Chapter Summaries

After reviewing the case files, the narrator and Song Xiaotian traveled to Li Xiumei’s hometown on Qin Island to look for clues about the person who hired her and Lü Zhengxian. They reached Li Family Village after dark and found what appeared to be an old man trapped beneath a fallen door at an abandoned building.

• The narrator reconsidered the evidence and suspected the man who sabotaged their spirit summoning might have been the mastermind who taught Lü Zhengxian the seven deaths for one life ritual.
• The narrator told Song Xiaotian he wanted to visit Li Xiumei and Lü Zhengxian’s hometowns, and Song Xiaotian agreed to accompany him despite warning that Lü Zhengxian might still watch his family.
• The narrator and Song Xiaotian bought tickets to Qin Island, traveled by plane and bus, and decided to visit Li Family Village first.
• After arriving in Li Family Village at night, the narrator and Song Xiaotian spotted an old man pinned beneath a fallen door outside an abandoned building.

Song Xiaotian and the narrator met a strange old man who directed them to Li Yujiao’s family home and told them about her brother, Li Liang. As they headed there, they saw a person standing beside a well and a grave.

• Song Xiaotian and the narrator found an old man pinned beneath a door panel, freed him, and learned he was wary of outsiders.
• The narrator asked about Li Xiumei, then corrected himself and asked about Li Yujiao; the old man said she had committed a crime and had not returned in over a decade.
• The narrator and Song Xiaotian claimed to be police investigating the old case, and the old man directed them to Li Yujiao’s family home at the village’s eastern end.
• The old man said Li Yujiao’s father had died, while her mother and brother Li Liang survived; Li Liang had been left with meningitis after belated treatment.
• The narrator and Song Xiaotian set off toward the family home, discussed the many graves and abandoned houses, and spotted someone standing beside a well and a grave.

The narrator and Song Xiaotian saw Li Liang pour powder into a village well before they went to Li Xiumei’s house to ask about Li Yujiao. Her sick mother reacted angrily to their questions and ordered Li Liang to drive them away with a cleaver.

• The narrator recognized the dirt-covered man at the well as Li Liang, and he dumped a packet of powder into the water before running home.
• The narrator and Song Xiaotian checked the well, found its water murky, and decided to warn the villagers in the morning.
• They reached Li Xiumei’s dilapidated house and persuaded Li Liang to wake his sick mother by offering him bread.
• The narrator told Li Yujiao’s mother they were investigating the old case, and she accused the police of driving her husband to his death.
• Li Yujiao’s mother ordered Li Liang to chase the visitors away, and he grabbed a kitchen cleaver and swung it at them.

After Li Liang attacked them, the narrator and Song Xiaotian decided to question his mother again the next day, then stayed at the village chief’s house. In the middle of the night, the narrator found Li Xiumei’s younger brother waiting outside the toilet with a cleaver.

• Li Liang swung a cleaver at the narrator and Song Xiaotian, forcing them to flee before they could question his mother.
• The narrator and Song Xiaotian wondered how Li Xiumei’s mother knew her daughter was dead and decided to return the next day.
• The pair passed a funeral vigil, greeted the old man they had helped, and asked the village chief for a place to stay.
• Song Xiaotian showed the village chief his police ID and arranged to question Li Yujiao’s family about a case from fifteen years earlier.
• At three in the morning, the narrator went to the toilet and saw Li Xiumei’s younger brother standing outside with a cleaver.

Chen Mo and Song Xiaotian chased Li Liang into the mountains, where he led them to a mass burial ground and mourned his dead sister. Li Liang’s words revealed that Li Xiumei had been killed with her tongue cut out, leaving Chen Mo wondering how the old woman knew and whether multiple people were involved.

• Li Liang appeared outside Chen Mo and Song Xiaotian’s bathroom with a knife, then ran as they chased him into the mountains.
• Chen Mo suspected Li Liang was deliberately leading them away from the village, and the two lost track of him in the woods.
• Chen Mo and Song Xiaotian found a mass burial ground and heard Li Liang crying beside a grave.
• Li Liang told his dead father that his sister Li Xiumei had died and that someone had cut out her tongue.
• Chen Mo wondered how the old woman on Qin Island knew the details of Li Xiumei’s death and whether more than one person had killed her.

At the potter’s field, Li Liang was possessed by his dead father, who accused Song Xiaotian and the narrator of bullying his son and attacked them. They escaped after the narrator used his own blood to break the choking spirit’s grip on Song Xiaotian, and reached the village chief’s doorstep.

• Li Liang cried to his father’s grave about how the villagers bullied him and his mother.
• Li Liang’s father possessed him and confronted Song Xiaotian and the narrator, accusing them of mistreating his son.
• Song Xiaotian disarmed Li Liang and knocked him into a grave mound before fleeing with the narrator.
• A spirit handprint appeared on Song Xiaotian’s neck and began choking him as they ran down the mountain.
• The narrator cut Song Xiaotian’s palm and pressed his blood against the handprint, making it disappear.
• Song Xiaotian and the narrator reached the village chief’s doorstep, where the narrator explained that Seventh Master had taught him blood could ward off spirits.

The narrator and Song Xiaotian learned that Li Family Village had a history of deaths, infertility, and abandoned homes while trying to investigate Li Liang’s father. After recognizing a man they had met the previous night in a funeral portrait, they returned to Li Liang’s house, where the narrator paid Li Liang’s mother and pressured her to answer questions.

• The village chief claimed Li Liang’s father hanged himself after villagers condemned his daughter, though the narrator and Song Xiaotian suspected he was hiding the truth.
• The village chief said many villagers had died of illness and that young people left after struggling to conceive in the village.
• The narrator and Song Xiaotian recognized the old man they had helped the previous night in a funeral portrait and realized he had died.
• The village chief confronted Li Liang’s mother and threatened her, so the narrator pulled him away and spoke to her privately.
• The narrator gave Li Liang’s mother a thousand yuan and warned her to answer questions, hinting that he knew she had ordered her son to poison the village.

The narrator questioned Li Liang’s mother about the money behind Li Xiumei’s murder and learned that Li Xiumei had appeared in a dream to name Lü Zhengxian and the mysterious man as her killers. The narrator and Song Xiaotian left for Lü Family Gully, still unsure why the principal culprit had offered help.

• The narrator explained that Li Liang’s mother had likely directed him to poison the village wells, though they had no concrete proof.
• The old woman said an unnamed cultured man from the city had provided ninety thousand yuan for Li Liang’s treatment, and recalled that Li Xiumei had described him as a benefactor.
• The old woman blamed the police for Li Xiumei’s death and could not remember the man’s name, possibly because she was suffering from senile dementia.
• The old woman said Li Xiumei had visited her in a dream and revealed that Lü Zhengxian and the unnamed man had killed her and concealed her body inside a wall.
• The narrator gave the old woman money, warned her to stop Li Liang from poisoning the wells, and left with Song Xiaotian for Lü Family Gully.

The narrator and Song Xiaotian traveled from Li Family Village to Lü Family Gully, where they found a prosperous village supported by Lü Zhengxian’s family. They interviewed one of Lü Zhengxian’s childhood friends, who might know identifying details about him.

• Song Xiaotian explained why he would not report Li Liang and his mother, then recalled a case in which a murdered man's parents and young grandson drowned themselves after enduring the village's condemnation.
• The narrator asked Song Xiaotian why he had been fired, but Song Xiaotian told him to guess instead of answering.
• The narrator and Song Xiaotian arrived in prosperous Lü Family Gully and suspected a private benefactor had funded its development.
• A local man said a wealthy businessman had built houses and a road for the village, and the narrator recognized that the businessman was likely Lü Zhengxian.
• Song Xiaotian pretended to film while the narrator paid the man to talk, and learned that he had been Lü Zhengxian’s close friend fifteen years earlier.
• The narrator asked the man whether Lü Zhengxian had any distinctive traits or habits that could help identify him.

Chen Mo and Song Xiaotian investigated Du Ruhai’s ties to Lü Zhengxian in Lü Family Gully but left without a way to expose him. Back in Lanjiang City, they learned that Seventh Master had implicated Chen Mo in the theft from Du Ruhai’s house, putting Chen Mo at risk of arrest.

• Chen Mo learned from an old villager that Lü Zhengxian was left-handed and that Du Ruhai regularly visited the village and stayed with Lü Jun’s family.
• The old man identified the wealthy entrepreneur as Du Ruhai, and Song Xiaotian told Chen Mo that proving Du Ruhai was Lü Zhengxian would not be enough to bring him down.
• Chen Mo and Song Xiaotian left Lü Family Gully without questioning Lü Jun, then returned to Lanjiang City.
• Song Xiaotian told Chen Mo that Seventh Master had been released and had accused Chen Mo of planning the theft from Du Ruhai’s house.
• Song Xiaotian warned Chen Mo that the police were looking for him and that Meng Yifan might not be released.

Song Xiaotian helped the narrator evade the police at the airport and hid him in a bar where he owned half the business. There, Song Xiaotian explained why turning himself in would be dangerous and concluded that Seventh Master had been working with Du Ruhai from the start.

• The narrator feared that Du Ruhai would have him killed if he went to prison, so Song Xiaotian called Xiao Hai for help.
• Xiao Hai gave them airport uniforms and led them out through a staff exit, then returned to work.
• Song Xiaotian took the narrator to a bar where he owned a fifty-percent stake and let him rest in a dorm room.
• The narrator considered turning himself in, but Song Xiaotian warned that he would face prison and Du Ruhai's retaliation.
• Song Xiaotian pointed out that the villa guards had been waiting and Seventh Master had been released quickly, concluding that Seventh Master had betrayed them for Du Ruhai.

After Zhao Laoqi refused to answer, Chen drank alone at Song Xiaotian’s bar and struggled with the fear that he would go to prison. He recognized Du Yuwei in the crowd, and security footage confirmed she had followed him there, though Chen wondered why the bar’s cameras could record her when the cameras at the house could not.

• Chen tried repeatedly to contact Zhao Laoqi and concluded that Zhao had deceived him and Meng Yifan.
• Unable to sleep, Chen went downstairs to drink at Song Xiaotian’s bar and cried as he thought about his troubled past and possible imprisonment.
• Chen recognized Du Yuwei in the crowd, dropped his glass, and ran upstairs to wake Song Xiaotian.
• Song Xiaotian and Chen checked the bar’s security footage and confirmed Du Yuwei had appeared there.
• Chen wondered why the bar cameras recorded Du Yuwei when the cameras at the house had not.

Chen Mo received a letter offering a way to free Meng Yifan by returning Du Ruhai’s Ash Urns. Song Xiaotian helped him bargain with Du Ruhai’s people, who agreed to release Meng Yifan at one that afternoon.

• Song Xiaotian took Chen Mo and his men to a hotel after they failed to find Du Yuwei’s ghost at the bar.
• A masked man left Chen Mo and Song Xiaotian a letter offering a contact number in exchange for helping free Meng Yifan.
• Chen Mo called Du Ruhai’s man, who offered to free Meng Yifan if Chen returned the Ash Urns.
• Song Xiaotian stopped Chen from agreeing and advised him to demand Meng Yifan’s release before handing over the urns.
• Chen Mo demanded proof that Meng Yifan was safe, and Du Ruhai’s man agreed to release him at one that afternoon.

After Meng Yifan was released in exchange for the Ash Urns, Chen Mo went to return them to Du Ruhai’s men, knowing the delivery could be a trap. At an unfinished building, Song Xiaotian fought back when the men tried to attack them, and the suited man ordered his men to let them go.

• Meng Yifan called Chen Mo after his release, warned him that Du Ruhai would retaliate, and told him he had been beaten in the detention center.
• Chen Mo told Meng Yifan to return to the shop and agreed to return the Ash Urns, while Song Xiaotian offered to accompany him.
• On the drive to the secluded meeting place, Chen Mo questioned why Zhao Laoqi had let him take the Ash Urns, and Song Xiaotian warned that Zhao Laoqi could not be trusted.
• Chen Mo and Song Xiaotian arrived at an unfinished building, where Chen handed the Ash Urns to a suited man who mocked them and summoned more men to surround them.
• Song Xiaotian struck one attacker with an iron baton, threatened the suited man and his group, and made them back down.
• The suited man laughed and told his men to let Chen Mo and Song Xiaotian go.

After Song Xiaotian helped him escape Du Ruhai’s men, the narrator was ambushed at a gas station and buried alive. Just as he was losing consciousness, a woman dug him out, though he could not identify her.

• Song Xiaotian drove the narrator away from Du Ruhai’s men and stopped at a gas station for fuel.
• While the narrator used the restroom, an attacker struck his head against a urinal and knocked him unconscious.
• The narrator woke trapped in a wooden box underground, realized he had been buried alive, and feared Du Ruhai had arranged his murder.
• As the narrator began to suffocate, someone dug up the box, pulled him out, and left a bag beside him.
• The narrator glimpsed a figure in a long black dress and noticed that her shoes were not the Red High Heel.

After being buried alive, Chen Mo woke in West Hill Park with food and a phone left by his suspected rescuer, Du Yuwei, and contacted Meng Yifan. At the hospital, he learned Du Ruhai’s people accused Meng Yifan of stealing from Du Ruhai’s house, and Chen Mo suspected Zhao Laoqi was responsible.

• Chen Mo woke near dawn in West Hill Park, found a bag containing food and a phone, and called Meng Yifan for help.
• Chen Mo suspected Du Yuwei had rescued him, then waited until Meng Yifan and Song Xiaotian found him and carried him down the hill.
• On the way to the hospital, Song Xiaotian explained how he had contacted Meng Yifan and how Du Ruhai’s men had arranged Chen Mo’s abduction.
• Chen Mo received nearly thirty stitches and learned from Meng Yifan that Du Ruhai’s people accused him of stealing something from Du Ruhai’s house.
• Chen Mo wondered whether Zhao Laoqi had stolen the missing item.

After Zhao Laoqi’s betrayal and the theft from Du Ruhai’s house, the group discussed why Du Yuwei might have saved the narrator. Song Xiaotian proposed that Du Yuwei had developed Stockholm syndrome toward Du Ruhai, and the narrator concluded she may have been trying to reveal that Du Ruhai killed Li Xiumei.

• Meng Yifan said Du Ruhai believed he had stolen something and accused Zhao Laoqi of selling them out.
• The narrator told Song Xiaotian and Meng Yifan that Du Yuwei’s ghost had saved him, leaving them shocked.
• The narrator questioned whether Du Yuwei had loved Du Ruhai, given that she had fallen for another man while alive.
• Song Xiaotian argued that Du Yuwei had inevitably developed Stockholm syndrome after being orphaned at age five and falling into the hands of ruthless people.
• The narrator reasoned that Du Yuwei might not have been searching for Li Xiumei when she haunted them, but trying to show them where her body was and who had killed her.

The narrator realized Du Yuwei had been trying to reveal the truth about Li Xiumei’s murder and Du Ruhai’s identity, then suspected Zhao Laoqi was protecting Du Ruhai. Du Ruhai visited the hospital to smooth things over and asked Meng Yifan to return his belongings, leaving the three men wary of his intentions.

• The narrator reasoned that Du Yuwei had saved him and wanted revenge on Du Ruhai, while Meng Yifan feared Du Ruhai was more dangerous than the ghosts.
• The narrator and Meng Yifan realized Zhao Laoqi might be the occult master advising and protecting Du Ruhai.
• The narrator rested in the hospital while Meng Yifan and Song Xiaotian fell asleep in their chairs.
• Du Ruhai arrived at the ward with bodyguards and gifts, claiming he had come to resolve a misunderstanding.
• Meng Yifan cautiously shook Du Ruhai’s hand, and Du Ruhai asked him to return his belongings.

Du Ruhai confronted Meng Yifan over stolen property, then revealed he knew Chen Guowen was Chen's father and warned them not to interfere in his affairs. Song Xiaotian threatened Du Ruhai through Lü Jun, but Chen remained worried that Du Ruhai would target his family.

• Du Ruhai insisted Meng Yifan had stolen something from him, but Meng denied returning to Du's house and taking anything.
• Du Ruhai identified Chen Guowen as Chen's father and claimed they were old friends, while Chen pretended not to know about their connection.
• Song Xiaotian blocked Du Ruhai from approaching Chen and warned him to keep his distance.
• Song Xiaotian brought up Lü Jun and threatened to have him and his family crippled if anything happened to Chen or Meng.
• Du Ruhai left after warning the group, and Song Xiaotian said Du would investigate him before daring to retaliate.
• Chen worried that Du Ruhai might harm his father and grandfather despite Song Xiaotian's threat.

After Du Ruhai’s stolen property gave Meng Yifan and the narrator a brief reprieve, Meng Yifan warned his employees that his shops might not survive the lawsuit and rumors. Fang Man was then deliberately struck by a car and died at the scene while buying lunch for them.

• Song Xiaotian told Meng Yifan and the narrator that Du Ruhai would be occupied searching for his stolen property for the next few days.
• Meng Yifan told his employees that Mr. Hu had sued the shops and that he might have to close one within two months.
• The narrator urged Meng Yifan not to give up on the shops, while Meng Yifan insisted he could start over if he lost everything.
• Fang Man came to the shop, blushed when Meng Yifan teased her about marrying the narrator, and later went to buy lunch for them.
• A speeding car struck Fang Man at the pedestrian crossing, and she died at the scene before the ambulance could take her to the hospital.