Recaps

Jiang Chen tested the system’s new enhancement function, turning his switchblade into a powerful, hard-to-notice Murder Dagger and discovering that better items cost more ghost qi to enhance. He searched for another paranormal incident and settled on a haunted doll factory, where a doll had appeared in a phone’s facial-recognition photo.

• Jiang Chen enhanced his switchblade into the Murder Dagger, whose sharpness, toughness, and ability to escape notice had greatly increased.
• Jiang Chen declined to enhance the Jade Little Sword and learned that enhancing the Green-Skinned Little Drum would cost 500 ghost qi to begin.
• Jiang Chen decided to earn more ghost qi, ordered books about psychology, and searched the Underworld App for a paranormal incident.
• Jiang Chen reviewed reports of worsening incidents as experts were occupied by the impending yin-energy eruption in Fengdu.
• Jiang Chen selected the Huaxian County Doll Factory incident after reading that a Joyful Child doll had appeared in an employee’s phone-unlock photo.

After learning that the Fengdu upheaval was coming two years early, Jiang Chen grew more determined to strengthen himself. When Gu Hongya learned that a cleaner’s corpse had appeared in her family home, she asked Jiang Chen to leave with her that night, hoping he could deal with the danger.

• Jiang Chen read that the Dao Alliance’s Six Giants had sent their successors and experts to help the Nine Provinces prepare for the early Fengdu upheaval.
• Jiang Chen remembered the terrifying storm during the upheaval eight years earlier and worried that the early timing would bring further dangers.
• At dinner, Gu Hongya received a call from her mother, who said a missing cleaner’s corpse had been found crammed into a small cabinet at the Gu home.
• Gu Hongya asked Jiang Chen to leave with her that night, and he agreed while finishing his meal.
• Gu Hongya hurried to get the car, convinced that Jiang Chen could solve the crisis at her family home.

Sister Hong told Jiang Chen how the Gu family’s troubles began after her father returned to Gu Family Village and moved her grandfather’s coffin, then described a strange incident at their Fu Mountain villa. Jiang Chen reached the mountain knowing the Underworld Think Tank estimated the entity was around C-Class, while Sister Hong’s account ended with her cousin imitating something with stiff joints.

• Sister Hong told Jiang Chen that her father had restored their branch to the Gu family genealogy and arranged to move her grandfather’s coffin into the ancestral burial grounds.
• After the coffin was moved, people in the Gu household disappeared, went mad, or died, so Sister Hong’s family relocated to Fu Mountain.
• Sister Hong said the strange incidents continued at the villa, where her cousin was compelled to open the door after hearing a knock.
• The cousin’s wife found him dancing stiffly in the open doorway and realized he was imitating something with stiff joints.

Gu Hongya told Jiang Chen about the bizarre incidents at Gu Mountain Villa, where people could enter but those who left never returned. When a car blocked their path near a pileup, Jiang Chen rammed it into the guardrail and got out to handle the driver.

• Gu Hongya recounted how relatives at Gu Mountain Villa had been killed, driven mad, or begun acting strangely, and said people who fled had never reached home.
• Gu Hongya spotted several wrecked cars near a sharp mountain bend and prepared to slow down.
• A car suddenly appeared beside Gu Hongya’s 7 Series and honked, startling her into accelerating toward the wrecks.
• Jiang Chen took control of the wheel, rammed the blocking car, and shoved it against the cliffside guardrail until it stopped just short of falling.
• Jiang Chen got out to deal with the other driver after telling Gu Hongya he would handle it.

Jiang Chen provoked a driver who was actually a top-tier vicious ghost, then killed him with the Darksteel Short-Hilted Knife and gained ghost qi. After returning to the car, he revealed a wounded female ghost in the back seat, terrifying Sister Hong.

• Jiang Chen blamed the driver for failing to anticipate the collision and claimed the crash had been his own slow reaction.
• Jiang Chen demanded the driver hand over his cash, and the driver revealed a knife and attacked him.
• Jiang Chen killed the driver with the Darksteel Short-Hilted Knife, bringing his ghost qi to 9,430.
• Jiang Chen returned to Sister Hong's car and asked the unseen passenger if she was settled in.
• Sister Hong spotted the wounded female ghost in the rearview mirror and screamed in terror.

Jiang Chen stopped Sister Hong from driving off a cliff after her cousin’s ghost lured her toward a deadly vision in the rearview mirror. He then offered himself to the ghost, but when she used her power on him, the reflection changed in a way that terrified her.

• Sister Hong’s dead cousin’s ghost warned her that she would die and urged her to look in the rearview mirror.
• Sister Hong saw a gruesome vision of her own death, became entranced, and tried to drive the car over a cliff.
• Jiang Chen stopped Sister Hong from pressing the accelerator and asked the ghost to show him his own death.
• The ghost claimed Jiang Chen was already dead, but his reflection initially remained unchanged, frustrating her.
• Jiang Chen gave the ghost his hair and personal information so she could target him, and she used her power to change his reflection.
• Jiang Chen looked in the mirror and saw his appearance change, while the ghost beside him reacted in terror.

Jiang Chen transformed into a tiger-headed monster, terrified the Mirror Murdering Ghost, and killed her after she fled. The Ghost Qi he gained unlocked three-star draws, and he obtained the Bear-Stride Monster card as he and Sister Hong reached Gu Family Mountain Villa.

• Jiang Chen’s monstrous reflection frightened the Mirror Murdering Ghost and earned him Ghost Qi as she fled the car.
• Jiang Chen chased the Mirror Murdering Ghost along the mountain road and killed her with his knife.
• Jiang Chen’s Ghost Qi surpassed 10,000, unlocking the ability to draw three-star Monster Transformation Cards.
• Jiang Chen spent 10,000 Ghost Qi and drew the Bear-Stride Monster card.
• Jiang Chen and Sister Hong arrived at Gu Family Mountain Villa.

Sister Hong and Jiang Chen returned to her family’s villa, where they discovered that the guard who welcomed them was dead and had trapped them inside. They found a nailed-shut wardrobe shaking as someone—or something—pounded from within.

• Sister Hong and Jiang Chen entered the villa complex with Uncle Zhao, who warned them that strange incidents had driven residents away.
• Jiang Chen noticed Uncle Zhao spying on them, and Sister Hong remembered that he had died after someone dug out his head.
• Uncle Zhao locked the villa’s front door and chained it shut while a menacing figure watched from outside.
• Jiang Chen and Sister Hong followed muffled knocking to a bedroom and found a wardrobe door trembling behind three remaining nails.

Jiang Chen pinned and destroyed Xiao Ping, then killed Uncle Zhao after the security guard attacked him. He found Sister Hong outside, dancing in a trance, and climbed out to reach her.

• Xiao Ping emerged from the wardrobe and accused Jiang Chen and Sister Hong of nailing her inside, so Jiang Chen pinned her hand and face with enhanced iron nails.
• Uncle Zhao entered the room intending to eat Xiao Ping, but Jiang Chen ambushed him and defeated him with the Demon-Sound Drum and Great Strength Bull Demon Fist.
• Jiang Chen destroyed Xiao Ping and went to check on Sister Hong, but found she had left through the window.
• Jiang Chen saw Sister Hong dancing stiffly outside with a vacant stare, called to her, and climbed out after her.

Jiang Chen killed the dancing ghost that had controlled Sister Hong, then investigated a villa where a young man had hanged himself. He suspected the corpse was about to become a zombie and, after Sister Hong told him to shut the door, pulled her inside and locked them in with it.

• A dancing ghost hypnotized Jiang Chen and Sister Hong into copying its movements as they approached it.
• Jiang Chen put his hands around the ghost's neck instead of his own, then stabbed it in the eye when it attacked him.
• Sister Hong collapsed in relief after the ghost died, and she followed Jiang Chen to a nearby villa with its front door open.
• Jiang Chen and Sister Hong found fresh blood and a young employee hanging from a chandelier; Jiang Chen suspected the corpse would turn into a zombie.
• Sister Hong told Jiang Chen to shut the door, but he pulled her into the villa and locked them inside with the corpse.

Jiang Chen and Sister Hong entered Gu Yun’s house to find Gu Xiaonan after a returned gatekeeper killed several staff members. They discovered that Aunt Liu was a zombie, and Jiang Chen attacked her while Sister Hong and Gu Xiaonan were unconscious.

• Aunt Liu told Sister Hong and Jiang Chen that the gatekeeper Xiao Li had returned as a hopping, bluish corpse and killed several people in the house.
• Sister Hong called Gu Xiaonan’s phone, and the group followed its ringtone upstairs while Aunt Liu recounted what had happened.
• The group found two housekeepers’ bodies facing the staircase, and Jiang Chen chained their necks to the railing to stop them from moving.
• Aunt Liu found Gu Xiaonan hiding under a bed, and Jiang Chen identified Aunt Liu as a zombie.
• Jiang Chen used Demonic Sound to knock out Sister Hong and Gu Xiaonan, then pummeled Aunt Liu as Sister Hong listened outside.

Jiang Chen guided Sister Hong and Gu Xiaonan through a haunted villa, killing two reanimated corpse ghosts after trying to reassure them with a traditional exorcism technique. He urged the women to face their fear, and both managed to continue downstairs with greater resolve.

• Gu Xiaonan emerged from the room terrified and clung to Sister Hong, who told her Jiang Chen would protect them.
• Sister Hong noticed that two corpses had vanished and warned that they had reanimated.
• Jiang Chen stopped one corpse ghost with a finger-pointing chant, but its head exploded, and he slammed the other into a wall.
• Jiang Chen told the women to face their fear and went downstairs, leaving Sister Hong and Gu Xiaonan to step past the gore.
• Sister Hong and Gu Xiaonan overcame their hesitation, went downstairs, and thanked Jiang Chen.

Jiang Chen searched the Mountain Villa with Sister Hong and Gu Xiaonan, speculating that a ghost was targeting the Gu family’s unusual bloodline. When they found corpses hanging upside down in a grove, he repeatedly rearranged them to suit his preferences, enraging the ghosts.

• Sister Hong told Jiang Chen that another corpse had disappeared, and he continued toward the villa entrance to look for living people.
• Gu Xiaonan explained that her family had returned to the Mountain Villa after an exorcism expert vanished and that Aunt Liu had previously disappeared after chasing a headless woman.
• Jiang Chen speculated that the ghost was drawn to the Gu family’s bloodline and pondered the decline of the Dao Alliance and the rise of the Horror Revival.
• Jiang Chen, Sister Hong, and Gu Xiaonan found five or six corpses hanging upside down from ornamental trees, and Jiang Chen inspected how they had been tied.
• Jiang Chen climbed the trees and turned every corpse upright, then decided they looked better upside down and began hanging them back that way, provoking the Upside-Down Corpses.

Jiang Chen killed six powerful hanging ghosts after a brutal fight that nearly drained his demonic power, but Sister Hong realized one ghost was still missing. A half-step vengeful ghost appeared as Jiang Chen stood exhausted, leaving Sister Hong and Gu Xiaonan in despair.

• Jiang Chen taunted the female employee corpse, then fought back when she and the other hanging ghosts attacked him.
• Jiang Chen used the Great Strength Bull Demon Fist, his Assassination Short Knife, and the Green-Skinned Little Drum to kill the female employee and five other upside-down corpses.
• Jiang Chen’s battle earned him more than three thousand ghost qi, bringing his total close to six thousand, but left him nearly out of demonic power.
• Sister Hong told Gu Xiaonan that Jiang Chen had once saved her, then realized the first expert her father invited was not among the six corpses.
• A half-step vengeful ghost in a Zhongshan suit appeared, while Sister Hong and Gu Xiaonan were choked by its aura and Jiang Chen struggled to stand.

Jiang Chen killed the disguised half-step vengeful ghost after replenishing his demonic power, then rushed toward a woman’s scream with Sister Hong and Gu Xiaonan. Meanwhile, the Gu family was trapped in a darkened villa as relatives vanished one by one, leaving Gu Youmin and the survivors facing unseen danger.

• Jiang Chen swallowed a Spirit-Gathering Pill, stunned the middle-aged ghost with the drum, and destroyed it with his fist and repeated knife strikes.
• Sister Hong and Gu Xiaonan recovered from the fight and teased each other about Jiang Chen before a woman screamed nearby.
• Jiang Chen, Sister Hong, and Gu Xiaonan ran toward the scream.
• Gu Youmin and his relatives remained trapped inside the dark villa after the lights failed and the entrance could not be opened.
• The Gu family discovered more people missing as screams, blood, and chewing sounds came from the darkness.

Jiang Chen rescued Han Yue and reached the Gu Family elders’ meeting place, where a terrifying headless ghost blocked the trapped family members. Sister Hong sensed that the ghost’s presence was somehow connected to her.

• Sister Hong spotted a bound, wounded woman and saw Jiang Chen sneak up on a ghost digging a grave; Jiang Chen killed the ghost with his Assassination Short Knife.
• Jiang Chen freed Han Yue, checked her identity by pinching her cheek, and then continued toward the largest building with Han Yue, Sister Hong, and Gu Xiaonan.
• Jiang Chen found the building’s door coated in freezing baleful qi and smashed it open despite Han Yue’s warning that several Unusual Persons, including a D+ expert, had died.
• The Gu family members inside rushed toward the doorway, but a bloodied headless woman in white emerged from the darkness and blocked their escape.
• Sister Hong felt overwhelming terror and briefly perceived the headless corpse as herself.

Jiang Chen fought the headless female corpse after it nearly killed him, then used Demon Transformation to gain the upper hand. The corpse drew a drop of blood from its belly and invoked the power of someone or something called Ba.

• The headless female corpse attacked Yang Rong, and Jiang Chen rushed in to save her but was struck through a wall and badly injured.
• The corpse lifted Jiang Chen to eat him, but he healed rapidly after invoking Demon Transformation and gained Steel Tendon Iron Bones and Lesser Vehicle Wood-Control Technique.
• Jiang Chen resisted the corpse’s claws, struck its chest, and hurled it into the woods.
• Jiang Chen used his wood-control ability to bind the corpse in vegetation and unleash a killing formation that battered it.
• The corpse drew a drop of blood from its belly, causing nearby vegetation to wither, and Jiang Chen wondered if she had invoked Ba’s power.

Jiang Chen used complete demonization of his right arm to tear apart the female corpse after she reached Half-Step Blood Garment, but she regenerated while he was weakened. As she advanced on him, Jiang Chen revealed a dark green elixir pill and challenged her.

• Jiang Chen guessed the female corpse's blood came from a Drought Demon, while Han Yue recognized that the corpse had reached Half-Step Blood Garment.
• The female corpse attacked Jiang Chen, but he completely demonized his right arm into powerful tree trunks and pierced her chest, shredding her upper body.
• The female corpse regenerated in less than three breaths and taunted the weakened Jiang Chen, plunging the others back into despair.
• Han Yue said she could not defeat the injured Half-Step Blood Garment corpse, while the female corpse approached Jiang Chen and spoke of eating him.
• Jiang Chen raised his head, challenged the female corpse, and revealed a fragrant dark green elixir pill in his hand.

Jiang Chen used the Spiritual Resonance Pill to overwhelm the headless female corpse and destroy her limbs, but a dead infant emerged from her belly and attacked him. The infant appeared to be a true blood-clad ghost, and Jiang Chen unleashed Little Palm Thunder as it reached for his heart.

• Jiang Chen swallowed the Spirit-Nurturing Pill and regained his strength, startling the headless female corpse and everyone at the villa.
• Jiang Chen used his demonized right arm and the Spiritual Resonance Pill's replenishing power to smash the female corpse's arms and leg as she tried to flee.
• Sister Hong reunited with her mother, while Gu Youmin acknowledged the debt the Gu family owed Sister Hong.
• Jiang Chen warned everyone to retreat after sensing danger in the female corpse's belly, and they heard chewing from inside it.
• A dead infant emerged, ate the female corpse's remains, and lunged at Jiang Chen, who struck back with Little Palm Thunder.

Jiang Chen wounded a juvenile ba with Little Palm Thunder, then decided the danger of pursuing it was too great and reported it to the Netherworld. The Netherworld began mobilizing to contain the Blood-Clad Ghost-level threat as it fled toward Jiangbei City.

• Jiang Chen’s Little Palm Thunder charred the juvenile ba’s right arm, and the wounded creature fled into the darkness.
• Jiang Chen considered pursuing the ba but stopped, deciding to alert the Netherworld and the Dao Alliance instead.
• Jiang Chen called the Jiangbei City Netherworld emergency line and reported that a Blood-Clad Ghost-level dead infant connected to the legendary ba had appeared.
• Team Leader Yang Chuan took the report, confirmed the creature’s location and ordered Jiang Chen to leave with the Gu survivors.
• Yang Chuan imposed a Level One Gag Order, ordered memory sealing for witnesses, and hurried to set up defenses against the ba.

Jiang Chen learned that Gu Youmin had pretended to expel Gu Xiaoya from the family to protect her from a foretold calamity. Gu Youmin showed him two relics left by his father, and Jiang Chen discovered they could be enhanced with Ghost Qi.

• Jiang Chen told the Gu family the danger had passed for now and said they would be taken to Jiangbei City.
• Gu Youmin privately explained that his father had gone mad, buried himself alive, and died in the ancestral graveyard.
• Gu Youmin revealed that his father had predicted Gu Xiaoya would face the next calamity, so he arranged her expulsion from the family to protect her.
• Gu Youmin said the village elders later urged him to return Gu Xiaoya to the ancestral graveyard, but a man jumped off a cliff after shouting about a headless woman.
• Gu Youmin retrieved his father's ancient book and damaged bone stake, and Jiang Chen identified them as the Secret Art of the Seven Stars of the Dipper and the Drought Bone Stake.

Jiang Chen restored part of the Gu family’s secret manual, gained a one-third stake in the Gu business, and took possession of the damaged Drought Bone Nail. As the convoy approached Jiangbei City, Netherworld official Yang Chuan confronted them, and Jiang Chen introduced himself by giving his full home address.

• Jiang Chen used Ghost Qi to repair the ancient manual and discovered that the Kui Dou Seven-Star Secret Art could only be practiced by people with awakened Gu blood.
• Jiang Chen persuaded Gu Youmin to give him a one-third equity stake in the Gu Family business in exchange for restoring the manual and helping the family regain supernatural power.
• Gu Youmin gave Jiang Chen the damaged Drought Bone Nail, which Jiang Chen recognized as an ancient artifact said to be used against Drought Demons.
• In Sister Hong’s car, Jiang Chen reviewed his Ghost Qi, items, and rewards, then looked forward to visiting the Black Market and drawing more Monster Transformation Cards.
• A group from Netherworld stopped the convoy near Jiangbei City, and Yang Chuan introduced himself to Jiang Chen.
• Jiang Chen responded by cheerfully giving Yang Chuan his residential complex, building, floor, and unit number.

Jiang Chen and Han Yue answered the Netherworld’s questions about the blood-clad ghost, while Jiang Chen used his status as an Unusual Person to spare Gu Youmin from memory sealing over an unsigned business deal. After leaving with Sister Hong, Jiang Chen suspected she had awakened a bloodline that resisted hypnosis, and he later returned home to draw cards.

• Yang Chuan questioned Jiang Chen about the blood-clad ghost, then froze in terror when he met Jiang Chen’s gaze.
• Yang Chuan explained that ordinary witnesses’ memories would be sealed to prevent panic while the Netherworld pursued the blood-clad ghost.
• Jiang Chen brought Gu Youmin forward to spare him from memory sealing because Gu Youmin still owed him shares and had not signed their contract.
• A female Netherworld Messenger hypnotized the Gu family, but Sister Hong remained unaffected and said she had seen a blood-red flash.
• Jiang Chen told Sister Hong about his deal with her father to restore the Gu family’s ancestral secret art and suggested she try to learn it.
• After returning home, Jiang Chen learned Elder Guzhi’s Demon Transformation had ended without granting him lasting abilities, then prepared to draw two Two-Star Cards and one Three-Star Card.

After earning Ghost Qi from delayed Netherworld Messengers, Jiang Chen was summoned to the Netherworld Branch Office because they had caught Puppeteer but needed his cooperation. He provoked Qiu Hong on arrival, then calmly entered the interrogation room while the others struggled to restrain the furious deputy team leader.

• Jiang Chen spent Ghost Qi on cards, then chose a C-minus mission about a red envelope and went to sleep hoping for an easy case.
• Qiu Hong called Jiang Chen the next morning and ordered him to come to the branch office because Puppeteer had been caught but could not yet be killed.
• Jiang Chen delayed his arrival by riding buses back and forth, earning Ghost Qi from Qiu Hong and the waiting Netherworld Messengers.
• At the branch office, Jiang Chen angered Qiu Hong by turning away when the deputy team leader shouted at him.
• The Netherworld Messengers explained that they needed Jiang Chen's signature to repatriate Puppeteer and deal with Ghost Call-07, so Qiu Hong reluctantly invited him inside.
• Jiang Chen mocked Qiu Hong, then slipped into the interrogation room and waved the Netherworld Messengers in as they tried to keep Qiu Hong from attacking him.

Jiang Chen negotiated a 15,000 Underworld Point payment to consent to the release of Liang Si, then learned that the infant Ba Young Kui had escaped and threatened the region. He arrived at school more determined to grow stronger, where his classmates admired him for saving them at the Mountain Villa.

• Wu Tong explained that Liang Si had offered Ghost Call-07's location in exchange for safe release, and Jiang Chen negotiated compensation up to 15,000 Underworld Points before signing his consent.
• Jiang Chen photographed Liang Si and asked where Puppeteers went after release, then left without learning more.
• Jiang Chen received an urgent warning that the infant Ba Young Kui had escaped, seriously injured Yang Chuan, and posed a grave threat to nearby cities.
• Jiang Chen judged Young Kui too dangerous to confront and resolved to gather enough ghost qi to draw a four-star Monster Transformation Card.
• Jiang Chen arrived at school, where his classmates admired him for helping save everyone at the Mountain Villa.