Recaps

Chen Mo found Liu Haicheng’s bedridden son, who begged him to disconnect his ventilator, then discovered a list that showed Liu Haicheng had targeted Zhang Rong and Chen Mo. After Grandmaster reported that Zhang Rong was alive, Chen Mo and Boss Lei found him badly injured in North River Park and took him to an unlicensed clinic, where Chen Mo realized Zhang Rong was pretending to sleep.

• Liu Haicheng’s son pleaded with Chen Mo to unplug his ventilator, and Chen Mo did so after asking him about Zhang Rong and his father’s actions.
• Chen Mo found Liu Haicheng’s list of targets, which included Zhang Rong and the false identity Zhang Lin, and photographed it before leaving with Boss Lei.
• Grandmaster told Chen Mo that Zhang Rong had contacted him and was hiding, badly injured, in a restroom at North River Park.
• Chen Mo and Boss Lei found Zhang Rong unconscious and bloody in the third restroom, then took him to a friend’s unlicensed clinic for treatment.
• After the doctor treated Zhang Rong, Chen Mo went to check on him and realized he was pretending to sleep.

Chen Mo rescued Zhang Rong, but suspected his senior brother’s account and secretly checked his birth date. After confirming Zhang Rong shared the dangerous lunar birthday of two victims, Chen Mo revealed Liu Chenghai’s scheme, then used Threefold Illusion on Zhang Rong as they prepared to sleep.

• Chen Mo ignored Liu Chenghai’s calls until Liu abruptly hung up when Chen repeatedly questioned whether he had really found his brother.
• Zhang Rong woke and told Chen Mo he had been captured while investigating two employees for Liu Chenghai, then escaped and contacted Qingyang Temple for help.
• Chen Mo asked Boss Lei to pilfer Zhang Rong’s ID card and learned Zhang Rong was born on the fifteenth day of the sixth lunar month, like the two employees who had jumped from a building.
• Chen Mo told Zhang Rong that Liu Chenghai was orchestrating the scheme to exchange his severely ill son’s fate for someone else’s, and Zhang Rong realized he had misjudged the culprit.
• Chen Mo shared a room with Zhang Rong and cast Threefold Illusion after asking whether his injuries hurt.

The narrator discovered that Zhang Rong, Boss Lei, and Grandmaster had concealed Zhang Rong’s real birthday and suspected they were hiding the truth from him. Through fragments of Zhang Rong’s memories, he saw Zhang Rong rescue two captives after killing six attackers, leaving the narrator wary of what Zhang Rong might do next.

• The narrator used an illusion on Zhang Rong but could not make him answer questions or access his memories because Zhang Rong had a strong psychological defense.
• The narrator found Zhang Rong’s ID and learned his birthday was April 8, not July 13, realizing Boss Lei and Grandmaster had both lied.
• The narrator concluded that Zhang Rong had not been kidnapped and that the three men were cooperating to conceal something from him.
• The narrator caught fragmented memories of Zhang Rong standing up to a group of attackers, killing six, and freeing two young men tied to chairs.
• The narrator returned Zhang Rong’s ID and phone to their pockets and feared Zhang Rong might attack him if he woke.

After returning Zhang Rong to Qingyang Temple, Chen Mo realized Grandmaster had hinted that he should kill Liu Chenghai in the name of Mohist Non-Aggression. Chen Mo went to Liu Chenghai’s son’s funeral and followed Liu Chenghai into a private room, where Liu Chenghai demanded to know why he had come.

• Grandmaster praised Chen Mo for finding the truth, then invoked Mohist Non-Aggression and Liu Chenghai’s harm to innocent families, leading Chen Mo to suspect he wanted Liu Chenghai killed.
• Chen Mo returned Zhang Rong to Qingyang Temple, then stayed behind and asked Boss Lei to take him to Yuchuang Group.
• Chen Mo learned Liu Chenghai was away from work because his son had died and got the address of the funeral home.
• Chen Mo paid his respects at the funeral, then followed Liu Chenghai into an empty room.
• Liu Chenghai closed the door and coldly asked Chen Mo why he had come.

The narrator confronted Liu Haicheng about his failed attempt to exchange seven lives for his son's health, then used the dead boy's identity to make Liu Haicheng kill himself. After completing Grandmaster's task, the narrator returned to Qingyang Temple and received a Daoist certificate.

• The narrator told Liu Haicheng that the fate exchange would have passed the seven victims' misfortunes to his son, but Liu Haicheng rejected atonement and cursed everyone.
• The narrator admitted to unplugging Liu Haicheng's son's ventilator, provoking Liu Haicheng to attack him, then pretended to be Yangyang and instructed Liu Haicheng to cut his neck after a phone call.
• At eight that evening, the narrator called Liu Haicheng from below Qingyang Temple and told him Yangyang would soon come back to life, prompting Liu Haicheng to hurry off to kill himself.
• The narrator returned to Qingyang Temple and reported to Grandmaster, who gave him a Daoist certificate and explained that it could offer him protection.

The narrator found Zhang Rong in a hidden dormitory behind Qingyang Temple and brought him cigarettes. After hearing how the narrator had uncovered Liu Haicheng’s problem, Zhang Rong praised his junior brother and began to share a personal experience to answer whether Liu Haicheng deserved to die.

• The narrator bribed Senior Brother Ninety-nine with lollipops to lead him to Zhang Rong’s dormitory.
• The narrator found Zhang Rong playing a game instead of copying the Dao De Jing, a punishment for smoking, and gave him two packs of cigarettes.
• Zhang Rong explained that the temple’s adopted children worked or studied away from Qingyang Temple and contributed part of their earnings to support it.
• Zhang Rong asked how the narrator had realized Liu Haicheng was the one with a problem, and the narrator explained what he had noticed.
• Zhang Rong praised the narrator, then began telling him about his own experience when asked whether Liu Haicheng deserved to die.

Zhang Rong recounted how he and a fellow disciple investigated a village where children kept falling ill after seeing a boy in a bellyband. They uncovered that grieving mother Tao Xiaojuan had killed three children, believing the ghosts would keep her dead infant company, and left the villagers unable to believe her guilt.

• Zhang Rong and a fellow disciple were sent by Qingyang Temple to investigate children in a village who fell ill after seeing a little boy.
• They discovered the boy was the ghost of the infant born to Zhang Qiang and Tao Xiaojuan, who had died before reaching one month old.
• After the infant's death, Tao Xiaojuan secretly struck the fontanelle of another family's baby, killing him.
• Tao Xiaojuan dreamed that her dead son had gained the murdered baby as a playmate and became convinced her son still existed as a ghost.
• Tao Xiaojuan killed two more children before Zhang Rong and his fellow disciple uncovered the truth.
• The villagers were unable to believe that the seemingly kindhearted Tao Xiaojuan had killed the children.

Zhang Rong told how Tao Xiaojuan and Zhang Qiang’s grief over their infant son led to the deaths of three children, Tao Xiaojuan’s suicide with two more children, and Zhang Qiang’s violent rampage. He condemned people who used Seven Deaths for a Life, leaving the narrator troubled because his father had revived him by the same method, before Reverend Jingming Dao caught Zhang Rong smoking.

• Zhang Rong explained that Tao Xiaojuan had caused the deaths of three children who had visited her, and that her husband Zhang Qiang had known and supported her actions.
• Tao Xiaojuan tied up two village children, pushed them into the river, and jumped in with them, while Zhang Qiang later killed an elderly villager and injured others before the villagers subdued him.
• Zhang Rong regretted not finding evidence sooner, and the narrator tried to reassure him that the later deaths were not his fault.
• Zhang Rong condemned Liu Haicheng and others who used Seven Deaths for a Life, while the narrator privately recalled that his own father had done the same to bring him back to life.
• When Reverend Jingming Dao entered, Zhang Rong blamed the narrator for smoking, but his martial uncle sniffed Zhang Rong’s hand and caught him instead.

The narrator trained at Qingyang Temple while Zhang Rong was dragged off by Martial Uncle Jingming after insulting him. Grandmaster then sent the narrator and Zhang Rong to investigate an old man who had apparently reanimated, leaving them to learn what happened at the village.

• The narrator trained under Zhang Rong's supervision while Zhang Rong smoked and mocked Martial Uncle Jingming, who seized him and dragged him away.
• After about half a month, Grandmaster summoned Zhang Rong and the narrator to the Steward’s Office and assigned them a task.
• A family reported that an elderly man’s face cloth had repeatedly blown away, food had gone missing, and a neighbor’s chickens had been bitten to death after the man’s funeral began.
• A Yin-Yang Master found food and blood in the old man’s mouth and concluded that he had reanimated, then contacted Qingyang Temple for help.
• Grandmaster sent Zhang Rong and the narrator to investigate and warned them that a reanimated corpse was dangerous.

Zhang Rong and the narrator investigated the strange condition of Shen Gongquan’s corpse and agreed to keep vigil at his family’s home. They prepared the coffin for the night, hoping to prevent another reanimation and discover whether Shen had an unfulfilled wish.

• Zhang Rong and the narrator arrived at Shen Gongquan’s home and learned that his five sons had skipped funeral rites because Shen had requested a simple funeral.
• Zhang Rong questioned the sons and discovered that none had properly kept vigil, since the youngest had dozed off during his shift.
• Zhang Rong agreed that he and the narrator would keep watch until the funeral and later perform rites for Shen, while also checking the burial plot’s feng shui.
• The brothers agreed to pay twenty thousand yuan, and Zhang Rong and the narrator recited the Scripture for Resolving Grievances and Eradicating Sins beside Shen’s coffin.
• Zhang Rong stretched bell-equipped red cords across the coffin as a warning system, then urged Shen not to cause trouble for his descendants and to communicate any wishes in spirit.

The narrator and Zhang Rong repeatedly subdued Old Master Shen’s reanimating corpse during the night vigil, then questioned his sons about how they had treated him before his death. Zhang Rong ordered the five brothers and their wives to kowtow and ask forgiveness, warning that Old Master Shen might otherwise act again.

• The narrator dreamed of Old Master Shen falling, woke, and saw his hand move as he lifted the white cloth from his face.
• The narrator and Zhang Rong forced Old Master Shen back into the coffin, and Zhang Rong used a Hand Seal and chant to stop him moving.
• Old Master Shen stood up again and frightened the Fourth Shen Family Brother; Zhang Rong tied a Red Cord around him while the narrator covered his face and told him it was daylight.
• Zhang Rong explained that Old Master Shen’s trapped breath and Seven Souls could be causing his corpse to reanimate.
• Zhang Rong questioned Shen Jun and his brothers, who admitted their wives had cared for their bedridden father and sometimes lacked patience.
• Zhang Rong told the five brothers to wake their wives and have everyone kowtow to Old Master Shen and sincerely ask his forgiveness.

After learning that the Shen Family brothers had abused their father and may have used an evil art to kill him, Zhang Rong and the narrator investigated the strange candles in Old Shen’s room. They suspected the family had burned away his remaining lifespan, but did not know who had taught them the ritual.

• The narrator suspected the Shen Family brothers were pretending to repent and went looking for someone who would tell the truth about them.
• An old lady told the narrator that Old Shen had become paralyzed half a year earlier, had likely been beaten, and was mistreated and starved by his family.
• The old lady explained that Old Shen had kept control of the Scrap Station’s money so he could save for a nursing home, angering his sons as the business declined.
• The narrator told Zhang Rong what the old lady had revealed, and Zhang Rong examined the bedroom where Old Shen had been kept.
• Zhang Rong identified a large patch of candle residue and explained that the candles might have been used in the evil art Lifespan Burning to burn away Old Shen’s remaining years.
• Zhang Rong and the narrator suspected one or more of the sons or daughters-in-law had used the ritual, but wondered who had supplied the talisman.

Zhang Rong and the narrator confronted the Shen brothers over using an evil art to kill their father, learning they had hoped it would improve their scrapyard business. Zhang Rong gave them one last chance to help settle Old Mr. Shen’s resentment that night, but Shen Jun balked at involving his son.

• Zhang Rong called the five Shen brothers upstairs and questioned them about the melted candles and the power outage.
• When the brothers tried to intimidate them and offered money, Zhang Rong rejected the bribe, struck the second brother, and threatened them with a knife.
• The narrator accused the brothers of using the evil art to improve business, and Shen Jun denied it despite appearing shocked that he had been swindled.
• Zhang Rong explained that the three candles had burned away the three years Old Mr. Shen had left to live and ordered the brothers and their families to follow his instructions in the mourning hall that night.
• Shen Jun said his son could not attend, and Zhang Rong warned that the whole family could die if they did not cooperate.

Zhang Rong and the narrator prepared the Shen family to appease the old man's restless spirit by appealing to family affection. The brothers chose Shen Simian to negotiate with their father, despite Shen Lao Wu's objections.

• The narrator explained to Zhang Rong how the Shen brothers' upbringing might have shaped their behavior.
• Zhang Rong told the brothers that a filial family member must persuade the old man to let go, then have the brothers kneel and apologize.
• The Shen brothers argued over which of their children should take the risk and eventually chose Shen Lao Wu's son, Shen Simian.
• Zhang Rong reassured Shen Lao Wu that Shen Simian would be protected and blessed for his filial actions.
• Shen Simian returned home an hour later.

Zhang Rong and the narrator prepared a ritual to summon Shen Gongquan’s corpse in the mourning hall, hoping to learn why he had returned. Shen Simian’s grandfather finally communicated that Shen Lao Wu and the others, including Shen Simian’s father, had killed him using dark arts.

• Shen Simian arrived at the mourning hall grieving for Shen Gongquan and agreed to take part in the ritual.
• Zhang Rong warned the Shen Family to follow his instructions, then had Shen Jun help lay Shen Gongquan’s body on a bamboo mat.
• The narrator dimmed the mourning hall while Zhang Rong tied Shen Simian to the corpse with a Red Cord and invited Shen Gongquan to return.
• Shen Gongquan’s shadow rose on the wall, and Shen Simian tried to calm him by recalling their family memories.
• Shen Simian understood Shen Gongquan’s halting attempt to speak and told Zhang Rong that his grandfather accused Shen Lao Wu, the others, and Shen Simian’s father of killing him with dark arts.

After Shen Jun’s fear snapped the red cord, the reanimated old man fled the mourning hall and ran to his mother’s grave. There, he comforted his remorseful son before collapsing, leaving the family to face his final farewell.

• Shen Simian promised to report anyone responsible for his grandfather’s death, but Shen Jun’s sobbing broke the red cord and the old man attacked Zhang Rong and the narrator before fleeing.
• Zhang Rong led the family in a search, and the narrator learned that the old man’s mother was buried nearby.
• The group found the old man at his mother’s grave, where he hissed as though telling her about the abuse he had suffered from his sons.
• The narrator ordered Shen Jun and his family to kneel, and the brothers and grandchildren wept and apologized to the old man.
• The old man wiped Shen Jun’s tears without hurting him, then collapsed.

After Shen Jun apologized to his father, the old man stopped moving and was cremated, settling the haunting. Zhang Rong and the narrator collected their fees, then learned that a pockmarked man was teaching dark arts and offering a life-extension ritual, possibly as part of the organization they were investigating.

• The old man stopped moving after hearing Shen Jun apologize, and Zhang Rong and the narrator returned his body to the coffin.
• Shen Jun argued with his parents, and the group waited until the old man was cremated and his urn buried.
• Zhang Rong charged Shen Jun ten thousand yuan for a sham feng shui adjustment, while the narrator took money for false fortune-telling; they earned thirty-five thousand yuan in total.
• The narrator pressured Shen Jun into revealing that a feng shui master named Huang Zhang had connected him to a pockmarked man who taught dark arts and supplied the Talisman.
• Shen Jun said the pockmarked man offered Life Extension and paid referral fees, and Zhang Rong and the narrator suspected he was linked to Seven Deaths for a Life.
• Zhang Rong split the money evenly with the narrator, and they wondered whether the pockmarked man's group had previously dealt with Liu Haicheng.

After five months of training at Qingyang Temple, the narrator learned Ancient Bajiquan and grew stronger while wondering whether Zhang Rong had killed Huang Zhang. Grandmaster then asked him to take about thirty young disciples down the mountain to play.

• The narrator read a police bulletin about a man surnamed Huang who had been hacked to death and suspected the victim might be Huang Zhang, linking the death to Zhang Rong's return to Qingyang Temple.
• The narrator stayed at Qingyang Temple and trained until his master began teaching him Ancient Bajiquan, explaining that it preserved the style's complete fighting techniques.
• The narrator practiced basics, learned Bajiquan, and sparred with his master for two months, becoming stronger as five months passed.
• Grandmaster gave the narrator ten thousand yuan and asked him to take about thirty young disciples down the mountain to play.
• The narrator led the children out of Qingyang Temple.

The narrator took his senior brothers and sisters to an amusement park, where they rescued two siblings from thugs, then learned that the brother and his father had been murdered and their Three Souls taken. Grandmaster assigned the narrator and Zhang Rong to investigate the deaths, while the surviving little girl remained safe.

• The narrator brought his senior brothers and sisters to an amusement park and noticed a brother and sister collecting bottles.
• The narrator's senior brothers and sisters beat up two thugs who were threatening the siblings, and the narrator stopped them before they killed the men.
• The narrator offered the boy money, but the boy bowed and fled with his sister.
• Grandmaster summoned the narrator and Zhang Rong and showed him photographs of a murdered father and son.
• The narrator recognized the boy as the bottle collector and learned that the killer had taken the Three Souls of both victims.
• Grandmaster explained that the little girl survived by hiding under a bed, while her brother left his hiding place to protect her.

After learning that a poor family’s father and son had been murdered and their souls taken, I and Zhang Rong visited the funeral and questioned Master Yan. The little girl had been left traumatized, and the revelation that the victims were both born in the Year of the Dragon pointed toward a possible pattern.

• I asked Grandmaster whether the murdered father and son shared a birthday, then went with Zhang Rong to meet Master Yan.
• I and Zhang Rong attended the funeral, where the little girl recognized me and clung to my finger in shock.
• Master Yan told us the family’s history: the siblings’ deaf-mute mother had died in a construction accident, leaving their father to raise them.
• Master Yan explained that the older boy had come out of a wardrobe and distracted the killer long enough for his sister to survive.
• Master Yan said the father and son did not share a birthday, but both had been born in the Year of the Dragon.

After investigating the murdered deaf-mute father and son, the narrator suspected their deaths were part of another version of Seven Deaths for a Life, possibly targeting people born in the Year of the Dragon. Grandmaster revealed that Pockmarked Face, a man linked to the area, had already been killed.

• Master Yan described how fraudsters invented spells and noted that the father and son’s shared birth year might point to an occult method.
• The narrator and Zhang Rong left Master Yan, agreed to investigate whether leaked personal information revealed the victims’ birth years, and considered checking the hospital and the boy’s school.
• Zhang Rong planned to ask a computing student at Qingyang Temple to look into possible information leaks, then took the narrator back to the temple.
• Grandmaster heard the narrator’s theory that the murders involved another version of Seven Deaths for a Life and was asked to make inquiries about Pockmarked Face.
• Grandmaster told the narrator that Pockmarked Face was already dead and had been killed by someone.

Grandmaster tested Chen Mo’s willingness to join a group that carried out extrajudicial justice, then persuaded him with a martial arts manual and the promise of stronger allies. Chen Mo agreed to join, and Grandmaster gave him his first test: uncover the true culprit behind the incident and everyone connected to that culprit.

• Grandmaster told Chen Mo that Huang Zhang and Pockmarked Face had been murdered and questioned whether evil people deserved to die.
• Chen Mo said he would kill someone dangerous if doing so protected more innocent people, and agreed he would obey the group’s leader unconditionally.
• Grandmaster offered Chen Mo a copy of Eighteen Routes of Sanshou and assured him he could leave after seven months.
• Chen Mo agreed to join Grandmaster’s group, which included Zhang Rong and Xiang Yifeng and had eliminated Huang Zhang and Pockmarked Face.
• Grandmaster set Chen Mo’s first test: uncover the true culprit behind the incident and everyone connected to the culprit.

Bai Qinian’s records led Zhang Rong and the narrator to suspect that his mother, Wang Meilan, had kept his unburied body after his death. They planned to investigate her remote villa that night.

• Zhang Rong showed the narrator Chen Xingze’s medical records and explained how he narrowed down cochlear implant patients with interrupted rehabilitation.
• Zhang Rong identified Bai Qinian, whose rehabilitation had stopped less than two months after his implant, and revealed that Bai had died ten months earlier.
• Zhang Rong told the narrator that Bai Qinian’s death had no known cause and that there was no record of his cremation.
• The narrator recalled Du Yuwei’s preserved body and suspected Wang Meilan had kept Bai’s body rather than burying him.
• Zhang Rong explained that Wang Meilan had moved from the city villa to a remote villa on the outskirts, and the narrator proposed investigating it that night.

The narrator and Zhang Rong spied on Wang Meilan and discovered she was using a Yin-Gathering Talisman to reanimate her deceased son, Bai Qinian, as part of a Life Extension ritual. After sneaking into Bai Qinian’s room, they found another corpse behind the narrator.

• The narrator and Zhang Rong entered Wang Meilan’s villa complex at night and watched her speak with a man who collected stacks of cash.
• After the visitor left, Wang Meilan carried a baby upstairs, then helped Bai Qinian, her deceased son, stand and walk with a Yin-Gathering Talisman on his back.
• The narrator recognized the talisman’s effect and concluded that Wang Meilan was performing Life Extension on Bai Qinian.
• When the upstairs lights went out, Zhang Rong and the narrator climbed into Bai Qinian’s room and found him lying motionless in a chair.
• Zhang Rong checked Bai Qinian and said only two of his souls remained inside him, allowing him to move when Wang Meilan ordered him.
• Zhang Rong suddenly stared in terror behind the narrator and warned that another corpse was there.

The narrator and Zhang Rong discovered a young woman’s corpse in Bai Qinian’s room and found love letters suggesting she might have been one of the girls he liked. Examining Bai Qinian’s neck led them to suspect he had been strangled and staged as a suicide, and that Wang Meilan knew how he had died and may have been involved in his killing.

• The narrator and Zhang Rong found a young woman’s corpse surrounded by dolls and photographed her for a computer-savvy senior fellow disciple to identify.
• The narrator suspected the man collecting money downstairs or one of his accomplices had helped Wang Meilan abduct the girl, and noted that the car outside might belong to him.
• The narrator found three identical love letters Bai Qinian had written to three different girls, prompting Zhang Rong to fear Wang Meilan might have abducted the other two as well.
• The narrator examined Bai Qinian’s neck and found a ligature mark, showing that he had been strangled.
• The narrator reasoned that the killer had strangled the murdered father and son and hung their bodies to imitate Bai Qinian’s death, implying Wang Meilan knew how Bai Qinian had died.
• The narrator concluded that Wang Meilan had either killed Bai Qinian herself or knew who had killed him.