Chapter Summaries

Qian Yao and her companions entered the mysterious tunnel while Director Yan worried about the changing supernatural world and ordered the search for extraordinary people. Yun Qing read Qian Yao’s messages, confirmed that A Zhe was safe, and recalled their childhood and his blunt rejection of her confession.

• Qian Yao urged Yun Qing to join her in confronting A Zhe, then led Old Che, Old Huang, the spirit medium, and Major Zhang into the tunnel.
• The spirit medium beat a pellet drum and invoked the King of Sorrow as she followed the others into the tunnel.
• Major Zhang declared that soldiers had nothing to fear, while Director Yan watched the team disappear and reflected on the danger of relying on guns and artillery.
• Director Yan told his secretary to keep searching for extraordinary people and phenomena and to build a dependable force for the coming changes.
• Yun Qing read Qian Yao’s messages, checked the news, and felt relieved that A Zhe was safe.
• Yun Qing remembered how A Zhe had carried her when they were children and later rejected her confession because they knew each other too well.

Yun Qing accompanied Abbess Xuanhui into the Netherworld to search for the soul of a murdered devotee and discover who killed him. Their souls left their bodies before the gathered mourners, leaving the group stunned as their journey began.

• Yun Qing remembered her past with Qian Yao and sent a message warning a certain someone to stay safe amid the world's changes.
• Abbess Xuanhui told the gathered mourners that she and Yun Qing would enter the Netherworld to search for Mr. Li's soul, though the journey was dangerous.
• Yun Qing agreed to accompany her master and briefly left to send the man another reassuring message.
• Xuanhui and Yun Qing meditated in the main hall as the nuns guarded their bodies.
• The two women's souls rose from their bodies and were drawn into the Netherworld, while the mourners and police watched in shock.

The Southwest Office entered a hidden realm where Zhangqiao creatures used illusions to drain missing people, and Qian Yao, Major Zhang, Qiu Lanlan, Old Che, and Big Yellow fought back. Meanwhile, Gu Zhe joked with Liu Zhaodi about his romantic preferences, leaving her embarrassed and fleeing.

• Major Zhang and the Southwest Office found missing people indulging in an apparent paradise of pleasure, while Qian Yao showed no temptation and urged the team to act.
• Big Yellow’s roar exposed the palace as an illusion and revealed Zhangqiao creatures draining the missing people’s vital essence in a cavern.
• Major Zhang identified the creatures, drew the Ox-Dismembering Knife, and led the attack as Big Yellow, Old Che, Qiu Lanlan, and Qian Yao used their abilities against them.
• Liu Zhaodi asked Gu Zhe what kind of girl he liked, and Gu Zhe said he preferred a woman who could not see her toes when standing.
• Liu Zhaodi realized what Gu Zhe meant, blushed, and ran off while Old Zhang mocked Gu Zhe’s boastful dating talk.

Gu Zhe heard from Yun Qing after years of silence, then built and opened a grand hotel in the Netherworld. Five days later, he reviewed its earnings and planned to upgrade his abilities so he could act in the real world.

• Yun Qing messaged Gu Zhe to warn him about the changing world and comfort him about Zhou Linlin, while mentioning Qian Yao.
• Gu Zhe tried calling Yun Qing, then texted her that he would protect her and told her to stay safe.
• Gu Zhe spent two days crafting a grand hotel, its facilities, and armed paper figures in the Netherworld.
• The hotel opened and attracted ghosts, while its paper figures patrolled and fought mad and greedy ghosts.
• Five days later, Gu Zhe checked his class panel, noted that the hotel had earned more than the Apartment early on, and decided to upgrade his abilities.

Gu Zhe perfected Basic Paper Control Technique and discovered how to awaken Paper Figures in the real world using his blood, thoughts, and will. After summoning swift supernatural figures and recognizing the toll their creation took on his vitality, he decided they could protect him and planned to make 49 Calm Heart Street less inconspicuous.

• Gu Zhe spent spirit points to raise Basic Paper Control Technique from practiced to perfected, gaining the insight that his Paper Figures could be awakened in reality.
• Gu Zhe cut his palm and used his blood to awaken a Paper Figure, which moved at supernatural speed and sliced through a counter corner.
• Gu Zhe learned that the Paper Figure was named Mystic Paper-Cutting Paper Figure, served him, and could move quickly within a hundred meters, though sunlight suppressed its speed.
• Gu Zhe awakened more Paper Figures but became dizzy and weak from the blood and mental effort, realizing he needed to recover his vitality before creating more.
• Gu Zhe decided that nine Paper Figures could protect him and resolved to make 49 Calm Heart Street less inconspicuous after lying low for about a month.

Gu Zhe strengthened his paper techniques and considered using his business to gather information and help ghosts. At Cloudflower Nunnery, Abbess Xuanhui and Yun Qing revealed that Lay Devotee Li had been murdered by his youngest son, then disclosed that the old man intended to keep his cryptocurrency for himself.

• Gu Zhe spent his last Spirit Point improving the Basic Paper Effigy Technique and reflected on building a team and finding more ghosts to house.
• Abbess Xuanhui and Yun Qing returned from the Netherworld and told Lay Devotee Li’s family that he was sheltering with other ghosts in a hollow tree.
• Abbess Xuanhui revealed that Lay Devotee Li had been strangled by his youngest son during a dispute over cryptocurrency keys and a hard drive.
• The youngest son collapsed and confessed that he had meant to frighten his father into funding his failing company, not kill him.
• Yun Qing said Lay Devotee Li had arranged to keep his property for himself, leaving the family stunned and questioning what that meant in the Underworld.

Abbess Xuanhui relayed the dead Lay Buddhist Li’s instructions to his family, including his demand that they preserve his money and arrange housing through the Gu Group in the Netherworld. Meanwhile, Gu Zhe celebrated his return online and calmly read the ridicule and encouragement in the replies.

• Abbess Xuanhui explained that her visits had revealed no organized Netherworld civilization, then asked the officers about the dead’s ownership of their worldly assets.
• Abbess Xuanhui told the Li Family that Lay Buddhist Li wanted his money preserved, housing arranged through the Gu Group, and offerings made to him.
• The Li Family recognized Lay Buddhist Li’s blunt manner but questioned his instructions until Abbess Xuanhui explained that ghosts rumored the Gu Group operated a Ghostly Apartment and Grand Hotel in the Netherworld.
• Gu Zhe took a selfie, announced his return online, and read the mixed reactions to his post without losing his composure.

Gu Zhe decided to revive the Gu Family by starting a business and asked his father for trustworthy subordinates, but his father had none. Gu Zhe posted a bizarre assistant job listing promising benefits tied to the Netherworld, and the chapter ended with Liu Zhaodi offering to join him.

• Gu Zhe told his father he planned to restore the Gu Family's glory, but his father said he had no trustworthy subordinates left after the family's collapse.
• Gu Zhe decided to find help himself and posted an assistant opening for the new Gu Group, advertising afterlife coverage and future Netherworld jobs.
• Gu Zhe's family and friends mocked the listing and worried that he had lost his mind, while Yun Qing asked whether his family was truly connected to him.
• Gu Zhe welcomed Yun Qing's interest but called her his little sister, leaving her frustrated with his clueless response.
• Liu Zhaodi volunteered to start the business with Gu Zhe, and he teased her about her height.

Ming Xuan’s cousin Xiao Fei was possessed after playing at rice divination, and her family realized that the ghost was real despite their own history of pretending to be Rice Diviners. Ming Xuan set out to take visitors to the Gu Family, hoping they might know how to save Xiao Fei.

• A ghost calling itself Ancestor Du Xiao possessed Xiao Fei, demanded blood offerings, and threatened to devour her soul.
• Granny Wang admitted she had no real exorcism skills and fled after her chant failed to drive the ghost away.
• Xiao Fei’s parents tried incense offerings, but Du Xiao rejected them and then receded, leaving Xiao Fei frightened.
• Ming Xuan arrived, saw the decayed ropes and bed, and promised to find a way to save her cousin.
• Ming Xuan received a call from Director Qin asking her to guide friends to the Gu Family on Calm Heart Street, and she agreed.

Gu Zhe received the Qianzhou Li Family, who came to arrange housing for their late father in the Netherworld, and used his supernatural monopoly to set prices and explain that sales would wait until the Netherworld Army secured the area. The Li Family treated his claims as proof of the Gu Family’s immense power, while Ming Xuan and Liu Zhaodi watched in confusion.

• Liu Zhaodi’s mother scolded her for skipping school to pursue work with Gu Zhe and dragged her out of the shop.
• Ming Xuan and the Qianzhou Li Family arrived looking for Mr. Gu, and Liu Zhaodi’s mother warned them that Gu Zhe tricked young women.
• Gu Zhe came outside and invited the Li Family inside after they explained that their late father had sent them to purchase Netherworld property.
• Gu Zhe quoted monthly rents for apartments and a hotel, then said homes and villas were not yet for sale because the Netherworld was dangerous and the Gu Family’s Netherworld Army was still assembling.
• The Li Family accepted Gu Zhe’s explanation, praised him, and left entrusting their father to his care, while Ming Xuan and Liu Zhaodi remained bewildered.

Ming Xuan asked Gu Zhe to save her younger cousin from a supernatural threat, offering her savings and promising her family would pay more. Gu Zhe agreed to hear the details, while Fatty Zhang and Liu Zhaodi reacted to his growing success; the cousin’s crisis remained unexplained.

• Gu Zhe teased Ming Xuan after noticing she had stayed behind, and she asked him to help her younger cousin with a supernatural problem.
• Gu Zhe questioned why he should help, and Ming Xuan offered all her savings of twenty thousand yuan and said her family would pay more.
• Fatty Zhang overheard Ming Xuan mention Gu Zhe’s five-million-yuan deal and wondered why Gu Zhe attracted wealthy clients and beautiful women.
• Liu Zhaodi’s mother remarked on Gu Zhe’s success, while Liu Zhaodi decided to keep an eye on him and Ming Xuan.

Gu Zhe investigated Ming Xuan’s sister’s daily possessions and concluded that a ghost from a nearby Secret Realm was reaching her through a Spiritual Passage. He accompanied Ming Xuan to help the terrified girl, who sensed the ghost returning as they arrived.

• Ming Xuan told Gu Zhe that her younger sister was being possessed every day after performing Spirit Rice Divination.
• Gu Zhe consulted ghosts in the Netherworld and concluded that the ghost came from a nearby Secret Realm rather than the Netherworld.
• Gu Zhe agreed to help Ming Xuan, gave her paper figures, and told Liu Zhaodi to watch the shop.
• At Ming Xuan’s second uncle’s home, the family explained that Ming Xiao Fei had dreamed of a frightening ghost after the divination ritual.
• Ming Xiao Fei sensed the ghost drawing closer and cried out that it was coming again.

Gu Zhe used the family’s desperate wish to find Du Xiao and the burning Mysterious Paper Figures to trace the ghost into the Void. He discovered Du Xiao’s town-sized Secret Realm, which was expanding as its inhabitants worshiped it.

• Gu Zhe reassured Xiao Fei and promised her family he would kill Du Xiao rather than merely drive it away.
• Gu Zhe told Xiao Fei’s parents to turn their fear and offerings into a determined search for Du Xiao, repeating the ghost’s name as they burned incense.
• Gu Zhe ordered Ming Xuan to burn the Mysterious Paper Figures and followed the incense-borne thought through their strange state.
• Gu Zhe saw a faint passage linking Xiao Fei to the Void and traced the other half of the thought into Du Xiao’s Secret Realm.
• Gu Zhe observed Du Xiao’s followers worshiping it and realized their devotion was helping the Secret Realm grow.

Gu Zhe sent Mysterious Paper Figures into Du Xiao’s town-sized world to attack the ghost, who drew strength from his domain and fought back. Gu Zhe told Ming Xuan and her family that Du Xiao would not retreat willingly, leaving them to face a difficult battle.

• Gu Zhe revealed that he had found Du Xiao and summoned dozens of Mysterious Paper Figures around the ghost in his world.
• The Paper Figures wounded Du Xiao with repeated attacks, but he tore several apart and used black mist to freeze and destroy others.
• Du Xiao claimed mastery of his world, drew energy from it, grew stronger, and empowered the Hunched Little Ghosts rushing toward the hill.
• Gu Zhe acknowledged that Du Xiao was stronger than expected while the ghost threatened to kill his servants and then devour Gu Zhe.
• Ming Xuan and her family worried that Gu Zhe could not defeat Du Xiao, but Gu Zhe said they had to kill him because he would not withdraw willingly.

Gu Zhe prepared more Paper Figures so his Deathbound Elite Warriors could keep fighting Du Xiao in the ghost’s secret realm. As Du Xiao tore through the first wave, Gu Zhe prepared to send in reinforcements and test the limits of the ghost and its world.

• Gu Zhe reassured Ming Xiao Fei and the Ming Family that he would defeat Du Xiao, though the battle would cost him dearly.
• Gu Zhe asked the Ming Family for paper-cutting supplies and explained that his Netherworld warriors needed Paper Figures to possess.
• Gu Zhe watched his Paper Figure subordinates wound Du Xiao and kill lesser ghosts as the enraged Du Xiao tore through them.
• Gu Zhe cut more Paper Figures while the Ming Family watched in awe, and Ming Xuan wondered whether he was risking himself for her.
• Liu Zhaodi arrived with the Paper Figures from the shop, and Gu Zhe prepared to send reinforcements against Du Xiao.

Gu Zhe’s paper figures overwhelmed Du Xiao and his ghost forces, killing them despite Du Xiao’s pleas to surrender. Gu Zhe became master of the Du Xiao Secret Realm and gained the rank of Secret Realm Lord, Eighth Sequence.

• Du Xiao fought off the relentless paper figures, but their numbers grew as they kept injuring him and killing his lesser ghosts.
• Du Xiao tried to bargain, threaten, and flee, while Gu Zhe watched from inside a Mysterious Paper Figure and refused to spare him.
• The paper figures beheaded Du Xiao and exterminated the remaining lesser ghosts.
• A mysterious whisper declared Gu Zhe the master of the Du Xiao Secret Realm, and dark energy and information flowed into the paper figure he possessed.
• Gu Zhe checked the Mysterious Paper Figure’s attributes and saw its new rank: Secret Realm Lord, Eighth Sequence.

Gu Zhe learned that his Paper Figure had become the Eighth Sequence Lord of the Du Xiao Secret Realm and discovered that the world contained seventy-two secret realms and thirty-six grotto heavens. After withdrawing his consciousness from the secret realm, he began considering how to develop it.

• Gu Zhe examined the Paper Figure's new traits and skills, which it had gained after the secret realm recognized it as its lord.
• Gu Zhe received information identifying Du Xiao as a Seventh Sequence ghost and a newly born secret realm lord as Ninth Sequence, while he considered why his own class remained Mortal.
• Gu Zhe learned that the realm was called the Du Xiao Secret Realm and that Du Xiao had taken his name from it.
• Gu Zhe discovered that seventy-two secret realms and thirty-six grotto heavens would form, with secret realms breeding ghosts and grotto heavens able to support ordinary life.
• Gu Zhe withdrew his consciousness from the Paper Figure, left it to guard the realm, and returned to the real world as the ghosts' corpses dissipated.

Gu Zhe rescued Ming Xiao Fei from the ghost and reassured her family that another possession was unlikely, though her spiritual sensitivity could still connect her to ghosts. As her family suggested making her his disciple or goddaughter, Liu Zhaodi suddenly objected to the imagined match.

• Gu Zhe told the Ming Family that he had slain the ghost, and Ming Xiao Fei confirmed she could no longer feel its presence.
• Gu Zhe refused payment at first because killing the ghost had earned him a secret realm, then accepted ten thousand so the family would feel the matter was settled.
• Gu Zhe explained that Ming Xiao Fei's spirit-medium talent could connect her to ghosts, but said the possession had been an unusual coincidence and advised avoiding haunted places and staying home during the Ghost Festival.
• Ming Xiao Fei's parents and Ming Xuan suggested Gu Zhe take her as a disciple or goddaughter, while Ming Xiao Fei said she wanted to be his little sister.
• Liu Zhaodi imagined Gu Zhe with an attractive young goddaughter and shouted, "I object to this marriage!"

Gu Zhe explained that the painting in the Ming Family study anchored the ghostly Secret Realm and proposed that Ming Xiao Fei use it to contact his harmless Paper Figure warriors for protection. Xiao Fei eagerly agreed, and Gu Zhe guided her to begin sensing them.

• Gu Zhe identified the spring outing painting as an anchor point for the Secret Realm where the ghosts had lived, and assured the Ming Family that the ghosts were destroyed.
• Gu Zhe proposed that Xiao Fei use the painting to establish a Spiritual Passage to his warriors, explaining why their possession would not cause the usual harms.
• Xiao Fei's parents hesitated over the risks, but Gu Zhe reassured them that the warriors meant no harm and would not interfere with her mind or body.
• Xiao Fei said she trusted Gu Zhe and wanted to try, driven by her desire for power as well as her wish to stop her family from worrying.
• Gu Zhe told Xiao Fei to concentrate on the anchor point and sense the warriors, while she insisted she would succeed.

Ming Xiao Fei used her family’s rice-divination ritual to successfully channel the eerie Paper Figure and gain a measure of control over its power. After pretending to be possessed to scare her family, she revealed her new supernatural abilities by moving at astonishing speed.

• Gu Zhe guided Ming Xiao Fei to recreate the rice-divination ritual that had helped her enter a trance before.
• Ming Xiao Fei chanted over a bowl of rice, scattered rice around the room, and entered a strange, vacant state.
• Ming Xiao Fei acted as if she were possessed, frightening her parents and cousin until Gu Zhe told her to stop.
• Ming Xiao Fei admitted she had been acting, while her family scolded her for frightening them.
• Ming Xiao Fei realized she had truly channeled the Paper Figure from the Du Xiao Secret Realm and gained a measure of authority over it.
• Ming Xiao Fei called herself Super Fei and moved so quickly that her family could barely follow her around the room.