Chapter Summaries

Yang Jian found the ghost painting hidden as a dorm room door and saw that a ghost was missing from its image. Meanwhile, the ghost appeared in Room 402, and Wang Quan alerted Yang Jian to its location.

• Yang Jian found two frightened students in a dorm room, told them to stay put, and continued searching for Miao Xiaoshan's room.
• Wang Quan and his staff searched the other end of the hallway and found several stranded students but no abnormalities.
• A staff member spotted a red-clothed ghost entering Room 402, and Wang Quan ordered the team to retreat and warn Yang Jian.
• Yang Jian discovered that a dorm room door had become an oil painting depicting Miao Xiaoshan's room and a dead student.
• Yang Jian noticed a blank human-shaped space in the painting and wondered whether the missing ghost had walked out of it.
• Wang Quan contacted Yang Jian to report that the ghost was inside Room 402.

Yang Jian waited to confirm Wang Quan's report while deciding whether to restrain the ghost or secure the Ghost Painting. When the red-clad ghost emerged from Dorm 402, he recognized similarities to several supernatural objects and incidents, but forced aside his speculation and faced the choice of which threat to handle first.

• Wang Quan warned his inexperienced team members to stay still while Yang Jian assessed the danger and protected the Ghost Painting.
• Yang Jian waited for the ghost to appear rather than trusting the team's report and leaving the painting unattended.
• The ghost walked out of Dorm 402, revealing a blurry face, red clothing, pale hands, and painted-looking legs.
• Yang Jian connected the ghost's appearance to the dried corpse bride, the Ghost Cabinet photograph, and the embroidered shoes, and wondered whether they were pieces of the same ghost.
• Yang Jian dismissed his speculation and prepared to choose between containing the ghost and securing the Ghost Painting.

Yang Jian tested the Ghost Painting’s killing pattern and discovered that the ghost inside it could be suppressed but would reform because the painting was the source. He suppressed the complete Ghost Painting, ending its Ghost Domain for now, but the incident remained difficult to resolve permanently.

• Yang Jian waited to see whether the ghost would move, then asked Wang Quan to bring a storage bag so they could deal with the Ghost Painting.
• Wang Quan risked passing close by the motionless ghost, but it turned and followed him toward Yang Jian.
• Yang Jian grabbed the ghost’s pale hand and suppressed it, causing its body to crumble into paper ash.
• The Ghost Painting vanished into a wall and then reappeared with the woman in red painted inside, showing Yang Jian that it could recreate the suppressed ghost.
• Yang Jian suppressed the complete Ghost Painting, making its reaching hands disappear and restoring the lights and sounds as the Ghost Domain vanished.

Yang Jian contained the ghost painting at the dormitory and tried to determine what triggered its attacks. As Wang Quan escorted it to Headquarters, Yang Jian left with a golden glove that helped isolate his ghost hand’s influence.

• Yang Jian suppressed the ghost painting, and Wang Quan’s team packed it up while rescuing the students trapped in the building.
• Yang Jian questioned Wang Quan about why the ghost had attacked him, but Wang Quan could only speculate that fear might be involved.
• Wang Quan’s team received orders from Headquarters to transport the painting, and Yang Jian asked Wang Quan for a glove.
• Yang Jian put on the golden gloves and confirmed they isolated the influence of his ghost hand before leaving the dormitory.

Yang Jian confronted the staff for gathering students exposed to the ghost painting in one place, then escorted Miao Xiaoshan toward her dorm. Before leaving, he struck Captain Yao for arranging the students as a way to manipulate him, and Captain Yao realized the ghost’s power might be affecting his body.

• Yang Jian ordered the staff to bring him the person responsible for gathering the students exposed to the ghost painting in the basketball gym.
• Yang Jian reassured Miao Xiaoshan that the immediate danger had likely passed but warned that the ghost painting’s pattern remained unknown.
• Yang Jian told Miao Xiaoshan to return to her dorm and said Liu Zi could stay with her, while he continued with his other business.
• Yang Jian confronted Captain Yao and struck him with his ghost hand for using Miao Xiaoshan to pressure him into protecting the gathered students.
• Captain Yao refused to report Yang Jian to Headquarters and discovered that his body had become increasingly uncoordinated after the slap.

After resolving the Ghost Painting Incident, Yang Jian prepared to leave the dormitory and was summoned to a headquarters meeting. Miao Xiaoshan stayed behind with Liu Zi and Sun Yujia, who learned that she had survived an earlier haunting that killed nearly everyone at her school.

• Yang Jian told Miao Xiaoshan he had to leave and learned from Liu Xiaoyu that headquarters wanted him at a meeting about the Ghost Painting Incident the next morning.
• Two staff members brought Liu Zi and Sun Yujia to the dormitory, and Yang Jian told them to keep Miao Xiaoshan company and stay near her for safety.
• Yang Jian warned Miao Xiaoshan to keep the protective items he had given her, then vanished before she could catch him in the corridor.
• Liu Zi asked about Yang Jian, and Miao Xiaoshan explained that he was her high school classmate and that most of their classmates had died in a haunting.
• Miao Xiaoshan described the corpse-spotted old man who had appeared at her classroom, and Sun Yujia realized the ghost she had seen was different, meaning there was more than one ghost.

Yang Jian confronted Li Yao and revealed that her feelings for him came from memories he had altered with a ghost’s influence. After he used a trigger question to restore her memories, Li Yao remembered how he had manipulated her and broke down.

• Yang Jian called Li Yao and ordered her to wait for him, then met her after she had waited in the cold.
• Li Yao confronted Yang Jian for letting He Tianxiong escape, but Yang Jian told her that he no longer needed her.
• Yang Jian pointed out that Li Yao’s sudden affection for him made no sense and that she could not truly remember the file she claimed to have read.
• Li Yao realized that a ghost had affected her memories, and Yang Jian asked her, “What is one plus one?”
• Li Yao recovered her memories of meeting Yang Jian beneath a streetlamp, having her memories altered, and helping him because she had been made to fall for him.
• Li Yao screamed in distress as Yang Jian asked whether she remembered.

Li Yao struggled to choose between death and having her memories altered while Yang Jian held her at gunpoint. After Yang Jian left, a ghost killed her in front of two strangers.

• Li Yao remembered that Yang Jian had altered her memories and broke down, cursing him and threatening revenge.
• Yang Jian pressed a golden pistol to Li Yao's forehead and offered to kill her or let her live with unfamiliar memories.
• Li Yao hesitated, so Yang Jian withdrew the gun and walked away, telling her he would choose for her.
• Li Yao called after Yang Jian and agreed to live, but he had already disappeared.
• A ghost strangled Li Yao and twisted her body as two strangers watched, then one of them fled in terror.

After a series of attacks on the circle of friends, Jiang Shangbai suspected Yang Jian and feared he was the next target. Yang Jian stopped his operations and assessed his ghosts’ condition, while the coming Headquarters meeting threatened to bring more trouble.

• Jiang Shangbai learned that Manager Fei had died, Zhang Jian had vanished, and He Tianxiong could not be reached, so he began investigating.
• Jiang Shangbai found evidence that He Tianxiong had fled his villa, leaving his assets behind, and inferred that he had gone into hiding.
• A manager showed Jiang Shangbai surveillance footage of Yang Jian at Zhang Jian’s bar, leading Jiang Shangbai to suspect Li Yao had betrayed the circle of friends and that Yang Jian had targeted them.
• Jiang Shangbai took the footage and left, fearing Yang Jian might attack him, though Yang Jian had already stopped because his Ghost Eye had reached its limit.
• Yang Jian examined his condition and concluded that the Headless Ghost Shadow was essential to controlling his other ghosts and that his body had to stay healthy to keep it dormant.

Wang Xiaoming reviewed the Ghost Messenger operation and blamed its failure on the team’s inability to adapt, while Yang Jian arrived at Headquarters and argued with Cao Yanhua about his actions and pay. The meeting had yet to formally begin when Jiang Shangbai entered, already angered by the previous night’s events.

• Wang Xiaoming explained that his plan had failed because Li Jun’s team could not contain the Ghost Messenger and Guo Fan’s mistake prevented them from luring away the Ghost Painting, though Wei Jing survived.
• Cao Yanhua tried to reassure Wang Xiaoming, who criticized the team’s shortcomings and reflected on how Yang Jian had handled the Starvation Ghost Incident differently.
• Liu Xiaoyu brought Yang Jian into the meeting, and Cao Yanhua scolded him for nearly killing someone the previous night.
• Yang Jian defended beating the man for gathering people connected to the Ghost Painting, and Wang Xiaoming said the man should have been killed.
• Yang Jian pressed Cao Yanhua about overtime pay and suspected the Deputy Minister had a favor to ask of him.
• Jiang Shangbai entered with several Ghost Tamers, and Yang Jian traded insults with him.

Yang Jian confronted Jiang Shangbai over the Circle of Friends’ attacks and exposed a recording of its plan to kill him, shifting Headquarters’ anger onto Jiang. Yang Jian nearly escalated the dispute into a fight before other meeting attendees arrived, and Jiang recognized that the Circle of Friends had suffered a major setback.

• Jiang Shangbai accused Yang Jian of killing Circle of Friends members, while Yang Jian denied the charges and threatened to fight him.
• Yang Jian played a recording of Manager Fei and Jiang Shangbai discussing a plan to kill him during the Ghost Painting Incident.
• Cao Yanhua condemned the Circle of Friends’ plan and threatened to shut down its businesses and end cooperation.
• Yang Jian filled the conference room with signs of his Ghost Domain and challenged Jiang Shangbai to fight.
• Liu San, Brother Leg, Feng Quan, and Old Qin arrived, and Yang Jian withdrew his Ghost Domain as Jiang admitted defeat for the day.

At Headquarters, Cao Yanhua finalized the Captain Plan after presenting the candidates’ incident records and scores, with Yang Jian ranked first. As the meeting turned to the Ghost Painting Incident, Yang Jian considered forming a team and Jiang Shangbai worried that Yang Jian’s growing support would make him harder to oppose.

• Yang Jian tested Cao Yanhua’s stance toward him and Jiang Shangbai, while the two sides avoided further confrontation at Headquarters.
• Feng Quan asked Yang Jian about Tong Qian, who had not attended the meeting, and Yang Jian agreed to keep an eye out for her.
• Cao Yanhua presented the Captain Plan’s candidate list and score rankings, explaining Yang Jian’s leading score and addressing objections from Xu Yiping and others.
• Zhang Lei, Huang Ziya, Feng Quan, and Xiong Wenwen expressed interest in joining Yang Jian’s team, prompting Jiang Shangbai to worry about Yang Jian gaining allies.
• Cao Yanhua finalized the Captain Plan after hearing the remaining objections, then shifted the meeting to the Ghost Painting Incident.

At a meeting about the Ghost Painting Incident, Yang Jian explained how a Ghost Painting could produce another ghost, while Wang Xiaoming proposed that the paintings might connect to one another and lead to the source. The group was given three days to investigate, and Yang Jian decided to avoid the incident where possible and focus on the Friends Circle.

• Cao Yanhua described how two ghosts escaped the operation to contain the Ghost Messenger and later appeared to be connected to the Ghost Painting Incident.
• Yang Jian explained that the ghost and its painting were separate, so containing the painting was necessary to stop more ghosts from emerging.
• Yang Jian discovered that Li Lepeng could not be remembered unless he stated his name.
• Cao Yanhua gave the group three days to find the Ghost Painting's source and offered a captain candidacy to whoever resolved the incident.
• Wang Xiaoming proposed that the different Ghost Paintings might be connected and that investigators would need to enter one to search for the source.
• Yang Jian judged the incident too dangerous to pursue and chose to focus on Jiang Shangbai and the Friends Circle.

As the Ghost Painting operation began, Cao Yanhua tried to mediate the conflict between Yang Jian and Moments Circle. Yang Jian demanded the Ghost Scissors and negotiated compensation for relinquishing the captain position, leaving Cao Yanhua to prepare a contract.

• Cao Yanhua ordered the Ghost Tamers in the city to find the source of the Ghost Painting Incident within three days, then asked Yang Jian and Jiang Shangbai to stay behind.
• Yang Jian rejected a simple reconciliation and demanded that Moments Circle hand over the Ghost Scissors; Jiang Shangbai requested half a day to respond.
• Yang Jian told Cao Yanhua he would give Jiang Shangbai until six that evening and warned him not to interfere if Moments Circle refused.
• Yang Jian offered to give up the captain position in exchange for team-forming rights, a say in choosing Dachang City's next person in charge, exemption from the Ghost Painting Incident, and supernatural resources.
• Cao Yanhua negotiated the terms, agreeing to several concessions and allowing Yang Jian to refuse most future assignments, while Yang Jian demanded that their agreement be written into a contract.

Yang Jian rejected the captain position but considered forming a small team, then went with Xiong Wenwen to meet his mother. Meanwhile, Fang Shiming rejected Cao Yanhua’s attempt at mediation and ordered the Moments Club to kill Yang Jian at six o’clock.

• Yang Jian told Feng Quan and the others that he had turned down the captain position but retained six slots to recruit teammates.
• Yang Jian gave Feng Quan an address for Tong Qian and asked him to tell her what had happened and invite her to join them.
• Xiong Wenwen’s mother asked to meet Yang Jian, and Xiong Wenwen persuaded him to go home with him for lunch.
• Jiang Shangbai briefed Fang Shiming and the Moments Club members about Yang Jian’s demands and Cao Yanhua’s pressure.
• Fang Shiming ordered everyone to remain at the meeting until six and said he would personally kill Yang Jian then.

Yang Jian visited Xiong Wenwen's home to discuss teaming up, but Chen Shumei rejected him after he refused to promise her son would be safe. Meanwhile, Fang Shiming prepared to kill Yang Jian before Headquarters' six o'clock deadline.

• Xiong Wenwen brought Yang Jian home and introduced him to his mother, Chen Shumei.
• Yang Jian told Chen Shumei he could not guarantee Xiong Wenwen's safety, so she refused to let her son team up with him.
• Yang Jian left and reflected that he would have been able to keep Xiong Wenwen safer than other captains, but Chen Shumei would not listen.
• At Friends Circle, Fang Shiming ordered Jiang Shangbai to handle pressure from Cao Yanhua while he retrieved Yang Jian's file.
• Fang Shiming took Yang Jian's photograph and waited for six o'clock, intending to make Yang Jian's death his reply to Headquarters.

Fang Shiming used Ghost Scissors and Yang Jian’s full-body photograph to attack him from a distance. Yang Jian survived the first cut to his neck with his Ghost Domain and ghost shadow, but Fang Shiming prepared to cut off his head.

• Yang Jian finished his walk and headed back to the Ping An Hotel while believing his business trip had gone well.
• Fang Shiming opened a sealed golden box, took out Ghost Scissors, and prepared to use Yang Jian’s name and photograph to trigger its killing rule.
• Yang Jian argued with Cao Yanhua over the Circle of Friends’ refusal to meet his demands and warned that they might retaliate against him.
• Yang Jian sensed danger, then suffered a deep cut to his neck and opened his fourth-layer Ghost Domain as his ghost shadow tried to repair the wound.
• Fang Shiming cut Yang Jian’s photograph again after the first attack failed to kill him, aiming to cut off his head.

Yang Jian was struck by Fang Shiming’s Ghost Scissors curse and left decapitated on a street trapped inside his red Ghost Domain. With his final moments of consciousness, he opened the music box and released its curse just as his head was cut in two.

• Cao Yanhua lost contact with Yang Jian and told Liu Xiaoyu to keep trying to stabilize him while he negotiated with the Friends Circle.
• A supernatural attack severed Yang Jian’s head on a street near Ping An Hotel, where a red glow trapped the street and its occupants.
• Fang Shiming used a second photograph and the Ghost Scissors to cut toward Yang Jian’s head while ghosts began approaching him in the office.
• Yang Jian rejected the Ghost Candle and Substitute Doll, using his Ghost Shadow to reach for and open the wooden music box.
• The attack split Yang Jian’s head in two, and he heard the music box’s chime as its curse was released.

Liu Xiaoyu used Yang Jian’s satellite phone camera and discovered his headless corpse, then reported his apparent death to Cao Yanhua. Cao Yanhua connected the death to the vanished street and rushed to the communications room with his staff.

• Liu Xiaoyu checked Yang Jian’s stationary satellite phone and forced its camera on to locate it.
• Liu Xiaoyu saw Yang Jian’s bloodied, headless body and broke down in shock.
• Liu Xiaoyu ran to Cao Yanhua’s office and told him that Yang Jian was dead.
• Cao Yanhua connected Yang Jian’s death to the Ghost Domain that had swallowed a street near the Ping An Hotel and hurried toward Liu Xiaoyu’s communications room.

After Yang Jian was killed by the Friends Circle, Headquarters argued over whether to retaliate as his ghosts began reviving. The music box’s curse restored Yang Jian’s consciousness, leaving him blind and uncertain how to recover.

• Cao Yanhua confirmed through Jiang Shangbai that the Friends Circle had killed Yang Jian and ordered a half-day operation to destroy the organization.
• Fang Shiming threatened Headquarters and offered to help with the Ghost Painting Incident if it ignored Yang Jian’s death.
• Headquarters officials rejected Cao Yanhua’s immediate attack order, arguing that retaliation would cost more captains and distract from urgent supernatural threats.
• As Yang Jian’s body lay in a pool of blood, the music box played eerie notes that gradually awakened his consciousness.
• Yang Jian realized the music box’s curse had kept him alive, but he had lost his vision and still needed to figure out how to recover.