Chapter Summaries

Chen Ying awoke in a coffin after dying in a traffic accident and realized he had returned to life in a stranger's body. His grandmother and Wu Jie welcomed him back, while a newspaper revealed that he had awakened in a world troubled by supernatural disasters.

• An emissary from Lord Hung offered the old woman medical expenses, but she refused the money and said her grandson was coming back.
• After thirty-six two-hour periods, the black coffin cracked and Chen Ying pushed its lid open.
• Chen Ying remembered dying in a traffic accident and then waking inside the coffin, where the old woman and a beautiful woman named A-Jie greeted him.
• A-Jie dressed Chen Ying and told him she was his wife-to-be, Wu Jie, and that he was Granny's only grandson.
• Chen Ying noticed newspaper headlines about a corpse tide, unrest in Zhongzhou, a wolf plague, and other strange events.

After waking from an apparent death, Chen Ying learned more about his strange household and found himself craving human flesh. Unable to sleep, he followed the scent of food downstairs and discovered a bowl of char siu rice outside a tenant’s room, where an old man called it heartbreak rice for the newly dead.

• Chen Ying ate nothing at dinner while Granny Chen praised Wu Jie’s incense ash and urged them to consummate their marriage soon.
• Granny Chen floated away, and Chen Ying noticed he was more tempted by Wu Jie’s neck than by the food.
• Wu Jie explained that Chen Ying attended Tongwen Academy, that the building belonged to him, and that Granny Chen had taught her skills she could not teach family members.
• After Wu Jie fell asleep, Chen Ying remained awake and followed the aroma of char siu rice downstairs.
• Chen Ying found a bowl of char siu rice outside a tenant’s room, and a hoarse old man invited him to eat the heartbreak rice because he had only just died.

Chen Ying questioned the old ghost behind his door about the building and its residents while refusing to eat the offered gut-wrenching rice. He learned that the building held increasingly fierce ghosts on its upper floors, just as something began descending the stairs.

• Chen Ying delayed eating, asked for chopsticks, and struck up a conversation with the old man behind the door.
• The old man said the building had four floors of trapped residents and that they could leave only when their doors opened at certain times.
• The old man explained that his gut-wrenching rice let him go out in someone else's place, and that residents ate different things to survive.
• The old man said most residents were mindless, while he and one ghost from the third floor could speak and understand what they wanted.
• A strange thumping sound came from the stairs as something descended from above.

Chen Ying learned that the old ghost believed a yellow talisman on the fourth floor could free him, while Granny Chen and Wu Jie continued to treat Chen Ying as human. After spending a sleepless night, Chen Ying left with Wu Jie to meet a martial arts instructor Granny Chen had chosen for him.

• A flesh bucket escaped through the building entrance, and the old ghost questioned how Chen Ying had gotten out when only one ghost could leave at a time.
• The old ghost told Chen Ying about the fourth-floor yellow talisman and asked him to find it and let him know if he escaped.
• Chen Ying concluded that Granny Chen and Wu Jie treated him as human, while the old ghost treated him as a ghost, leaving him between the two sides.
• Chen Ying returned to the fourth floor and spent the night unable to sleep or satisfy his hunger.
• Wu Jie told Chen Ying that Granny Chen had arranged martial arts lessons because he would need skills when he entered the martial world.
• Chen Ying and Wu Jie left in a car with the family driver, Uncle Qing, while a crow took flight.

Chen Ying learned why Granny Chen could not teach him her arts and was brought to meet Teacher Wen for martial training. Outside Grace-Extending Hall, he spotted a Plague Hag, and Mr. Wen greeted him with cryptic questions about his spiritual practice.

• Chen Ying asked Wu Jie about Granny Chen’s visit, and Wu Jie explained that Granny had entered her dream to arrange a martial arts teacher.
• Wu Jie told Chen Ying that his family had fled Zhongzhou after old feuds and that Soul-Calling had damaged his soul, making Granny Chen’s visualization arts dangerous for him.
• Wu Jie said Teacher Wen would teach Chen Ying methods that strengthened his body and explained that true gods and immortals were only legends.
• Chen Ying saw a Plague Hag watching Grace-Extending Hall and learned from Wu Jie that the daylight-roaming ghost preyed on the sick.
• Mr. Wen came out of the medicine shop, questioned Chen Ying about entering treasure mountains and burning incense, and heard Wu Jie pass on Granny Chen’s regards.

Chen Ying and Wu Jie met Mr. Wen, who explained their family’s ties to the White Lotus Sect and why its rules made him reluctant to help Chen Ying. He revealed that cultivators often became ghosts or monsters after death and asked whether Chen Ying could strike down Granny Chen if she transformed.

• Mr. Wen let Chen Ying and Wu Jie into his pharmacy after Chen Ying asked about the Plague Hag.
• Mr. Wen told Chen Ying that Granny, Chen Ying’s parents, and he had belonged to the White Lotus Sect, but the sect had severed ties with Granny’s family.
• Mr. Wen explained that sect rules prevented him from freely helping Chen Ying, despite their family connection.
• Mr. Wen said cultivators commonly became ghosts or monsters after death and described how a revered physician became the Plague Hag after her pagoda collapsed.
• Mr. Wen asked Chen Ying whether he could kill Granny Chen if she became a ghost or monster, and Wu Jie angrily objected.

Chen Ying learned from Wen Ruzhi that his body was decaying and that he might die within two or three years, so he agreed to try Wen’s treatment. Wen offered to teach him a method of Bagua boxing, beginning with a revolver, and Chen accepted the conditions attached to the instruction.

• Wen Ruzhi agreed to help Chen Ying because he appreciated his talent, while Chen explained why Wen could not openly act on Granny Chen’s behalf.
• Wen examined Chen Ying and said his body’s innate qi had dispersed, leaving it hollow and likely to fail within two or three years.
• Wen said he could treat Chen Ying by teaching him an internal-strengthening method guided by boxing, while clarifying that he was acting as a physician, not a master.
• Wen introduced himself as Ruzhi, an incense master who headed a branch of the White Lotus Sect, and asked Chen Ying not to use his teachings against its members.
• Chen Ying agreed, and Wen asked for three hundred pounds as a consultation fee if the treatment extended his life.
• Wen gave Chen Ying an ivory-gripped revolver and explained that learning to use it would teach him the principles behind Bagua boxing.

Chen Ying began martial arts and firearms training under Wen Ruzhi, while Wu Jie explained the cost of his life and the supernatural services common in Hong Kong-Kowloon City. He agreed to walk outside the secluded building, where Wu Jie revealed Granny intended to let their enemies see he had returned and promised Granny would protect him.

• Wen Ruzhi gave Chen Ying a pistol and ammunition, taught him to practice marksmanship, and warned him to learn how to conceal the gun from the police.
• Wen Ruzhi taught Chen Ying stance work, footwork, and a short free-fighting form, explaining the principles of generating and releasing force.
• Wu Jie worried that Chen Ying carrying a gun and accepting Wen Ruzhi's help would entangle them further with the White Lotus Sect.
• Wu Jie explained that three hundred pounds equaled roughly three hundred thousand mun, a substantial sum, and described how people hired specialists to deal with demons and ghosts.
• Chen Ying asked Wu Jie to walk with him so he could practice his footwork, and she said Granny had instructed them to let him go out and be seen.
• Wu Jie promised Granny would protect Chen Ying as more than a dozen crows watched them from the woods.

Chen Ying practiced Wen Ruzhi’s Eight Trigram Palm footwork, but Hua Shanrong pulled him into a gang show of force that turned into a real attack by Lord Hung’s men. As Sha Wei led an armed charge, Hua Shanrong fled with Chen Ying.

• Chen Ying practiced Eight Trigram Palm’s mud-wading steps and ran into three punks demanding money.
• Hua Shanrong intervened, then asked Chen Ying to help him meet Fat Bear’s headcount for a gang show of force.
• Chen Ying was swept into Fat Bear’s crowd, given a steel rod, and taken to confront Fire Dragon’s group outside a theater.
• Fat Bear and Fire Dragon traded accusations before agreeing to negotiate the next day at Backbone.
• Sha Wei arrived with armed men and ordered them to attack, while Hua Shanrong grabbed Chen Ying and ran.

Chen Ying dragged Hua Shanrong through a gang battle and escaped into an alley, where they stumbled into a mist-covered, impossible street. As burial-clothed children emerged behind them, Chen Ying and Hua Shanrong were left with no clear way back.

• Chen Ying charged through Fire Dragon’s men with Hua Shanrong and broke a path through the front of the battle.
• Hua Shanrong and Chen Ying escaped down an alley while Fat Bear’s men were swept into a melee with Fire Dragon’s group and Sha Wei’s attackers.
• Hua Shanrong revealed he had scouted the alleys, but Chen Ying noticed he was unnaturally free of fatigue after their run.
• Chen Ying and Hua Shanrong found themselves on a misty bluestone street beside a noodle stall, where an old man fished food from a pot.
• Chen Ying showed Hua Shanrong that the street behind them had vanished into the same mist, then pointed out a line of children in burial clothes hopping toward them.

Chen Ying and Hua Shanrong entered a ghost market, where a noodle-stall proprietor tried to buy Hua Shanrong as an ingredient. Meanwhile, Sha Wei found the direction he had been seeking and left to pursue another task.

• Chen Ying led Hua Shanrong through the mist into a ghost market filled with sinister spirits and grotesque stalls.
• The noodle-stall proprietor compelled Chen Ying and Hua Shanrong to sit, then offered to buy Hua Shanrong and serve him as ingredients.
• Chen Ying questioned the proprietor about Hua Shanrong’s price while Hua Shanrong remained unable to move or speak.
• Fire Dragon considered the gang’s victory over Fat Bear’s men and decided to strengthen his ties with Su Xiong’s men.
• Sha Wei searched with a compass, told Fire Dragon that Master Xiong wanted him at Tianxin, then found the way and departed.

Chen Ying witnessed Fat Bear deliver a gold chain to Hua Shanrong before walking into the deepest fog, then followed Sha Wei to the pawnshop in the Ghost Market. Sha Wei pawned his heart for spirit money while concealing something valuable in his sleeve, and the Ghost Appraiser noticed Chen Ying watching.

• Chen Ying felt a dormant power awakening within him as he observed the Ghost Market and avoided drinking the noodle broth.
• Fat Bear arrived at the noodle stall, gave Hua Shanrong his gold chain, and left toward the deepest fog after recalling the brothers’ pledge.
• Hua Shanrong mourned Fat Bear, and Chen Ying wondered where the dead man was going before Sha Wei entered the Ghost Market.
• Chen Ying and Hua Shanrong followed Sha Wei to the pawnshop, where the Ghost Appraiser valued his heart at twenty notes and his saber at thirty.
• Sha Wei insisted on pawning only his heart, while the Ghost Appraiser warned that people would target him after he left and glanced toward Chen Ying.

Chen Ying entered Tongde Pawnshop at the Ghost Appraiser’s invitation and learned about the Ghost Market’s rule-bound, uncanny residents. After Chen Ying refused to sell his unusual baleful qi, the Ghost Appraiser offered him thirty sheets of joss paper to obtain Sha Wei’s compass.

• Hua Shanrong and Chen Ying watched Sha Wei leave Tongde Pawnshop looking ashen after apparently selling his heart.
• The Ghost Appraiser invited Chen Ying inside and warned that the Ghost Market’s rules bound everyone, while Hua Shanrong stayed behind as Chen Ying’s merchandise.
• The Ghost Appraiser explained that the pawnshop and Ghost Market were beings born as ghosts and offered Chen Ying one thousand sheets of joss paper for his baleful qi.
• Chen Ying refused to surrender his baleful qi and asked about Sha Wei’s business at the pawnshop.
• The Ghost Appraiser asked Chen Ying to get Sha Wei’s compass in exchange for thirty sheets of joss paper.

Chen Ying agreed to retrieve the compass for the Ghost Appraiser in exchange for a way to control the baleful qi within him. After following Sha Wei out of the Ghost Market, Chen Ying blocked Sha Wei’s saber strike with his arm and asked him to spare Hua Shanrong.

• The Ghost Appraiser offered Chen Ying a method to use his baleful qi freely if he brought back the compass, and warned him to leave the Ghost Market soon.
• Chen Ying reunited with Hua Shanrong and followed Sha Wei through the mist into the living world.
• Sha Wei turned and attacked Chen Ying, but Chen Ying’s awakened power let him deflect the saber with his arm.
• Sha Wei recognized Chen Ying as the man he had helped carry to the Little Building after his accident, and hesitated to attack him.
• Chen Ying told Sha Wei that Hua Shanrong was his friend and asked Sha Wei to leave him alone.

Chen Ying spoke with Sha Wei, then learned about Su Xiong’s rise and encouraged Hua Shanrong to avenge his murdered boss through unconventional means. The chapter ended with Chen Ying suggesting that Hua Shanrong study to become a cop—or use a vehicle to run Su Xiong down.

• Sha Wei accepted Chen Ying’s explanation for being at the gang confrontation, invited him to visit Tianxin Mansion, and left.
• Hua Shanrong asked how Chen Ying knew Sha Wei, and Chen Ying claimed they were distant cousins through Su Xiong.
• As they walked together, Hua Shanrong explained how Su Xiong had risen through the gangs by using formidable kung fu and ruthless tactics.
• Hua Shanrong said he wanted to avenge his murdered boss but believed he was too cowardly and useless to challenge Su Xiong.
• Chen Ying advised Hua Shanrong to study and become a cop, then joked that he could shoot Su Xiong or run him down with a minibus or truck.

Chen Ying focused on recovering his body through Wen Ruzhi’s Eight Trigram Palm lessons and learned about martial arts and the baleful qi within him. When he returned to the little building, Granny Chen revealed that his attacker had been dealt with and told him to go back to school.

• Chen Ying set aside the Ghost Market’s offers and resolved to heal his body, study secret arts, and find a way back.
• Chen Ying trained relentlessly in Eight Trigram Palm, becoming proficient in its techniques over two months as his appetite, desires, and body temperature began to recover.
• Wen Ruzhi explained the levels of martial arts and warned Chen Ying to be careful with the baleful qi he had acquired after his ordeal.
• Chen Ying returned to the little building and found Granny Chen there with a blood-soaked scalp on a plate.
• Granny Chen told Chen Ying that the person who had secretly attacked him had been dealt with and ordered him to return to school the next day.

After Granny Chen warned Chen Ying about the Xiangxi Ma Family and urged him to keep learning boxing and return to school, Chen Ying read about the troubled world and the drought threatening Lingnan. The chapter leaves Chen Ying and Wu Jie discussing rice prices and whether they should buy rice to sell in Provincial City.

• Granny Chen told Chen Ying that the Xiangxi Ma Family had targeted him, urged him to learn Wen Ruzhi's boxing, and warned him to be cautious around people and ghosts.
• Wu Jie praised Chen Ying's improving boxing, and Chen Ying credited Wen Ruzhi with teaching him.
• Chen Ying read the Commercial Daily and reflected on the world's powerful long-lived rulers, dangerous oceans, and Zhongzhou's turmoil.
• Chen Ying considered what he had learned about Granny Chen's ghost-suppressing work, Wu Jie's background and skills, and the Chen family's businesses.
• Chen Ying and Wu Jie discussed the severe drought in Provincial City, reports of a Drought Demon, and whether rising rice prices made buying rice for resale worthwhile.

Chen Ying discussed the Chen family's cautious rice business with Wu Jie, then broke through to Bright Strength during his martial arts practice. He arrived at Tongwen Academy, where he began studying at the modest school Granny Chen had chosen for him.

• Chen Ying learned from Wu Jie that the Chen family's rice shop avoided expanding grain purchases because drought could disrupt its supply and sales.
• Chen Ying practiced Eight Trigram Palm through the night and unleashed a powerful strike that made him realize he had reached Bright Strength.
• Chen Ying hoped to test his strength against a skilled martial artist, but his next duty was attending school.
• Wu Jie drove Chen Ying to Tongwen Academy and explained that Granny Chen had insisted he study there to preserve his Zhongzhou identity.
• Chen Ying looked over the shabby campus, told Wu Jie he would find his own way home, and accepted money from her.

Chen Ying returned to Tongwen Academy and found that his former self had been a disreputable, bullied student. When a classmate summoned him to the rooftop for Brother Cheng, Chen Ying cheerfully went along, leaving his intentions unclear.

• Wu Jie gave Chen Ying money to keep the punks outside the school from causing trouble, and Chen Ying headed to class.
• Chen Ying met a girl who insulted him and learned from class monitor Feng Huimin that his seat was in the front row.
• Chen Ying discovered his desk was filthy and asked Feng Huimin whether Hua Shanrong was in their class; she corrected him that Deng Rong had been absent for several days.
• An acne-faced student told Chen Ying that Brother Cheng wanted him on the rooftop with the good stuff, while Feng Huimin urged him to refuse and find Teacher Li.
• Chen Ying smiled and agreed to go upstairs with the student.

Chen Ying confronted Brother Cheng and his gang on the rooftop, where his martial arts quickly overpowered them. He then threatened them with Wen Ruzhi’s handgun and began a Russian Roulette game, firing the first shot at Brother Cheng.

• Chen Ying reached the rooftop and mocked Brother Cheng and his gang after they demanded money and told him to stop pursuing Wen Xiu.
• Brother Cheng’s gang blocked the rooftop exit, so Chen Ying attacked and swiftly knocked down six of the seven boys.
• Chen Ying broke Aheng’s collarbone with a knife-hand strike, then revealed the handgun Wen Ruzhi had given him.
• Chen Ying removed one bullet from the gun and threatened the kneeling gang with Russian Roulette, prompting them to name Brother Cheng as the first target.
• Chen Ying aimed at Brother Cheng and pulled the trigger.