Chapter Summaries

Chen Mo chose to act on the hexagram, which warned that Song Xiaotian would be targeted by the organization that night and that the Seventh Master would later eliminate the organization's members, including Chen Mo's mother. Despite the Seventh Master's warning to stay out of it, Chen Mo drove to Sixian County to watch over Song Xiaotian and waited for him to leave.

• Chen Mo decided to interpret the hexagram, and the Patriarch revealed that Song Xiaotian would be in danger the next night while the Seventh Master would later kill the organization's members, including Chen Mo's mother.
• The Patriarch explained that Chen Mo had little faith in family bonds but trusted his friends, then wondered aloud whether Chen Mo might not like girls.
• The next day, Chen Mo called Song Xiaotian and learned he was driving to Sixian County for a relative's birthday meal, though Song Xiaotian told him to stop asking questions.
• Chen Mo drove to Sixian County and called the Seventh Master, who reminded him to stay out of the matter.
• After waiting near the county entrance for about two hours, Chen Mo saw Song Xiaotian's car leave.

The narrator followed Song Xiaotian and warned him that Jiang Yuan’s group planned to ambush him. After the narrator scared the attackers away by pretending Li Fuguang had awakened, Song Xiaotian stabbed the narrator while trapped in an illusion, leaving the narrator gravely wounded.

• The narrator followed Song Xiaotian through the rain and warned him that the organization intended to ambush him before he reached the city.
• Song Xiaotian stopped near a public restroom and appeared to fall under an illusion as he stood motionless in the rain.
• Jiang Yuan and four others emerged with knives, but they fled when the narrator approached while pretending to be Li Fuguang.
• The narrator tried to break the illusion affecting Song Xiaotian, but Song Xiaotian stabbed the narrator in the abdomen.
• The narrator saw the attackers’ van watching from a distance and spat blood onto Song Xiaotian’s suit.

After being stabbed while saving Song Xiaotian, the narrator awoke at Seventh Master's house with his wound nearly healed. Daoist Master Yuanxiu believed the powerful second soul in the narrator's body was repairing him, and warned that it might take control if it sensed the body was unsafe.

• The narrator trapped Song Xiaotian in an illusion after Song Xiaotian stabbed him, then collapsed as Seventh Master arrived and carried them away.
• The narrator woke at Seventh Master's house and discovered that his abdominal wound had nearly closed despite his severe blood loss.
• Daoist Master Yuanxiu tested the narrator with his eyes closed, and the narrator correctly identified the old Daoist's hand movements and fingers.
• Daoist Master Yuanxiu explained that the second soul was instinctively healing their shared body and could seize control if it sensed danger.

An old Daoist master explained that Chen Mo’s body was inheriting Li Fuguang’s self-healing ability and might eventually let Li Fuguang take control if both souls awakened. Chen Mo defended Li Fuguang as a fellow victim, while Seventh Master warned that the organization might be trying to force his awakening.

• The old Daoist master explained that severe injuries could prompt Li Fuguang’s soul to heal Chen Mo’s body and eventually take control, then demonstrated Chen Mo’s rapid blood clotting with a knife cut.
• Meng Yifan asked whether the process could be stopped, but the old Daoist master said he knew no way and advised Chen Mo to avoid severe injuries.
• Chen Mo tried to reassure the others that Li Fuguang taking over might help protect Lanjiang City, but Seventh Master warned that the organization could be orchestrating events to awaken him.
• Chen Mo recalled Li Fuguang’s hatred of the organization and argued that Li Fuguang and Chen Mo were both victims of their pasts.

While recovering at Seventh Master's house, Jiang Yuan learned that his involvement could change the divination predicting his mother and her accomplices would die that night. He concluded they might target Du Yunting for revenge and decided to get involved.

• Jiang Yuan recovered from his stab wound and invited An Ning to stay at Seventh Master's house so his mother could not use her as leverage.
• Seventh Master explained that the predicted outcome could change once Jiang Yuan knew of it, and that Jiang Yuan's choices might influence how his mother and her accomplices met their end.
• Jiang Yuan swore he would not obstruct anyone who tried to kill his mother, though he could not kill her himself.
• Jiang Yuan realized the group might go after Du Yunting for revenge that night and decided he had to get involved.

The narrator met Du Yunting for dinner after divining that he faced danger from the organization that night. Du Yunting analyzed why the narrator’s mother had become ruthless, while they agreed to remain temporary allies until the organization was destroyed.

• The narrator warned Du Yunting that he might be killed or seriously injured that night, and Du Yunting grew nervous about the uncertain prediction.
• Du Yunting accused the narrator of frightening him, then said he would drag the narrator down with him if the organization planned to use him as bait.
• The narrator told Du Yunting they would work together against the organization and settle their old scores afterward.
• Du Yunting used Maslow’s hierarchy of needs to explain that the organization had shaped the narrator’s mother’s twisted sense of purpose and made her view attacking her family as righteousness.
• Du Yunting explained that his own unmet material needs and lack of moral guidance had contributed to his selfishness and criminal life.

Du Yunting explained that wealth had satisfied his material needs, so he was now pursuing spiritual fulfillment and a more refined way of life. Despite warnings that an ambush awaited him, he chose to return home and was struck by a white BMW near his residential complex.

• Du Yunting told the narrator that he had changed because his material needs were met and he now sought elegance and spiritual satisfaction.
• The narrator warned Du Yunting that his mother, a professional assassin, might attack him, but Du Yunting decided to go home with his bodyguards.
• Near the residential complex, Du Yunting's driver suddenly accelerated under the Illusion Technique, and the narrator knocked him unconscious and stopped the car.
• Du Yunting ran toward the complex despite the narrator's warnings, dodged one speeding car, and laughed as it mounted the sidewalk.
• A white BMW hit Du Yunting and sent him flying, while its female driver got out and cried.

Du Yunting was badly injured after being struck by a car, while Jiang Yuan's diversion drew attention away from her planned life-exchange ritual. Jiang Yuan abducted three young people to the mountain, where Jiang Yuan's pursuers found Elder Ma in critical condition beside them.

• Wang Jun ordered Du Yunting's bodyguards to call an ambulance and pursue the car that had first tried to hit Du Yunting.
• Seventh Master told Jiang Yuan that she had abducted three young people and that Elder Ma had gone alone to rescue them.
• The narrator borrowed a BMW from Wang Jun and drove to the mountain, where Seventh Master, Song Xiaotian, An Ning, and two elders joined him.
• Seventh Master explained that Elder Ma had tracked Jiang Yuan and that Du Yunting's crash was meant to distract them.
• The group found Elder Ma standing motionless beside three unconscious young people, and Seventh Master warned them not to approach.

Senior Ma sacrificed himself to stop the Evil Formation and save three young people, while Xiao Chen followed the Compass to confront his mother and her accomplices. After killing the four accomplices, Xiao Chen drenched himself and his mother in gasoline and prepared to set them alight.

• Seventh Master explained that Senior Ma had concealed the three young people's yang energy, making his death the only way to stop the Evil Formation.
• Senior Ma spoke to Seventh Master, the other seniors, and Xiao Chen before stabbing himself in the throat.
• Xiao Chen took Seventh Master's Compass, used his own flesh to track his mother, and rammed her car as it emerged from a mountain road.
• Xiao Chen killed his mother's four accomplices and told his mother he planned to reunite their family in death.
• Xiao Chen poured gasoline over his mother's car and himself, then took out his lighter.

After his mother died, Chen Mo withdrew from the world and questioned why he was still alive. A visit to the injured Du Yunting left Chen Mo determined to seek revenge once the time was right.

• Chen Mo tried to set himself alight, but Li Fuguang stopped him, and Song Xiaotian pulled him away after a knife pierced his palm.
• Seventh Master took the lighter from An Ning, sent her and Song Xiaotian to Chen Mo, then killed Chen Mo’s mother with a Yellow Talisman.
• Chen Mo spent six days isolating himself until Xiuzhu’s smile lifted some of his gloom, and Seventh Master offered to erase his memory.
• Seventh Master told Chen Mo that Du Yunting had survived but lost both legs, and Chen Mo went to the hospital to ask whether he still planned to use seven deaths for a life.
• Du Yunting rejected the idea of changing bodies and said he accepted his retribution, while Chen Mo promised to kill him when the time was right.

The narrator asked Seventh Master to replace the painful memories of his mother with a plausible lie, and Seventh Master hypnotized him. The next morning, the narrator believed his mother had visited while he was unconscious and left for abroad, giving him comfort as he carried on with the fabricated memory.

• The narrator rejected Du Yunting's belief that abandoning evil deeds erased past grievances and maintained that Fang Man's death still demanded retribution.
• The Tabby Cat led the narrator to a sealed room where Seventh Master explained that he had confined a dangerous ghost inside.
• The narrator asked Seventh Master to remove his memories of his mother's death and the events that led to Senior Ma's sacrifice.
• Seventh Master warned that erased memories could be uncovered, so the narrator chose a beautiful lie in which his mother had left home, built a new family, and still cared for him.
• The next morning, Seventh Master told the narrator that his mother had visited him while he was unconscious and had gone abroad, and the narrator felt comforted by the story.

After the recent losses, the Seventh Master said goodbye to two surviving sworn brothers, and life settled into a peaceful stretch. Song Xiaotian prepared to marry Pan Xiaorou, but on the night before the wedding, he reflected on marriage and responsibility, prompting the narrator to ask why he had once opposed Pan Xiaorou.

• The Seventh Master tearfully bid farewell to his two surviving sworn brothers as they left for home.
• More than a month passed peacefully, and Song Xiaotian and Pan Xiaorou prepared for their formal wedding after registering their marriage.
• Song Xiaotian told the narrator he had learned to value an ordinary, contented life and took photos of the Seventh Master playing guitar for Xiuzhu.
• The Seventh Master chose the only auspicious wedding date available in the next two months, and Song Xiaotian's relatives and friends gathered at his home the night before the ceremony.
• Song Xiaotian reflected on the responsibilities of marriage with the narrator, who asked why he had once opposed Pan Xiaorou.

On the eve of his wedding, Song Xiaotian reflected on his immaturity and his longing for his father's approval. At the bride's home, Uncle Song finally told him he was proud of him, leaving Song Xiaotian visibly moved as he prepared to start married life.

• Song Xiaotian admitted that he had once looked down on Pan Xiaorou for having been married before because he was arrogant and wanted his father's approval.
• The narrator reassured Song Xiaotian that his father wanted him to live a stable life and that there was nothing wrong with being ordinary.
• Song Xiaotian and his friends went to Pan Xiaorou's home, overcame the bridesmaids' door-blocking game, and completed the wedding tea ceremony with both families.
• Uncle Song urged Song Xiaotian to consider his new family and admitted he had been overbearing by refusing to let him join the military.
• Uncle Song told Song Xiaotian he was proud of his undercover work and achievements, and Song Xiaotian grew emotional after hearing his father's praise.

Song Xiaotian and Pan Xiaorou celebrated their traditional Chinese wedding, where An Ning and the narrator caught the bride’s and groom’s embroidered balls. After the banquet, Pan Xiaorou’s critical aunt insulted the wedding, leaving Song Xiaotian angry as Meng Yifan and the narrator tried to restrain him.

• Song Xiaotian and Pan Xiaorou held a traditional Chinese wedding that honored Pan Xiaorou as his formally wedded wife.
• An Ning caught Pan Xiaorou’s embroidered ball, and the narrator caught Song Xiaotian’s after he deliberately tossed it to him.
• The bride and groom and their parents toasted the guests, with Meng Yifan and the narrator accompanying them as groomsmen.
• After the banquet, relatives gathered at the hotel, where the narrator learned about the tensions between Pan Xiaorou’s parents and her aunt’s family.
• Pan Xiaorou’s aunt criticized the Chinese wedding, and Meng Yifan and the narrator held down an angry Song Xiaotian.

At Pan Xiaorou and Song Xiaotian’s wedding, Pan Lijuan insulted the couple until Song Xiaotian and Uncle Song drove her away. Around the tenth day of the honeymoon, Pan Xiaorou’s father asked Chen and Meng Yifan to investigate strange happenings at Pan Lijuan’s home.

• Pan Lijuan mocked the wedding, Song Xiaotian’s job, and Xiang Kai, prompting Song Xiaotian to tell her to shut her mouth.
• Uncle Song threatened to sew Pan Lijuan’s mouth shut, and she left the wedding.
• Song Xiaotian brought wedding candy to the shop, got marriage leave, and took Pan Xiaorou on a half-month honeymoon.
• During the honeymoon, Pan Xiaorou’s father visited Chen and Meng Yifan and asked for their help with strange events at Pan Lijuan’s home.

Pan Xiaorou's father asked Chen to investigate his niece Tao Jingyu's unexplained pregnancy, since medical tests showed she was pregnant despite being a virgin. Chen and An Ning visited Tao Jingyu's family, where her parents explained the risks of ending the pregnancy, and they went to see her.

• Pan Xiaorou's father told Chen and Meng Yifan that Tao Jingyu was pregnant despite medical tests indicating she was still a virgin.
• Tao Jingyu said she had dreamed that an unidentified man had sex with her, and her parents suspected she was carrying a ghost fetus.
• Chen agreed to investigate, and Pan Xiaorou's father asked him not to bring a man because Tao Jingyu's reputation could suffer.
• Chen brought An Ning to Pan Lijuan and Tao Jianhua's home after work.
• Tao Jianhua said the family could not keep the child, but ending the pregnancy after four months might seriously harm Tao Jingyu's health.
• Chen and An Ning knocked on Tao Jingyu's bedroom door.

Chen Mo examined Tao Jingyu and found signs that the child in her belly was draining her yang energy. He used his Threefold Illusion to enter her memories, where the temperature in her office suddenly plunged as the ghost arrived.

• Chen Mo and An Ning found Tao Jingyu pale, listless, and afraid to sleep after her dream of being violated.
• Chen Mo found Tao Jingyu's hand ice-cold and concluded that her kidney essence had been severely damaged by the child she was carrying.
• Chen Mo hypnotized Tao Jingyu with the Kun Character, Threefold Illusion, and recreated her office from the night of the dream.
• Chen Mo and An Ning watched Tao Jingyu fall asleep in the office, then felt the temperature plummet as the ghost entered.

The narrator and An Ning witnessed Tao Jingyu’s memory of a headless, snake-like being assaulting her and searching her office safe, then confronted it inside the illusion. After waking Tao Jingyu, the narrator told her parents that her pregnancy was real and that he needed to investigate her office to find what had gotten her pregnant.

• The narrator formed the man from Tao Jingyu’s memory and watched him search her safe, where he found only documents.
• The headless man spoke to the narrator, then revealed a huge snake that coiled around him before the illusion vanished.
• The narrator woke Tao Jingyu, who soon fell asleep again, and he admitted that he could not identify the creature.
• The narrator told Tao Jingyu’s parents that her assault had happened in reality and that she was pregnant by something nonhuman.
• The narrator asked Tao Jianhua to notify the company and prepared to inspect Tao Jingyu’s office.

The narrator, An Ning, and Yi Yang investigated the attack on Tao Jingyu’s office and found a piece of snakeskin that could belong to a snake spirit. Yi Yang used a Tracking Technique to follow it, and the Compass revealed the spirit was still inside the company, possibly among the employees working overtime.

• The narrator and An Ning went to the Pan family’s branch office, where Yi Yang joined them with his equipment.
• The three searched Tao Jingyu’s office and found a piece of snakeskin wedged into the sofa.
• Yi Yang said an animal spirit was possible and used the snakeskin with a Yellow Talisman and Compass to track its owner.
• The Compass pointed toward the first floor, then suddenly swung around to indicate the snake spirit was still inside the company.
• The narrator realized the spirit might be one of the employees working overtime.

The narrator, Yi Yang, and An Ning tracked the snakeskin’s owner to an office department and discovered that supervisor Zhang Xu was a Snake Spirit. When Zhang Xu and the other employees revealed their snake eyes and surrounded them, Yi Yang was sent flying as he tried to counterattack.

• The Compass led the narrator, Yi Yang, and An Ning to the Fifteenth Floor, where the department was working overtime.
• Unable to identify the snakeskin’s owner with their usual abilities, the narrator asked An Ning to point out the Snake Spirit, and she chose the supervisor.
• The narrator, Yi Yang, and An Ning pretended to be inspectors and confronted Zhang Xu, who revealed his snake-like eyes.
• The other employees stood up with glowing vertical pupils, and the narrator backed away with Yi Yang and An Ning.
• Yi Yang began a hand-seal spell, but Zhang Xu struck him and sent him flying.