Chapter Summaries

At Headquarters, Wang Xiaoming proposed using the Ghost Painting ghost to suppress the Ghost Messenger’s Ghost Domain, despite the danger of bringing two S-class incidents together. Yang Jian learned that the Ghost Painting was the same ghost he had once seen near Dachang City, leaving him to consider the risks of Wang Xiaoming’s plan.

• Li Lepeng identified Ghost Messenger as a coffin-shaped Ghost Domain and supported containing it from the outside.
• Wang Xiaoming explained that Ghost Domains could suppress one another and proposed bringing the Ghost Painting ghost to J City to contain Ghost Messenger.
• Li Jun warned that Ghost Messenger could suppress other ghosts, while Jiang Shangbai objected to Wang Xiaoming’s risky plan.
• Feng Quan told Yang Jian that the Ghost Painting ghost had killed many people overseas and had been restricted with a golden candlestick.
• Yang Jian realized the Ghost Painting was the same ghost he had once seen passing through a Ghost Domain near Dachang City.

After Headquarters reprimanded Yang Jian for killing Gao Zhiqiang, Cao Yanhua privately asked him to withdraw from the Captain Plan in exchange for compensation. On the way to Headquarters’ underground repository, Yang Jian learned about the Republican Era and Old Qin’s unusual origins, then arrived to choose up to three special items.

• Cao Yanhua gave Yang Jian a reduced salary and gold allocation and one demerit for killing Gao Zhiqiang, then asked him to stay behind.
• Cao Yanhua told Yang Jian that Headquarters wanted him to withdraw from the Captain Plan so Li Jun could take his place, and offered compensation.
• Wang Xiaoming explained that evidence suggested ghosts originated in the Republican Era, and revealed that Old Qin was a natural-born Ghost Tamer whose ghost had permanently fused with him.
• Wang Xiaoming described his failed ghost coffin experiment and proposed resuming his deal with Yang Jian in exchange for access to special items.
• Cao Yanhua brought Yang Jian, Wang Xiaoming, and Old Qin to Headquarters’ underground repository, offering Yang Jian up to three items if he accepted the proposed terms.

Yang Jian inspected the supernatural items sealed beneath Headquarters and learned the risks and abilities of the Ghost Camera and a music box. He continued deeper into the storage area to examine the remaining items.

• Cao Yanhua brought Yang Jian into the underground storage area and explained that the sealed items were kept there as a last resort.
• Yang Jian learned that the Ghost Camera could imprison a ghost if it captured the ghost’s entire body, but its flash could trap the user and strange interference made it dangerous.
• Cao Yanhua explained that the music box could keep its holder alive for days, though everyone who had used it eventually died from a mysterious cause.
• Wang Xiaoming said Headquarters had placed the Ghost Camera and music box together because using them in combination could help imprison a ghost while protecting the user temporarily.
• Yang Jian decided to keep examining the other items and walked toward the next room.

Yang Jian toured Headquarters’ collection of Supernatural Items and weighed its offer to give up the captain position. He postponed his choice, demanded the Coffin Nail as part of any deal, refused to hand over the human skin paper, and agreed to let Wang Xiaoming examine it for half an hour in exchange for a red Ghost Candle.

• Yang Jian inspected the sealed items with Cao Yanhua, including a shroud that could immobilize ghosts and the dangerous Ghost Door.
• Cao Yanhua offered Yang Jian a free choice of items as a reward and an incentive to give up competing for captain.
• Yang Jian asked for several days to decide and said Headquarters would have to return his Coffin Nail if it wanted him to give up the captain position.
• Yang Jian refused to trade away the human skin paper, which he relied on to help him survive.
• Wang Xiaoming offered a red Ghost Candle in exchange for examining the human skin paper for half an hour, and Yang Jian accepted.

Yang Jian let Wang Xiaoming study the human skin paper for half an hour while negotiating his return to Dachang City with Cao Yanhua. Wang Xiaoming became absorbed in the paper’s alarming messages, and Yang Jian agreed to stay in J City for seven more days but refused to join the next operation.

• Yang Jian handed Wang Xiaoming the human skin paper in its gold box for half an hour, despite Cao Yanhua’s concerns about letting him handle it.
• Wang Xiaoming opened the box, and the human skin paper displayed messages about Yang Jian’s death and Wang Xiaoming’s failed experiment before filling with extensive writing.
• Yang Jian asked Cao Yanhua to let him return to Dachang City and accept Gao Zhiqiang’s ghost as his reward.
• Cao Yanhua approved Yang Jian’s request but asked him to stay in J City while Headquarters prepared to resolve the Ghost Messenger Incident.
• Yang Jian agreed to remain for seven days but said he would not participate in the next operation.
• Cao Yanhua offered Liu Xiaoyu leave to accompany Yang Jian, who failed to understand why she would need to accompany him.

Yang Jian completed his transaction with Headquarters and returned to the Ping An Hotel with the box containing Gao Zhiqiang’s ghost. As he recorded information about supernatural objects and worried about the ghosts seeking their puzzle pieces, the Friends Circle gathered to discuss Yang Jian as a growing threat to its interests.

• Wang Xiaoming returned the human skin paper to Yang Jian, saying he had learned enough to follow a direction but feared relying on it further.
• Yang Jian left Headquarters after Cao Yanhua ordered him to remain in J City for a week, and he took the box containing the ghost controlled by Gao Zhiqiang.
• At the Ping An Hotel, Yang Jian recorded what he remembered about Headquarters’ supernatural objects and considered how ghosts might seek pieces of their puzzles.
• Members of the Friends Circle learned that Yang Jian had killed Gao Zhiqiang at Headquarters and criticized Cao Yanhua for not punishing him.
• Jiang Shangbai and the others recognized Yang Jian as a serious threat and discussed his growing support among Headquarters figures, while Li Yao listened tensely.

The Friends Circle debated how to handle Yang Jian and decided Li Yao should try to recruit him before they considered stronger measures. At the hotel, Yang Jian chose the Burial Shroud over the Music Box as the paranormal item that best fit his plans.

• He Tianxiong proposed abducting Yang Jian’s mother and killing Yang Jian, but Manager Fei and Jiang Shangbai warned that provoking him could lead to catastrophe.
• The Friends Circle recognized Yang Jian as a growing threat and asked Li Yao to contact him with an offer to join them.
• Li Yao agreed to visit Yang Jian at Ping An Hotel, privately deciding to tell him the meeting’s contents and warn him.
• Yang Jian reviewed the paranormal items Cao Yanhua had described and considered the Music Box, Burial Shroud, and other options.
• Yang Jian settled on the Burial Shroud because it could restrain the dangerous ghost at Caesar Hotel and help him seize its cleaver.

Yang Jian woke to news about the soul bottle and received Li Yao, who brought him intelligence about the Moments Circle’s response to his recent clash at Headquarters. She revealed that its members had debated taking him down, but Jiang Shangbai opposed making a move unless they had no other choice.

• Wan Delu called Yang Jian to say he had found information about the soul bottle and arranged to meet him at the Ping An Hotel.
• Yang Jian reflected on the escaped ghost from the bottle and his grafted ghost hand, whose abilities he had not yet fully explored.
• Li Yao arrived at Yang Jian’s room, acted affectionately toward him, and showed that she knew about his confrontation with Gao Zhiqiang and Jiang Shangbai at Headquarters.
• Li Yao told Yang Jian that the Moments Circle had held an emergency meeting about dealing with him, but Jiang Shangbai rejected Ma Tianxiong’s plan to take him down unless they had no other choice.
• Yang Jian concluded that the Moments Circle had held back because its members feared his ability to retaliate.

Li Yao told Yang Jian that Friends Circle had considered killing him but instead wanted to recruit him for twenty billion, and he rejected their offer while planning how to respond. After Li Yao left, Wan Delu arrived for the private meeting Yang Jian had arranged.

• Li Yao reported that Friends Circle had discussed killing Yang Jian, but Jiang Shangbai judged the cost too high and the group wanted to recruit him instead.
• Yang Jian rejected Friends Circle's twenty-billion offer, reasoning that joining would weaken his position at Headquarters and leave him vulnerable later.
• Yang Jian told Li Yao to offer Friends Circle thirty percent of its shares if he joined after becoming a Captain, warned them not to seek revenge for Gao Zhiqiang, and asked her to gather information on its members.
• Li Yao worried about Yang Jian's safety, and he told her to monitor Friends Circle while keeping herself from being discovered.
• Wan Delu arrived as Yang Jian's arranged meeting with him was about to begin, and Li Yao left after asking him to keep their relationship secret.

Yang Jian examined evidence linking the soul bottles to an abandoned house in Ling Town and found a photograph from five years earlier that appeared to show a hand inside it. He concluded that the other soul bottle had likely been released and caused an incident on Zhong'an City's antique street, then agreed to meet the house's former owner, Luo Yong.

• Wan Delu gave Yang Jian investigation materials showing that antiques from the soul bottle had been found beneath the Luo family’s old house in Ling Town.
• Yang Jian noticed a hand at the top of the house’s slightly open door in a photograph taken five years ago, and Wan Delu realized it looked like a ghost’s hand.
• Yang Jian questioned how the ghost could have remained inside the house for years without harming anyone, then set aside the unanswered mystery.
• Wan Delu told Yang Jian that the paired soul bottle was still on the sealed antique street, and Yang Jian inferred that its ghost had escaped and caused a paranormal incident.
• Wan Delu revealed that he had brought the old house’s former owner, Luo Yong, to J City, and Yang Jian agreed to meet him over lunch.

Yang Jian heard that Zhang Hui had died under suspicious circumstances in J City, but left the investigation to others. On the drive out, he warned Wan Delu to leave J City and advised him to relocate to Dachang City, where the chapter left Wan Delu planning to move his family and company.

• Zhang Lei, Wang Jiang, and Huang Ziya told Yang Jian that Zhang Hui had died that morning, and that Chen Yi suspected murder because there had been no supernatural incident at the scene.
• Yang Jian left the others to answer Headquarters' questions and got into Wan Delu's car, where he found a celebrity Wan Delu had arranged to accompany him.
• Yang Jian declined Wan Delu's attempt to please him with the woman and warned him that J City might soon become dangerous.
• Yang Jian advised Wan Delu to move to Dachang City, and Wan Delu decided to relocate his company, family, and relatives there.

Yang Jian discussed the worsening supernatural situation and his security company with Wan Delu while traveling through J City. When Chen Yi stopped their car to ask for help investigating Zhang Hui’s unusual death, Yang Jian refused to take responsibility for an incident in Chen Yi’s territory, and the car continued on.

• Yang Jian told Wan Delu that supernatural incidents were increasing but that global panic could become an even greater danger, then described his company as an investment for future security.
• The driver encountered a road closure, and Chen Yi stopped the car to question Yang Jian about Zhang Hui, who had died at Ping An Hotel.
• Yang Jian said Zhang Hui’s death might have been murder, while Chen Yi suspected a supernatural incident and asked Yang Jian to help investigate.
• Yang Jian refused to handle the incident without Headquarters’ approval, insisting that Chen Yi was responsible for events in J City.
• Yang Jian reminded Chen Yi that he had not received help during crises in Dachang City, then ordered the driver to continue, and Chen Yi let them leave.

Yang Jian deduced that an unseen ghost from the training base had killed Zhang Hui and decided to leave the matter to Chen Yi while focusing on the Ghost Messenger and Ghost Painting. At Wan Delu’s dinner, Yang Jian met Luo Yong and was shocked that he strongly resembled the Door-Knocking Ghost.

• Yang Jian reasoned that an invisible ghost released at the training base had followed Zhang Hui and killed him after he left the Ping An Hotel.
• Yang Jian judged Zhang Hui’s death less urgent than the potential collision between the Ghost Messenger and the Ghost Painting, and left the new case to Chen Yi.
• Wan Delu decided to move Headquarters and company assets out of J City after hearing about the death, then took Yang Jian to meet Luo Yong.
• Yang Jian saw Luo Yong and realized that the man’s face closely resembled the Door-Knocking Ghost.

Yang Jian suspected that Luo Yong was descended from a Ghost Tamer connected to the Door-Knocking Ghost, but the timeline raised more questions than answers. After Wan Delu paid Luo Yong to stay, Yang Jian joined the dinner and was left uneasy about the truth he might uncover.

• Wan Delu gave Luo Yong another fifty thousand yuan and arranged for him to rest while he stayed for two more hours.
• Yang Jian considered whether Luo Yong’s resemblance to the Door-Knocking Ghost meant he descended from the Ghost Tamer who had once lived in an old residence.
• Yang Jian questioned how the Door-Knocking Ghost could have been a living Ghost Tamer before it revived half a year earlier.
• Wan Delu introduced Yang Jian to his branch manager at dinner and offered him aged wine, but Yang Jian chose juice.
• Yang Jian felt an inexplicable shudder as he thought about the despair that might lie behind the truth, and the woman beside him noticed his fear.

After Yang Jian refused Friends Circle’s attempt to recruit him, its leaders voted to eliminate him before he became a captain. They chose Fang Shiming to kill him during a future supernatural incident, while Li Yao resolved to warn Yang Jian.

• Yang Jian dined with Wan Delu, who showed interest in buying shares in Yang Jian’s company.
• Li Yao reported that Yang Jian had refused to join Friends Circle, rejected its offer of two hundred billion, and warned it against pursuing Gao Zhiqiang’s death.
• Manager Fei argued that Friends Circle should eliminate Yang Jian, and most of the gathered leaders voted in favor.
• Jiang Shangbai accepted the decision despite doubting that killing Yang Jian would meaningfully change the balance of power.
• Fang Shiming agreed to kill Yang Jian and proposed exploiting the Ghost Painting or Ghost Messenger incident to make his death appear accidental.
• Li Yao worried that Yang Jian was in danger and decided to tell him about Friends Circle’s plan.

Yang Jian questioned Luo Yong about the antiques from his family’s old house and learned that the Door-Knocking Ghost was Luo Yong’s grandfather. He suspected the old man had left a crucial clue in his clothing, but finding it would mean confronting the Ghost Knocking Incident again.

• Yang Jian questioned Luo Yong about the five soul bottles dug up from his family’s old house and learned that all five had been sold, including three to an anonymous cash buyer.
• Yang Jian asked Luo Yong about his grandfather and learned that the old man had vanished after secretly bringing money to treat Luo Yong’s childhood illness.
• Yang Jian showed Luo Yong a photograph of the Door-Knocking Ghost, and Luo Yong recognized the figure as his grandfather by the clothes he had worn.
• Yang Jian concluded that Luo Yong’s grandfather had been a powerful Ghost Tamer who likely died around the time the ghost appeared, though the reported fall from a fifth-floor window seemed suspicious.
• Yang Jian noticed a bulge in the Door-Knocking Ghost’s robe pocket and suspected it held the answer he had been searching for.

After learning that the Friends Circle had decided to kill him, Yang Jian put his investigation into Luo Yong's missing grandfather on hold and prepared to face the organization. He requested a music box from Headquarters, warned his contacts to stay safe, and left J City as danger approached.

• Yang Jian received Li Yao's warning that the Friends Circle had decided to take him out, so he postponed investigating the Knocking Ghost Incident.
• Yang Jian ended his questioning of Luo Yong, warned him to keep quiet, and asked Wan Delu to arrange lodging and two million in settlement money for him.
• Yang Jian told Liu Xiaoyu to seal off Luo Yong's hometown and old family house, and asked her to request a music box from Deputy Minister Cao Yanhua.
• Yang Jian declined Liu Xiaoyu's invitation to dinner and told Wan Delu to leave J City soon and keep their conversation secret.
• Yang Jian warned the woman at Wan Delu's club not to stay in J City, then departed in Wan Delu's car.

Yang Jian received the eerie music box and other supplies from Cao Yanhua, then witnessed the box’s dangerous supernatural effects before sealing it away. Meanwhile, Headquarters’ team began its covert operation near the valley where the Ghost Messenger had stopped.

• Cao Yanhua learned that Yang Jian had chosen the music box and sent him two red ghost candles, a white ghost candle, a substitute doll, and the sealed box.
• Yang Jian inferred that Headquarters was preparing to move against the Ghost Messenger after seeing helicopters near the laboratory.
• Yang Jian opened the golden container, recognized the music box’s corpse-like smell and familiar red-painted wood, and chose not to open the box itself.
• The music box trembled and dimmed the lights even while sealed, so Yang Jian shut it inside the golden box and grew wary of using it.
• Headquarters’ special team arrived near the experimental base’s valley and waited for news as members discussed the danger of letting the Ghost Messenger reach a city.

Li Jun and four other Ghost Tamers began the operation to contain the Ghost Messenger after Liu San lured Ghost Painting to J City. Ghost Painting’s gray ash Ghost Domain spread over them, and Li Jun led the team toward the valley to check whether it had suppressed the Ghost Messenger.

• Li Jun warned the team to avoid direct contact with the Ghost Messenger and to retreat if the operation went wrong.
• Ghost Painting’s gray, ash-filled Ghost Domain spread across the area, changing the surroundings.
• A paper effigy resembling Liu San fell from the sky and broke apart, then Liu San crawled out and reported that Ghost Painting had destroyed one of his paper effigies.
• Liu San said the plane carrying Ghost Painting had crashed in the nearby woods, and Li Jun told the team to stay away from it.
• Li Jun headed toward the valley to check whether Ghost Painting’s Ghost Domain had suppressed the Ghost Messenger.

Yang Jian watched the Ghost Painting incident unfold as Li Jun, Liu San, Su Fan, and the others entered its Ghost Domain to locate the Ghost Messenger. They reached Huanggang Village instead of their target, and found the same village blocking their retreat.

• Yang Jian observed the gray Ghost Domain from the sealed training base and considered why it contained false scenery.
• Li Jun and the team found an unfamiliar road leading toward the valley, while Su Fan’s cursed game warned of an unknown danger.
• Su Fan reported that someone would die when the danger came, so Li Jun lit a Ghost Candle and led the group along the road.
• The team reached Huanggang Village, where the Ghost Messenger and the valley had disappeared.
• As the team tried to retreat, they found Huanggang Village ahead of them again and realized they were trapped.