Chapter Summaries

Jiang Chen joked around with his classmates by pretending to tell Liang Yourong’s fortune, then learned that the Netherworld had recruited several students who survived the paranormal incident. Zhao Erhu explained how their awakened traits improved their chances of becoming Netherworld Messengers and said he was close to breaking through to C-Class.

• Jiang Chen entertained the girls in class by claiming Liang Yourong faced great misfortune and joking that she could transfer it to him with revealing photos.
• After roll call, Jiang Chen noticed several classmates were absent and asked Zhao Erhu what had happened to them.
• Zhao Erhu explained that the Netherworld had assessed the survivors for awakened traits, and that eight or nine students qualified to join, though half chose to back out.
• Zhao Erhu described how regular and special recruits trained to seal ghosts inside themselves, with special recruits having much higher success rates.
• Zhao Erhu said he was close to breaking through to C-Class and urged Jiang Chen not to fall behind.

Jiang Chen accepted Zhao Erhu’s invitation to join the C-Plus Rank Qishan Village mission and learned that the Qin family suspected him of involvement in Qin Ze’s death. He then signed over a one-third non-contributing stake in the Gu Family’s business and took Gu Youmin to his milk tea shop for a drink.

• Zhao Erhu invited Jiang Chen to join the Martial Sect’s team for the dangerous Qishan Village mission, and Jiang Chen eagerly accepted.
• Zhao Erhu warned Jiang Chen that the Qin family suspected him in Qin Ze’s death and that a Qin family member would join the mission.
• Zhao Erhu explained why the Martial Sect’s successors were coming to Jiangbei City and said he would contact Jiang Chen when it was time to leave.
• Jiang Chen signed contracts giving him a one-third non-contributing stake in the Gu Family’s business.
• Jiang Chen invited Gu Youmin to his shop, where Gu Youmin reluctantly drank peach boba milk tea.

Jiang Chen investigated reports of strange red envelopes as Luo Wentao discovered that the envelope he picked up had bound him to a ghost marriage. With midnight approaching, Luo Wentao tried to escape, but after he threw the envelope out the window, someone downstairs picked it up and promised to return it.

• Jiang Chen searched the Underworld App for information about Qishan Village and the Long River, then went out to investigate the red envelope incidents.
• Luo Wentao brought home a red envelope he had found and learned from a neighbor that it might be a ghost-marriage offering containing a dead girl’s hair.
• Luo Wentao realized the woman in his apartment was not his wife and heard a ghostly voice announce their wedding at midnight.
• Luo Wentao found ghostly wedding decorations in his apartment and failed to escape through the locked security door.
• Luo Wentao threw the red envelope out the window, and a man downstairs picked it up and said he would bring it to apartment 602.

Jiang Chen returned Luo Wentao’s haunted red envelope, then staged an apparent exorcism to frighten the ghost bride Li Hongxia. When she realized his ritual was a bluff, he used a supernatural roar to stun her and cut off her arm, leaving her shocked.

• Luo Wentao mistook Jiang Chen’s hammer-wielding arrival for a threat, then realized Jiang Chen had smashed open his door to return the red envelope.
• Luo Wentao warned Jiang Chen that the envelope was haunted, and Jiang Chen had him gather ritual supplies before arranging an effigy with Li Hongxia’s hair.
• Li Hongxia climbed through the window and became increasingly alarmed as Jiang Chen performed the ritual and wrote her name on the effigy.
• Li Hongxia realized Jiang Chen had only pretended to curse her when cutting the effigy’s arm did not harm her, and she prepared to attack him.
• Jiang Chen activated the Green-Skinned Little Drum and Soul-Seizing Roar to stun Li Hongxia, then cut off her arm with his Assassination Short Knife.

Li Hongxia attacked Jiang Chen with her guilt-inducing curse, but he turned the guilt into murderous rage and brutally overpowered her. She tried to escape, but Jiang Chen used the Green-Skinned Little Drum and a tiger's roar to stun her before tearing out and crushing her heart.

• Li Hongxia’s curse filled the others with guilt, but Jiang Chen’s remorse turned into intense killing intent.
• Jiang Chen broke through Li Hongxia’s blood threads, crushed and tore off one of her arms, then handed Luo Wentao the doll and told him to finish her off.
• Luo Wentao feared Li Hongxia’s gaze, while Jiang Chen claimed he had chosen to rip out her heart and blamed him for the decision.
• Li Hongxia tried to flee through a sixth-floor window, but Jiang Chen used the Green-Skinned Little Drum and a tiger’s roar to stun her.
• Jiang Chen tore out Li Hongxia’s still-beating heart and crushed it as she screamed.

Jiang Chen found a sinister Route 444 bus ticket inside Li Hongxia’s corpse and discovered it returned after he threw it away. As he rode away in a cab, a woman fleeing a massacre climbed in, while Xu Lei tracked the target toward Lijiang Road.

• Jiang Chen searched Li Hongxia’s corpse and found a Route 444 ticket with instructions to wait at a bus stop at 4:44 a.m. on a date divisible by four.
• Jiang Chen burned the ticket, photographed Li Hongxia’s corpse for the Underworld App, and left Luo Wentao behind to await help.
• Jiang Chen found the ticket again beside bus stop 44, kept it with his medical record, and took a cab while reviewing the Ghost Qi he had gained.
• A woman in a white dress climbed into the cab, claimed she had escaped bad people, and persuaded Jiang Chen and the driver to head for the nearest Public Security Office.
• Xu Lei examined the bodies in the alley, identified the direction the target had fled, and ordered the area around Lijiang Road sealed off.

Jiang Chen told Zhang Chunyu a ghost story in the taxi, using its twists to frighten her and collect Ghost Qi. The story ended when she saw that the driver’s work ID named him Zhao Zhongqiang, the same name as the tale’s killer.

• Jiang Chen began telling Zhang Chunyu a story about a taxi driver who picked up a woman carrying a supposedly sick child on a deserted road.
• The woman in the story revealed that the child had suffocated and asked Zhao to take her to White Dragon Mountain Funeral Home, frightening Zhang Chunyu before claiming it was a psychology test.
• The student later discovered that Zhao had taken her toward the funeral home and heard a phone ringing from the trunk, while news the next day reported two missing female students.
• The taxi driver swerved in fright, and Jiang Chen pointed out that the driver had dropped his work ID.
• Zhang Chunyu saw the name Zhao Zhongqiang on the ID and realized the driver shared the name of the killer in Jiang Chen’s story.

Jiang Chen and Zhang Chunyu escaped from Zhao Zhongqiang’s taxi, then he continued the ghost story in a dark alley. The story ended with a man in a dark tracksuit chopping something—and Zhang Chunyu realized Jiang Chen was wearing one.

• Jiang Chen and Zhang Chunyu grew suspicious of Zhao Zhongqiang because he shared the surname of the driver in Jiang Chen’s story.
• Jiang Chen pretended to need the bathroom and fled the taxi with Zhang Chunyu after Zhao Zhongqiang unlocked the doors.
• Zhang Chunyu and Jiang Chen reached a dark alley, where she felt a trace of affection for him after he helped her escape.
• Jiang Chen revealed that Old Zhao had helped the two students stage a prank, then described how they later encountered a man chopping something in a dark alley.
• Zhang Chunyu noticed that the man in the story wore a dark tracksuit like the one Jiang Chen was wearing.

Jiang Chen frightened Zhang Chunyu while secretly gathering Ghost Qi, then watched as Xu Xingfeng and the Netherworld Messengers cornered and fought her. Xu Lei joined the battle, while Jiang Chen stayed out of the fight and offered unsolicited advice.

• Jiang Chen trapped Zhang Chunyu in the alley and terrified her with threats as he pursued her with an Assassination Short Knife.
• Xu Xingfeng ordered the Netherworld Messengers to surround and kill Zhang Chunyu, who remembered she was a ghost and unleashed her resentment.
• Jiang Chen withdrew after gathering enough Ghost Qi and judged Zhang Chunyu too dangerous to fight without a powerful trump card.
• Xu Xingfeng, two Netherworld Messengers, and then Xu Lei attacked Zhang Chunyu in a brutal battle.
• Jiang Chen watched the fight and criticized the young Netherworld Messenger's technique, prompting him to snap back and gain 800 Ghost Qi.

Jiang Chen and the Yellow Springs Squad cornered Zhang Chunyu, but she revealed a cursed shrine that inflicted misfortune on everyone it targeted. As Zhang Chunyu fled, she tried to frighten Jiang Chen, only for him to react as though her cold breath tickled.

• Jiang Chen taunted Zhang Chunyu and the Netherworld Messengers as they beat her back.
• Zhang Chunyu tore a talisman-wrapped shrine from her belly, making everyone feel an intense chill.
• Zhang Chunyu cursed the group with misfortune, and black light from the shrine entered all five targets despite their attempts to stop it.
• Zhang Chunyu escaped when the curse caused Xu Xingfeng to be buried by a collapsing wall, the burly man to fall through a manhole, the young man's Ghost Artifact hands to grab his neck, and Xu Lei to struggle with her ghost.
• Zhang Chunyu approached Jiang Chen and blew cold air on his neck, but he jumped away and cried that it tickled, earning more ghost qi.

Jiang Chen wounded Zhang Chunyu during her escape, then pursued her to Jingjiang Resettlement Community, a dangerous C-Plus Rank mission site. Xu Lei invited him to join the squad’s planned operation there, and Jiang Chen eagerly accepted while considering going ahead on his own.

• Zhang Chunyu’s bad-luck curse disrupted the Netherworld Messengers, but Jiang Chen used Demonic Sound to freeze her and stabbed her heart before she fled.
• Xu Lei and the others chased Zhang Chunyu to Jingjiang Resettlement Community, where she escaped inside after making another offering to her shrine.
• Xu Lei warned Jiang Chen that the community was a dangerous C-Plus Rank group mission site and asked him to join the squad’s next attempt.
• Jiang Chen revealed that bad luck had not affected him and enthusiastically agreed to join the mission for its rewards.
• After leaving the others, Jiang Chen considered returning to Jingjiang Resettlement Community alone the next night.

After checking on Sister Hong and tallying his ghost qi gains, Jiang Chen enhanced the Green-Skinned Little Drum several times, transforming it into a powerful artifact. The system identified the result as a Kui Ox Drum (Fake) (Fake), leaving him baffled by its double counterfeit label.

• Jiang Chen found Sister Hong studying the Kui Dou Seven-Star Secret Art and teased her about dressing more boldly, prompting her to shut the door in embarrassment.
• Jiang Chen counted his ghost qi from the night's encounters and found that his total had reached 49,736.
• Jiang Chen spent 8,500 ghost qi to enhance the Green-Skinned Little Drum, whose drumbeats had already greatly increased his physical strength.
• Jiang Chen completed the final enhancement and received a Kui Ox Drum (Fake) (Fake), then wondered whether he had made a fake of a fake.

Jiang Chen tested the Kui Ox Drum at Sunward Middle School and discovered that its first beat greatly enhanced his physical strength and stunned ghosts. A second beat turned his demonic power into a devastating ball of lightning, leaving a charred crater where the old beggar ghost had been.

• Jiang Chen went to the abandoned Sunward Middle School to test the Kui Ox Drum and kicked away a beggar who demanded alms.
• Jiang Chen threatened the beggar with protection fees and organ sales, then took the Kui Ox Drum to the sports field.
• Jiang Chen struck the drum once, stunning the Begging-for-Life Ghost and boosting his strength enough to send a soccer goal flying with a punch.
• Jiang Chen struck the drum a second time, draining his demonic power and producing a powerful ball of green lightning.
• Jiang Chen hurled the lightning at the Begging-for-Life Ghost, destroying him and leaving a charred crater.

Jiang Chen realized Sister Hong’s new secret art, Kui Xing Points at the Dipper, could affect fortune, and tested her ability with the Underworld App. The test revealed that Sister Hong had already reached E-rank, leaving Jiang Chen impressed by the Gu Family Bloodline’s talent.

• Jiang Chen bought five bottles of Spirit-Gathering Pills through the Underworld App and went to sleep.
• The next morning, Jiang Chen broke a plate at Sister Hong’s home and recognized the strange feeling as the effect of her Kui Xing Points at the Dipper secret art.
• Sister Hong told Jiang Chen she had practiced the art overnight and had tried it on a plate, though she thought it had failed.
• Jiang Chen explained that the art could influence fortune, praised Sister Hong’s talent, and agreed to teach her about the Unusual Person World.
• Jiang Chen had Sister Hong download the Underworld App and tested her secret art, discovering that she had reached E-rank.

Jiang Chen introduced Sister Hong to the dangers of the Unusual Person World and promised to take her on a mission the next night, leaving her dreading the experience. He later met Lin Youwei at his boba shop, where she offered help through her Shangqing Sect connections, and he warmly accepted her as a good buddy.

• Jiang Chen explained Underworld Points, the hotline, and group-mission rules to Sister Hong, who learned from the Underworld App how dangerous the Unusual Person World was.
• Jiang Chen said he would take Sister Hong to handle a Paranormal Incident tomorrow night, and she worried he would choose a deadly mission.
• Jiang Chen went to school to meet Lin Youwei, who arrived in a pink Lamborghini and joined him for boba milk tea.
• Lin Youwei told Jiang Chen she had become an elder's disciple in the Shangqing Sect and offered to help him with her connections.
• Jiang Chen grabbed Lin Youwei's hand, called her his good buddy, and asked Xiao Liu to bring them another boba milk tea.

Jiang Chen and Lin Youwei reunited over milk tea, where she revealed her hidden strength and questioned his unsettlingly cheerful stories about dealing with ghosts and criminals. After Lin Youwei left, an explosion shook the area, and Jiang Chen sensed it had occurred far away, possibly in a neighboring city.

• Lin Youwei told Jiang Chen that she had reached Pseudo-C-Class and kept her true strength secret while operating alone.
• Jiang Chen described ghosts and criminals repenting or fleeing, prompting Lin Youwei to suspect he had frightened them into doing so.
• Lin Youwei invited Jiang Chen to team up on a mission, and he agreed to join her after his seclusion and possible breakthrough.
• Lin Youwei left the milk tea shop, and Jiang Chen joked to his System about attracting wealthy women.
• A distant explosion shook the ground near Jiang Chen, who sensed that it had happened dozens of kilometers away and wondered what had occurred.

Jiang Chen learned that a one-armed ghost had helped the Dark Alliance attack the Xunhe City Netherworld Branch Office, while Mount Tai King was prevented from intervening by Xu Fu. The incident was declared settled, and the King of Reincarnation vowed that the Dark Alliance would bleed within three days.

• Jiang Chen and Sister Hong heard a furious voice call out Xu Fu’s name during an earthquake, though other people appeared not to hear it.
• Jiang Chen read emergency alerts reporting a suspected top-tier Blood-Clad Ghost in Jiulong Town and an attack on the Xunhe City Netherworld Branch Office, where Director Chen Xing'an had been trapped in a Ten Thousand Ghosts Formation.
• Jiang Chen watched footage of a one-armed old man bewitching Netherworld Messengers into cutting off their arms before Mount Tai King’s intervention halted him.
• The footage showed Xu Fu stopping Mount Tai King, and the accompanying notice said the one-armed old man and the person behind the formation had escaped.
• The King of Reincarnation announced that the matter was settled and warned that the Dark Alliance would bleed within three days.

After learning that the Dark Alliance’s attack on Xunhe City was likely aimed at a crystal coffin from the Xun River, Jiang Chen turned his attention to his planned visit to Jingjiang Resettlement Community. He studied its ghostly warnings, then set out for the community that afternoon.

• Jiang Chen and other Unusual Persons learned that the one-armed Fierce Soul had entered the Netherworld Branch Office searching for something, possibly a crystal coffin taken from the Xun River.
• A poster reported that the one-armed old man had a Ghost Domain and left with something concealed inside it, while the Mount Tai King’s intervention had stopped the threat from growing worse.
• Jiang Chen stopped following the attack and told Sister Hong to stay home and cultivate; Sister Hong admired his dedication and added goji berries to his chicken soup.
• Jiang Chen studied the warnings about Jingjiang Resettlement Community, including signs of dangerous ghosts and places that should not exist there.
• Jiang Chen checked that he had a little over forty thousand Ghost Qi remaining, then took a taxi toward Jingjiang Resettlement Community shortly after five.

Jiang Chen entered Jingjiang Resettlement Community to find Zhang Chunyu and encountered dangerous residents, a wary girl, and an approaching security guard. The girl hid him in Apartment 202 and warned him not to touch the cabinets.

• Jiang Chen entered the abandoned community after a taxi driver refused to go farther, and he ignored a woman’s apparent plea for help from a fifth-floor window.
• Jiang Chen questioned the sweating man in Apartment 102, who tried to attack him but retreated when a woman called for him.
• A middle-aged man in Apartment 201 offered to tell Jiang Chen about Zhang Chunyu, but a little girl dragged him away and warned that the building’s residents were dangerous.
• The girl spotted a flashlight-bearing security guard and led Jiang Chen back into Building 7 to hide.
• When a woman called out from upstairs and the guard approached, the girl pulled Jiang Chen into Apartment 202 and warned him not to touch the cabinets.

Jiang Chen and Su Ling hid in an apartment while a suspicious security guard searched nearby and a scratching sound came from the wardrobes. Su Ling told him the story of two roommates murdered by a burglar, leaving them trapped inside as the cabinet noises grew closer.

• Jiang Chen introduced himself to Su Ling and learned that she was fourteen and believed in ghosts.
• Jiang Chen noticed that the security guard’s footsteps were suspicious, and he and Su Ling stayed silent while someone peered through the apartment door’s peephole.
• A scratching sound began in the wardrobes, and Su Ling decided they could not safely leave the apartment.
• Su Ling told Jiang Chen that a burglar had killed one roommate, hidden her in a wardrobe, and then murdered the other after she discovered the crime on security footage.
• Su Ling explained that later tenants had gone mad or disappeared after hearing ghosts in the cabinets.