Chapter Summaries

Jiang Chen deliberately exposed himself to the black faces to harvest Ghost Qi, while the Critical Patients and the Doctor grew convinced that the faces were corrupting him. After clearing the faces from his windows, he spotted more across the corridor and rushed toward them with his hammer, leaving the patients alarmed that he might attack the Hospital Ward windows.

• Jiang Chen grabbed and smashed black faces by the Dean's Office window, shocking the Critical Patients with his apparent fearlessness.
• Jiang Chen skewered a face on his hammer to let its Black Blood contaminate him, and he deliberately acted as though the faces were driving him mad.
• Jiang Chen urged No. 02 and the others to join him, prompting the patients and the surviving Doctor to flee into the corridor.
• The patients saw more faces battering the Hospital Ward windows and worried that Jiang Chen had been corrupted.
• After exhausting the faces outside his window, Jiang Chen spotted more across the corridor and rushed toward them with his hammer.

Jiang Chen tormented the patients while asking what the faces outside the Hospital Ward were. No. 01 revealed that the faces were known as Death Curse Remnants.

• Jiang Chen slapped No. 02 and threw No. 04 down the corridor as they tried to stop him from approaching the windows.
• No. 03 begged Jiang Chen to smash both windows, then became distressed when Jiang Chen left his sentence unfinished.
• Jiang Chen asked the patients what the faces outside were, but the Attending Physician said he knew nothing.
• No. 02 struck the Attending Physician seven times, and No. 03 added seven more after Jiang Chen pointed out the unevenness of his injuries.
• No. 01 said the faces were top-secret in the Hospital Ward and identified them as Death Curse Remnants.

No. 01 explained that Death Curse Remnants were born from patients’ unresolved obsessions and warned that they would soon breach the Hospital Ward. Jiang Chen encouraged the patients, then plunged from the Dean’s Office window into the darkness.

• No. 01 revealed that failed patients’ obsessions were extracted to make death curses, while the discarded remnants became incomplete monsters.
• Doctor Wang explained the origins of death curses, and No. 01 warned that the remnants could possess anyone carrying their matching curses.
• Jiang Chen realized the Yin God Hammer suppressed the many complete obsessions it contained and learned that the remnants could not be eliminated by killing them alone.
• No. 01 said the Death Curse Remnants would likely breach the Hospital Ward within two or three days, leaving the patients trapped and expecting to die.
• Jiang Chen urged the patients to live for tomorrow, then spread his arms and fell from the Dean’s Office window into the darkness.

Jiang Chen unleashed his Savage Beast Heavenly Aspect to destroy the enormous human faces threatening him and the Hospital Ward. After absorbing the remnants and clearing the remaining faces, he thinned the darkness around the ward, leaving the Critical Patients and Doctor Wang stunned.

• Wu Tong and No. 02 feared Jiang Chen had died after he stepped into the darkness, but they saw him slaughtering the human faces below.
• No. 01 warned that the Death Curse Remnants could combine, and a giant face overwhelmed Jiang Chen as the Critical Patients prepared to close the window.
• Jiang Chen awakened his Savage Beast Heavenly Aspect, which tore apart the giant face and shattered several more before striking down another enormous face.
• Jiang Chen swallowed an Origin-Spirit Pill and absorbed the writhing face fragments with the Yin God Hammer, which grew increasingly heavy.
• Jiang Chen cleared the remaining human faces, and the darkness around the Hospital Ward visibly thinned as the Critical Patients and Doctor Wang watched in shock.

After Jiang Chen destroyed the Hospital Ward’s Death Curse Remnants, the Critical Patients escaped and killed Doctor Wang when he tried to flee. Dean Gao emerged from the ruined hospital and threatened Jiang Chen, who eagerly gave him his home address and personal details before Dean Gao withdrew.

• Jiang Chen destroyed the last Death Curse Remnant, causing the Hospital Ward to decay and allowing the Critical Patients and other patients to escape.
• Doctor Wang urged the Critical Patients to flee while Jiang Chen was exhausted, but they stayed and chased him down after he ran.
• No. 02 used the Yin God Hammer to kill Doctor Wang, and the hammer devoured his Yin Qi.
• Dean Gao emerged from the Hospital Ward and asked who had destroyed it, while the patients hid from him.
• Jiang Chen called out to Dean Gao and gave him his address and personal information so he could find him later.
• Dean Gao began to withdraw, and Jiang Chen shouted his name and address again, demanding that he remember them.

After escaping the hospital, Jiang Chen took the patients toward the Netherworld while assessing his huge Ghost Qi haul and the Yin God Hammer’s power. He tested the hammer’s ability to strengthen ghosts and briefly summoned Director He, whose new Half-Step Fierce Soul aura terrified everyone before Jiang Chen sent him back.

• Jiang Chen left Dean Gao a packet of personal information, then led the patients out of the ruined hospital and reassured them while secretly planning to send them to the Netherworld.
• The group found working cars near Xunhe City, and Jiang Chen enhanced them before heading toward Jiangbei and checking his Ghost Qi, which had reached 940,000.
• Jiang Chen decided not to attack the Critical Patients for more Ghost Qi, reasoning that keeping them alive and taking them to the Netherworld would bring him a lasting return.
• Jiang Chen inspected the Yin God Hammer and found that its Death Curse Remnants had raised a Vicious Ghost to Vengeful Ghost rank.
• Jiang Chen repeatedly used Demonic Power and Origin-Spirit Pills to activate Director He’s name on the hammer, summoning him as a Half-Step Fierce Soul and frightening No. 04 and the other patients.
• Jiang Chen ordered Director He to return, and the oppressive aura vanished as the patients recovered from their fear.

Zhao Xiaodong and a team of novice Netherworld Messengers waited in the woods outside a mountain village after their Grandmaster disappeared. When a half-body blood garment ghost attacked and began killing them, Zhao Xiaodong realized the forest might be aiding it and led the survivors toward the village.

• Zhao Xiaodong ordered the team to wait ten minutes for Grandmaster Zhou, then retreat and report if he did not return.
• Zhao Xiaodong recalled how he had joined the Nine Provinces, survived brutal training, and become a Netherworld Messenger alongside Yang Zhi and Zhao Qian.
• Zhao Xiaodong called for a retreat when Grandmaster Zhou failed to return, but a woman in half-red clothing appeared in a tree.
• A hanged ghost killed three novice Netherworld Messengers, including a young man whose head was severed by a tightening noose.
• Zhao Xiaodong concluded that fleeing through the forest might expose them to further attacks and ordered the survivors to run toward the village, where the ghost's power might weaken.

Zhao Xiaodong led the survivors into the village after rescuing Sister Qin from the Hanged Female Ghost, then discovered that Li Kai had been marked by a paper shroud. The group entered a nearby house to seek safety and help Li Kai, but two eerie figures carrying paper shrouds approached as they found a sealed well and foul water vats in the courtyard.

• Zhao Xiaodong used his gaze to distract the Hanged Female Ghost, rescued Sister Qin, and led the group into the village while the ghost stopped at the woods' edge.
• Zhao Xiaodong took charge, requested rescue from the Netherworld Branch Office, and noticed that Li Kai was wearing a paper shroud.
• An old man warned that wearing the shroud and hiding in a nearby house could keep them safe, but vanished when Zhao Xiaodong chased him.
• Li Kai began coughing up bloody matter and suffered severe stomach pain, so Zhao Xiaodong chose to bring everyone into the nearby house rather than split up.
• Zhao Xiaodong found a sealed well and foul water vats in the courtyard as Sister Qin spotted two figures carrying paper shrouds approaching.
• Zhao Xiaodong ordered everyone inside the house quickly.

Zhao Xiaodong’s group tried to escape the shroud-wearing ghosts by fleeing deeper into the village, but the villagers pursued them and claimed more victims. The group ran into another ghostly presence ahead, leaving their escape uncertain.

• Zhao Xiaodong and Sister Qin tore Li Kai’s Paper Shroud, but Li Kai was killed, and Zhao Xiaodong took responsibility for the failed rescue.
• Zhao Xiaodong realized the house was surrounded by powerful ghosts and led the group through the gate to flee deeper into the village.
• The group fought back the two ghosts at the gate and escaped, but more shroud-bearing figures emerged from the darkness and chased them.
• Wang Yang succumbed to the ghosts’ calls, accepted a shroud, and wandered into a house.
• As Zhao Xiaodong’s group ran onward, a familiar grotesque laugh and the words “Put it on” came from ahead.

Zhao Xiaodong led the surviving novice Netherworld Messengers through the village by using the sealed wells to evade the Shroud Ghosts and reach the ancestral hall. After reporting that a Blood-Clad Ghost was pursuing them and more than one might haunt the village, he drew Jiang Chen and the Critical Patients toward the danger.

• Zhao Xiaodong broke open a sealed well, whose eerie presence frightened the Shroud Ghosts away from the house.
• Zhao Xiaodong found a message blaming the village chief for falsely accusing a woman and having her father’s legs broken in the ancestral hall.
• Zhao Xiaodong opened the gate to lure the Shroud Ghosts inside, then led the group toward the ancestral hall as a blood-red female ghost pursued them.
• The survivors reached the ancestral hall, where the blood-red ghost refused to enter and Zhao Xiaodong realized the village might contain multiple Blood-Clad Ghosts.
• Zhao Xiaodong reported that a Blood-Clad Ghost was the village’s strongest threat and that Grandmaster Zhou might be dead.
• Jiang Chen ordered No. 01, No. 02, No. 03, and No. 04 to hurry after him, then raced toward the village with the Critical Patients following.

Zhao Xiaodong and the novice Netherworld Messengers were cornered in the Ancestral Shrine Hall by a monster made from seven mutilated villagers, and Zhao began ghost devouring in a last attempt to resist. Just as the group faced death, a sledgehammer crashed through the roof and several composed figures arrived, including someone whose familiar voice stunned them.

• The novices fled into the Ancestral Shrine Hall after a limping old man mutilated one teammate and shroud-bearing figures blocked their escape.
• Zhao Xiaodong found village records revealing generations of cruel punishments that had created the village’s many ghosts, and warned the approaching Grandmaster to turn back.
• A blind man appeared and joined six other mutilated victims to form a human centipede, which held and devoured Grandmaster Zhou’s corpse.
• As the monster’s pressure overwhelmed the group, Zhao Xiaodong walked toward it while undergoing ghost devouring, and the other novices prepared for death.
• A sledgehammer smashed through the shrine roof between the monster and Zhao Xiaodong, and several calm figures arrived; a familiar voice made Yang Zhi, Zhao Qian, and Zhao Xiaodong freeze.

Jiang Chen forced the psychiatric patients to fight the Human Centipede while he collected ghost qi from both sides. The battle continued with the patients taking damage, and Jiang Chen decided to compensate them later with nicer suites in the Netherworld Purgatory.

• Zhao Qian recognized Jiang Chen, and No. 02 rebuked her for addressing the Dean by name.
• Jiang Chen threatened the ghost possessing Zhao Xiaodong with lightning and a sledgehammer, forcing it to retreat before he handed Zhao Xiaodong to Yang Zhi.
• Jiang Chen gave the patients Origin-Spirit Pills and ordered them to fight the Human Centipede while he watched from the terrace.
• No. 03 attacked the Human Centipede, No. 04 cut at its limbs, and No. 02 used his curse to control one of its segments.
• The Human Centipede fought back with funeral-like wails, injuring No. 02 and removing his eyes as Jiang Chen collected ghost qi from the combatants.

Jiang Chen rescued the novice Netherworld Messengers by commanding four Critical Patients against the Human Centipede. The battle left the monster increasingly corrupted by their Death Curse, and it began to fear the strange attackers.

• The four Critical Patients fought the Human Centipede while Jiang Chen and the surviving Netherworld Messengers watched from the Ancestral Hall entrance.
• Jiang Chen told Zhao Xiaodong, Zhao Qian, Yang Zhi, and the others that he was a temporary security worker at the Netherworld branch, not a Grandmaster.
• Yang Zhi asked Jiang Chen to teach him how to sneak up behind ghosts, while Zhao Qian brought up their promised date.
• Jiang Chen said he had a kid to look after, and No. 04 called him Big Brother Dean before losing an arm and attacking the Human Centipede more fiercely.
• Jiang Chen reassured Zhao Xiaodong that the Critical Patients could handle the monster as their Death Curse spread across its body.
• The Human Centipede slowed down and demanded to know what kind of monsters the Critical Patients were.

Jiang Chen commentated on the Blood-Clad Ghosts’ battle while protecting the novice Netherworld Messengers, then confronted the Shroud Ghosts outside the Ancestral Hall. He summoned Wu Tong and the other patients to help strip the Shroud Ghosts of their remaining clothes.

• The Human Centipede reassembled after the Death Curse and resumed fighting the Critical Patients.
• Jiang Chen mocked the Critical Patients’ tactics as No. 01 joined the battle and quickly destroyed three of the Human Centipede’s heads.
• The battle’s curse aura harmed the novice Netherworld Messengers, so Jiang Chen led them out of the Ancestral Hall and intervened to save them.
• Outside, Yang Zhi realized that the eerie figures were Shroud Ghosts whose burial shrouds Jiang Chen had already taken.
• Jiang Chen asked the Shroud Ghosts for more burial shrouds, then ordered Wu Tong and the arriving patients to stop them and strip off their clothes.

Jiang Chen terrorized the Shroud Ghosts in Laowu Village, using their families and neighbors to provoke fear and harvest Ghost Qi. He slaughtered the ghosts who confronted him and began a countdown, leaving the remaining villagers panicked and silent.

• Jiang Chen seized Xiu'er and threatened her family, but the Shroud Ghosts retreated instead of helping her.
• After Old Xiao and Xiu'er's relatives urged the villagers to resist, Jiang Chen killed Xiu'er, her husband, their son, and Old Xiao with the Yin God Hammer.
• Jiang Chen claimed he would preserve the family's story by carving their names into his hammer and advanced on the fleeing Shroud Ghosts, whose escape was blocked by psychiatric patients.
• A tall young Shroud Ghost called for a coordinated attack, so Jiang Chen killed him and demanded that the villagers identify his family and neighbors.
• When no one answered, Jiang Chen threatened to kill everyone and began counting down from sixty as Ghost Qi notifications rang out.

Jiang Chen slaughtered the Shroud Ghosts and returned the rookies’ fallen comrades, while the battle against the Human Centipede continued at the Ancestral Hall. Zhao Xiaodong warned him that a hidden Blood-Clad Ghost was watching from a newly appeared well, but Jiang Chen pretended his back hurt and asked to sit beside it.

• Jiang Chen summoned tribulation lightning, drove the Shroud Ghosts into a panicked retreat, and killed them all.
• The rookie Netherworld Messengers mourned their fallen comrades as Zhao Xiaodong recognized that their grief and hatred would change them.
• Jiang Chen returned the bodies he had gathered and told the rookies to carry their comrades home.
• No. 01 tore out and crushed the Human Centipede’s Seven Hearts, but the monster rose again and continued fighting the Critical Patients.
• Zhao Xiaodong secretly warned Jiang Chen that another Blood-Clad Ghost was hiding near a well that had not been there before and urged him not to show exhaustion.
• Jiang Chen acted as if his back hurt and called for help finding somewhere to sit, pointing out the suspicious well.

Jiang Chen used himself as bait at the old well, where the Hospital Ward Doctor ambushed a female Blood-Clad Ghost, but the well swallowed her and then Doctor Wang. Jiang Chen realized a stronger force lay beneath the village and suspected the person behind its false reports was pursuing a larger goal in Jiangbei.

• No. 15 joined Jiang Chen at the well, and he teased her about looking like Tahm while warning Wu Tong not to look down into it with him.
• A female Blood-Clad Ghost crept up behind Jiang Chen, but the Hospital Ward Doctor seized her and crushed her neck before the well swallowed her corpse and one of his arms.
• Jiang Chen threw the wounded Doctor Wang into the well, then realized the well could kill a Blood-Clad Ghost when Doctor Wang's name dimmed on the Yin God Hammer.
• Zhao Xiaodong told Jiang Chen that Grandmaster Zhou had chosen the village for training based on false intelligence about two resolved incidents.
• Jiang Chen suspected the person behind the village's hidden activity was nearing their goal, warned everyone to stay close, and watched the Human Centipede weaken as the battle between the Blood-Clad Ghosts neared its end.

The Critical Patients nearly destroyed the Human Centipede, but Xu Lai intervened and incapacitated them before revealing that he served Xu Fu. Jiang Chen confronted Xu Lai over the attack on his patients, and Xu Lai threatened to kill everyone except Jiang Chen, whose Three Souls he planned to imprison and torment.

• The Critical Patients crushed the Human Centipede and reduced the blind man to a head, while the rookie Netherworld Messengers watched their unlikely victory.
• Xu Lai attacked with enormous hands of soil, killing three Critical Patients and crushing No. 01's ghost heart before throwing him aside.
• Xu Lai fed the Female Blood-Clad Ghost to the recovering Human Centipede and announced that he served Xu Fu, a Ghost King.
• No. 01 identified himself as Patient No. 01 and named his dean, Jiang Chen, who stepped forward to confront Xu Lai.
• Jiang Chen demanded that Xu Lai kneel, apologize, and die, but Xu Lai threatened to kill everyone present and imprison Jiang Chen's Three Souls.

Jiang Chen fought Xu Lai, an immortal-seeking monster from the Qin era, and destroyed the Human Centipede before Xu Lai unleashed a Yin River that swallowed the village and trapped everyone. As Xu Lai took control of the river, Jiang Chen recalled that one of his transformations had once abducted Tang Sanzang in the Blackwater River.

• Jiang Chen used the Tuolong Armor Technique to break free from Xu Lai's giant earthen hand and confronted him.
• Xu Lai revealed his rotting, scaled face, explained that he had lived since the Qin era by swallowing the Elixir of Immortality, and invited Jiang Chen to join him.
• Jiang Chen charged through Xu Lai's earthen barriers, narrowly missed him with the Yin God Hammer, and smashed the Human Centipede.
• Xu Lai summoned a Yin River with his bronze compass, causing the village and the Netherworld Messengers, ghosts, and patients to sink into its waters.
• Xu Lai stood over the river as Jiang Chen remembered that one of his transformations had abducted Tang Sanzang in the Blackwater River.

Jiang Chen used the Wind-and-Rain Invocation to seize control of the Yin River, defeat Xu Lai, and pursue a fleeing figure by driving the entire river through the forest. The Netherworld Messengers were swept along for the ride as Jiang Chen’s allies faced danger from his power.

• Xu Lai used the Yin River’s pressure to crack and shatter Jiang Chen’s Tuolong Armor.
• Jiang Chen formed a Rain Edict with the Wind-and-Rain Invocation and stopped the turbulent river.
• Jiang Chen controlled the river like an extension of his body, battered Xu Lai, and crushed him to death.
• Jiang Chen sensed a Scarecrow fleeing through the woods and warned the ghosts and Netherworld Messengers to brace themselves.
• Jiang Chen lifted the Yin River from its bed and raced through the forest after the fugitive, terrifying his companions and making Wu Tong recall that he was the greatest danger when no danger was present.