Chapter Summaries

Jiang Chen transformed into his Chaos-Dwelling Demon King form, killed the nurse and doctor, and pursued a strange voice into the hospital stairwell. He confronted Patient No. 18 and unleashed the Chaos-Dwelling Heavenly Blade.

• Jiang Chen's transformation doubled his strength, and he crushed the nurse's head with his bare hand.
• Jiang Chen chased the terrified doctor upstairs and split his body in two with his blade.
• Jiang Chen heard a bewitching voice in the dark stairwell and resisted its pull with Demonic Power.
• Jiang Chen crept up on Patient No. 18 as the patient lured an elderly man toward the stairwell.
• Patient No. 18 noticed Jiang Chen, but Jiang Chen mocked him and struck with the Chaos-Dwelling Heavenly Blade.

Jiang Chen killed Patient No. 18, survived the ghost’s illness curse, and discovered the patient’s medical record had become his own. The record marked him as patient number 30, with thirty days before he would be drawn into the mysterious Seventh Ward.

• Jiang Chen killed Patient No. 18 with a full-power saber strike and expelled the ghost’s curse with Demonic Power.
• Jiang Chen confirmed the bewitched old man was alive, returned him to his room, and earned 450 points by uploading evidence to the Underworld App.
• Jiang Chen found Liang Youquan’s medical record and learned that Patient No. 18’s curse made others believe they were ill until their bodies developed the diseases.
• Jiang Chen watched the medical record change to his own name and reveal the number 30, then learned that the number counted down the days until entry into the Seventh Ward.
• Jiang Chen learned the Netherworld assessed the Seventh Ward as containing no entity above blood-robed level, and he felt confident he could grow strong enough while collecting Ghost Qi there.

After clearing the hospital, Jiang Chen returned home, learned more about the dangerous shortage of personnel fighting ghosts, and shared dinner with Sister Hong. Preparing for his visit to the Zheng Group’s mountain estate, he drew two one-star Monster Transformation Cards instead of another two-star card.

• Jiang Chen left the cleared hospital and exchanged salutes with Cleanup Personnel arriving in SUVs.
• Jiang Chen considered the dangers faced by Cleanup Personnel and learned how the Netherworld recruited and trained its officers.
• Jiang Chen returned to his apartment and ate dinner with Sister Hong, who offered to introduce him to a woman his age.
• Jiang Chen checked his system panel and chose to draw two one-star Monster Transformation Cards for his visit to the Zheng Group’s mountain estate.
• Jiang Chen drew the Te Chu Shi and Sea-Reliant Dragon Monster Transformation Cards.

Jiang Chen considered buying equipment in the Underworld App but postponed his choice until after visiting the Zheng Family Manor. Meanwhile, Lin Youwei watched him leave campus and reflected on her wish to help him, while Yang Chan warned her that their worlds were too different and invited her on a group mission led by Qin Ze.

• Jiang Chen examined his new Monster Transformation Cards, then browsed the Underworld App for magical artifacts but decided not to buy anything before visiting the Zheng Family Manor.
• Lin Youwei watched Jiang Chen enter the university, and Yang Chan teased her about her concern for him.
• Lin Youwei recalled how Jiang Chen had helped her recover from the trauma of being abducted and admitted she wanted to help him enter the world of Unusual Persons.
• Yang Chan warned Lin Youwei that her powerful suitors could bring disaster to Jiang Chen, while Lin Youwei remembered that his inferior cultivation aptitude made cultivation impossible.
• Yang Chan told Lin Youwei about a group mission in three days led by Qin Ze and suggested she might meet someone more suitable there.

Jiang Chen and his classmates arrived at Zheng Shaoming’s luxurious Serene Summer Resort for a two-and-a-half-day vacation. Jiang Chen noticed that Zheng Shaoming’s curse seemed to be fading and that the freshly painted, incense-filled lakeside buildings concealed something suspicious.

• Lin Youwei declined Yang Chan’s invitation because she had accepted a D+ solo mission.
• Jiang Chen met Li Jie and Zhao Erhu at the gathering point, where Li Jie joked about protecting him and pursuing the girls.
• Zheng Shaoming arrived by car, then joined the students on the bus to his family’s resort; Jiang Chen noticed the handprint on Zheng Shaoming’s back had faded.
• The students reached Serene Summer Resort, where Zheng Shaoming introduced the grounds and Steward Zhang led them to the lakeside rooms.
• Jiang Chen noticed the lakeside buildings had been freshly painted and heavily scented with incense, and wondered what might have happened there.

Li Jie told Jiang Chen and Zhao Erhu that two ghosts had revealed plans to kill him, and Jiang Chen promised he would keep him safe. While investigating reports of drownings at the manor, Jiang Chen noticed that an employee’s WeChat name did not match the name on her badge.

• Zheng Shaoming arranged for several female classmates to stay in the best rooms at the Resort Manor, and the students dispersed after dinner to explore.
• Li Jie told Jiang Chen and Zhao Erhu that he had heard ghosts plotting to kill him, then found the restroom empty and the word “death” written in red across a stall.
• Jiang Chen saw black resentment around Li Jie and told him to stay close to him or Zhao Erhu for protection.
• Jiang Chen approached an employee sweeping the Arch Bridge and learned that several people had drowned in the lake after a woman died there.
• The employee shared her WeChat code with Jiang Chen, whose screen showed the name Sun Die even though her badge read Liu Guihua.

Jiang Chen learned more about the manor’s disappearances from Sun Die, then returned to the guest rooms with Li Jie and Zhao Erhu. Meanwhile, Jiang Xinyi faced a shadowless woman trying to enter her room, and the chapter ended as Jiang Chen and the others arrived in the corridor.

• Sun Die told Jiang Chen that former employees had vanished, warned him to avoid rooms near the lake after dark, and described a wet female ghost and nighttime intruders.
• Sister Wu reprimanded Sun Die for talking during work and dismissed her warnings as nonsense to Jiang Chen.
• Jiang Chen sent Sun Die three thousand yuan and returned toward the rooms with Li Jie and Zhao Erhu as darkness fell.
• In Guest Room 106, Jiang Xinyi saw a wrinkled woman peering through her open doorway and realized the woman cast no shadow.
• The woman announced she would enter to take things, while Jiang Xinyi stayed hidden under the covers and silently prayed for her not to come in.
• Jiang Chen, Li Jie, and Zhao Erhu arrived outside Jiang Xinyi’s room.

Jiang Chen confronted a middle-aged ghost by startling her with a megaphone, then kicked her severed head away and destroyed her lingering soul. After celebrating the Ghost Qi he gained, he joined Li Jie and Zhao Erhu to investigate a commotion among the students, Sun Zhibing, and Sister Wu.

• Li Jie and Zhao Erhu spotted a middle-aged ghost creeping toward Jiang Xinyi's room as Jiang Chen sneaked up behind her with a megaphone.
• Jiang Chen startled the ghost with loud shouts, and she dropped her head to frighten him.
• Jiang Chen carried the severed head outside and kicked it across the artificial lake into the parking lot.
• Jiang Chen repeatedly tripped the headless ghost as she chased her head, then destroyed her lingering soul with a punch and gained nearly four hundred Ghost Qi.
• Jiang Chen left Jiang Xinyi alone and went with Li Jie and Zhao Erhu to investigate a commotion involving students, Sun Zhibing, and Sister Wu.

Jiang Chen investigated Zhao Qian’s disappearance after learning that a fake gardener had taken her and the resort was haunted by rumors of people being turned into potted plants. The chapter ended with Zhao Qian bound among the killer’s grotesque creations as Jiang Chen headed toward the place where he had noticed something across the lake.

• Zhang Lu and another student told Sun Zhibing that Zhao Qian had disappeared after approaching a gardener who was pruning trees and potted plants.
• Jiang Chen questioned Zhang Lu about the plants, prompting Supervisor Wu to admit that the resort had no person-sized ornamental trees and that its last gardener had died mysteriously.
• Supervisor Wu explained that the gardener drowned after claiming lake weeds had tangled his shears, despite the resort regularly clearing the lake, and that people later went missing and were rumored to appear as potted plants.
• Jiang Chen noticed something across the lake and went there alone without alerting the others.
• Zhao Qian remained tied to a post in a pot while the middle-aged gardener pruned other victims and cut off one of her fingers.

Jiang Chen found Zhao Qian being tortured by the Gardening Ghost and used its potted corpses to approach without being noticed. He killed the ghost, freed Zhao Qian, and took her toward their waiting classmates.

• The Gardening Ghost prepared to cut off Zhao Qian’s fingers after clipping her nails, while she trembled in terror.
• Jiang Chen reached the clearing, saw the ghost’s corpse-filled potted plants, and concealed himself among them as he moved closer.
• The Gardening Ghost sensed something behind him, then realized an unfamiliar potted plant had appeared beside him.
• Jiang Chen revealed himself and killed the Gardening Ghost with the Great Strength Bull Demon Fist.
• Jiang Chen dispelled the lingering ghost qi from Zhao Qian, freed her, and caught her when she collapsed.
• Zhao Qian recognized Jiang Chen and thanked him through tears, and he set off with her toward their classmates.

After Jiang Chen rescued Zhao Qian from a supernatural pursuer, the students regrouped, but three remained missing. Jiang Chen headed to the restaurant to investigate and learned that a murderous presence there attacked anyone who noticed it following them.

• Jiang Chen brought Zhao Qian back to the students, and she told them that a murderer had chased her before Jiang Chen saved her.
• Sun Zhibing counted the students and discovered that Yang Zhi, Zhao Xiaodong, and Zheng Shaoming were missing.
• Jiang Chen agreed to search the restaurant while Zhao Erhu stayed behind to protect the students.
• On the way, Jiang Chen questioned Supervisor Wu, who said previous resort staff had died in strange incidents.
• Supervisor Wu recounted how an old guard was killed after spotting a murderer following him, and warned that people at the restaurant must never look back if they heard extra footsteps.

Jiang Chen investigated the deaths linked to the lake and found Zhao Xiaodong cornered by two plotting ghosts in the dark restaurant. After rescuing him, Jiang Chen headed to the restroom to confront the ghosts and learn how they planned to kill him.

• Supervisor Wu told Jiang Chen that two armed guests who had plotted a murder had drowned in the lake, and Jiang Chen suspected the water ghost was tied to the resort’s secrets.
• Jiang Chen found a recently murdered resort employee in the restaurant and realized the plotting ghosts seemed to abandon their attacks when discovered.
• Jiang Chen found Zhao Xiaodong hiding against a corridor wall and learned the ghosts had planned to kill him after cutting the power.
• Zhao Xiaodong explained that he survived a knife attack by pressing his back to the wall, and Jiang Chen deduced that the ghosts would not attack while someone else was nearby.
• Jiang Chen dispersed the resentment from Zhao Xiaodong’s wound and led him toward the restroom to investigate the ghosts’ next plan.

Jiang Chen lured two ghosts into listening to a staged conversation, then killed Zhou Hai and Zhang Jianguo in a restroom. After Zhao Xiaodong suggested finding Yang Zhi, Jiang Chen headed to the restaurant’s forbidden second floor, where Yang might be in danger.

• Jiang Chen and Zhao Xiaodong waited in a dark restroom stall as Zhou Hai and Zhang Jianguo entered the neighboring stall.
• Jiang Chen kept the two ghosts hooked on a fake conversation, earning over six hundred Ghost Qi before announcing that he planned to kill them.
• Jiang Chen stabbed Zhou Hai through the partition and crushed Zhang Jianguo’s neck after dragging him into the stall.
• Zhao Xiaodong recovered from the killings and told Jiang Chen that Yang Zhi might be in danger on the restaurant’s closed-off second floor.
• Jiang Chen headed upstairs and told Zhao Xiaodong to alert him if he heard an extra set of footsteps.

Jiang Chen and Zhao Xiaodong encountered Yang Zhi chasing a Back-Sticking Ghost through the dark dining hall. Jiang Chen followed the ghost from behind and stabbed it, but when it struck back, he punched through its body as Yang Zhi screamed.

• Jiang Chen warned Zhao Xiaodong to stay calm, then hid in a room as Yang Zhi ran toward them with a security baton.
• Zhao Xiaodong saw the Back-Sticking Ghost copying Yang Zhi’s movements and persuaded Yang Zhi to search the bathroom.
• Jiang Chen followed behind the ghost, copying its movements as they approached the bathroom mirror.
• Yang Zhi noticed the figures in the mirror, and the ghost froze when it saw Jiang Chen behind it.
• Jiang Chen stabbed the ghost in the back, but it survived and swung its knife at him.
• Jiang Chen punched through the ghost’s body, spraying flesh over Yang Zhi, who screamed.

After gaining the Great Strength Bull Demon Fist, Jiang Chen joined the students at the guest rooms and learned that the Lake’s Water Ghost had attacked them. Steward Zhang then revealed himself as Zhang Xianhai of the Ghost Refining Sect and sent his Ghost Infant after Zhao Erhu, who prepared to fight back.

• Jiang Chen completed his demon transformation and permanently gained the divine ability Great Strength Bull Demon Fist.
• Zhao Qian told Jiang Chen that the Water Ghost had attacked a resort employee and that Zhao Erhu had forced her back into the Lake.
• Steward Zhang appeared and introduced himself as Zhang Xianhai of the Ghost Refining Sect, revealing a Ghost Infant from a porcelain jar.
• Zhang Xianhai ordered the Ghost Infant to kill Zhao Erhu, who struck it but suffered bloody scratches from its attack.
• Zhao Erhu activated his Dragon Elephant Temple techniques and charged at the Ghost Infant, prompting Zhang Xianhai to recognize his affiliation.

Jiang Chen charged into the lake to face the half-step vengeful ghost Sun Meiling, shocking his classmates, and defeated her with a single punch before using water to hold her in the air. His classmates fled to safety, while Jiang Chen remained in control of the ghost and continued provoking her.

• Zhang Xianhai empowered the Ghost Infant, and Sun Meiling emerged from the lake to attack the students.
• Zhao Erhu called for Jiang Chen, who rushed at Sun Meiling and knocked her into the lake with the Great Strength Bull Demon Fist.
• Sun Meiling dragged Jiang Chen underwater, while the students believed he had sacrificed himself to hold her back and began to flee.
• Jiang Chen struck Sun Meiling with a powerful punch, blasted her out of the lake, and restrained her with streams of water.
• Jiang Chen spread Sun Meiling's limbs wider with his water manipulation, causing her humiliation to generate more Ghost Qi.

Jiang Chen defeated Steward Zhang and annihilated the ghost infant, but Steward Zhang's Blood Talisman marked Jiang Chen with a symbol connected to a Ghost King. The female ghost remained alive and obsessed with Zheng Shaoming, leaving Jiang Chen with a new suspicion and a dangerous mark.

• Jiang Chen realized the female ghost had named Zheng Shaoming and suspected Zheng Shaoming had killed her, so he left her alive and joined Zhao Erhu.
• Zhao Erhu told Jiang Chen to kill Steward Zhang while he kept the ghost infant busy, and Steward Zhang tried to flee before Jiang Chen caught him.
• Jiang Chen accidentally snapped Steward Zhang's neck while grabbing him, then a Blood Talisman emerged from the corpse and marked Jiang Chen with the character for death.
• Zhao Erhu warned that the talisman was connected to a Ghost King, while the enraged ghost infant wounded him as they fought.
• Jiang Chen compressed water into a sphere and detonated it against the wounded ghost infant, annihilating its soul and bringing his Ghost Qi total to 2720.

After Jiang Chen killed the Ghost Infant, Zhao Erhu explained that the Dark Alliance had placed a blood-talisman bounty on him and warned him to seek protection. He also revealed that Zheng Shaoming had horribly abused the female ghost before her death, then urged Jiang Chen to remember that ghosts who harmed people had become monsters.

• Jiang Chen killed the Ghost Infant with a single slap, and Zhao Erhu warned that its death had put him in serious trouble.
• Zhao Erhu told Jiang Chen that Zhang Xianhai’s Dark Alliance Blood Talisman marked him for the Hunting List and could make him worth thirty thousand points to hunters.
• Jiang Chen worried that he had no powerful family to protect him, but believed his growing strength could eventually let him face the Dark Alliance.
• Zhao Erhu explained that Zheng Shaoming had used Zhang Xianhai’s forbidden method to erase resentment caused by his abuse of the female ghost.
• Zhao Erhu warned Jiang Chen that ghosts who harmed people became monsters, and admitted that he had once ignored this rule and lost a senior fellow disciple.

Jiang Chen learned how Sun Meiling had died and discovered that she retained enough humanity to be valuable to the Netherworld. He brought her to Zheng Shaoming, where she recognized her killer and attacked him.

• Jiang Chen bound Sun Meiling with water and carried her toward the mountain entrance while Zhao Erhu explained that Zheng Shaoming must be nearby.
• Sun Die revealed that Zheng Shaoming had raped Sun Meiling, then tied her up and threw her into a lake, where she drowned.
• Zhao Erhu explained that Sun Meiling’s attempt to warn Sun Die showed she retained some humanity, and Jiang Chen called the Netherworld Bureau to report her.
• Jiang Chen and Zhao Erhu found Zheng Shaoming hiding in a talisman-covered luxury RV, while the students followed at a distance.
• Jiang Chen tore open the RV door and threw Sun Meiling inside, where she recognized Zheng Shaoming and roared that she had finally found him.

Jiang Chen and Zhao Erhu defeated Zheng Shaoming and Sun Meiling, then handed the surviving ghost over to Netherworld Messenger Xu Lei. On the bus home, Jiang Chen tallied his rewards and found he had nearly enough points to buy a mid-grade magical artifact.

• Jiang Chen and Zhao Erhu found Zheng Shaoming dead and beat Sun Meiling after she tried to ambush them.
• Xu Lei arrived, captured Sun Meiling with her shadow, and promised Jiang Chen and Zhao Erhu reward points for the ghost.
• Jiang Chen earned 500 ghost qi by complimenting Xu Lei, then considered how he might gain more from Netherworld Messengers.
• Jiang Chen and the other students boarded the Netherworld bus and headed home after the cleanup crews arrived.
• Jiang Chen counted more than 3,200 ghost qi and 3,100 Underworld App points from the trip, leaving him close to affording a mid-grade magical artifact.