Recaps

The narrator, An Ning, and Yi Yang exposed Chang An'an as Fang Mingjie and confronted him about assaulting Tao Jingyu. Fang Mingjie said only someone from the Bai Family could save Tao Jingyu and her child, then began to cry when asked why she was his only victim.

• The narrator used realgar in fish soup to drive Fang Mingjie out of a restaurant, and the three friends pinned him down in an alley.
• Realgar forced Fang Mingjie's snake features to appear, but Yi Yang gave him talisman water that suppressed its effects.
• Fang Mingjie admitted he could not undo Tao Jingyu's pregnancy and said Bai Shufen had delivered him under similar circumstances.
• Fang Mingjie claimed Tao Jingyu was the only person he had harmed in the thirty years since fleeing the Northeast.
• Fang Mingjie glared at the group as his eyes reddened and filled with tears.

Fang Mingjie broke down and described the hardships he had endured as a snake and as a human. After learning why Li Mu had warned him against using his magic, he was left reflecting on the harm he had caused Tao Jingyu, then heard that he had been fired again.

• Fang Mingjie cried as he told An Ning, Yi Yang, and the narrator about being rejected by the Liu Family, injured after fleeing the Northeast, and exploited while working in an illegal coal mine.
• Fang Mingjie explained that he had possessed reporter Fang Mingjie's body to care for the man's family, but struggled to support his wife and two sons while working multiple jobs.
• Fang Mingjie revealed that Li Mu had beaten him and warned him that using magic would kill him, a curse he believed for nearly thirty years.
• The narrator reasoned that Li Mu had warned Fang Mingjie because using magic unleashed his Calamity Dragon nature, and urged him to consider the harm he had caused Tao Jingyu.
• The narrator told Fang Mingjie that his company had fired him again the previous day.

Song Xiaotian learned that Fang Mingjie, possessed by Chang An'an, had lost his security job and faced foreclosure, then promised to find him better work and help him escape the Northeast's pursuit. The next morning, Song Xiaotian told Seventh Master what Fang Mingjie had revealed, but the Northeast families had already arranged to come capture him.

• Fang Mingjie erupted when Song Xiaotian told him he had lost his job, and Song Xiaotian promised to find him work paying at least ten thousand.
• Song Xiaotian told Fang Mingjie that people from the Northeast might come for him, and Fang Mingjie accused him of setting him up before demanding a sworn promise of help.
• Song Xiaotian gave Fang Mingjie fake home and work addresses and decided not to ask about the organization's secret until Fang Mingjie trusted him.
• Yi Yang warned Song Xiaotian that the Liu Family would be difficult to deal with if they helped Chang An'an escape, and Song Xiaotian decided to discuss it with Seventh Master.
• Song Xiaotian went to Seventh Master's place the next morning and explained Fang Mingjie's situation, and Seventh Master lamented that Fang Mingjie had not told them sooner.

Chen Mo learned that Bai Xiaoyu and Chang Banpo were coming to arrest Chang An'an, and worried about how to protect her. He found Fang Mingjie a job at Meng Yifan’s new hotel, leaving Fang excited to become its lobby manager.

• Seventh Master told Chen Mo that Bai Xiaoyu and Chang Banpo would come to arrest Chang An'an for leaving Shanhaiguan without permission.
• Chen Mo worried that the Chang Immortals would punish him if Chang An'an was not handed over, but Seventh Master said he had no influence with them.
• Fang Mingjie called Chen Mo after discovering that the address Chen Mo had given him was fake, so Chen Mo promised to take him to a job.
• Chen Mo brought Fang Mingjie to Meng Yifan’s horror-themed hotel, where Meng offered him the lobby manager position on the condition that he stay until the hotel closed.
• Fang Mingjie accepted the job enthusiastically and promised to keep working there until he passed into nirvana.

Fang Mingjie explained that he wanted to remain human for the sake of his wife and children, and the narrator promised to help him avoid the Immortal Family. The Northeast visitors arrived intending to kill Chang An'an’s unborn child, and the chapter ended with the narrator and Yi Yang seeing the dead, monstrous offspring.

• Fang Mingjie signed an employment contract with Meng Yifan and told the narrator he would not return to the Northeast because he wanted to stay with his family.
• The narrator asked Fang Mingjie if he wanted to be human, and Fang Mingjie said he would flee rather than leave his wife and children.
• The narrator and Yi Yang picked up Mr. Cui and Yang Wei, who were possessed by Chang Banpo and Bai Xiaoyu, respectively.
• Bai Xiaoyu revealed that the Immortal Family had ordered the Calamity Dragon’s offspring wiped out, and the group went to Tao Jingyu’s home.
• Bai Xiaoyu removed the offspring and told Tao Jingyu’s parents she would recover, then handed the narrator and Yi Yang a bag containing its body.
• Yi Yang opened the bag, revealing a dead baby with a human head and a snake’s body over a meter long.

After helping resolve Tao Jingyu’s family’s crisis, the narrator tried to dispose of Chang An'an's enormous stillborn offspring and settle the fee. Pan Lijuan refused to pay the agreed amount, but Tao Jianhua paid the balance, and the narrator left with a harsh warning about his marriage.

• The narrator and Yi Yang were horrified by Chang An'an's oversized stillborn offspring, and Pan Lijuan fainted after peeking into its bag.
• The narrator gave the bag to An Ning to deliver to Seventh Master, and An Ning managed to finish her noodles despite seeing what was inside.
• The narrator planned to charge Tao Jingyu's family eighty-eight thousand, but Pan Lijuan transferred only five thousand and argued that the narrator had merely run errands.
• The narrator left the Villa in anger, and Tao Jianhua followed to apologize and paid the remaining balance.
• The narrator told Tao Jianhua to move his assets out of his wife's name and find a younger replacement.

The narrator divided Tao Jianhua’s payment among himself, Yi Yang, and An Ning, then led Chang Banpo and Bai Xiaoyu into the mountains to find Chang An'an. They found Fang Mingjie possessing Chang An'an’s body, and Chang Banpo accused him of breaking the Chang Family’s rules.

• The narrator split the eighty-eight thousand yuan into three shares and transferred Yi Yang’s and An Ning’s portions to them.
• The narrator told Chang Banpo and Bai Xiaoyu that Chang An'an had fled into the mountains and persuaded them to wait until night to search.
• The narrator drove Yi Yang and the two spirits to the mountain near Meng Yifan’s hotel, where Chang Banpo detected Chang An'an nearby.
• Chang Banpo called for Chang An'an, but Fang Mingjie stepped out instead.
• Chang Banpo condemned Fang Mingjie for possessing a human body and leaving Shanhaiguan without permission, while Fang Mingjie defended his actions and challenged him.

Fang Mingjie challenged Chang Banpo’s authority and fought him, but Seventh Master secretly helped him turn the battle against Chang Banpo and Bai Xiaoyu. After Fang Mingjie escaped, the group went down the mountain, where the narrator questioned why the Chang Family had sent Chang Banpo and Bai Xiaoyu after him.

• Fang Mingjie rejected the Chang Family’s rules and mocked Chang Banpo for never having experienced human life.
• Chang Banpo attacked Fang Mingjie, and Yi Yang explained that an Illusion Technique had hidden their true forms from the narrator.
• Fang Mingjie took a pill to strengthen himself, while Bai Xiaoyu left Yang Wei’s body and joined the fight in her hedgehog form.
• Fang Mingjie used Red Talismans with Seventh Master’s help, making Bai Xiaoyu and Chang Banpo’s true forms disappear and causing Yang Wei and Mr. Cui to collapse.
• Fang Mingjie escaped, and the narrator helped Chang Banpo before taking him and Bai Xiaoyu down the mountain to eat.
• The narrator asked Chang Banpo why the Chang Family had sent him and Bai Xiaoyu after Chang An'an.

Chen Mo used flattery and heavy drinking to turn Chang Banpo and Bai Xiaoyu against the elders who had assigned them to catch Chang An'an. After they complained about their treatment, the three swore to become sworn siblings before a statue of Second Master Guan.

• Chen Mo praised Chang Banpo and Bai Xiaoyu as underappreciated talents and persuaded them to stop working so hard to catch Chang An'an.
• Chen Mo and Yi Yang drank with Chang Banpo and Bai Xiaoyu, and Yi Yang gave Chen Mo a hangover pill after he vomited.
• Chang Banpo and Bai Xiaoyu drunkenly complained about being disrespected by their elders and juniors.
• Chen Mo suggested becoming sworn siblings, and Chang Banpo and Bai Xiaoyu eagerly accepted.
• The three swore their sibling oath before Second Master Guan, promising that anyone who broke it would be struck by lightning.

After getting drunk together, Chang Banpo and Bai Xiaoyu accepted the narrator as their sworn younger brother, and he spent several days entertaining them while hiding that he was helping Chang An'an. He finally brought them to Seventh Master's place and confessed, but Chang Banpo insisted he would kill Chang An'an and take her snake heart back.

• After waking up beside Chang Banpo, the narrator reminded him and Bai Xiaoyu that they had sworn to become siblings while drunk, and Chang Banpo refused to back out of the oath.
• The narrator took Chang Banpo and Bai Xiaoyu around to eat, drink, and enjoy human entertainment for several days while waiting for news about Chang An'an.
• When Chang Banpo asked about Chang An'an, the narrator brought the pair to Seventh Master's place and confessed that he was on Chang An'an's side.
• The narrator explained that Chang An'an had promised to care for Fang Mingjie's family and had not harmed anyone since escaping Shanhaiguan, but Chang Banpo remained furious.
• Chang Banpo rejected the narrator's plea for mercy and declared that he would kill Chang An'an and take her snake heart to complete his mission.

Seventh Master argued that Chang An'an’s escape and survival were the Chang Family’s responsibility and that killing her would violate Daoist principles and harm Fang Mingjie’s family. Chang Banpo and Bai Xiaoyu were left unsure whether to spare her when Fang Mingjie and Yi Yang came out of the house.

• Seventh Master told Chang Banpo that the Chang Family had rescued Chang An'an, treated her as a breeding tool, and driven her to flee Shanhaiguan.
• Chang Banpo argued that the rule against crossing Shanhaiguan had to be enforced consistently, even though Chang An'an had reason to leave.
• Seventh Master invoked the three Earth Immortals and Daoist ideals to argue that sparing Chang An'an would follow nature and avoid harming Fang Mingjie’s family.
• Seventh Master praised Chang Banpo and Bai Xiaoyu, leaving both immortals conflicted about whether to spare Chang An'an.
• Fang Mingjie and Yi Yang came out of the house.

Fang Mingjie pleaded with Chang Banpo to spare him for his family, then offered his snake core so he could become an ordinary human and no longer threaten anyone. Chang Banpo accepted the snake heart and core and left without killing him.

• Fang Mingjie showed Chang Banpo a family photograph and begged him to spare his wife, children, parents-in-law, and mother.
• Chang Banpo questioned whether Fang Mingjie could control his Calamity Dragon nature and said shielding him would cost him his chance to claim credit.
• Fang Mingjie offered to surrender his snake core and become an ordinary person, explaining that he had chosen human life and accepted its limits.
• Fang Mingjie spat out his snake core, and Yi Yang brought out the little Calamity Dragon's snake heart for Chang Banpo to take as proof of completing his mission.
• Chang Banpo accepted the snake heart and core, then left with Bai Xiaoyu without killing Fang Mingjie.
• The narrator asked Fang Mingjie if he mourned the offspring whose heart he had surrendered, and Fang Mingjie said he had lost countless broods before.

The narrator sent his new sworn siblings Chang Banpo and Bai Xiaoyu back to the Northeast, then questioned Fang Mingjie about the secret box he had stolen from an organization. Fang Mingjie revealed he had once stayed with the narrator’s maternal grandparents, leaving the narrator shocked and eager to learn what happened during that visit.

• The narrator apologized to Chang Banpo and Bai Xiaoyu for deceiving them, and they accepted their sworn-sibling bond before he saw them off at the airport.
• The narrator met Fang Mingjie at a barbecue stall and asked about the organization’s secret and the box Fang Mingjie had stolen while fleeing.
• Fang Mingjie recounted how he escaped the organization, stole the box, and eventually reached Chongqing, where he was helped by an old woman.
• Fang Mingjie identified the woman as Liu Xiangqiao of Pear Blossom Village and recalled staying with her and an old man named Tang Mingqing.
• The narrator realized Fang Mingjie had stayed at Li Fuguang’s family home and urgently asked whether he had done anything during that week.

The narrator questioned Fang Mingjie about the box he had taken from the organization and learned that it contained an unusual black Buddha statue and documents about the leader’s death and Wu Huaqing’s takeover. The chapter left the narrator wondering how the statue linked Li Fuguang to the organization, after Fang Mingjie revealed he had lent it to Old Mrs. Liu’s husband, Tang, to study.

• The narrator asked Fang Mingjie about the box he had opened at Old Mrs. Liu’s house, and Fang Mingjie described its black Buddha statue with a third eye.
• Fang Mingjie recalled that the box’s documents said Wu Huaqing had killed the organization’s previous leader and taken control.
• Fang Mingjie described Wu Huaqing and said he had opposed the previous leader’s plans and intended to go abroad before Zhao Qiankun’s group attacked.
• Fang Mingjie said the organization worshipped the Buddha shown on the statue, though the documents gave no details about it.
• The narrator pressed Fang Mingjie about how the statue might have connected Li Fuguang to the organization, and Fang Mingjie admitted he had lent it to Tang to study.

The narrator learned that Fang Mingjie had lent the Evil Buddha statue to Li Fuguang’s grandfather before burying it near Pear Blossom Village and losing track of it. After hearing Fang Mingjie’s account, Seventh Master realized the organization’s leader had died long before its defeat, but neither he nor the narrator knew who or what the leader had been.

• Fang Mingjie told the narrator that he lent the Evil Buddha statue to Li Fuguang’s grandfather, then buried it in the mountains near Pear Blossom Village and could not find it after twenty years.
• The narrator questioned Fang Mingjie about the organization and the statue, then learned Fang Mingjie planned to work and support his family now that no one was pursuing him.
• The narrator played his recording of Fang Mingjie’s account for Seventh Master, who concluded the organization’s leader had died before the final stages of their struggle.
• The narrator and Seventh Master discussed the statue’s unknown material and suspected Li Fuguang’s grandfather had altered it, but they had no way to investigate.
• Seventh Master said he had never known the leader’s name, appearance, or gender, and the narrator asked whether the leader had even been human.

The narrator and Seventh Master debated whether the Evil Buddha was an independent creature, an invented god who gained consciousness, or the organization’s leader, and whether Li Fuguang was connected to him. They decided to investigate Li Fuguang’s maternal grandfather’s research in Pear Blossom Village, where his maternal grandmother Liu Xiangqiao still lived.

• The narrator reasoned that gods might be powerful beings confined to particular regions and suggested that the floods in Chinese and Western traditions could have been the same event.
• The narrator conjectured that the Evil Buddha might be a real creature, an invented god made conscious by offerings, or the organization’s leader, and proposed that Li Fuguang had been reincarnated as himself.
• Seventh Master concluded that Li Fuguang might be the Evil Buddha or the organization’s leader and warned that he was dangerous.
• The narrator told Seventh Master that he could not sense evil in Li Fuguang or access memories of the Evil Buddha or the leader, despite possessing Li Fuguang’s memories.
• Seventh Master said they needed to learn what Li Fuguang’s maternal grandfather had done with the Evil Buddha statue and whether he had left records.
• Seventh Master told the narrator to visit Pear Blossom Village and seek out Li Fuguang’s maternal grandmother, Liu Xiangqiao.

The Horror Hotel opened with a crowd of prominent guests, and Meng Yifan showed the group its horror-themed rooms. Their tour turned frightening when a room filled with Jiangshi came to life and a ghost appeared in the bathroom mirror.

• Song Xiaotian returned from his honeymoon and heard the narrator's embellished story about Fang Mingjie and the supernatural beings.
• The narrator, Song Xiaotian, An Ning, and Yi Yang brought flower baskets to the Horror Hotel's opening, where Meng Yifan welcomed them and praised the turnout.
• Fang Mingjie, now the hotel's lobby manager, guided them through the hotel and showed them the Horror Funeral Home room.
• The room's curtains closed, its lights went out, and eight coffins opened to reveal Qing Dynasty Jiangshi.
• Song Xiaotian screamed and fainted near the door, while the narrator spotted a red-clad female ghost reflected in the bathroom mirror.

The narrator remembered that Wu Huaqing had been among the hostages Uncle Song rescued overseas and told Uncle Song that the organization’s leader shared his name. Uncle Song recognized Wu Huaqing as Infinite Daoist, a prominent Feng Shui master, and began to question whether his old mission had been a setup.

• After recalling Old Master Song’s story, the narrator took Song Xiaotian to Uncle Song’s teahouse to ask about Wu Huaqing.
• Uncle Song confirmed that Wu Huaqing was among the hostages he had rescued and said he later learned Wu Huaqing was a leading Feng Shui master known as Infinite Daoist.
• The narrator told Uncle Song that the leader of the organization that had captured him was also named Wu Huaqing, though he had no proof they were the same person.
• Uncle Song reacted with shock, and Song Xiaotian asked whether his father’s superior might have been involved.
• Uncle Song recalled that his superior had sent him on an earlier mission to arrest criminals overseas before Wu Huaqing and several others were kidnapped.

The narrator and Uncle Song traced Wu Huaqing’s return to China to his effort to build influence and suspected he had arranged the death of Uncle Song’s former superior. After seeing Wu Huaqing’s powerful connections, the narrator and Song Xiaotian realized they could not confront him directly and wondered whether Li Fuguang was the reason Wu Huaqing stayed away from Lanjiang City.

• The narrator asked Uncle Song whether his former superior had died after Uncle Song returned from overseas, and Uncle Song confirmed that the man had died of liver cancer.
• The narrator suggested that someone had switched the superior’s medication, and Uncle Song admitted he had suspected foul play but feared investigating would endanger his family.
• Uncle Song explained that Wu Huaqing was in China, had built a powerful network as the Infinite Daoist, and lived in a large villa in City A.
• Uncle Song sent the narrator a photo of Wu Huaqing with a prominent man, and the narrator realized Wu Huaqing had connections that could make retaliation against him deadly.
• Song Xiaotian and the narrator questioned why Wu Huaqing had not used his connections to target them in Lanjiang City, and the narrator suspected Wu Huaqing feared Li Fuguang.

The narrator learned that Wu Huaqing was the organization's leader and had once met Seventh Master, then traveled with An Ning and Yi Yang to Pear Blossom Village to investigate Li Fuguang's past and search for Fang Mingjie's buried box. The chapter ended with Tang Wengui explaining that Li Fuguang's grandmother was staying with relatives and had been left nearly blind by the family's tragedies.

• Seventh Master recognized Wu Huaqing as a famous figure and showed the narrator a photograph of the two of them together from eight years earlier.
• Seventh Master said Wu Huaqing feared Li Fuguang and wanted something from him, and urged the narrator to investigate Li Fuguang's background in Pear Blossom Village.
• The narrator drove to Pear Blossom Village with An Ning and Yi Yang, hoping to learn about Li Fuguang and find Fang Mingjie's buried box.
• Tang Wengui welcomed the group and invited them to eat at his home before taking them to Li Fuguang's maternal grandmother.
• Tang Wengui explained that Li Fuguang's grandmother lived with relatives in turn and had lost most of her sight after her grandson disappeared and her family died.

The narrator visited Li Fuguang’s childhood village and reunited with his elderly maternal grandmother, while hiding his connection to her. He learned that Chang An'an had once taken a small Buddha statue to the grandmother’s husband, who studied it and kept written notes.

• The narrator brought gifts to Uncle Gui and his wife, who reluctantly accepted them after he insisted.
• Uncle Gui led the narrator to Li Fuguang’s grandmother and explained that she had lost her sight after grieving for her missing grandson.
• The narrator met his grandmother, spoke with her about Seventh Master, and asked about Chang An'an’s stay years earlier.
• The grandmother recalled that Chang An'an had carried away a case and had lent a small Buddha statue to her husband to study.
• The grandmother said her husband had written and drawn in a notebook while researching the Buddha statue, and the narrator realized those records might contain clues.

While searching Li Fuguang's maternal grandfather's belongings, An Ning found a notebook tracing the Evil Buddha's origins to the Buddhist-Daoist Controversy and a persecuted Daoist priest named Gongsun Jing. The account ended as Gongsun Jing met the three-eyed Buddhist monk Daojue.

• The narrator, An Ning, and Yi Yang searched Li Fuguang's maternal grandfather's notebooks and found one depicting the Three-Eyed Strange Buddha.
• The notebook described the Buddhist-Daoist Controversy and the competing claims surrounding the Laozi Transforming the Barbarians Theory.
• The notebook traced the Evil Buddha's birth to a period when Emperor Wenxuan favored Buddhism and suppressed Daoism, forcing Daoist priests to become monks or die.
• Gongsun Jing, a Daoist priest known as Kongyang Daoist, entered the secular world to help people and restore Daoism's reputation.
• Gongsun Jing met Daojue, a Buddhist monk born with three eyes.

The story recounts how Daoist Gongsun Jing and Buddhist monk Daojue became friends and traveled together to help people amid the conflict between Buddhism and Daoism. They tracked down a Ghost King terrorizing a region, and Daojue stopped Gongsun Jing from killing her, proposing instead to reform her and improve Daoism’s standing.

• Daojue was ostracized for his three eyes and his Dharma name before meeting Gongsun Jing, who admired his unusual appearance and invited him to join Daoism.
• Gongsun Jing and Daojue became close friends and traveled together, hoping to ease the conflict between Buddhism and Daoism through their good deeds.
• The pair learned from the City God that a Vengeful Ghost had escaped the Underworld and terrorized the countryside after avenging her murdered family.
• Gongsun Jing and Daojue returned to the mountain and cornered the Ghost King, who tried to tempt Gongsun Jing into sparing her.
• Daojue stopped Gongsun Jing from killing the Ghost King and proposed taking her to a Daoist temple to reform her and improve Daoism’s reputation.

The notebook recounted how Gongsun Jing’s attempt to reform the ghost king ended with the deaths of his Daoist temple’s disciples and Daojue’s descent into becoming the Evil Buddha. After recognizing the ghost king on the Sin Domain Map, the narrator and his companions found no clues about Li Fuguang’s origins and decided to search for a box Fang Mingjie had buried.

• Gongsun Jing brought the ghost king to his Daoist temple, but Buddhist monks spread false rumors that led Emperor Wenxuan to order the temple’s destruction.
• Gongsun Jing released the ghost king and killed himself, believing Daojue had betrayed him; the ghost king was captured and sent to the Sin Prison.
• Daojue died while seeking justice for Gongsun Jing, then became an Evil Buddha and massacred the Buddhist temple.
• An Ning, Yi Yang, and the narrator read the notebook’s uncertain accounts of Daojue and the ghost king’s later fates.
• The narrator confirmed that the red-clad ghost on the Sin Domain Map was the ghost king, and the group discussed whether Li Fuguang was Daojue reincarnated.
• After finding no further clues in the notebooks, the narrator proposed finding the box Fang Mingjie had buried.

Chen stayed with the old lady and learned that Li Fuguang had fallen ill every Lunar New Year's Eve as a child, then used divination to search for a buried box on the mountain. After wandering without a clear place to dig, Chen met an old fisherman who asked whether the thing he was seeking belonged to him.

• Chen stayed with the old lady, who told him stories about Li Fuguang's childhood and his recurring New Year's Eve fevers.
• Chen agreed to keep the old lady company for a few more days and went to Uncle Gui's house for breakfast.
• Chen cast a hexagram that placed the buried box somewhere southwest on a moist, wooded mountain slope but gave no distance.
• Chen, An Ning, and Yi Yang climbed the mountain with supplies from Uncle Gui and wandered without knowing where to dig.
• Chen and his companions met an old fisherman beside a pool, and the fisherman asked whether the thing Chen sought belonged to him.