Recaps

Yang Jian searched for the missing Cao Yang and found that he had likely gone to investigate the supernatural incident codenamed Silent. The chapter left Yang Jian arriving at the sealed, deserted county town where Silent had occurred.

• Yang Jian went to Dajin City and learned from Wang Quan that Cao Yang had been missing for more than ten days.
• Wang Quan gave Yang Jian the files Cao Yang had recently reviewed, including one for the incident codenamed Silent.
• Yang Jian suspected Cao Yang had gone to investigate Silent and told Wang Quan to pass along a message if Cao Yang contacted him.
• Yang Jian traveled to the incident site and found a dark, empty county town that had been evacuated and sealed off.

Yang Jian entered the county town to investigate the Quiet Incident and found signs that Cao Yang had been there. He discovered a building crowded with sound-sensitive Ghost Slaves, burned it with furnace fire, and sent Ghost Lake corpses to rescue a living person trapped inside.

• Yang Jian found a half-burned white Ghost Candle at an intersection and used his ghost shadow to confirm that Cao Yang had visited the town.
• Yang Jian spread his fourth-layer Ghost Domain across the county town and located three areas it could not cover.
• At a residential building packed with eyeless, faceless Ghost Slaves, Yang Jian deduced that they reacted to sounds but had not attacked him while he spoke.
• Yang Jian used his charred ghost hand to ignite the Ghost Slaves, and the furnace fire spread through the building as strange cries came from inside.
• A living person appeared at a fifth-floor window and called for help, and Yang Jian realized that the person had drawn Ghost Slaves from across the town.
• Yang Jian sent three waterlogged corpses from the Ghost Lake into the burning building to bring the person out.

Yang Jian rescued three reporters from a burning building, but after they followed his directions out of the county town, a ghostly girl appeared and attacked them. He then found Cao Yang hiding in a shop, where Cao Yang revealed that a second ghost had locked onto him and refused to leave before the captains’ meeting.

• Yang Jian waited as three corpses emerged from the burning building carrying two men and a female reporter, then watched the corpses sink into Ghost Lake.
• Yang Jian pointed the three reporters toward the road out of town and left, while the reporters followed his directions and reached the streetlights beyond the county town.
• A streetlight went out ahead of the reporters, and a blind, filthy little girl appeared beneath it as their screams rang out.
• Yang Jian found Cao Yang hiding beside a bonfire in a shop, with a broken supernatural straw rope at the entrance.
• Cao Yang told Yang Jian that a second ghost had escaped and locked onto him, and that he could not leave until it went away in three days.
• Yang Jian urged Cao Yang to leave for the captains’ meeting the next day and offered to use Ghost Scissors, but Cao Yang said they would not work and kept the details secret.

Yang Jian persuaded Cao Yang to help deal with the Quiet Incident before either of them confronted the ghost stalking Cao Yang. After finding three newly killed victims on the highway, Yang Jian discovered that saying the word “ghost” triggered the entity’s appearance.

• Yang Jian pressed Cao Yang to attend the captains' meeting, and Cao Yang agreed to help only if Yang Jian captured the conceptual ghost from the Quiet Incident.
• Cao Yang warned Yang Jian not to encounter the other ghost or light a ghost candle, and Yang Jian left the shop to investigate.
• Yang Jian found the reporter and her two colleagues dead on the highway and used Ghost Shadow to recover their final memories.
• Yang Jian learned the victims had triggered the ghost by saying the word “ghost,” then repeated their phrase and confirmed the word made a streetlamp flicker.

Yang Jian discovered that the silent incident’s ghost reappeared whenever someone said “ghost,” even after he pinned or cut apart its manifestations. Unable to contain its source, he subdued one manifestation in the Ghost Lake and decided to report his findings to Cao Yang.

• Yang Jian triggered the ghost’s killing pattern, then pinned the girl-shaped ghost beneath a streetlamp with the coffin nail and confirmed that the supernatural activity had stopped.
• He used the Ghost Lamp to reveal multiple illusory copies of the girl and triggered the killing pattern again, causing another copy to emerge despite the first being pinned.
• Yang Jian cut the new manifestation and the revealed figures apart with his cleaver, but the ghost appeared again whenever he said “ghost.”
• He concluded that neither the coffin nail nor the cleaver could contain the ghost’s source, then dragged one manifestation into the Ghost Lake with his ghost hands.
• Yang Jian collected the two corpses and decided to return to Cao Yang with his findings so they could proceed with the captain’s meeting.

Yang Jian and Cao Yang prepared to confront the ghost that had been following Cao Yang, while avoiding the Quiet Incident’s killing rule. The ghost arrived to trade for a contained ghost, and Cao Yang approached it with the body bag as Yang Jian stood ready to intervene.

• Yang Jian told Cao Yang that the Quiet Incident’s ghost still existed despite his attempts to contain it, and Cao Yang explained that the second ghost was too dangerous to fight alone.
• Yang Jian left the shop to seek out the second ghost, prompting Cao Yang to grab the body bag and follow him outside, where the shop’s fire went out and the county changed.
• Yang Jian and Cao Yang waited on a road, and Yang Jian lit the Corpse Oil Lamp as strange wind and ringing announced the ghost’s approach.
• A gaunt, cloth-robed peddler carrying wooden boxes appeared, and Cao Yang explained that it wanted to purchase specific ghosts he had contained.
• Cao Yang approached the peddler with the body bag, intending to trade the partially contained Quiet Incident ghost, while Yang Jian waited with his cracked spear ready.

Cao Yang’s attempt to sell a counterfeit ghost trapped him and Yang Jian inside the peddler’s supernatural cargo box, but they escaped through Ghost Lake. When the peddler appeared again, Cao Yang tried to draw out the Quiet Ghost and offer it as the real goods.

• Cao Yang handed the strange peddler the incomplete ghost in a body bag, but it inspected the corpse instead of accepting it as payment.
• As the county town was swallowed by darkness, Yang Jian realized they were inside the peddler’s closing cargo box and used Ghost Lake to escape with Cao Yang.
• Yang Jian and Cao Yang returned to the highway, where the peddler appeared again and threatened them over the failed transaction.
• Cao Yang deliberately summoned the Quiet Ghost, hoping to lead it to the peddler and complete the transaction with the genuine goods.

Cao Yang lured Quietly toward the delivery collector, which took the ghost and stuffed her into its cargo box. Yang Jian warned that Quietly might not have been permanently imprisoned, then left for Dadong City to find Wang Chaling.

• Cao Yang tried to make Quietly attack him near the delivery collector, but an unseen force stopped her from approaching it.
• Yang Jian used Ghost Shadow to kick Quietly toward the collector, which seized her and placed her in its cargo box.
• Cao Yang and Yang Jian retreated, and Yang Jian cautioned that the trade could fail if someone summoned another Quietly.
• Yang Jian told Cao Yang to attend the Headquarters meeting, then left to seek the remaining captains.
• Yang Jian chose to visit Wang Chaling in Dadong City and check whether the pendulum clock remained in the Wang family's old residence.

Yang Jian arrived in Dadong City to bring Wang Chaling to Headquarters for the captains’ meeting, but Wang Chaling tried to draw him into a conflict with Ye Zhen. After Yang Jian refused, Ye Zhen attacked Wang Chaling, forcing him to defend himself with his ghosts.

• Yang Jian called Wang Chaling and ordered him to attend the captains’ meeting at Headquarters by noon the next day.
• Wang Chaling tried to enlist Yang Jian against Ye Zhen, but Yang Jian refused and warned Wang Chaling to give him an answer within an hour.
• Wang Chaling told Ye Zhen that Yang Jian was in Dadong City, hoping to redirect Ye Zhen toward him.
• Ye Zhen instead announced that he would fight Wang Chaling and descended toward his building through his Ghost Domain.
• Ye Zhen charged Wang Chaling and punched him, but Wang Chaling’s grandmother appeared and blocked the blow.

Ye Zhen fought Wang Chaling and was torn apart by the Wang family’s ghosts, but he revived using Substitute Ghost and resumed the attack. He transferred the next supernatural assault to Wang Chaling and his mother’s departed spirit, leaving the confrontation unresolved.

• Wang Chaling tried to persuade Ye Zhen to stop fighting, but Ye Zhen summoned his supernatural longsword and challenged him to a fight to the death.
• Ye Zhen’s sword curse struck, but Wang Chaling’s mother’s departed spirit emerged from his body and took the attack for him.
• Wang Chaling ordered his grandfather and grandmother’s ghosts to attack, and the two ghosts tore Ye Zhen apart despite his resistance.
• Ye Zhen revived with Substitute Ghost and charged at Wang Chaling again.
• When Wang Chaling ordered the ghosts to attack once more, Ye Zhen transferred the supernatural assault to Wang Chaling and his mother’s departed spirit.

Ye Zhen fought Wang Chaling and his family’s ghosts at Ning'an Building, while Yang Jian watched from afar. Wang Chaling persuaded Ye Zhen to stop before either of them risked dying, but Ye Zhen still wanted to continue fighting.

• Yang Jian watched Ye Zhen confront Wang Chaling at Ning'an Building and decided not to get involved.
• Wang Chaling’s grandfather’s ghost choked Ye Zhen, transferring the attack to Wang Chaling through Ye Zhen’s Substitute Death Ghost ability.
• Wang Chaling considered using a substitute death doll but hesitated, giving Ye Zhen time to break free by striking the ghost.
• Ye Zhen’s hands rotted as his ghosts revived, while Wang Chaling warned that fighting all four of his family’s ghosts could end in mutual destruction.
• Wang Chaling argued that Ye Zhen should train further instead of risking his life, and Ye Zhen stopped his supernatural corrosion but still demanded another fight.
• Wang Chaling considered using a coffin nail against Ye Zhen but held back to avoid exposing his theft of the Starving Ghost, especially with Yang Jian nearby.

Yang Jian visited Wang Chaling’s old residence to locate the pendulum clock and left a trace of the Ghost Lake there for a future return. Meanwhile, Ye Zhen conceded defeat to Wang Chaling’s grandparents, and Yang Jian headed toward Ning’an Building as their fight ended.

• Yang Jian entered the old residence, avoided its main gate, and found Wang Lu guarding the hall as a fierce ghost.
• Using memories and Li Yang’s discovery, Yang Jian found the pendulum clock’s location in the past but chose not to reset time to take it.
• Yang Jian left wet footprints from the Ghost Lake, spoke to Wang Lu, and then teleported toward Ning’an Building.
• Ye Zhen admitted defeat after failing to overcome Wang Chaling’s grandfather and grandmother, though he said the battle had shown him a new path.
• Wang Chaling explained that his grandparents had defeated Ye Zhen and privately considered using coffin nails if Ye Zhen had overcome them.
• Ye Zhen left for Dahai City, and Wang Chaling relaxed as his grandparents’ damaged bodies began to recover.

Yang Jian visited Wang Chaling after Ye Zhen left Dadong City, warning him and ordering him to attend the captains’ meeting. Wang Chaling realized Yang Jian suspected him, putting his plan to restart the old house at risk.

• Ye Zhen saw Yang Jian’s Ghost Domain, then left without challenging him because he still needed to grow stronger.
• Yang Jian arrived at Ning'an Building and discussed Ye Zhen’s defeat with Wang Chaling, while assessing the two ghosts protecting him.
• Yang Jian told Wang Chaling to attend the Headquarters meeting and revealed that he had brought Ye Zhen to test him.
• Yang Jian warned Wang Chaling that he found him unsettling and urged him to secure the Wang family’s future by having a child.
• After Yang Jian left, Wang Chaling worried that his Starving Ghost and old-house restart plans had drawn Yang Jian’s suspicion, and decided to act like a proper captain while waiting for scrutiny to fade.

Yang Jian learned that the captains’ meeting would proceed without Zhang Sun, who was overseas, and heard news of a third coffin nail connected to the King Organization. He returned to Dachang City to rest, planning to meet Wang Xiaoming and pursue the human-skin paper’s secrets the next day.

• Cao Yanhua told Yang Jian that Zhang Sun had gone abroad and that the captains’ meeting would proceed with alternate captains filling vacant places.
• Yang Jian agreed to meet Wang Xiaoming the next day and discussed Headquarters’ suspicions that Liu San had stolen the Starvation Ghost.
• Cao Yanhua revealed that a third coffin nail had appeared overseas and might be connected to the King Organization.
• Yang Jian said he would seek out the third coffin nail if he learned who held it.
• Yang Jian returned to his villa in Dachang City through the swimming pool and thought about the captains’ meeting and the human-skin paper.

Yang Jian left his dream and traveled to Headquarters for a captains’ meeting, stopping to meet Wang Xiaoming first. Wang Xiaoming revealed that the human skin paper could infer the future and might not be a ghost, but a person.

• Yang Jian watched the vicious dog occupy Nightmare’s castle in the dream, then woke and prepared to leave for Headquarters.
• Yang Jian traveled through the pool connected to Ghost Lake after warning Zhang Liqin to keep people away from it.
• Yang Jian arrived in the city where Headquarters was located and arranged through Shen Liang to meet Wang Xiaoming.
• Yang Jian asked Wang Xiaoming what he had learned from the human skin paper, and Wang Xiaoming said it could infer the future and might be a person.

Yang Jian learned Wang Xiaoming’s theory that the human-skin paper was a conscious person whose behavior had become ghostlike. Wang Xiaoming then tried to avenge his brother by shooting Yang Jian, but Yang Jian survived and killed him under Headquarters’ rules.

• Wang Xiaoming explained that the human-skin paper was likely a Ghost Tamer transformed into human skin, with a person’s consciousness but a ghost’s behavior and the power to predict the future.
• Yang Jian asked about the paper’s past, and Wang Xiaoming said its identity was unknown but urged Yang Jian to keep it for a future escape from Ghost Lake.
• Wang Xiaoming revealed that he wanted revenge for Yang Jian killing his younger brother, Wang Xiaoqiang, and fired seven bullets at Yang Jian.
• Yang Jian revealed that the bullets had failed to harm him and asked Shen Liang what Headquarters’ rules prescribed for someone who attacked an Enforcement Captain.
• Shen Liang said the attacker should be killed, and Yang Jian used the golden cracked spear to decapitate Wang Xiaoming despite Shen Liang’s attempt to stop him.

Yang Jian killed Wang Xiaoming after Wang Xiaoming shot at him, and Headquarters chose to uphold Yang Jian’s authority rather than pursue the killing. As the captains gathered before their meeting, they debated Wang Xiaoming’s death and several unfamiliar or returning figures arrived; Yang Jian had yet to appear.

• Yang Jian killed Wang Xiaoming after Wang Xiaoming fired at him, and Cao Yanhua told Shen Liang that Headquarters would not intervene or demand Wang Xiaoming’s revival.
• Li Jun and Wei Jing confronted Cao Yanhua about Wang Xiaoming’s death, while Cao Yang and Liu San argued that Wang Xiaoming had chosen his own death to make way for Yang Jian.
• Wang Chaling arrived at Headquarters and introduced himself to the gathered captains; Zhou Deng briefly entered after finding Wang Chaling’s stolen wallet and haunted family photo.
• Li Lepeng arrived, identified himself as the captain whose appearance could not be remembered, and left to await the meeting.
• He Yin’er returned to Headquarters, spoke with Cao Yanhua and Wei Jing, and learned that most of the captains were expected at the afternoon meeting.

He Yin'er confronted Liu San over his killing of her grandfather, and the two went to an abandoned training base to fight. Just as their supernatural powers were about to collide, Yang Jian arrived and enveloped the area in his Ghost Domain and Ghost Lake water, demanding an explanation.

• He Yin'er accused Liu San of killing her grandfather, and Liu San admitted it while arguing that the old man had attacked him first.
• He Yin'er and Liu San left Headquarters for an abandoned training base to settle their grudge, despite Cao Yanhua's protests.
• Liu San surrounded He Yin'er with nine paper effigies as she prepared to summon her grandfather's spirit using an antique walnut.
• Li Jun, Wei Jing, and Cao Yang arrived and tried to manage the confrontation, but He Yin'er and Liu San continued preparing to fight.
• Yang Jian arrived in a blood-red Ghost Domain as Ghost Lake water flooded the training base, and he demanded to know why they had decided to fight.

Yang Jian intervened when He Yin'er tried to avenge her grandfather by attacking Liu San, and forced her to stand down. The meeting was set to proceed, and the supernatural effects of their confrontation disappeared as Yang Jian left.

• Yang Jian warned He Yin'er that he would kill her if she continued seeking revenge on Liu San, while Li Jun urged a more moderate resolution.
• He Yin'er summoned an old man to fight, but Yang Jian overwhelmed him and held a rusty axe near He Yin'er's neck before she could respond.
• He Yin'er admitted defeat and agreed not to pursue her grievance against Liu San while Yang Jian was present.
• Yang Jian warned Liu San not to kill another captain and said he would intervene if anything similar happened again; Liu San agreed to stay out of trouble.
• Yang Jian declared the dispute over and asked whether He Yin'er objected to the afternoon meeting proceeding; she said she did not.
• Yang Jian left, the supernatural phenomena vanished, and Cao Yang remarked on the immense gap between Yang Jian and the other captains.

After mediating the conflict between He Yin'er and Liu San, Yang Jian watched the city as Headquarters prepared to choose new captains. He Yin'er set out to find spirit mediums to strengthen herself, while captain candidate Lin Bei arrived and Yang Jian noticed that Liu Qi was also in the city.

• After Yang Jian left, Liu San and He Yin'er traded threats, while Wei Jing and Li Jun went with Cao Yang to investigate Wang Xiaoming's death.
• He Yin'er met Boss Liu and the Faceless Man, admitted Yang Jian had defeated her summoned soul, and accepted their advice to search Headquarters' archives for objects that could serve as mediums.
• Lin Bei arrived in the city and was driven to Headquarters, where he wondered how Yang Jian had become Enforcement Captain and worried about repaying the ten million he owed him.
• Yang Jian sat atop a skyscraper after resolving the dispute and noticed that his former classmate Liu Qi, now a captain candidate, was already in the city.

Cao Yanhua convened Headquarters' captain meeting outdoors as storm clouds gathered, and Yang Jian arrived by clearing the sky with his Ghost Domain. The gathering filled the twelve captain positions with Lin Bei and Zhou Deng, and the official meeting began beneath the sunlight Yang Jian had brought.

• Cao Yanhua moved the captain meeting outside and prepared to choose replacements for vacant captain positions.
• Captains and candidate captains gathered at Headquarters, and Yang Jian arrived by dispelling the storm clouds with his Ghost Domain.
• Cao Yanhua introduced Lu Zhiwen as the hidden twelfth captain and explained the absences and vacancies among the captains.
• The captains discussed the candidates, and Yang Jian supported Lin Bei and Zhou Deng for the open positions.
• Cao Yanhua appointed Lin Bei and Zhou Deng as captains, then began the meeting as sunlight continued to cover the gathering.

At the captains' meeting, He Yin'er summoned Gao Ming's departed soul, which identified his killer and left behind a portrait. Yang Jian recognized the man as Zhang Xianguang, and Lu Zhiwen revealed detailed information about him.

• Cao Yanhua told the captains that Gao Ming had been murdered and asked them to find and eliminate the killer.
• Yang Jian and Li Jun described their supernatural confrontation with the killer, while Yang Jian suspected he had been targeting the ghost painting.
• Yang Jian brought Gao Ming's belongings to the meeting, and He Yin'er used the sunglasses to summon his departed soul.
• Gao Ming described seeing a supernatural figure near Ping An Building before his head was cut off, then left a portrait of the killer before vanishing.
• Yang Jian recognized the portrait as Zhang Xianguang, whom he connected to He Yuelian and the ghost painting.
• Lu Zhiwen identified Zhang Xianguang and gave his hometown, birth year, and parents' names.

At the captains’ meeting, Cao Yanhua revealed that Yang Jian had been appointed Enforcement Captain and disclosed the foreign Noah’s Ark Project, which aimed to draw supernatural incidents into their country. The captains agreed the threat required preparation, and the meeting turned graver when Yang Jian warned that foreign forces had already tried to assassinate him.

• Lu Zhiwen identified Zhang Xianguang from household registration records and said he had disappeared after teaching at Shuangqiao Town Elementary School.
• Lin Bei questioned Yang Jian’s appointment as Enforcement Captain, but Yang Jian challenged anyone dissatisfied to defeat him, and the captains accepted his authority.
• Cao Yanhua announced the Noah’s Ark Project, a foreign plan to redirect supernatural incidents toward their country, prompting the captains to condemn it and discuss striking first.
• Yang Jian warned that Luo Sheng, the manager of Dachang City, was a traitor whose allies had attacked him, and Cao Yanhua confirmed an investigation had been completed.
• Thunder and heavy rain broke over the city as Li Lepeng raised the possibility that Zhang Sun could be in danger.

Figures immune to the rain entered Ping An Building to target the Ghost Painting while the captains discussed the Noah's Ark Project and Wang Xiaoming's death. The meeting was interrupted when Yang Jian sensed that Ping An Building had collapsed.

• Several figures walked through the downpour, crossed into the sealed-off area, and entered Ping An Building to reach the Ghost Painting.
• Cao Yanhua explained the Noah's Ark Project and asked the captains to unite if supernatural incidents spiraled out of control.
• Li Jun and Wei Jing asked Yang Jian why he killed Wang Xiaoming, and Yang Jian said Wang Xiaoming had wanted him to end his life.
• Li Jun accepted Yang Jian's explanation, and Cao Yanhua tried to resume the meeting.
• Liu San, He Yin'er, Li Lepeng, and Lin Bei sensed something in the city, and Yang Jian announced that Ping An Building had collapsed.

Yang Jian stopped Ping An Building from collapsing after the ghost painting’s supernatural influence appeared to vanish, then led captains inside to investigate. The other captains moved to secure the site while the cause of the painting’s disappearance remained unknown.

• Ping An Building shook, lost a large section, and began collapsing toward nearby buildings.
• Yang Jian used his Ghost Domain to halt the building, then removed the collapsed portion to prevent further danger.
• The captains arrived and debated whether Zhang Xianguang had entered Ping An Building or the ghost painting had been contained or stolen.
• Li Jun entered the damaged building, while Yang Jian assigned Wei Jing to seal the area and took Liu San, Cao Yang, and Li Lepeng inside to investigate.
• Wang Chaling stayed at Headquarters after Cao Yanhua decided it needed a captain on site.