Chapter Summaries

Wang Qilin visited Rich Man Lu’s household to discuss marrying Miss Lu, while strange chills and laughter hinted at an unseen presence. The meeting ended with the rich man’s wife revealing that a ghost was haunting General Huang’s granddaughter, and Wang Qilin reassuring Miss Lu that she was safe.

• Wang Qilin and Xu Da shared the chicken with Wang Qilin’s mother and sisters before the villagers rushed to eat what remained.
• Wang Qilin went with Wang Liuwu to Lu Family Village to meet Miss Lu, and the steward admitted them after learning Wang Qilin had become a Minor Seal.
• Wang Qilin felt a sinister chill at the gate, then met Rich Man Lu and his wife, who brought out Miss Lu and a plump girl.
• Wang Qilin privately remarked that Miss Lu had too much meat, and unseen laughter sounded from the empty courtyard.
• Rich Man Lu’s wife accused Wang Qilin of leaving because Miss Lu was ugly and revealed that a ghost haunted General Huang’s granddaughter.
• Wang Qilin reassured Miss Lu that her strong yang energy would keep any ghost away.

After learning that a powerful ghost haunted the general's estate and had killed someone, Wang Qilin decided to seek outside help and prepare to confront it. The group went to obtain an ancestral executioner's saber from Niu Er, who reluctantly invited them inside after Xie Hama revealed its bloody history.

• Wang Qilin learned from Xu Da and Xie Hama that Huang Qingyun was being tormented by a powerful ghost at the general's estate, and Xie Hama linked their visit there to his Fellowship with Men Hexagram.
• Wang Qilin agreed to visit the general's estate but first decided to retrieve his saber, while Xie Hama suggested Niu Er's ancestral beheading saber as a weapon against ghosts.
• Wang Qilin, Xu Da, and Xie Hama found Niu Er's gate locked, and Xu Da kicked it open before Niu Er rushed out with a knife.
• Wang Qilin apologized for the damaged gate and asked Niu Er about his ancestral saber, but Niu Er denied having one.
• Xie Hama said the saber had grown accustomed to human blood, prompting Niu Er to panic and invite the three men inside.

Wang Qilin and his companions sought Niu Er’s ancestral saber, and Niu Er’s wife agreed to hand it over if they rescued her youngest son by destroying the township gambling den. The group confronted the den, where Wang Qilin announced he would play a game called ghosts.

• Xu Da and Wang Qilin visited Niu Er to negotiate for his ancestral saber, but Niu Er’s wife demanded that they rescue her youngest son from a gambling den in exchange.
• Wang Qilin agreed to help and asked for ordinary clothes after Xie Hama described the gambling den and its operations.
• Xu Da attacked the den’s thugs, then used their leader to knock down an enforcer who had attacked Wang Qilin.
• Ma Qiu, the gambling den’s owner, appeared and tried to appease Wang Qilin, who entered the teahouse carrying the enforcer’s saber.
• Wang Qilin rejected the games Ma Qiu offered and said he wanted to play ghosts, while Xu Da rolled up his sleeves to join him.

Wang Qilin and Xu Da exposed Ma Qiu’s gambling den and destroyed the gambling ghost he used to drain customers’ luck. After rescuing Niu Er’s son and arresting Ma Qiu’s gang, Wang Qilin received an old, ghost-marked saber from Niu Er.

• Xu Da won a string of dice games, and Ma Qiu sent a gambling ghost to drain his luck.
• Wang Qilin spotted the ghost and slashed it apart with his Lunar Soul-Severing Saber while Xu Da took Ma Qiu’s jade thumb ring.
• Wang Qilin identified the Heaven-Listening Bureau and arrested Ma Qiu after learning he kept a ghost; Xu Da claimed the jade was not a bribe because he had done nothing in return.
• Wang Qilin rescued Niu Er’s youngest son, and Niu Er gave him a rusty ghost-head saber hidden in the roof.
• Xie Hama jolted Little Niu’s hidden essence to curb his desire to gamble for a year, and Niu Er’s wife told him not to feed the boy anything that might speed his recovery.

Wang Qilin visited General Huang Huaji after hearing of trouble in the general's residence, but Huang refused to let him investigate. Outside, Wang and his companions encountered a Black Yao funeral procession, which Xie Hama suspected might be connected to the residence's troubles.

• Wang Qilin, Xu Da, and Xie Hama arrived at Huang Huaji's residence, where Huang invited Wang inside and kept Xu Da outside.
• Wang told Huang that an anonymous letter had warned him of unrest in the residence, and Huang admitted the trouble was real but said Wang could not handle it.
• Huang dismissed Wang and gave him a long-handled Miao saber, while Wang discovered his ghost-head saber had disappeared into the Furnace of Creation.
• Wang and his companions followed Xie Hama around the residence and spotted eight black-clad people carrying a red coffin through the hills.
• Xie Hama identified the procession as Black Yao members carrying a coffin to wander the heavens and suggested their presence might be linked to the trouble at Huang's residence.

Xie Hama, Wang Qilin, and Xu Da followed a Black Yao coffin procession into the hills, where they discovered the apparent bearers were tongue-less impostors. A Taoist emerged from the coffin and accused Xie Hama of being a fiend, while Wang Qilin prepared for trouble and realized the Furnace of Creation had swallowed his saber.

• Xie Hama warned Wang Qilin and Xu Da away from General Huang's estate, but they followed the coffin procession after learning the Black Yao carried valuable Innate Jade.
• Wang Qilin and Xu Da found nine silent men gathered around a red coffin in the hills, and the men had no tongues.
• Xie Hama arrived and revealed that the nine figures were not the real coffin bearers.
• A Taoist stood up from the coffin and called Xie Hama a fiend, as the night wind turned colder.
• Wang Qilin told Xu Da to watch his eyes for a signal, reached for his saber, and discovered the Furnace of Creation had swallowed it.

Wang Qilin, Xu Da, and Xie Hama fought off a group of fiends that had impersonated a Daoist and his companions, then joined the coffin bearers at their camp. As the men discussed an eerie counting incident and Xie Hama called it “ghost hides treasures,” someone entering the woods cried for help.

• Wang Qilin discovered that the Furnace of Creation had fused his ghost-headed saber with the military miaodao into a five-foot blade marked “Horse Slayer.”
• Wang Qilin noticed that the nine figures around the coffin never blinked, and Xu Da’s torch attack prompted him and Xie Hama to drive the disguised fiends away.
• Xie Hama reunited with Wang Qilin and Xu Da, and the three joined the coffin bearers, who were carrying the coffin concealing the Six-Step Qi Jade.
• Brother Nine told them that nine ration bags had been distributed among nine men, yet one man was always left without a bag and their count-off reached ten.
• Xie Hama identified the bearers’ strange counting incident as “ghost hides treasures,” while Xu Da offered to watch the coffin so the men could rest at the general’s residence.
• After the meal, one coffin bearer went into the woods to relieve himself and cried out for help.

Wang Qilin and his companions discovered a haunted forest and encountered a missing man’s grain sack whose vital energy had vanished. Xie Hama identified a Mountain Puppet as the likely threat and warned the coffin bearers that it had sealed their escape route.

• Wang Qilin, Xu Da, and Xie Hama found a graveyard of blank tombstones beneath locust trees, which Xie Hama recognized as a Corpse-Imprisoning Ground.
• Wang Qilin spotted a lifelike stone statue in the woods, but it disappeared when he returned with Xie Hama and Xu Da.
• Wang Qilin and his companions heard mysterious voices calling their names and ignored Xie Hama’s warning not to answer.
• Chen Jiu and Lao Ruan reported that Su Yaojin had vanished after asking who was in the woods, and Wang Qilin linked the question to his own encounter with the statue.
• Xie Hama used a paper crane on Su Yaojin’s grain sack; it burst into flames, and Xie Hama said Su Yaojin’s vital energy was gone.
• Chen Jiu ordered the remaining men to lift the coffin and head back, but Xie Hama said the Mountain Puppet had sealed the road and told them not to move.

Wang Qilin and Xu Da fought off Mountain Puppets that ambushed their camp, then returned with Xie Hama and the pallbearers to General Huang’s residence. There, they met Huang Qingyun and Huang Liufeng, and Huang Huaji asked his granddaughter to describe the ghost in her dreams.

• A Mountain Puppet lured Wang Qilin into the woods, where he killed it and fought off the others with help from Xu Da, who had pretended to sleep.
• Xie Hama identified the attackers as Mountain Puppets, and the group returned safely with the coffin the next morning.
• Chen Jiu explained the previous night’s events to Huang Huaji, who thanked Wang Qilin and his companions for saving his men.
• Huang Huaji hosted the group for breakfast, and Xu Da ate most of the food despite complaining about the meal.
• Madam Huang née Yao introduced Huang Qingyun and Huang Liufeng to the visitors.
• Huang Huaji asked Huang Qingyun to tell the three men about the ghost in her dreams.

Huang Qingyun explained how she entered a ghost market in a recurring dream and how Su Lang had led her to jump from a pagoda to return to the living world. Xie Hama warned that she was close to death and might never be reincarnated, while Huang Huaji reacted angrily to Su Lang’s story.

• Xie Hama diagnosed Huang Qingyun with invading evil energy and gave her a talisman-infused tea that restored some of her strength.
• Huang Qingyun said she had dreamed of entering a ghost market, where she fought ghosts who were bullying a little ghost.
• Huang Qingyun recounted that Su Lang rescued her and claimed to be a reincarnated heavenly general tasked with watching over the ghost market.
• Huang Qingyun said Su Lang took her to a Buddhist pagoda and jumped with her, but they could descend only one floor each night.
• Huang Huaji denounced Su Lang’s claims, and Xie Hama warned that Huang Qingyun had only days to live and would never be reincarnated if she died.

After learning that Su Xin'an was a wanted criminal whom Huang Huaji had beheaded, Huang Qingyun vowed to avenge the women he had deceived, while the Heaven-Listening Bureau agreed to investigate the ghost haunting her. Wang Qilin and his companions kept watch in Huang Qingyun’s boudoir, where a knock sounded in the quiet night.

• Huang Huaji revealed that he had beheaded Su Xin'an, and Huang Qingyun accused him of killing the man she loved.
• Madam Huang née Yao showed Huang Qingyun Su Xin'an’s nationwide arrest warrant, and Huang Qingyun vowed to destroy his ghost and demand justice for his victims.
• Huang Huaji explained that a celestial master and one of his Black Yao subordinates had died while trying to stop the haunting, then asked Wang Qilin and his companions for help.
• Wang Qilin accepted the case and said the Heaven-Listening Bureau would keep watch over Huang Qingyun that night.
• Wang Qilin, Xu Da, and Xie Hama waited in Huang Qingyun’s outer room until three knocks broke the silence.

Wang Qilin and the Heaven-Listening Bureau hunted down a ghost that had attacked them and uncovered Madam Huang née Yao’s role in using Su Xin'an’s ghost against Huang Qingyun. After the ghost was destroyed, Madam Huang née Yao confessed that she blamed Huang Qingyun for the loss of her unborn child and her fall from favor.

• A ghost attacked Wang Qilin, Xie Hama, and Xu Da, but Wang Qilin’s saber drove it out of the room and they chased it into Madam Huang née Yao’s courtyard.
• Xie Hama traced the ghost to a black figurine hidden in Madam Huang née Yao’s dressing table, and Wang Qilin destroyed the ghost with Horse Slayer before the Furnace of Creation absorbed it.
• Huang Huaji recognized the figurine as depicting Su Xin'an, while Madam Huang née Yao admitted that she had controlled his ghost and targeted Huang Qingyun.
• Madam Huang née Yao said she blamed Huang Qingyun for the loss of her unborn child and resented that her husband had abandoned her in favor of a woman from a brothel.

Huang Liufeng confessed that he had accidentally caused Madam Huang née Yao’s miscarriage, while the three visitors uncovered a murder and pursued the thief who had stolen the Six-Step Qi Jade. Wang Qilin defeated the stone figure with his flying saber, but the jade vanished into the Furnace of Creation, leaving him unable to explain what happened.

• Huang Liufeng told Madam Huang née Yao that he had put the gu worm in the nourishing soup by mistake and let Huang Qingyun take the blame.
• Madam Huang née Yao refused to believe him, while Wang Qilin, Xu Da, and Xie Hama left to visit Huang Qingyun.
• Xu Da sensed yin energy in a side courtyard, where the men found Chen Jiu and another man dead with their hearts missing and discovered the Six-Step Qi Jade was gone.
• Wang Qilin and Xu Da chased a dark figure over the estate wall, and Wang Qilin struck it with the demonic saber Horse Slayer, turning it into a stone figure.
• Wang Qilin found the Six-Step Qi Jade on the figure, but it vanished into the Furnace of Creation, so he denied taking it when Xu Da asked.

Wang Qilin and the others discovered that Huang Qingyun's yin soul was leaving her body as she dreamed of falling through a ten-floor pagoda filled with Buddha statues. Although Steward Ding declared the case finished and sent them away, Wang Qilin suspected the manor was hiding something and left without proof.

• The steward reported that Lao Ruan had been replaced by a Mountain Puppet, and Xie Hama explained how the spirits had taken Lao Ruan's and Xiao Jin's souls.
• The next morning, Huang Liufeng summoned Wang Qilin, Xu Da, and Xie Hama because Huang Qingyun had grown dangerously weak; talisman water briefly restored her color.
• Xie Hama realized Huang Qingyun's yin soul was leaving her body, and Huang Qingyun said she dreamed of falling through floors lined with Buddha statues in a ten-floor pagoda.
• Wang Qilin pointed out that pagodas usually had an odd number of floors, prompting Huang Huaji to react with alarm when Huang Qingyun confirmed the pagoda had ten.
• Steward Ding told the investigators the case was over and asked them to leave; Wang Qilin accepted, though he suspected the manor was concealing something.
• Huang Huaji sent the investigators off with gifts, and Steward Ding arranged a cart of supplies for Wang Qilin's home in Paifang Township; the Wang clan elders welcomed it in Great King Village.

Wang Qilin welcomed his family after General Huang’s household sent gifts, and his relatives celebrated his new status as an official. The chapter ended with the family preparing a lavish meal while Heidou eagerly watched the kitchen.

• Wang Liuwu heard that General Huang’s steward had brought gifts and returned home with his grandson Heidou.
• Wang Qilin greeted Heidou, who nervously offered him a blessing before Xu Da gave the boy roasted broad beans.
• Wang Qilin told Wang Liuwu that General Huang had sent gifts because he had helped with the general’s fields.
• Heidou kowtowed to Steward Ding, who gave him a silver zhu, and Wang Liuwu’s family returned to admire the gifts.
• Madam Wang née Lu celebrated the family’s new prospects and hoped to provide dowries for her daughters.
• Wang Qilin asked Heidou what he wanted to eat, but the boy darted away.

Wang Qilin prepared a mutton hot pot for his family, and Heidou enjoyed the lavish meal so much that Wang Qilin joked about adopting him. While they ate, Madam Wang née Lu told Wang Qilin that his eldest sister had returned after her husband brought home another woman.

• Wang Qilin sliced the mutton and made sesame sauce while Xu Da ground the sesame seeds and Wang Qilin's family prepared the broth.
• Wang Qilin served the hot pot, and Heidou cried because the mutton tasted so good.
• Wang Qilin urged Heidou to study hard so he could become a high official and help ordinary people afford meat.
• The family devoured the mutton and started on another side when Wang Qilin brought out more.
• Madam Wang née Lu told Wang Qilin that his eldest sister's husband had brought a disreputable woman home, prompting his eldest sister to return.
• Wang Qilin teased Heidou about giving up his father and uncle to eat meat every day, and Heidou chose his uncle.

Wang Qilin brought Wang Qiaoniang and Heidou to live at the station, where he learned that Foolhardy had disappeared along with a painting of a demon woman. He began questioning the hoodlums who had seen the paintings, but they admitted they had barely noticed their backgrounds.

• Wang Qilin took Wang Qiaoniang and Heidou from Crouching Dragon Township to the station, while his family and the clan saw them off.
• Wang Qilin and Xu Da returned to the station, where hoodlums reported that Foolhardy had gone missing.
• Wang Qilin discovered a grass carp in the station's water jar that seemed unusually intelligent, and Xie Hama identified it as a spirit fish.
• Xu Da told Wang Qilin that Foolhardy had owned a second painting identical to the one Wang Qilin had burned, and both Foolhardy and that painting had vanished.
• Wang Qilin questioned the hoodlums about the portraits, but they could not say whether their backgrounds matched because they had focused on the woman.

Wang Qilin investigated Foolhardy’s disappearance and found his home abandoned but no sign of yin energy. Huang Huaji then asked Wang Qilin to investigate the pagoda haunting Yun’er, and Xie Hama revealed that its ten stories extended underground.

• Wang Qilin and Xie Hama inspected Foolhardy’s filthy, dilapidated home after learning he and a painting had vanished, but found no proof he had left on a long journey.
• Xie Hama claimed Foolhardy’s house felt strange to keep the local ruffians from thinking the Heaven-Listening Bureau was incompetent, though he had no explanation.
• After several days of searching failed to locate Foolhardy, Huang Huaji arrived and said Yun’er had dreamed of descending through a pagoda and would reach the ground the next night.
• Huang Huaji asked Wang Qilin to search the pagoda for the ghost haunting Yun’er, and Xie Hama explained that its ten stories were built downward into the earth.

Huang Huaji revealed that the Wuji Pagoda was built beneath his residence to suppress a yin road, and that his deputy general’s soul had been imprisoned inside it. Wang Qilin agreed to carry a scripture into the pagoda to help save Huang Qingyun, then warned Xu Da that the mission seemed suspicious.

• Huang Huaji explained that the upside-down, ten-story Wuji Pagoda beneath his residence was built to suppress the yin road and the evil beings escaping through it.
• Huang Huaji revealed that officials had imprisoned his deputy general’s soul inside the pagoda to seal its base, and that Huang Qingyun’s danger came from the demon beneath the tower.
• Huang Huaji asked Wang Qilin to deliver a scripture to the bottom of the pagoda, offering rewards and mentioning Huang Qingyun; Wang Qilin agreed to help.
• Wang Qilin, Xie Hama, and Xu Da traveled with Huang Huaji to the general’s residence, with Wang Qilin riding in a horse-drawn cart.
• As they entered the rear courtyard, Wang Qilin told Xie Hama to accompany him into the tower and ordered Xu Da to guard the entrance, warning him to trust only their own people.

Wang Qilin, Xie Hama, and Xu Da entered the underground Wuji Pagoda with Huang Huaji, where they faced eerie defenses and a powerful Buddha Formation. Wang Qilin exposed that a ghost had possessed Huang Huaji, and the real general’s subordinate spirit had given itself away.

• Huang Huaji opened the underground palace, and the group descended its icy stone steps after letting the air circulate.
• Wang Qilin and Xie Hama saw lifelike Zhong Kui faces carved into the walls and learned that Huang Huaji’s dead deputy general remained inside.
• The group entered the Wuji Pagoda through a passage lined with Dragon Day Children's Hair and encountered a Buddha Formation that nearly entranced Xie Hama.
• Wang Qilin noticed a shadow following Huang Huaji and questioned him about the subordinate’s poisoned death and his unusual behavior.
• Wang Qilin tricked Huang Huaji into turning toward the shadow and revealed that a ghost had possessed the general’s body.