Chapter Summaries

Yang Jian prepared his team for the coming war against the kings and recruited Sister Hong as possible outside help. He left for Dadong City’s arrangements still pending, while Sister Hong agreed to join him if she could kill a king for twenty yuan of ghost money.

• Tong Qian left with Teacher Tony to train his makeup skills, while Yang Jian considered how Tong Qian could use three captains’ faces to gain enough supernatural power to fight the kings.
• Yang Jian told Li Yang to rely on his balanced abilities and directed him and Tong Qian to reach Dadong City by midnight the next day.
• Yang Jian assigned Wang Yong and Huang Ziya to protect Dachang City and decided to take the reluctant Xiong Wenwen with him because his life was tied to Liu San.
• Yang Jian visited the Chinese medicine shop in the old district, where Xiao Ru said her master would not get involved in the coming conflict.
• Sister Hong appeared and offered to join Yang Jian if he paid her, and she accepted twenty yuan of ghost money for killing a king.

Yang Jian went to Headquarters to ask whether Old Qin, sealed inside a statue, was alive, then prepared for the approaching battle by taking supernatural items from the warehouse. He returned to Guangjiang Residential Area to see his mother and have Jiang Yan and Zhang Liqin record recent events.

• Yang Jian arrived at Headquarters and told Cao Yanhua he planned to take supernatural items from the warehouse.
• Yang Jian asked Cao Yanhua whether Old Qin was alive inside the statue, and Cao Yanhua admitted that only opening it could reveal the truth.
• Yang Jian said he would take and open the statue if the situation became desperate, and Cao Yanhua agreed.
• Yang Jian entered Headquarters' warehouse and took half of its ghost candles and substitute dolls, leaving the rest in reserve.
• Yang Jian returned to Guangjiang Residential Area, intending to see his mother and ask Jiang Yan and Zhang Liqin to record recent events.

Yang Jian prepared to leave for the coming battle and asked Zhang Liqin and Jiang Yan to care for his mother if he died. After reaching Dadong City, he agreed to the King Organization’s sudden offer of video peace talks while Headquarters assembled its forces for the coming conflict.

• Yang Jian told Zhang Liqin and Jiang Yan to stay home, care for his mother, and call Ghost Child if trouble arose while he was away.
• Yang Jian left Dachang City for Dadong City after lunch and learned that the King Organization had requested peace talks with Headquarters.
• Lu Zhiwen argued that negotiations could buy time but that Headquarters still needed to destroy the King Organization and stop its Ark Plan.
• Yang Jian agreed to a video conference, limited who would attend, and ordered Wang Guoqiang to arrange a new location.
• Yang Jian and Lu Zhiwen reviewed their preparations, including recruiting Ye Zhen, Zhang Xianguang, Sister Hong, and other allies, while reserving the supernatural pendulum clock as a final trump card.
• Yang Jian told Lu Zhiwen to bring over Liu San’s paper figure so they could speak with the King Organization.

Yang Jian rejected the King Organization’s ceasefire offer during a tense video conference, while Lu Zhiwen used the talks to press for concessions. After the meeting exposed divisions among the organization’s kings, Yang Jian proposed striking first to increase the pressure.

• Yang Jian, Lu Zhiwen, and Liu San’s paper figure began a video conference with six representatives of the King Organization, led by Charlie.
• Charlie offered a temporary ceasefire, promising to withdraw the organization’s members and cancel the Ark Plan, but Yang Jian refused and declared that the war would continue.
• An unfamiliar king challenged Charlie’s authority, and Yang Jian used the dispute to point out that Charlie could not speak for the whole organization.
• Lu Zhiwen said the Headquarters might consider a ceasefire if the King Organization handed over Zhang Sun’s murderer and canceled the Ark Plan, but Charlie called Zhang Sun’s death a misunderstanding.
• Charlie proposed holding another discussion in three days, and both sides disconnected without reaching an agreement.
• Liu San’s paper figure and Lu Zhiwen judged the talks to be a stalling tactic, while Yang Jian proposed striking first to exploit the King Organization’s internal divisions.

Yang Jian used a recorder to enter the King Organization’s consciousness-only intelligence network and turned the hidden space into his Ghost Dream. He captured several intelligence officers and left the others facing interrogation after his vicious dog killed Zhang Li.

• After the video conference ended without agreement, Yang Jian ordered Liu San to help locate the King Organization’s intelligence network and told Lu Zhiwen to receive the arriving candidate captains.
• Yang Jian went to Liu San’s real body in Dadong City and learned that an old recorder drew consciousness into a supernatural place where the organization’s intelligence officers communicated.
• Yang Jian used the recorder and his vicious dog to enter the consciousness space, then ordered the dog to invade it and transform it into the Ghost Dream.
• The Ghost Dream revealed and trapped Zhang Li, an intelligence officer investigating Ma Jun; Yang Jian had the vicious dog kill him.
• Two more intelligence officers appeared in the expanding dream, and Yang Jian began questioning them.

Yang Jian trapped the King Organization's agents and operatives in Ghost Dream while waiting for the force behind its supernatural hall to respond. The Pianist appeared and attacked consciousness with a black piano, prompting Yang Jian to send his vicious dog after him.

• Yang Jian killed several King Organization operatives in Ghost Dream and ordered his vicious dog to torture one who insulted him.
• Yang Jian waited in Ghost Dream as its influence consumed the hall, but neither the Pianist nor Liu San appeared at first.
• A black piano played by itself in the ruined hall, and an intelligence agent identified its unseen master as the King Organization's king, the Pianist.
• The Pianist appeared and played music that drew the trapped agents out of Ghost Dream and slowed the vicious dog's invasion.
• Yang Jian recognized the music as a supernatural attack on consciousness and ordered his vicious dog to drag the Pianist into Ghost Dream and kill him.

Yang Jian fought the pianist inside Ghost Dream, where the pianist’s cursed music killed the trapped King Organization operatives and repeatedly returned after the vicious dog tore him apart. Yang Jian realized the pianist could only be defeated by finding the piano in reality, then left the confrontation and moved to eliminate the remaining operatives.

• The pianist’s screaming music harmed Yang Jian and killed the King Organization intelligence operatives trapped in Ghost Dream.
• The vicious dog tore apart the pianist and stopped the music, but the pianist soon reappeared beside the black piano.
• Yang Jian and the pianist exchanged threats, and Yang Jian concluded that the piano was the source of the pianist’s repeated returns.
• The pianist kept playing while the vicious dog attacked, forcing Yang Jian to recognize that neither could defeat the other in Ghost Dream.
• Yang Jian called the dog back and headed elsewhere in the hall to drag in and kill more King Organization operatives.

Yang Jian learned from Liu San that the King Organization had a hidden sixteenth figure connected to the Ark Plan and Ghost Ship, while the ship neared the harbor. He prepared to meet the candidate captains assembled in Dadong City and assign them tasks for the coming battle.

• Yang Jian left the pianist’s supernatural space after using the vicious dog to pull several intelligence agents’ consciousnesses into the Ghost Dream world.
• Liu San awakened and told Yang Jian that the King Organization had fifteen public kings, at least ten other potential kings, and a hidden sixteenth figure tied to the Ark Plan and Ghost Ship.
• Yang Jian and Liu San discussed how the hidden figure might control the Ghost Ship, then agreed that their immediate priority was dealing with the kings.
• Liu San warned Yang Jian that the Ghost Ship had entered their waters and could reach the harbor soon, despite the recent agreement to ease tensions for three days.
• Wang Guoqiang reported that the candidate captains had arrived in Dadong City, and Yang Jian set out to meet them and prepare for the coming battle.

Yang Jian assembled seven captain candidates into a squad led by Li Yang to prepare for the war against the King Organization. He supplied them with protective resources and left them on standby after they shared their abilities and resolved old tensions.

• The seven captain candidates gathered at Ning'an Building, where Lin Long recounted his past clash with Yang Jian during the Starvation Ghost Incident.
• Yang Jian arrived, confirmed Xiong Wenwen was absent, and appointed Li Yang leader of the seven-person squad.
• Yang Jian distributed two Substitute Dolls and three red Ghost Candles to each member and warned them that the captains had suffered heavy losses in the previous battle.
• Yang Jian apologized to Lin Long, who accepted and pledged to fight alongside the others against the King Organization.
• After Yang Jian left, the squad members disclosed their supernatural abilities and discussed how they could cooperate.

As Headquarters gathered outside aid against the King Organization, Ye Zhen arrived and boasted that he would kill three Kings. Meanwhile, Yang Jian studied the supernatural pendulum clock, and an abandoned ship filled with supernatural phenomena drifted toward the coast, nearing landfall.

• News of the King Organization's failed attack spread online, prompting some members and sympathizers to abandon it and support Headquarters.
• Ye Zhen arrived at Ning'an Building, mocked Wang Chaling and Lin Bei, and promised to eliminate three Kings despite Lu Zhiwen's request that he coordinate with Headquarters.
• He Yin'er left to meet the Faceless Man from Taiping Ancient Town, while Boss Liu stayed behind to recover and oversee reconstruction.
• Yang Jian studied the supernatural pendulum clock, hoping to master its ability to rewind time by half an hour.
• A silent, haunted ship drifted through the mist toward a coastal city and appeared likely to reach land that night.

Yang Jian studied the supernatural pendulum clock and sought Wang Chaling’s help to learn how to control its resets. He Yin'er summoned Wang Chaling’s parents, Wang Lu and his wife, so they could be questioned about the clock.

• Yang Jian examined the pendulum clock and concluded that its irregular resets had likely been designed by Wang Chaling’s parents to trap ghosts in the Wang Family’s old residence.
• Wang Chaling told Yang Jian he did not know how to reset the clock’s operation, but agreed to bring his parents’ belongings so He Yin'er could summon them.
• Yang Jian returned to the conference hall, where he met Ye Zhen and waited for He Yin'er while the captains remained on alert for the King Organization.
• He Yin'er arrived with the Faceless Man from Taiping Ancient Town and agreed to summon the spirits using Wang Chaling’s parents’ old clothes.
• He Yin'er summoned two figures, and Wang Chaling’s parents, Wang Lu and his wife, appeared.

Yang Jian learned how to use the supernatural pendulum clock after He Yin'er summoned Wang Chaling’s parents. Wang Chaling then took them aside and revealed his plan, Infinite Restart, to change the Wang family’s fate.

• He Yin'er summoned Wang Lu and his wife, and Wang Chaling reunited with his parents.
• Wang Chaling explained the King Organization threat and why they needed the supernatural pendulum clock.
• Yang Jian revealed that he had already taken the clock from the old house and asked how to use it.
• Wang Lu explained how the corpse inside the clock controlled its time and warned that its neck must not turn past ninety degrees.
• Wang Chaling took his parents into the elevator and told them about his Infinite Restart plan.

Wang Chaling discussed his plan to use supernatural restarts to erase the Wang family curse with his summoned parents, who urged him to accept the inheritance and focus on surviving the coming conflict. After they passed on the Wang family's secrets, their summoning ended, while Yang Jian prepared for the King Organization’s possible early attack and the Ghost Ship’s arrival.

• Wang Chaling told Wang Lu and his wife that he wanted to use infinite restarts to change the past and end the Wang family curse, but they defended the curse as protection for their descendants.
• Wang Chaling insisted he wanted a normal life for himself and his descendants, while Wang Lu urged him to prioritize surviving the imminent fight with the King Organization.
• Wang Lu and his wife revealed the Wang family's secrets and foundations, giving Wang Chaling the inheritance he had not previously received.
• He Yin'er announced that the soul summoning was ending as the medium dissipated, and Yang Jian let Wang Chaling say goodbye to his parents.
• Ye Zhen pressed Yang Jian to begin fighting the King Organization, but Yang Jian said they needed intelligence and warned that the organization might attack early and send the Ghost Ship ashore.

Yang Jian and the other captains learned that the Ghost Ship had appeared near the coast and might land that night. Yang Jian ordered the captains to search for it in teams while warning them to stay cautious, and Ye Zhen left to search on his own.

• Yang Jian discussed the King Organization's strategy with Lu Zhiwen, Lin Bei, and Ye Zhen, concluding that they hoped to use the Ghost Ship to overwhelm their opponents.
• Liu San arrived and distributed intelligence files about the enemy kings, then reported that one of his paper figures had seen the Ghost Ship at sea.
• Liu San recreated the brief sighting with his Ghost Domain, showing a decayed ship surrounded by supernatural phenomena before it vanished.
• Liu San said the King Organization had shown no signs of activity, while He Yin'er warned that the Ghost Ship was already close to port.
• Yang Jian rejected releasing Ghost Lake for now and ordered the captains to search in teams, warning them that the ship could be bait.
• Ye Zhen dismissed the need for a team and left to search for the Ghost Ship alone.

Yang Jian received a location for the Ghost Ship from a King Organization insider and confirmed that the ship appeared there, but its supernatural interference overwhelmed his Ghost Domain. When Ye Zhen was swallowed by the ship’s range, Yang Jian followed him into the sea, leaving He Yuelian to pursue the deal to save the Manor Owner.

• Wang Yong told Yang Jian that people connected to the Manor Owner offered a permanent way to locate the Ghost Ship, and Yang Jian agreed to consider trading the Manor Owner’s head if they proved their sincerity.
• Dyson’s contact gave Yang Jian coordinates where the Ghost Ship would appear in three minutes, and Yang Jian traveled there and alerted the other captains.
• The Ghost Ship emerged from the mist, and Yang Jian discovered that his Ghost Domain could not penetrate its supernatural interference.
• Ye Zhen arrived, dismissed Yang Jian’s warning, and charged toward the Ghost Ship, but his Ghost Domain failed and he vanished into the sea.
• Yang Jian gave He Yuelian the Manor Owner’s head and told her to have Lu Zhiwen negotiate the deal through Wang Yong.
• Yang Jian rushed after Ye Zhen, lost his Ghost Domain near the Ghost Ship, and disappeared into the seawater.

Yang Jian and Ye Zhen boarded the Ghost Ship after its strange seawater disrupted Yang Jian’s supernatural powers. They explored the deck and headed for the control room, but strange singing began as they climbed the stairs.

• Yang Jian struggled through the supernatural seawater, spotted the Ghost Ship approaching, and swam toward a rope hanging from it.
• Ye Zhen revealed he had caught the rope, and Yang Jian joined him; the two climbed aboard and found themselves sailing through a dark world.
• Yang Jian discovered that his Ghost Eye could only function briefly aboard the ship before becoming dormant, and warned Ye Zhen that their powers were limited.
• Ye Zhen insisted on exploring the Ghost Ship, and Yang Jian agreed to accompany him as they headed toward the control room.
• As they climbed the rust-covered stairs, strange singing came from the deck, then stopped when Yang Jian turned to look.

Yang Jian and Ye Zhen searched the Ghost Ship’s control room and cabins for its missing helm, while supernatural signs on the ship grew increasingly disturbing. When Ye Zhen kicked open the first cabin door, decayed arms dragged him into the darkness, leaving Yang Jian outside.

• Yang Jian used the Ghost Eye to glimpse dead spectators and a dancing figure on the deck as supernatural singing played.
• Yang Jian noticed that Ye Zhen’s reflection in a corridor puddle lagged several meters behind him.
• In the control room, Yang Jian found the helm missing, and Ye Zhen judged that it was likely hidden in a nearby cabin.
• Yang Jian and Ye Zhen entered the dark cabin corridor and decided to search its rooms one by one.
• Ye Zhen kicked open the first cabin door, and decayed arms dragged him inside.

Yang Jian and Ye Zhen searched the Ghost Ship’s cabins for its missing helm, encountering dormant ghosts and learning from a journal how the ship became haunted. After they found a strange corpse approaching freely through the corridor, they faced a new danger that the ship’s restrictions did not seem to contain.

• Ye Zhen dismembered the ghost in the first room and sealed it inside an earthenware jar he had dug up at Fushouyuan Cemetery.
• Yang Jian identified a blue-and-white porcelain bowl in the second room as a ghost’s vessel and warned Ye Zhen not to provoke it, but Ye Zhen tossed it aside.
• Yang Jian and Ye Zhen entered the third room, where Yang Jian found a sailing journal identifying the ship as the Sprolo and recounting how passengers died after it passed through mist.
• Ye Zhen sensed someone watching from the corridor, and Yang Jian used ghost fire to reveal a tall foreign corpse that smiled and walked toward them.

Yang Jian and Ye Zhen fought a composite ghost aboard the Ghost Ship, discovering that a puppet corpse controlled its assembled parts. Ye Zhen began silently communicating with the corpse to learn where the helm was, despite Yang Jian’s warnings.

• Yang Jian’s coffin nail pinned a piece of the ghost, but the creature shed that flesh and kept advancing.
• Ye Zhen rushed the ghost with his sword, tripped over a supernatural leg, and was buried beneath the creature until Yang Jian’s ghost fire and hatchet drove it back.
• Ye Zhen revived with the Substitute Ghost and claimed he had gained the ghost’s ability to enlarge his body.
• Ye Zhen struck the ghost’s stomach, exposing a child-sized puppet corpse as the core controlling the gathered ghosts.
• The puppet corpse silently communicated with Ye Zhen, who said he was asking it about the Ghost Ship and the helm while Yang Jian warned him not to trust it.

Ye Zhen learned from the puppet corpse that the Ghost Ship needed both its wheel and a ghost captain, then retrieved the wheel and brought the puppet corpse under his control. As Yang Jian and Ye Zhen prepared to leave the ship, the puppet corpse warned of an approaching danger and told them to stay away from the deck.

• Yang Jian waited as Ye Zhen communicated with the puppet corpse while ghosts began stirring around them.
• Ye Zhen finished communicating, learned the ship's wheel was not enough to pilot the Ghost Ship without its ghost captain, and let the puppet corpse climb onto his back.
• Ye Zhen retrieved the damaged wooden ship's wheel and told Yang Jian that the captain was a ghost and the ship's supernatural source.
• Yang Jian and Ye Zhen returned to the control room, where Ye Zhen explained that taking the wheel could interfere with the captain's control of the ship.
• As they prepared to leave, the puppet corpse warned Ye Zhen that great danger was approaching and urged them to stay away from the deck.