Chapter Summaries

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.

Yang Jian and the other captains descended into Ping An Building, found the original ghost painting, and confronted the group taking it away. As the intruders escaped through the darkness, Li Lepeng seized one of them and dragged them out.

• Yang Jian and the other captains entered the dark building, where Liu San sent a paper figure ahead to scout.
• They found Liu San's destroyed paper figure and hurried downward, but Yang Jian's Ghost Domain was disrupted when they reached the seventh floor.
• Li Jun's ghost fire revealed the original ghost painting, and Yang Jian warned the others not to remember its appearance.
• Yang Jian recognized Zhang Xianguang's rusted broadsword and suspected Chen Qiaoyang was among the intruders as they began fighting over the painting.
• The intruders took the painting and retreated, blocking Li Jun with a burning corpse and causing Yang Jian's vicious dog to vanish into someone's mind.
• As the group disappeared into the darkness, Li Lepeng grabbed one of the retreating intruders and dragged them out.

Yang Jian and the other captains tried to stop Zhang Xianguang's group from escaping Ping An Building with the Ghost Painting, but their enemies got away after one man was killed. The captains returned to Headquarters to plan their next move, while Yang Jian went to find somewhere to sleep.

• Li Lepeng dragged Song Xinhai back during the retreat, but the enemy used a rusty broadsword to drive off Yang Jian, Cao Yang, and Liu San before escaping with the Ghost Painting.
• Yang Jian and the others discovered Song Xinhai's memories had been erased, and Cao Yang stored his corpse and the cold corpse in a human-skin bag.
• Li Lepeng recalled seeing the retreating figures follow a winding path through the darkness, while the captains discussed the dangers posed by the Ghost Painting and Zhang Xianguang's group.
• The captains left Ping An Building and told Wei Jing, He Yin'er, Lu Zhiwen, Lin Bei, and Zhou Deng that the enemy had escaped with the Ghost Painting.
• Yang Jian urged the group to locate their enemies before Zhang Xianguang could cause more trouble, then said he was going to find somewhere to sleep.

After the captains returned to Headquarters, Yang Jian entered a dream and captured Wang Han, one of the men who had stolen the ghost painting. By reading Wang Han’s reactions, Yang Jian inferred that Zhang Xianguang’s group had escaped through the Ghost Post Office to Dahan City, then set out to alert the captains and pursue them.

• The captains returned to Headquarters and learned that Zhang Xianguang and Chen Qiaoyang’s group had stolen the ghost painting.
• Wang Chaling told the captains that Chen Qiaoyang was a dangerous Ghost Tamer from a previous generation.
• Yang Jian entered a dream and stopped his vicious dog from killing Wang Han, whom he recognized from a past business gathering.
• Wang Han refused to reveal the group’s plans, but Yang Jian inferred from his reactions that they had escaped through the Ghost Post Office.
• Yang Jian deduced that Zhang Xianguang’s group was in Dahan City and left the dream to summon the captains and pursue them.

After Lu Zhiwen tracked Zhang Xianguang to Dahan City, Yang Jian assembled a team of eight captains to confront him and his group. The captains departed for Dahan City while Lin Bei and others remained at Headquarters.

• Lu Zhiwen used a pen and Zhang Xianguang's name to determine that he was somewhere south, along a route leading to Dahan City.
• Yang Jian returned to the meeting and said Zhang Xianguang and his group were in Dahan City, then invited the captains to go with him.
• Li Jun, Liu San, Cao Yang, Li Lepeng, Wei Jing, Zhou Deng, He Yin'er, and Lu Zhiwen agreed to join Yang Jian, while Wang Chaling declined.
• Yang Jian asked Cao Yang to stay at Headquarters, and Lin Bei also chose to remain; Yang Jian declined Liu Qi's offer to join the mission.
• Yang Jian used his Ghost Domain to transport the eight captains from Headquarters to Dahan City.

He Yuelian brought supplies to Sun Rui at the Ghost Post Office, where Zhang Xianguang and his companions suddenly arrived. After Sun Rui tried to detain them, Zhang Xianguang severed his head and moved to take He Yuelian away, but Tian Xiaoyue appeared on the second floor.

• He Yuelian delivered food and books to Sun Rui, who had her run errands in exchange for staying at the Ghost Post Office.
• Zhang Xianguang arrived with Chen Qiaoyang and two other men, and Sun Rui recognized him as the former administrator.
• Sun Rui sealed the lobby and confronted the group, but Zhang Xianguang cut off his head, leaving him alive as the administrator.
• Zhang Xianguang recognized He Yuelian as the woman from the Ghost Painting and ordered her to come with him to reclaim her life.
• As He Yuelian approached Zhang Xianguang in fear, Tian Xiaoyue appeared on the second floor, and Zhang Xianguang asked whether she would stop him.