Chapter Summaries

Wang Xiaoming forced Guo Fan to surrender the spirit tablet, claiming it was needed to help Yang Jian and giving Guo Fan a chance to survive. The chapter ended with Guo Fan trapped as a consciousness inside the tablet while his ghost was restrained by the resurrected Wei Jing.

• Guo Fan refused to hand over the life-sustaining spirit tablet, and Wang Xiaoming insisted that surrendering it was his best chance of survival.
• Zhong Shan called Deputy Minister Cao Yanhua, who asked Wang Xiaoming to keep Guo Fan alive, but Wang Xiaoming continued with his plan.
• As darkness surrounded them, Guo Fan tried to seize Wang Xiaoming, but a ghost rope appeared and dragged him toward Wei Jing.
• Guo Fan recognized Wei Jing and agreed to surrender the tablet after the rope suppressed the ghosts inside him.
• Guo Fan removed the spirit tablet, and the ghost in its photograph replaced his body while Guo Fan's consciousness remained inside the tablet.
• The ghost rope restrained Guo Fan's ghost, and Wang Xiaoming prepared to leave with the spirit tablet as Zhong Shan asked whether Guo Fan would die.

Yang Jian investigated a courtyard house while searching for the Ghost Painting and discovered a corpse with one hand missing, which reminded him of the ghost he had released from a soul bottle. He left the site to continue his search, unaware that the unseen presence had followed someone who entered the room.

• Yang Jian returned to J City and used his Ghost Domain to investigate a courtyard house where he suspected supernatural activity.
• Yang Jian found the homeowner's corpse and concluded that the incident was not connected to the Ghost Painting.
• Yang Jian noticed the corpse was missing a hand and suspected the ghost from the Ghost Pinching Person Incident had entered the city and killed Zhang Hui and the homeowner.
• Yang Jian decided to leave the incident to other people in charge and vanished from the courtyard house.
• Chen Yi arrived after the body was reported and ordered the courtyard house sealed off, while an unseen presence left the room with someone who had entered it.

Yang Jian found and removed an inactive ghost painting from Room 401, then encountered Su Qing in the stairwell. Su Qing realized the residential complex might be haunted and hurried to leave with her boyfriend.

• Yang Jian entered Room 401 and found a ghost painting whose background depicted the residential complex.
• Yang Jian spotted a dead resident inside the painting, reasoned that seeing it was likely a condition for being killed, and covered the painting with a canvas.
• Yang Jian carried the covered painting downstairs and met Su Qing, whom he recognized from the plane, and her boyfriend.
• Su Qing apologized for her boyfriend's rude remarks, and Yang Jian left with the painting.
• Su Qing realized Yang Jian's presence meant the complex might be haunted and urgently tried to leave with her boyfriend.

Yang Jian carried the Ghost Painting to He Tianxiong’s villa and encountered Wang Ye, a team leader from a foreign Ghost Tamer Headquarters who sought cooperation and offered intelligence about the painting. Yang Jian rejected the deal and left after burning the file, while Wang Ye was suddenly killed by a supernatural attack inside his vehicle.

• Yang Jian carried the Ghost Painting toward He Tianxiong’s villa and accepted a ride from Wang Ye’s associates.
• Wang Ye introduced himself as a Headquarters team leader from another region and proposed cooperation with Yang Jian.
• Wang Ye offered European Ghost Painting files in exchange for Yang Jian handling a supernatural incident, but Yang Jian refused and threatened him into silence.
• At the villa, Wang Ye gave Yang Jian a copy of the file, which Yang Jian burned without reading before leaving with the painting.
• After Yang Jian left, Wang Ye explained that the file contained errors, then icy hands appeared around his neck and killed him.

Yang Jian examined the Ghost Painting and discovered that it had opened into a city within the painting. He entered the painting to investigate, leaving himself at risk of being trapped under the music box’s curse.

• Yang Jian dismissed Wang Ye’s attempt to trade information and killed him, then returned to Villa No. 8 with the Ghost Painting.
• Yang Jian tried to trigger the painting by looking at and touching it, but it showed no reaction until he prepared to leave the room.
• The painting vanished from its frame, revealing a dark city, and Yang Jian realized its ghost was still inside and that the painting had to keep moving to remain less dangerous.
• Yang Jian entered the painting, marked the exit with a gold bullet, and walked along a road that appeared beneath his feet toward the city.
• Yang Jian reached the city’s main street and found its objects felt almost real, then sensed something watching him from a nearby shop.

Yang Jian followed a foreign woman through the Ghost Painting and discovered that ordinary people had survived inside its connected city fragments. He found a group of survivors who demanded he show them the exit, leaving him surrounded by them.

• Yang Jian followed a frightened blonde woman into a foreign city fragment and confirmed that a bottle of water inside the Ghost Painting was real.
• Yang Jian followed fluorescent arrows to a group of survivors and learned that only about a dozen remained after ghosts killed many of them.
• Yang Jian told a survivor that the entrance was also the exit, but said he had to finish his task before helping them leave.
• The survivor shouted that Yang Jian knew the way out, and six or seven men surrounded him as more survivors came out of a nearby room.

Yang Jian questioned the survivors trapped in the Ghost Painting, then subdued David when he threatened him with a gun. He set out to find the ghost with two guides, Li Yang and Jimmy, who joined him to seek a chance for the survivors to escape.

• Li Yang told Yang Jian that the Ghost Painting had trapped foreign survivors for six months while the ghost steadily killed them.
• David pressed a gun to Yang Jian's forehead and demanded that he lead the survivors out, despite others trying to stop him.
• Yang Jian snapped David's wrist and sent him flying; the gunshot failed to pierce Yang Jian because his Ghost Shadow blocked it.
• Yang Jian asked the survivors to provide two guides so he could find the ghost, and Li Yang and Jimmy agreed to help.
• Yang Jian introduced himself as being from Dachang City and gave his codename as Ghost Eye.

Yang Jian led Li Yang and Jimmy through the Ghost Painting’s silent city to search for the ghost believed to be its source. Inside an old apartment building, their footsteps awakened an unknown ghost on the staircase, which began descending toward them.

• Li Yang told Yang Jian that Jimmy had seen a woman in red near a building, and Yang Jian had them lead him there.
• Yang Jian explained that they needed to search the building together, and Li Yang and Jimmy agreed to risk entering with him.
• Yang Jian climbed the stairs ahead of them and planned to find the source ghost without confronting or containing it.
• Yang Jian heard footsteps above and tested the stairs, discovering that a ghost seemed to respond to people walking on them.
• Yang Jian realized the ghost was descending while they needed to go up, making a meeting in the stairwell inevitable.

Yang Jian searched the building for the ghost painting while avoiding a ghost on the wooden stairs. On the third floor, he found many corpses and realized the ghost painting was there, but it sealed the way out.

• Yang Jian stopped Li Yang and Jimmy from triggering the ghost on the stairs by moving onto the quiet second floor.
• Yang Jian searched the second floor with Li Yang and Jimmy but found no ghost, then led them up the outdoor staircase.
• On the third floor, Yang Jian found a decayed corpse inside an apartment and many more bodies scattered through the corridor.
• Yang Jian deduced that the ghost painting had trapped the people on the third floor.
• Li Yang told Yang Jian that the window they had entered through had become a wall, and Yang Jian saw that the outdoor staircase and exit had vanished.

Yang Jian searched the third floor of the Ghost Painting’s altered building, finding evidence that a foreign Ghost Tamer team had been killed there. He investigated a room with a suspicious window and found a corpse sitting on a sofa; when it vanished and the door slammed shut, Yang Jian realized the ghost would not let him leave.

• Yang Jian concluded that the Ghost Painting was on the third floor and told Li Yang and Jimmy to help search for the exit.
• Yang Jian examined the corpses and found equipment indicating that five of the dead had been Ghost Tamers, likely members of a wiped-out foreign team.
• Li Yang reported seeing a shadow move inside a nearby room, so Yang Jian went to investigate.
• Yang Jian warned Li Yang and Jimmy that the room’s surviving window could be a trap, then entered alone to search it.
• Yang Jian found a decayed figure sitting on a sofa, backed away, and saw it disappear before the door slammed shut behind him.

Yang Jian discovered that the corpse ghost trapped people by blocking one exit at a time and escaped with Li Yang's help. After Yang Jian subdued the corpse, he realized the ghost had attached itself to Li Yang, turning him into a Ghost Tamer.

• Yang Jian found that the corpse ghost blocked the door, then moved to the window when he tried to leave through it.
• Yang Jian deduced that the ghost could block only one location at a time and called Li Yang into the room to draw its attention.
• Yang Jian left while the ghost blocked the window, but it shut the door before Li Yang could escape.
• Yang Jian grabbed the corpse with his Ghost Hand, weakening it enough for the door to open and Li Yang to get out.
• Yang Jian noticed corpse spots on Li Yang and told him the ghost had attached itself to him, making him a Ghost Tamer.

Yang Jian discovered that Li Yang had become a Ghost Tamer after the door-blocking ghost possessed him, then continued searching for the ghost painting. He reached the fourth floor alone and survived an attack from the ghost on the stairs thanks to the music box curse, but the ghost's whereabouts remained uncertain.

• Yang Jian explained that Li Yang had been possessed by the door-blocking ghost and warned that the ghost would eventually erode him; Li Yang accepted the codename Blocking Door.
• Yang Jian, Li Yang, and Jimmy searched the third floor and found no further ghosts or the ghost painting.
• Yang Jian concluded that the painting might be on the fourth floor and decided to investigate while Li Yang and Jimmy waited below.
• Yang Jian climbed toward the fourth floor as heavy footsteps answered from above, then inferred that the ghost was descending from the stairs between the fourth and fifth floors.
• Yang Jian reached the fourth floor, collapsed when the unseen ghost attacked him, and regained consciousness as the music box curse protected him.

Yang Jian searched the fourth floor for the Ghost Painting while avoiding a murderous ghost on the stairs, then discovered that the paintings revealed the hidden ghosts and dangers throughout the building. He found the painting depicting the building itself and saw a familiar woman in red standing at its entrance.

• Yang Jian warned Li Yang to stay off the stairs because the ghost there pursued footsteps and could kill anyone who approached.
• Yang Jian searched the fourth floor cautiously and found evidence that Ghost Tamers had fought there before dying inside the Ghost Painting.
• Yang Jian entered a room covered in strange paintings and realized they showed places in the building along with the ghosts hidden within them.
• Yang Jian recognized paintings of the Ghost Messenger's village and an eerie old man, then memorized the depicted locations as places to avoid.
• Yang Jian found a tall painting of the seven-floor building and saw a familiar woman in red standing at its entrance.

Yang Jian realized the Ghost Painting was changing the building around him as a ghost climbed toward him, while another unseen ghost might be inside. He abandoned his search and fled downstairs with Li Yang and Jimmy, but the pursuing footsteps rapidly closed in.

• Yang Jian studied a painting of the building and realized its ghost had moved inside, while suspecting another unknown ghost lurked there.
• As paintings and rooms began disappearing, Yang Jian decided the risks of staying outweighed the chance of completing the Ghost Cabinet's task.
• Yang Jian left the room and warned Li Yang that they had to escape immediately; Li Yang reported seeing someone walking upstairs.
• Yang Jian, Li Yang, and Jimmy rushed down the wooden stairs as an invisible ghost's footsteps pursued them and drew closer.

Yang Jian encountered the ghost from the ghost painting on the stairs while fleeing the footsteps, and he managed to pass it but found Li Yang and Jimmy trapped between the two ghosts. He used his headless ghost shadow to pull them away as the ghosts drew close, leaving their survival uncertain.

• Yang Jian reached the stairs to the first floor and found the red-clothed ghost from the ghost painting blocking his way.
• Yang Jian charged past the ghost, failed to push it aside, and slipped around it to escape the wooden staircase.
• Li Yang hesitated and Jimmy froze when they saw the ghost, trapping themselves between it and the approaching footsteps.
• Yang Jian sent his headless ghost shadow along the handrail and lifted Li Yang and Jimmy to pull them away.
• The ghost from the ghost painting and the footsteps drew close on the narrow stairs as Yang Jian tried to save the two men.

Yang Jian rescued Li Yang and Jimmy from the staircase, where the Ghost Painting ghost and the deadly footsteps halted each other and the ghost began changing. As the group tried to escape through the expanding paintings, the ghost pursued them, so Yang Jian stopped with Li Yang and Jimmy to determine which of them it had targeted.

• Yang Jian used his ghost shadow to force Li Yang and Jimmy past the Ghost Painting ghost, but the approaching footsteps and the ghost stopped when they met, disrupting his control and causing the men to fall.
• Yang Jian noticed the Ghost Painting ghost becoming clearer and suspected it had absorbed the deadly footsteps as a puzzle piece, then led Li Yang and Jimmy away from the building.
• Yang Jian waited for the survivors to gather, warned them about the danger, and led the group toward the exit, leaving David behind.
• Yang Jian realized another ghost painting had appeared along their route, and Li Yang spotted the red ghost approaching from behind.
• Yang Jian concluded that the ghost had likely targeted one of the three of them, stopped with Li Yang and Jimmy, and told them to separate while the survivors continued running.

Yang Jian and Li Yang waited with Jimmy to learn whom the Ghost Painting Incident’s ghost would target, and Jimmy was chosen and left behind to die. Yang Jian led the survivors through a marked route out of the Ghost Domain and back to Villa Number Eight, where he warned them the danger could return.

• Yang Jian prepared to attack the ghost as it approached, but it changed direction and targeted Jimmy instead.
• Yang Jian ordered Li Yang to run with him, leaving Jimmy behind; Jimmy asked Li Yang to tell his mother he loved her.
• Yang Jian followed golden-bullet markers through a transformed alley and found a dark window that led out of the Ghost Domain.
• Yang Jian and the survivors emerged in a sealed room at Villa Number Eight, and he told Li Yang to move them away because the Ghost Domain had invaded the room.

Yang Jian suppressed the Ghost Painting, left the survivors in Li Yang’s care, and returned to Dachang City to complete his transaction with the Ghost Cabinet. He submitted proof that he had found the Ghost Painting’s source and waited for the cabinet to act.

• Yang Jian suppressed the Ghost Painting, saw that its world had expanded, and realized the painting could temporarily calm his Ghost Eye.
• Yang Jian gave Li Yang gold bars and Liu Xiaoyu’s number so he could help the stranded survivors, then left without revealing his name to a child who thanked him.
• Li Yang warned the survivors not to investigate Yang Jian, while the child said he wanted to write a book about the supernatural events.
• Yang Jian returned to Dachang City and placed a note in the Ghost Cabinet stating that he had found the Ghost Painting’s source and wanted the music box curse resolved.
• The Ghost Cabinet pulled the note inside, and Yang Jian waited for the transaction to be completed.

Yang Jian tried to use the Ghost Cabinet to escape the Music Box Curse, but it rejected both of his requests to remove or transfer the curse. He decided to ask it to help fix a flaw in Wang Xiaoming's plan, leaving his next move unresolved.

• Yang Jian waited for the Ghost Cabinet to answer his request to resolve the Music Box Curse, while planning to default on their deal and destroy the cabinet.
• The Ghost Cabinet returned his note and said it could not resolve the Music Box Curse, prompting Yang Jian to consider transferring the curse instead.
• Yang Jian wrote that the curse should be transferred to his Ghost Eye, but the Ghost Cabinet again told him to make another request.
• Yang Jian concluded that the Ghost Cabinet could not handle the curse directly and considered asking it to identify and fix a trap in Wang Xiaoming's plan.

Yang Jian used the Ghost Cabinet to guarantee another trade in seven days while preparing for Wang Xiaoming’s plan to remove the Music Box Curse. At Wang Shanshan’s residence, he learned the curse had reached her and that the Ghost Infant had attacked an unknown Ghost Tamer, so he decided to take it with him and investigate the intruder.

• Yang Jian asked the Ghost Cabinet to keep him alive until their next trade, and it shortened the interval from one month to seven days.
• Yang Jian moved dangerous supernatural objects from his home into a gold safe room, then visited Wang Shanshan and discovered that she also heard the Music Box Curse.
• Yang Jian learned that the Ghost Infant had grown to its second stage and agreed to take it with him when he left Dachang City.
• Wang Shanshan told Yang Jian that the Ghost Infant had returned five nights earlier with human fingers after driving away an intruding Ghost Tamer.
• Yang Jian decided to question Zhang Han at Shangtong Building about the unidentified intruder and agreed to let Wang Shanshan tell their families that they were dating.