Chapter Summaries

Lin took Li Ruyue home after their date, where a masked knife-wielding man attacked them at her apartment door. After protecting her, Lin hypnotized Li Ruyue and learned she was not responsible for the deaths of two company employees or Zhang Rong’s disappearance, leaving Wang Cheng as the likely suspect.

• Lin escorted a tipsy Li Ruyue home after they flirted at a bar.
• A masked man with a knife attacked Li Ruyue at her door, and Lin fought him off before the man fled.
• Li Ruyue claimed Wang Cheng, her rival for the general manager position, had arranged the attack and was behind two employee deaths.
• Li Ruyue embraced Lin and tried to seduce him, but Lin hypnotized her and questioned her.
• Li Ruyue denied responsibility for the employee deaths, and Lin concluded Wang Cheng might also be connected to Zhang Rong’s disappearance.
• Lin left Li Ruyue in her bedroom and went to practice his standing stance.

Chen Mo investigated Wang Cheng and pressed Liu Haicheng for news of Zhang Rong, then cast a hexagram that showed Zhang Rong was still alive. The next morning, Chen Mo told Grandmaster that Liu Haicheng had orchestrated the deaths and would keep his position, while Li Ruyue and Wang Cheng would be fired.

• Chen Mo confronted Wang Cheng, who denied knowing Zhang Rong and sent him away.
• Chen Mo asked Liu Haicheng about Zhang Rong, but Liu offered excuses and speculated that the employees might have died by suicide.
• With nowhere to stay, Chen Mo slept beneath a bridge and cast a hexagram that showed Zhang Rong was alive.
• The next morning, Chen Mo called Grandmaster and said he had uncovered the truth and would find Senior Brother Zhang Rong that night.
• Chen Mo accused Liu Haicheng of orchestrating the events to retain his position, predicting that Liu would remain general manager while Wang Cheng and Li Ruyue would be fired.

The narrator reasoned that Liu Haicheng had orchestrated the two employees’ deaths and rumors to keep his position as general manager, and suspected Liu’s motives were tied to a desperate need for money. The narrator planned to verify Liu’s whereabouts at the company and search his home for clues about Zhang Rong, while Grandmaster advised him not to go alone.

• The narrator concluded that Li Ruyue and Wang Cheng had no motive to kill the employees and suspected Liu Haicheng had spread rumors to disrupt the company and avoid stepping down.
• The narrator inferred that Liu Haicheng might be involved in Zhang Rong’s disappearance and could need money because a relative was close to death.
• The narrator told Grandmaster he planned to check whether Liu Haicheng remained general manager and visit Liu’s home that night to search for clues about Zhang Rong.
• Grandmaster agreed the narrator’s analysis made sense but told him to find someone to accompany him to Liu Haicheng’s home.

After Liu Haicheng explained how Wang Cheng and Li Ruyue had been fired, he refused to keep looking for Zhang Rong, so the narrator sought help from Boss Lei to enter Liu’s home. The narrator discovered Boss Lei had taught An Ning to pick locks and claimed to be her future husband.

• The narrator found Li Ruyue and Wang Cheng leaving the company with their belongings, then met Liu Haicheng, who said the chairman had fired them and kept him on as general manager.
• Liu Haicheng told the narrator to stop visiting and said he would not continue looking for Zhang Rong, prompting the narrator to leave.
• The narrator went to a repair shop and met Boss Lei, who agreed to help unlock Liu Haicheng’s smart lock that night and provided security guard uniforms.
• Boss Lei revealed that he had taught An Ning her thieving skills after the narrator asked whether he knew her.
• The narrator recognized An Ning in Boss Lei’s photograph and excitedly told him he was An Ning’s boyfriend and future husband.

The narrator visited Boss Lei, who told him how Daoist Xiang had guided him away from crime, then joined Boss Lei to investigate Liu Chenghai’s home after Liu claimed to have found the missing senior fellow disciple. Suspecting a trap, the narrator searched the dark apartment and discovered someone motionless on a bed, leaving the person’s identity unrevealed.

• Boss Lei recalled that An Ning had frightened off two suitors and urged the narrator to take responsibility for her.
• Boss Lei explained that Daoist Xiang had warned him about prison and persuaded him to abandon his old trade.
• Liu Chenghai called to say he had located the missing senior fellow disciple, but the narrator suspected Liu was luring him into a trap.
• The narrator and Boss Lei entered Liu Chenghai’s apartment while avoiding cameras, and Boss Lei stayed outside to keep watch.
• The narrator searched the bedrooms and found someone lying motionless on a bed, then switched on the light to see who it was.

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.