported that John had likely inherited or made them himself.
• Old Man met Coulson and Natasha at a restaurant, where Coulson handed him S.H.I.E.L.D.’s cases of people returning from the dead.
• Coulson invited Old Man and Ah Xing to join S.H.I.E.L.D. as consultants.

Ah Xing and Old Man met with S.H.I.E.L.D. to discuss the Wraiths, but Ah Xing mocked their offer of cooperation and revealed that he belonged to a larger organization. The chapter ended with S.H.I.E.L.D. learning that reinforcements might arrive, though Ah Xing refused to say where they were.

• Coulson and Natasha invited Ah Xing and Old Man to cooperate with S.H.I.E.L.D., but Ah Xing questioned their ability to work with supernatural factions.
• Coulson reported that Wraiths had appeared in New York for at least three years, surprising Ah Xing and Jiang Xiang.
• Ah Xing and Old Man discussed the dangers of ordinary people encountering Wraiths, and Old Man praised S.H.I.E.L.D. for quickly finding their locations.
• Natasha asked whether Ah Xing was connected to the Wraiths, and Ah Xing vanished in a flash before returning and insisting that he and his group had nothing to do with them.
• Ah Xing said he had reported the Wraiths and that more support might come, then claimed he was only a lowly Level Three employee.

After Ah Xing left the wraith investigation to Old Man, S.H.I.E.L.D. assessed the two men and debated the Avengers Initiative, while Jiang Xiang began studying magic potions. Nick Fury later questioned Talos about Ah Xing’s disappearance, and Old Man continued eliminating wraiths.

• Ah Xing declined to help with the wraiths and vanished, leaving Old Man to handle them as Nick Fury ordered S.H.I.E.L.D. to withdraw.
• Nick Fury reviewed the psychological profiles of Old Man and Ah Xing, classifying Old Man as approachable and Ah Xing as difficult to understand.
• Old Man began teaching Jiang Xiang about Qi Magic potions, explaining that Deity Summoning had been lost.
• Nick Fury briefed the World Security Council on the wraiths and presented the Avengers Initiative, but the council members opposed it.
• Nick Fury secretly showed Talos a video of Ah Xing disappearing, and Talos said he had never seen anyone do that.
• Over the following days, Old Man helped eliminate several Yinshenger wraiths.

Jiang Xiang’s outing was interrupted by a staged park shootout, and Coulson’s S.H.I.E.L.D. team rescued Frank Castle and his family. Old Man agreed to save Frank’s wife and children in exchange for Frank working for him for ten years.

• Jiang Xiang’s bodyguards took him out to explore, but a gunfight broke out in a crowded park and they sheltered in a nearby restaurant.
• Armed men planned to kill Frank and his family and blame the shooting on a gang clash.
• Old Man and Coulson heard the gunfire, and Coulson sent Teams Seven and Nine to investigate.
• Team Nine brought Frank, his wounded wife Maria, and their children to Coulson, who recognized Frank Castle.
• Old Man said he could barely keep Maria and the children alive, and Frank pleaded with him to save them.
• Old Man agreed to save Frank’s family in return for Frank working for him for ten years.

At Old Man’s exorcism, Jiang Xiang saw a corpse and brought tea before greeting Coulson, who came with new intelligence about the Wraiths. Coulson reported that the Wraiths had become more human and better at beguiling people, then began explaining what had gone wrong with S.H.I.E.L.D.’s research.

• Jiang Xiang noticed Emotional Value rising while he ate and wondered what Old Man had done to provoke such strong reactions.
• Jiang Xiang saw the corpse left after Old Man expelled a Wraith, then brought tea to Old Man and Frank.
• Jiang Xiang let Coulson into the courtyard, and Coulson asked about his relationship with Old Man.
• Coulson gave Old Man a document and reported that the Wraiths were becoming more human and harder to detect as they beguiled victims.
• Old Man asked Coulson to explain what had happened, and Coulson hesitated before answering.

Coulson told Old Man that Hydra had experimented on Wraiths, while Jiang Xiang used the resulting suspicion and emotional value to open a Silver Box and obtain a cloning card and supernatural stamps. The stamps delivered a cryptic letter from Freddy to S.H.I.E.L.D., and Nick Fury questioned Coulson about the Wraiths and Jiang Xiang’s magic.

• Coulson told Old Man that Hydra had captured Wraiths and altered them so they attacked people indiscriminately, but he said S.H.I.E.L.D. had no surviving surveillance footage.
• Nick Fury ordered Coulson to destroy the recording of Old Man mentioning a Hydra monster and keep the matter off the record.
• Jiang Xiang spent three thousand emotional value on a Silver Box guided by the keyword “clones” and received Inexhaustible Stamps, an Iruka Umino incarnation card, and a Fusion opportunity card.
• Jiang Xiang used the stamps to send letters to S.H.I.E.L.D. bases, and one delivered to the Triskelion addressed to Yinshenger contained a message signed by Freddy.
• Nick Fury showed Coulson the letter and asked about the New York Wraith operation and whether Jiang Xiang had revealed how to learn magic; Coulson said the operation was progressing and Jiang Xiang had not shared anything.

Ah Xing demonstrated his martial arts to the agents watching him before receiving Coulson, who brought a letter and asked about the Wilder Sect. Coulson left with some information, while Ah Xing wondered whether S.H.I.E.L.D. had any other agents to send.

• Ah Xing practiced on Plum Blossom Stakes and kicked a soccer ball hard enough to crack the courtyard wall as agents watched.
• Coulson visited Ah Xing with a letter, and Ah Xing agreed to speak after Coulson said he was prepared for the risks.
• Ah Xing gave Coulson a brief account of humanity's search for supernatural truths, then identified the letter's sender, Freddy, as likely belonging to the Wilder Sect.
• Ah Xing described the Wilder Sect as a group of self-aware anomalies that supported one another and said some people argued they deserved freedom.
• Coulson left after gaining information, and Ah Xing wondered whether S.H.I.E.L.D. had other agents besides Coulson.

Jiang Xiang used Ah Xing to injure a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent and expose Melinda’s attempt to approach him, earning emotional value from the agents. At a private S.H.I.E.L.D. base, Dr. Anton reported little progress studying a Wraith as black vapor began to rise from it.

• Ah Xing left Chinatown in an enhanced incarnation created by Jiang Xiang and declined his neighbor’s offer to recommend him for a job.
• Ah Xing knocked out Jack, a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent who had robbed someone and insulted him, then realized the encounter had earned him only three emotional-value points.
• Melinda approached Ah Xing under cover, but he recognized her as an agent and left; she reported the failed mission to Nick Fury.
• Nick Fury ordered Dr. Anton to continue studying the Wraith without taking unnecessary steps, while black vapor began rising from the Wraith’s back.

Natasha gathered information from Alice about Ah Xing’s search for the physical manifestation of an ancient demon’s chi, while Jiang Xiang prepared the Rooster Talisman-powered shield for the coming theater plan. The Wraith Tewal awakened, and Old Man sensed a change in the sealed Wraith just as he realized something had gone wrong.

• Natasha met Alice on Manhattan Avenue and escorted her to a café, where S.H.I.E.L.D. questioned her about Ah Xing’s mission.
• The Wraith Yinshenger awakened in a dilapidated church and named himself Tewal.
• Jiang Xiang transferred the Rooster Talisman’s unsealed power into a shield being delivered to a museum.
• Natasha briefed Nick Fury on Alice and the demon chi, and Nick Fury focused on Ah Xing’s combat abilities.
• Old Man sensed the Wraith inside the sealed jar had grown more aware, then realized something had gone wrong.