Chapter Summaries

Fang Xiu ignited a small portion of his Spirituality and discovered that his Heart's Reflection Power let him inflict the pain of his past deaths on others. He was thrilled by the ability, while Zhao Hao watched him react.

• Fang Xiu followed the chilling qi into his mind and saw it gather in the form of a hazy heart.
• A corner of the heart shed its dust, and the eerie aura fused with its black light to ignite Fang Xiu's Spirituality.
• Fang Xiu found that his senses, reaction speed, and control over his body had greatly improved.
• Fang Xiu learned that his Heart's Reflection Power could make an attacked target experience the pain he had suffered in his deaths.
• Fang Xiu laughed with excitement, and Zhao Hao asked whether he had succeeded.

Fang Xiu tested his newly awakened Spirituality against the female doctor Ghost, discovered the Scalpel’s power depended on Spirituality, and fled with Zhao Hao and two coworkers. The female doctor caught him on a staircase and killed him.

• Fang Xiu struck the female doctor with a punch charged with Spirituality, hurting her but exhausting his power without causing serious damage.
• Fang Xiu picked up the dropped Scalpel and saw visions revealing that it had been used to experiment on Ghosts and had driven the doctor mad.
• Fang Xiu tried to cut the doctor with the Scalpel, realized it needed Spirituality to work, and ran to rejoin Zhao Hao.
• Fang Xiu and Zhao Hao met two coworkers in a hall with four doors, then fled through the western door when the doctor pursued them.
• The female doctor caught Fang Xiu on the stairs, pinned him down, and bit into his neck, killing him.

Fang Xiu used repeated death rollbacks to evade the Female Physician and lead Zhao Hao and the others toward the hospital’s Exit. The Female Physician fled when she saw the sign, leaving Fang Xiu wary of the passage beyond it as he rested before investigating.

• Fang Xiu replayed his previous choices, discovered that the eastern route led to the Exit, and used repeated deaths to learn how to evade the Female Physician.
• On his ninth rollback, Fang Xiu led Zhao Hao and the other two through the eastern door while dodging the Female Physician’s attacks.
• Fang Xiu reached the Exit sign, and the Female Physician shrieked in fear and fled when she saw it.
• Fang Xiu noticed a dim passage and an iron door beyond the sign, then waited for his spirituality to recover instead of going ahead.
• After half an hour of rest, Fang Xiu suddenly opened his eyes and sat bolt upright.

Fang Xiu and his companions escaped the Mental Hospital, only to find that the hospital and every Ghost had vanished. He rushed home in panic, but his wife was gone too, leaving him distraught over losing the chance to repay her for killing him eighteen times.

• Fang Xiu led Zhao Hao and the others through a lightless passage and emerged on the road outside Hundred Willows Academy.
• Fang Xiu realized Green Mountain Psychiatric Hospital had disappeared, then discovered that all the Ghosts were gone.
• Fang Xiu ran home in a frenzy, pleading that his wife must still be waiting for him.
• Fang Xiu searched his apartment but found no sign of his wife and broke down, lamenting that he could no longer repay her for killing him eighteen times.

After learning that news reports listed him and his coworkers among the dead in the Hundred Willows Academy fire, Fang Xiu realized the Ghosts were still present and eagerly returned to work. He confronted Wu Dahai at the haunted sales office and stabbed him in the neck with a Scalpel.

• Zhao Hao called Fang Xiu and told him the news reported a fire at Hundred Willows Academy that killed eleven people, including Fang Xiu and his coworkers.
• Fang Xiu received messages from Wu Dahai, whose bloody eyeball emerged from his phone and demanded that he come to work; Fang Xiu grabbed the eyeball and made it disappear.
• Fang Xiu entered the burned sales office and saw it transform into its former luxurious state, where his dead coworkers appeared to be working as usual.
• Fang Xiu asked Wu Dahai when he would pay his commission, and Wu Dahai angrily insisted that he was alive.
• Fang Xiu stabbed Wu Dahai in the neck with a Scalpel and asked whether Wu Dahai was dead now.

Fang Xiu saw through a dream created by a Ghost that killed its victims through fear, then deliberately killed himself with the Scalpel. After waking in the escape passage, he led the group through the emergency exit, only to find themselves back outside Hundred Willows Academy, where he stabbed himself again.

• Fang Xiu killed the dream's imagined coworkers and realized the female doctor could not harm him because the office was an illusion.
• The dream shattered, revealing Zhao Hao and two coworkers dead in the escape passage as a smoke-wreathed Ghost watched Fang Xiu.
• Fang Xiu deduced that the Ghost controlled dreams and killed through fear, then stabbed himself in the neck with the Scalpel.
• Fang Xiu woke beside the emergency exit and led Zhao Hao and the two coworkers through it without resting.
• The group emerged outside Hundred Willows Academy, and Fang Xiu stabbed himself in the neck again.

Fang Xiu tried to save Zhao Hao and his coworkers from a Ghost that trapped people in terrifying dreams, but they repeatedly died before they could overcome their fear. He tried distracting Zhao Hao with his favorite movie, and when the dream returned, Zhao Hao showed signs of arousal even as the terror intensified.

• Fang Xiu explained that the Ghost inside the emergency exit created hallucinations and that the victims had to overcome their fear to survive.
• Fang Xiu repeatedly entered the dream, but Zhao Hao and his two coworkers died in it each time despite his attempts to wake them.
• Fang Xiu decided to distract Zhao Hao with a powerful instinctive emotion and told him to play his favorite erotic movie before entering the dream again.
• Fang Xiu and the others entered the dream, where Zhao Hao remained frightened but showed a faint trace of lechery while his coworkers suffered fatal wounds.
• Zhao Hao's coworkers died as the dream reached its climax, while Zhao Hao puckered his lips and breathed in a labored, suppressed way.

Fang Xiu and Zhao Hao escaped the Ghost Domain, and Zhao Hao ignited his Spirituality. Fang Xiu claimed his ability was predicting the future, leaving Zhao Hao amazed and disappointed that he could not sense an ability of his own.

• Zhao Hao woke from the dream, confirmed Fang Xiu was real, and mourned their dead colleagues.
• Fang Xiu and Zhao Hao opened the entrance, crossed the darkness, and emerged near the Hundred Willows Academy sales office, where Green Mountain Psychiatric Hospital had merged into reality.
• Fang Xiu asked whether Zhao Hao had ignited his Spirituality, and Zhao Hao discovered that his senses and strength had improved.
• Zhao Hao could not identify an ability, while Fang Xiu told him that he could predict the future.
• Zhao Hao realized Fang Xiu's earlier decisions had seemed like foreknowledge, then grew dejected because he had no ability he could detect.

Fang Xiu and Zhao Hao escaped a Ghost’s dream, and Zhao Hao explained how he overcame it. After returning home, Fang Xiu attacked his wife but died before he could reach her, leaving him to reconsider his next steps.

• Fang Xiu asked Zhao Hao whether he could see the Ghosts in the sky, and Zhao Hao saw nothing.
• Zhao Hao described how he distracted himself in the dream and overcame his fear of the Ghost posing as Li Feifei.
• Fang Xiu and Zhao Hao agreed on what to say if anyone came looking for them, then went home separately.
• Fang Xiu greeted his wife at home, recognized her sudden transformation, and stabbed at her neck with the Scalpel.
• Fang Xiu died before his attack landed and woke outside his front door, concluding that he needed to learn about Spirit Tamers before confronting more Ghosts.

After studying Spirituality without making much progress, Fang Xiu went to sleep. At the Green Vine City Investigation Bureau, Director Wang Dehai assigned Shen Lingxue and Li Wenhao to investigate Fang Xiu, Zhao Hao, and the Hundred Willows Academy Ghost Domain.

• Fang Xiu studied Spirituality in hopes of uncovering the secrets of Green Mountain Psychiatric Hospital and gaining strength, then fell asleep when he made little progress.
• Wang Dehai called an emergency meeting about a Ghost Domain that had appeared at the Hundred Willows Academy sales office five hours earlier.
• The bureau reviewed surveillance footage showing Fang Xiu and Zhao Hao emerging from the Ghost Domain and learned that their backgrounds appeared ordinary.
• The Spirit Tamers debated the Ghost Domain’s danger level, with some suspecting Fang Xiu had become a Spirit Tamer inside it.
• Wang Dehai ordered Shen Lingxue and Li Wenhao to investigate the two survivors, assess their abilities and condition, and determine the Ghost Domain’s danger level.

Zhao Hao told Fang Xiu that his ability made him handsome, muscular, and more sexually potent between eleven at night and one in the morning. After the Investigation Bureau intercepted their call, Shen Lingxue decided Fang Xiu might be worth recruiting but ordered Zhao Hao closely monitored, and she went to meet Fang Xiu.

• Zhao Hao called Fang Xiu to explain that his ability activated between eleven at night and one in the morning.
• Fang Xiu hung up on Zhao Hao after learning that his ability enhanced his looks, muscles, and sexual performance.
• Shen Lingxue and Li Wenhao listened to the intercepted call and concluded Fang Xiu and Zhao Hao had become Spirit Tamers at Hundred Willows Academy.
• Shen Lingxue dismissed Zhao Hao as unsuitable for recruitment and ordered him placed under close surveillance.
• Shen Lingxue and Li Wenhao set out to meet Fang Xiu.

Fang Xiu questioned two Investigation Bureau agents about Ghosts after they arrived to investigate the Hundred Willows Academy Ghost Domain and assess whether he could join them. Li Wenhao explained what the Bureau knew about Ghosts, and Fang Xiu asked how Spirit Tamers' power levels were classified.

• Li Wenhao and Shen Lingxue showed Fang Xiu their Investigation Bureau credentials and entered his home, while Fang Xiu checked whether they could see his wife.
• Shen Lingxue said the Bureau had come to investigate the Hundred Willows Academy Ghost Domain and determine whether Fang Xiu qualified to join.
• Fang Xiu asked the agents to answer his questions first, and Li Wenhao agreed as long as they did not concern classified information.
• Li Wenhao explained that the Bureau had no definitive account of where Ghosts came from, but believed they consumed human minds and emitted corrupting radiation.
• Fang Xiu asked how Spirit Tamers' power levels were classified.

Fang Xiu learned about Spirit Tamer tiers before revealing that he could see his wife, a Ghost invisible to the others. When she appeared in the room, Shen Lingxue attacked her with fire.

• Li Wenhao explained the Spirit Tamer tiers and said that no publicly known Spirit Tamer had advanced beyond the third tier.
• Shen Lingxue cut off Fang Xiu’s questions and told him to look up basic information on the Global Supernatural Forum.
• Fang Xiu asked whether Shen Lingxue and Li Wenhao could see his wife, and they assumed his mind was unstable when they saw no one.
• Fang Xiu told his wife that he could see her, causing her to appear and reveal her monstrous Ghost form.
• Fang Xiu suspected that he alone could see Ghosts until he brought them into reality, while Shen Lingxue hurled two fireballs at his wife.

After his wife killed him, Fang Xiu returned to the checkpoint at his home and used the Global Supernatural Forum to prepare for the Investigation Bureau’s visit. He learned basic facts about Ghosts and Spirit Tamers, but the forum’s free information left major questions unanswered.

• Fang Xiu’s wife killed Shen Lingxue and Li Wenhao, then killed Fang Xiu after he searched their bodies.
• Fang Xiu returned to the checkpoint outside his home and planned to use his foreknowledge to recruit the Investigation Bureau’s help.
• Fang Xiu explored the Global Supernatural Forum, discovered that most posts cost far more than he could afford, and closed a prank post by Cosmic Invincible Magical Girl Warrior.
• Fang Xiu spent the night reading official Investigation Bureau posts and learned about Ghost threat rankings, Spirit Tamers, and the unexplained history and increasing frequency of Ghost appearances.

Fang Xiu learned about Ghost Artifacts and connected with his Scalpel, gaining more spirituality and discovering its powers. After he foresaw Zhao Hao's ability, Li Wenhao and Shen Lingxue learned that Fang Xiu could predict the future.

• Fang Xiu learned that Ghost Artifacts could be powerful but risked contaminating their users, and realized his Scalpel was one.
• Fang Xiu connected with the Scalpel, resisted its corrupting influence, and raised his lit spirituality to two percent.
• Fang Xiu discovered that the Scalpel could cut more powerfully with spirituality and draw on Ghosts' power to strengthen him.
• Fang Xiu foresaw Zhao Hao's ability as sexual prowess during a breakfast call, then hung up to prepare for two guests.
• Li Wenhao and Shen Lingxue listened to the call, and Li Wenhao identified Fang Xiu's ability as Future Prediction.

Shen Lingxue and Li Wenhao investigated Fang Xiu after hearing that he had predicted their visit, and Fang Xiu claimed his ability let him see the future. He proved he knew the contents of Li Wenhao’s hidden love letter, but Shen Lingxue remained unconvinced that this demonstrated future sight.

• Li Wenhao told Shen Lingxue that Fang Xiu had predicted two visitors would arrive, and they suspected he meant them.
• Shen Lingxue and Li Wenhao went to Fang Xiu’s home, where they found him preparing tea with three cups ready.
• Fang Xiu identified the investigators by surname and said his eyes could see the future.
• Fang Xiu recited the contents of Li Wenhao’s secret love letter, prompting Li Wenhao to reveal it to Shen Lingxue.
• Shen Lingxue confirmed that Fang Xiu’s words matched the letter but argued that knowing its past contents did not prove he could predict the future.

Fang Xiu tried to convince Shen Lingxue and Li Wenhao that he could foresee the future, then recounted his experience inside Green Mountain Psychiatric Hospital. He left them considering whether more Ghosts remained in the Hundred Willows Academy Ghost Domain.

• Fang Xiu revealed private details about Shen Lingxue, prompting her to accuse him of having X-ray vision and threaten him with flames.
• Fang Xiu wrote down lottery numbers and claimed they would win that night, then added a missing seventh digit after Li Wenhao pointed out the mistake.
• Shen Lingxue challenged Fang Xiu to prove his ability, but Li Wenhao redirected the conversation to Fang Xiu's experience in the Ghost Domain.
• Fang Xiu identified the Ghost Domain as Green Mountain Psychiatric Hospital and described how it appeared over the Hundred Willows Academy sales office.
• Fang Xiu recounted the Ghost Domain's events while concealing the Scalpel, and Shen Lingxue asked whether other Ghosts might still be there.

Fang Xiu told the Investigation Bureau about his prediction of dozens of Ghosts in Green Mountain Psychiatric Hospital, while Shen Lingxue dismissed his claim. Director Wang Dehai ordered the bureau to keep Fang Xiu’s alleged Future Prediction ability confidential and arranged a test using the lottery drawing that night.

• Fang Xiu described two possible futures at the fork and said the wrong path contained dozens of Ghosts, but Shen Lingxue insisted they were likely ghost servants.
• Fang Xiu told Li Wenhao he learned about Ghosts and Spirit Tamers from the Global Supernatural Forum and his future self, then agreed to go to the Investigation Bureau.
• Fang Xiu noticed illusory Ghosts wandering through the bureau and concluded that Spirit Tamers could not see them.
• Wang Dehai heard Li Wenhao and Shen Lingxue’s report, classified Fang Xiu’s ability as confidential, and told them to ensure Zhao Hao stayed quiet.
• Wang Dehai sent Li Wenhao to arrange independent oversight of the lottery drawing and asked Shen Lingxue whether Fang Xiu was lying; she said her intuition told her he was.

Shen Lingxue assessed the Hundred Willows Academy ghost domain as containing a Class D Ghost Doctor and a Class C Nightmare, while Wang Dehai approved their files and requested a meeting with Fang Xiu. During a mental contamination test, Fang Xiu truthfully claimed he would fight ghosts, refuse to join them, and make killing every ghost his ambition.

• Shen Lingxue argued that the academy domain held only the Ghost Doctor and Nightmare, and recommended a Class C threat rating.
• Wang Dehai approved the codenames, postponed action on Green Mountain Psychiatric Hospital until the lottery draw, and ordered Shen Lingxue to bring Fang Xiu to him.
• Shen Lingxue insisted that Fang Xiu take a mental contamination test before meeting Wang Dehai.
• Fang Xiu told Shen Lingxue he would fight a ghost threatening a city and would never join the ghosts, even to protect friends or family.
• Fang Xiu said his ambition was to kill every ghost in the world, and the Spirituality Lie Detector confirmed he was telling the truth.

After Shen Lingxue’s test confirmed Fang Xiu’s honesty and his claimed Future Prediction ability, Wang Dehai considered recruiting him. Their meeting was interrupted by news that Bai Qi had been killed by two Ghosts in Qingbei Town, prompting Wang Dehai to mobilize forces there.

• Shen Lingxue tested Fang Xiu with the Spirituality Lie Detector, accepted his answers, and brought him to meet Wang Dehai.
• Wang Dehai reviewed Fang Xiu’s flawless test report and considered inviting him to join the Investigation Bureau, but Fang Xiu said they could discuss it after the lottery results were announced.
• Shen Lingxue told Wang Dehai that Fang Xiu had passed the test for Future Prediction, though Wang Dehai remained cautious about the detector’s reliability.
• A young worker reported that Deputy Captain Bai Qi had died after finding the Head Ghost in an unfinished building in Qingbei Town, where another Ghost ambushed him.
• Wang Dehai ordered investigators and independent Spirit Tamer groups to go to Qingbei Town, offering three thousand Spirit Coins and ten sticks of Spirit Incense for resolving the Ghost incident.