Chapter Summaries

Song Xiaotian was arrested after beating Lu Tianxing and Lu Jie, and the Song family tried to negotiate his release. Lu Tianxing demanded five million and threatened to press charges, leaving the negotiations on the verge of collapse.

• The police arrested Song Xiaotian, while Lu Tianxing and Lu Jie were taken to the hospital.
• Chen Mo told Uncle Song and Old Master Song that Lu Jie and Lu Tianxing were connected to Xu Hui’s death, and they decided to negotiate rather than use Pan Xiaorou’s connections.
• Two days later, Uncle Song apologized to Lu Tianxing at a meeting mediated by a square-faced leader and offered compensation to prevent charges.
• Lu Tianxing demanded five million, and the mediator appeared to support the demand for his own benefit.
• Lu Tianxing threatened to take Song Xiaotian to court, and Uncle Song asked whether he intended to end the meeting without an agreement.

Uncle Song attacked Lu Tianxing and forced the Square-Faced Boss to release Song Xiaotian, while Old Master Song arranged for Xiaotian to be freed the next day. The narrator then visited Xu Dajun, who refused to abandon his plan to avenge Xu Hui and asked for help taking her killers down with him.

• Uncle Song flipped the restaurant table, beat Lu Tianxing, showed the Square-Faced Boss his and Song Xiaotian's schizophrenia diagnosis certificates, and demanded that Xiaotian be released.
• Uncle Song asked the narrator and Meng Yifan to claim they had beaten Lu Tianxing, and Old Master Song later arranged for Song Xiaotian to be released the next day.
• The narrator told Xu Dajun that Lu Jie was certainly involved in Xu Hui's death and that Lu Jie's father might be involved too, but they had no proof.
• The narrator urged Xu Dajun not to seek revenge and told him Xu Hui's ghost wanted him to live, but Xu Dajun insisted that he had no future and asked for a chance to take the perpetrators down with him.

After Song Xiaotian was released, Chen Mo told him about the plan to bring Xu Dajun, Lu Jie, Lu Tianxing, and Liu Yan together. Chen Mo recruited Liang Yi and Zhang Bo to arrange separate meetings with Lu Jie and Liu Yan, leaving the next steps in Xu Dajun’s hands.

• Song Xiaotian was released, and Pan Xiaorou warned him not to get into trouble again.
• Chen Mo explained that Xu Dajun planned to take down Lu Jie, Lu Tianxing, and Liu Yan over Xu Hui’s death.
• Chen Mo asked Liang Yi to arrange a meeting with Lu Jie outside the Meiyi Hotel on the night of the nineteenth.
• Chen Mo warned Liang Yi to stay away from the organization whose members she had known.
• Chen Mo paid Zhang Bo and instructed him to lure Liu Yan to a hotel meeting with promises of money.

The narrator and Song Xiaotian prepared Xu Dajun to abduct Liu Yan, Lu Jie, and Lu Tianxing as revenge for Xu Hui’s death. As the plan began, Seventh Master arrived with Xiuzhu to help draw Lu Tianxing out.

• Zhang Bo warned that the revenge plan carried legal risks, then asked the narrator to help find work for an apprentice from the Lushan Sect.
• The narrator agreed to help Zhang Bo place the apprentice at the shop once Meng Yifan opened a branch.
• Six days later, the narrator and Song Xiaotian gave Xu Dajun anesthetic and explained the routes and timing for abducting Liu Yan and Lu Jie, then intercepting Lu Tianxing.
• Xu Dajun thanked them, kowtowed, and refused to abandon his plan to avenge Xu Hui, despite the risk of arrest and imprisonment.
• The next night, the narrator and Song Xiaotian waited in a car as Xu Dajun was meant to abduct Liu Yan and Lu Jie.
• Seventh Master arrived with Xiuzhu and complained that they had made him help with something illegal.

The narrator and Song Xiaotian staged a car crash to lure Lu Tianxing out, then received Xu Dajun’s account of how Lu Tianxing assaulted Xu Hui and disposed of her body. A plume of smoke rose near Lu Jie’s home, suggesting Xu Dajun had set the car on fire with himself, Lu Tianxing, Lu Jie, and Liu Yan inside.

• The Seventh Master deliberately ran a red light and collided with the car of Lu Tianxing’s wife, prompting her to call him for help.
• The narrator and Song Xiaotian waited nearby, then retrieved Lu Jie’s and Liu Yan’s phones and deleted their social media accounts.
• The narrator received a text from Lu Tianxing’s phone containing Xu Dajun’s interrogation of him.
• The text revealed that Lu Tianxing had assaulted Xu Hui after Lu Jie left, then dumped her body in the river and erased the hotel surveillance footage.
• A plume of black smoke rose near Lu Jie’s home, and the narrator suspected Xu Dajun had burned the stolen car with himself, Lu Tianxing, Lu Jie, and Liu Yan inside.

After Xu Dajun and the others died in a car fire, police questioned the narrator and Song Xiaotian about Liu Xiaoxiao's death, but they denied involvement and avoided suspicion. An official notice blamed Xu Dajun for the killings and said the Loan Shark had been brought to justice, leaving the narrator and Song Xiaotian feeling guilty about their role in setting events in motion.

• The narrator and Song Xiaotian saw news that four bodies had been found in a burned car near Lu Jie's residential complex.
• Plainclothes police questioned the narrator and Song Xiaotian separately about where they had been on the night Liu Xiaoxiao died.
• The narrator denied knowing Xu Dajun and said Song Xiaotian had fought Lu Tianxing and Lu Jie because he secretly liked Xu Hui.
• An officer told the narrator that Xu Hui's death had been ruled a suicide caused by academic pressure.
• About a week later, an official notice said Xu Dajun had set the car on fire and killed himself and the others, while the Loan Shark had been brought to justice.
• The narrator and Song Xiaotian felt guilty because they had encouraged Xu Dajun to steal the Loan Shark's car to divert police suspicion.

The narrator and Song Xiaotian summoned Ji Ziyang, only for Xu Hui to arrive and reveal that she had also been killed; the two reunited before leaving to reincarnate. After reflecting on their fate and young love, the narrator decided to visit their other mother’s grave, and Seventh Master agreed to take them.

• The narrator asked Ji Ziyang whether he wanted to see Xu Hui, and he refused because he did not want to burden her with a goodbye.
• Xu Dajun arrived with Xu Hui, whose death had been avenged, and the narrator explained that she could not return to life.
• Ji Ziyang and Xu Hui embraced and left together with Xu Dajun to spend their final time before reincarnation.
• Seventh Master recalled two young lovers who had died for each other, prompting the narrator to reflect on the failures of their parents.
• The narrator asked Seventh Master to take them to pay respects to their other mother, and he agreed.

The narrator reunited with his estranged mother at a supermarket, but she refused his money and contact before leaving by bus. The next day, Brother Liu summoned him to work because a haunting in the morgue had frightened someone badly enough to require hospitalization.

• The narrator ran into his mother at the supermarket and drove her to a bus stop after she refused his offer to pay for her groceries.
• The narrator realized his mother had chosen a distant drop-off point to keep him from learning where she lived, and she declined his money and phone number.
• The narrator called out to his mother and apologized as she boarded the bus, and she told him none of what happened was his fault and urged him to live well.
• The narrator went to work the next day without telling anyone he had seen his mother.
• Brother Liu called the narrator to his workplace and explained that two suicides’ bodies had been in the morgue and that it had been haunted the previous night.

Chen Mo discovered that the ghost possessing Old Wang was Zhang Chengwen, who revealed that he and his brother Zhang Chengwu had been murdered by people from the organization. Before his cursed soul vanished, Zhang Chengwen gave Chen Mo an address, and Chen Mo hurried there while alerting the Seventh Master.

• Chen Mo found the ghost inside Old Wang and used chopsticks to draw it out.
• Zhang Chengwen possessed Old Wang, recognized Chen Mo, and said that he and Zhang Chengwu had been murdered by the people they had driven away before.
• Zhang Chengwen said the killers had returned for revenge, but a curse began making his soul scatter before he could identify them.
• Zhang Chengwen gave Chen Mo the address 188 Shuanghu Street, unit three, sixth floor, apartment 602, then vanished.
• Chen Mo told Brother Liu to drive him to the address and called the Seventh Master to report the brothers' deaths.

After Master Zhang’s lead took Brother Liu and the narrator to a suicide scene, they found a counselor’s business card and returned to the morgue, where Zhang Chengwu’s soul appeared. Before it scattered, Zhang Chengwu gave them a second address: 89 Tengxi Avenue, apartment 1406.

• The narrator and Brother Liu went to apartment 602 at 188 Shuanghu Street and found a woman hanged in a locked room.
• The narrator photographed the scene and noticed a business card for Saint An Psychological Clinic counselor Hua Wenfeng.
• Brother Liu and the narrator returned to the Police Bureau, where Seventh Master was caring for Xiuzhu and grieving Zhang Chengwen and Zhang Chengwu.
• Seventh Master and the narrator went to the morgue and found Zhang Chengwu’s corpse in drawer number eight.
• Zhang Chengwu’s Yin Soul appeared and began to scatter before he could identify his killer, but he gave Seventh Master and the narrator the address 89 Tengxi Avenue, apartment 1406.

After Zhang Chengwu’s soul scattered, Seventh Master and the narrator followed the address he had left to 89 Tengxi Avenue. They found a man who had died by charcoal burning, and Brother Liu promised to identify both victims as the investigation continued.

• Seventh Master left the morgue with the narrator and Brother Liu to investigate the address Zhang Chengwu had given them.
• The narrator told Brother Liu that Zhang Chengwen and Zhang Chengwu had been murdered by members of the group that had hypnotized him, and urged him to check surveillance footage.
• At apartment 1406 on Tengxi Avenue, Seventh Master picked the lock but left before the narrator and Brother Liu entered.
• The narrator and Brother Liu found a badly decomposed corpse in the locked bedroom and called for officers to bring protective gear.
• Brother Liu reported that the deceased was a man with late-stage syphilis and that a charcoal-burning basin indicated suicide, while Seventh Master and the narrator hurried away.

After learning that Qu Yan and He Feilong shared a birthday and had both visited Saint An Psychological Clinic, the narrator suspected another Seven Deaths for a Life and began pursuing the clinic as a lead. Meanwhile, Zhang Bo brought news of a new apprentice joining the shop, though he warned that Yi Yang lacked common sense.

• The narrator examined photos of Qu Yan's room over lunch, and An Ning stayed unfazed while Song Xiaotian and Meng Yifan lost their appetites.
• Brother Liu identified the dead pair as Qu Yan and He Feilong, who were unrelated, poor, and born on the same lunar-calendar day, but police found no evidence of homicide.
• Brother Liu revealed that both Qu Yan and He Feilong had been patients at Saint An Psychological Clinic, giving the narrator and Seventh Master a lead to investigate.
• The narrator told Seventh Master about the deaths, and Seventh Master arranged care for Xiuzhu so he could join the investigation.
• Zhang Bo introduced Yi Yang, a thirty-one-year-old former Shaolin trainee who was reliable but inexperienced and short on common sense.

Yi Yang joined Meng Yifan’s shop and proved his ability by quickly capturing a lingering spirit. The narrator then investigated Saint An Psychological Clinic and found Hua Wenfeng’s profile and expensive fees, but had not yet met him.

• Yi Yang arrived for an interview, asked for a salary of at least two thousand a month, and accepted Meng Yifan’s offer after hearing about the shop’s pay and benefits.
• Meng Yifan sent the narrator and Yi Yang to test Yi Yang’s skills at a haunted house, where Yi Yang captured the old man’s lingering Yin Soul in a bottle within minutes.
• The narrator showed Yi Yang a photo of Hua Wenfeng’s business card and drove him to Saint An Psychological Clinic to investigate the clinic connected to two recent deaths.
• The narrator found Hua Wenfeng’s credentials and the clinic’s high service prices, then registered for an appointment without being able to use medical insurance.

Chen visited psychologist Hua Wenfeng, who diagnosed his depression as severe and warned that his guardedness was obstructing recovery. Before leaving, Chen secretly photographed patients’ consultation records and asked Hua whether a psychologist could drive someone in despair to hopelessness.

• Chen met Hua Wenfeng and discussed his depression, which Hua said was severe and had likely persisted for nearly a year.
• Hua observed that Chen’s friends helped sustain him but warned that his extreme guardedness kept him from discussing the distress at the heart of his condition.
• While Hua was out of the room, Chen hurriedly filled in a self-assessment scale and photographed the consultation records, including those of a woman who had hanged herself and a man with syphilis.
• Hua recognized that Chen had filled in the scale at random and urged him to lower his guard if he wanted to recover.
• Chen asked whether a psychologist could make a despairing person utterly hopeless, and Hua said it was theoretically possible but unethical and potentially illegal.

The narrator reviewed the histories of Qu Yan and He Feilong, two people who had died by suicide after severe psychological and personal crises. He grew suspicious that Hua Wenfeng, who had treated both of them, might have guided patients toward suicide, and the chapter ended with that possibility under consideration.

• Brother Liu told the narrator that Qu Yan had lived in poverty, recently been dumped, and suffered severe depression without having medication at home.
• Brother Liu reported that He Feilong had contracted syphilis from his girlfriend and had subsequently been diagnosed with severe depression and anxiety.
• The narrator analyzed how Qu Yan’s isolation, insecurity, financial hardship, and breakup may have contributed to her despair and inability to afford medication.
• The narrator noted that He Feilong had a good income and friends but had been devastated by his girlfriend’s infidelity and the disease she passed on to him.
• The narrator recalled that Hua Wenfeng had treated both people and wondered whether, despite his professional skill, he could have led psychologically troubled patients toward suicide.

Chen Mo discovered that Cao Bing, the third person sharing Qu Yan and He Feilong’s birthday, had died by suicide after Chen saw his death in a dream. He then learned from Brother Liu that all three victims had been treated by Hua Wenfeng, while he hurried to help Seventh Master’s injured old friend.

• Chen Mo found Cao Bing in the consultation records and realized he might be the third victim in the Seven Deaths for a Life.
• Chen Mo dreamed that Cao Bing wrote a suicide note and slit his wrist, then woke to a call from Seventh Master, who asked him to rush to an injured old friend.
• Brother Liu told Chen Mo that nineteen-year-old Cao Bing had died by suicide after his ex-boyfriend called the police.
• Chen Mo confirmed Cao Bing was the person from his dream and urged Brother Liu to investigate Hua Wenfeng, who had treated all three victims.

The narrator and Seventh Master learned that Guo Ying had died after his soul was destroyed, and Guo Ying left them an address with his final words. When the narrator checked it against Cao Bing’s address, he realized another elder had likely been killed and alerted Brother Liu and Seventh Master.

• Brother Liu agreed to investigate Hua Wenfeng secretly, while warning the narrator that he could not promise any outcome.
• The narrator arrived at Seventh Master’s location and learned that the unconscious elder, Guo Ying, might not survive.
• Guo Ying briefly awoke, called Seventh Master brother, and died after reciting an address; black smoke rose from his body as his soul was destroyed.
• Seventh Master comforted Guo Ying’s family and called Daoist Master Yuanxiu to tell him not to come.
• The narrator learned that Guo Ying’s address did not match Cao Bing’s home address, suggesting another elder had been killed, and asked Brother Liu to investigate it.
• Seventh Master contacted people from his old circle to make inquiries about who else had been attacked.

After another death linked to the organization intensified the threat in Lanjiang City, I learned from Elder Guo’s wife about Seventh Master’s handsome youth, devastating losses, and extraordinary loyalty to Elder Guo. The chapter left me with a new understanding of the bonds and sacrifices that had shaped Seventh Master.

• Brother Liu reported that another person had died from slit wrists, and I realized the organization’s killings were continuing.
• While Seventh Master mourned Elder Guo, I noticed a portrait of a young man with a Daoist priest and learned the young man was Seventh Master.
• Elder Guo’s wife told me that Seventh Master’s wife and child had been murdered, changing his appearance after grief turned his hair white.
• Elder Guo’s wife explained that Elder Guo had spent a home’s worth of money on the portrait because he admired Seventh Master.
• Elder Guo’s wife revealed that Seventh Master had served Elder Guo’s prison sentence in his place, saving his family from hardship.

After learning that Shi Yong had been killed, Seventh Master mourned his old brothers and examined Chen Mo’s evidence linking Hua Wenfeng to the Seven Deaths for a Life. He asked Chen Mo to investigate Hua Wenfeng’s older records and, fearing for Xingxing’s future, revealed that he had made a will naming Chen Mo and Xiuzhu as her guardians and heirs.

• Seventh Master mourned Guo Ying and Shi Yong, recalling how his brothers had risked their lives to save him.
• Chen Mo showed Seventh Master photographs of Hua Wenfeng’s consultation records and suspected Hua was selecting people born on the fifteenth day of the fourth lunar month.
• Seventh Master realized Hua Wenfeng’s previous notebook might contain earlier victims and told Chen Mo to return and photograph the remaining records.
• Seventh Master explained that Xingxing was staying with a trusted friend and asked Chen Mo to adopt and raise her if he died.
• Seventh Master revealed that he had made a will leaving his estate to Chen Mo and Xiuzhu for Xingxing’s care, but Chen Mo refused to accept the possibility of his death.

After learning that Seventh Master planned to make a will, Chen persuaded him to consult the others before making decisions and asked Song Xiaotian to investigate Hua Wenfeng. During a second appointment, Hua Wenfeng hypnotized Chen, but the Patriarch emerged through him and warned Chen that his nervousness had given the psychologist an opening.

• Chen urged Seventh Master to keep fighting and secured his promise to discuss matters with the others before making decisions.
• Chen told Song Xiaotian about the recent danger and asked him to investigate Hua Wenfeng.
• Chen returned to Hua Wenfeng's clinic and agreed to another counseling session, refusing the psychologist's offer of hypnosis because he feared the cost.
• As Hua Wenfeng counseled Chen, a newly hung clock's swinging pendulum drew Chen's attention, and Hua Wenfeng hypnotized him.
• The Patriarch spoke through Hua Wenfeng, told Chen he had been hypnotized, and explained that Chen's nervousness had let Hua Wenfeng seize his mind.