Chapter Summaries

Chen Ying attacked Mah Yau Wu’s residence after learning that Yan Ren had been involved in the trouble against him, and Yan Ren covered up the killings to protect his career. Chen Ying then called Officer Mak to discuss Rongyi Street, insisting he knew nothing about the gold shop robbery.

• Mah Yau Wu suspected Chen Ying was behind the gold shop robbery and ordered his underlings to investigate him quietly.
• Yan Ren confronted Mah Yau Wu over targeting Chen Ying and learned that Young Master Wen had set the scheme in motion.
• Chen Ying entered Mah Yau Wu’s residence with a Type 56, disarmed Yan Ren and his officers, and shot Mah Yau Wu dead.
• Yan Ren killed two of Mah Yau Wu’s underlings, then staged the scene to make it look as if Mah Yau Wu had resisted arrest during the robbery.
• Chen Ying called Officer Mak and said he wanted to discuss Rongyi Street, denying any knowledge of the gold shop robbery.

Chen Ying questioned MacLehose about the Void Realm and learned that a breach between it and the human world could trigger a Spirit Disaster. MacLehose agreed to halt the investigation into Chen Ying and gave him an address and time, leaving their cooperation poised to continue.

• Chen Ying met MacLehose and argued that the authorities could not prove his involvement in the armed robbery without physical evidence.
• Chen Ying pressed MacLehose about Rongyi Street and asked what the authorities called the Netherworld.
• MacLehose explained that a major breach between the Void Realm and their world was called a Spirit Disaster and could devastate civilization.
• MacLehose said disturbances in the Earth Vein could let beings cross between worlds and warned Chen Ying that the authorities would make anyone creating a Spirit Disaster leave Hong Kong and Kowloon.
• MacLehose gave Chen Ying an address and precise time, offered to halt the criminal investigation, and agreed to cooperate.

Chen Ying told Wen Ruzhi that Xu Renying was likely behind the attacks on the Chen family and asked him to help Granny Chen bring Xu down. Wen Ruzhi refused because of the danger of Wuzhong City, then revealed he was in Hong Kong and Kowloon searching for something connected to the sect’s legacy.

• Chen Ying met Wen Ruzhi at the clinic and identified one of the four expedition experts as the likely mastermind behind the attacks on the Chen family.
• Chen Ying reasoned that Xu Renying was the mastermind, while Young Master Wen, Yisheng’s Numbers Manager, was acting in the open; Wen Ruzhi warned that Lu Zhengxing might know of the plot without leading it.
• Wen Ruzhi refused to help pursue Xu Renying immediately and explained that the expedition’s target, the Drought Demon, was hiding in the deadly dead zone of Wuzhong City.
• Wen Ruzhi promised to bring Chen Ying into the White Lotus Sect and restore his branch of the Chen family if Granny Chen came to harm, and declared Xu Renying their enemy if he survived.
• Chen Ying told Wen Ruzhi he had arranged to meet the foreigners’ Emergency Management Department and could discreetly seek clues to what Wen Ruzhi was searching for.
• Wen Ruzhi confirmed Chen Ying had guessed correctly and asked how many others in Hong Kong-Kowloon City had figured it out.

Wen Ruzhi revealed that he had come to Hong Kong and Kowloon to find the Illuminating-Night Burning Rhinoceros, then set out for Lingnan to investigate Xu Renying. Chen Ying trained with Wen Ruzhi before continuing into the night, while elsewhere Young Master Wen lost an eye and sensed someone plotting against him.

• Wen Ruzhi explained the history and powers of the Illuminating-Night Burning Rhinoceros and admitted that he had been searching for it in Hong Kong and Kowloon.
• Chen Ying said he did not know who held power in the city, and Wen Ruzhi praised his broader vision before agreeing to investigate Xu Renying in Lingnan.
• Wen Ruzhi tested Chen Ying's Through-Arm Fist and taught him about its hidden force, Diamond Ape Arms.
• Wen Ruzhi departed for Lingnan, suspecting Xu Renying might possess the rhinoceros candle or know where it was.
• Chen Ying bowed to Wen Ruzhi, resolved to continue his plans, and followed him into the night.
• At an old residence, Young Master Wen lost an eye and two fingers in a mahjong game against hidden ghosts, then sensed that someone was plotting against him.

Chen Ying warned Mak Ho-lai about Xu Renying and declined to provide information, then returned to Little Building and found it altered by a supernatural presence. He discovered Wu Jie frightened on the fourth-floor stairs, where she said Granny had good news.

• Mak Ho-lai told Chen Ying that Yan Ren had blamed Mah Yau Wu for the incident and that the authorities had helped cover up the truth.
• Chen Ying advised Mak Ho-lai to investigate missing spirit mediums from Temple Street and Xu Renying’s connections, then said he was opening a shop and would charge for information.
• Uncle Qing reported that Young Master Wen had appeared, Wo On Sing members wanted a meeting, and Lan Li from the Police Force had invited Chen Ying to morning tea.
• As Chen Ying and Uncle Qing approached Little Building, they saw a mangled figure crawling through mist, and Uncle Qing said the building seemed to have changed.
• A blind, red-clothed girl appeared at Little Building’s entrance, sang a disturbing nursery rhyme, and vanished after its crying made Chen Ying feel as if he were forgetting how to exist.
• Chen Ying hurried upstairs and found Wu Jie sitting pale on the stairs beside a smoking Bronze Oil Lamp; she told him Granny had good news.

Chen Ying fought off a sightless evil entity in the Little Building and discovered his baleful qi could let him see through darkness and destroy its eye. Wu Jie revealed that the Little Building was itself an evil entity and that Granny Chen’s life was nearly over; Chen Ying found Granny Chen lying in a coffin, unable to return her Yin Spirit to her body.

• Wu Jie warned Chen Ying that Granny Chen was gone, the Little Building was losing control of its captive entities, and he should flee with the oil lamp.
• A blind little girl evil entity attacked Chen Ying, but he tore apart its red cords, endured its cries, and used his baleful qi to see through the darkness.
• Chen Ying kicked the entity and gouged out its eye, damaging its ability to perceive him and forcing it to retreat downstairs.
• A bell rang in the Little Building, and Wu Jie explained that the building itself was an evil entity that fed on the entities it imprisoned.
• Wu Jie led Chen Ying to Granny Chen’s room, where they found Granny Chen lying in a coffin; Wu Jie said Granny’s Yin Spirit could no longer return to her body and she could not leave the building.

Chen Ying learned that Granny Chen’s Yin Spirit had left her living-corpse body inside the building, where the building’s power kept it suppressed and stable. After discovering a counterclockwise clock counting down ten hours until the next movement period, Chen Ying decided to seek Su Xiong’s help before facing the Faceless Man.

• Wu Jie explained that Granny Chen’s Yin Spirit could no longer return to her body, which had begun turning into a living corpse and was hidden inside the building.
• Chen Ying refused Wu Jie’s request that he leave, arguing that they had to conceal the building’s weakness and address its dangers from within.
• Chen Ying and Wu Jie inspected the floors and found a new clock on the first floor counting down ten hours.
• Wu Jie warned Chen Ying that the Faceless Man might be the building’s most intelligent and difficult malevolent entity.
• Chen Ying found the old ghost’s door locked and told Wu Jie he was going to see Su Xiong.

Su Xiong welcomed Chen Ying to Tianxin Mansion and explained that the compass Chen Ying sought could point toward what its user most desired, at the cost of thirteen days of bad luck. Su Xiong gave Chen Ying the compass, which had one use remaining, and saw him off.

• Su Xiong ordered Sha Wei to deal with a subordinate who was selling him out and discussed Chen Ying’s growing reputation and powerful backing with his disciples.
• Chen Ying visited Su Xiong at Tianxin Mansion to ask about the compass he had seen in Sha Wei’s hand.
• Su Xiong explained that the compass pointed toward the user’s strongest desire and caused thirteen days of bad luck, while its Western original made the desired object impossible to obtain.
• Sha Wei brought the compass in its coffin-wood box, and Su Xiong gave it to Chen Ying, explaining that it had one use left.
• Chen Ying accepted the compass, thanked Senior Brother Su, and Su Xiong escorted him downstairs.

Su Xiong explained why he had helped Chen Ying, while Chen Ying found that the Little Building was drawing closer to the Void Realm and used the compass to locate the Wrongful Death Ghost Market. The chapter left Chen Ying arriving at the market, where its proprietor greeted him.

• Su Xiong told Du Ke, Sha Wei, and Bian Zhi that helping Chen Ying could build valuable connections and help Tung Sing become respectable.
• Chen Ying and Uncle Qing encountered a huge stitched-together flesh entity on the misty lane, then reached the Little Building and found its surroundings had changed.
• Chen Ying checked the time with Wu Jie, warned him to prepare for danger, and explained the compass Su Xiong had given him.
• Chen Ying put a drop of blood on the compass, followed its needle through the fog, and found the Wrongful Death Ghost Market.
• The proprietor greeted Chen Ying and joked that he had brought a zombie driver.

Chen Ying followed the compass through the Wrongful Death Ghost Market, learning that his Ghost Eye could be exchanged as part of the best solution to his wish. At the market’s edge, he traded it to a mutilated male corpse for Human Skin Paper bearing a covenant with Solomon and the Seventy-Two Pillars.

• Chen Ying passed a noodle stall where a drowned ghost had lost an eyeball in exchange for soup, and he refused the owner’s offer to trade for the Ghost Eye in his pocket.
• Chen Ying visited the Ghost Appraiser, who explained the Ghost Eye’s value and offered to exchange it for Chen Ying’s left eye or buy it for paper money.
• Chen Ying noticed the compass needle spinning while the Ghost Eye was under discussion and concluded that the eye was necessary for the best transaction ahead.
• Chen Ying followed the compass to the edge of the Ghost Market, where a mutilated male corpse offered Human Skin Paper in exchange for the Ghost Eye.
• The corpse fitted the Ghost Eye into his socket as Chen Ying unrolled the paper and read its opening covenant between Solomon, the Third Monarch, and the Seventy-Two Pillars.