Hunger Ghost

Biodata

Power Progression

Appearance

The Hunger Ghost has a blue-black corpse-like body, a hugely swollen abdomen, and a face identified as Zhou Zheng’s during its containment 6 21.

• Eyes: Pitch-black and pupil-less, set in an expressionless, deathly still face 9 11.
• Feet: Bare, with large patches of blue-black lividity 13.
• Mouth: Resembles insect mouthparts while feeding; later displays rows of interlocking Ghost Teeth and foul-smelling drool 13 19.
• Clothing: Initially appears in a windbreaker, then wears Ye Feng’s old-fashioned burial shroud, which is covered in the character for “longevity” 5 6.
• Later condition: Stands atop a mountain of ghost children with a hemp rope around its neck, keeping its toes against the bodies beneath it 17.

Abilities & Skills

Devouring Ghosts

The Hunger Ghost can consume other ghosts and acquire their supernatural powers 5 6.

• Takes both the Ghost Shroud and Ghost Teeth from Ye Feng 5 6.
• Progressively weakens and assimilates the Ghost Rope through prolonged chewing 17 19 20.
• Devours human bodies as well as supernatural entities, including Zhao Kaiming’s body during the school confrontation 13 14.
• Its feeding remains subject to supernatural rules: it briefly considers eating the fallen severed hand, but resumes attacking Yang Jian instead 13.

Ghost Domain

Its Ghost Domain manifests as pervasive bluish-black darkness that alters the surrounding environment 5 9.

• Spatial distortion: Makes hospital corridors behave unpredictably, leaving Jiang Li walking without reaching his intended destination 5.
• Interference with concealment: Distorts the Person-Hiding Ghost’s supernatural mist. Jiang Li can hide from attacks but cannot escape the hospital domain’s influence 5 6.
• Domain invasion: Tears open Yang Jian’s red Ghost Domain, allowing bluish-black darkness to pour inside 9.
• Sensory deprivation: Envelops Jiang Li in darkness that removes both sight and hearing 21.
• Countermeasures: Yang Jian’s four-layer Ghost Domain can contend with its domain; a crow’s cry dispels the darkness immediately surrounding Jiang Li 11 21.

Derivative Ghost Infants and Children

The Hunger Ghost is the source of the ghost infants and children spread throughout Dachang City. Their killing conditions differ by stage 1 3.

• Unlike true fierce ghosts, these derivatives can be destroyed. Severe supernatural attacks reduce them to blue-black mist 3.
• Their accumulated supernatural power can obstruct another Ghost Domain. A mountain of ghost children prevents Yang Jian from extending his domain to the Hunger Ghost 17.
• They can be appropriated by other ghosts: the Wishing Ghost assimilates children into gray-white forms, while the Newspaper Ghost produces scarlet children with altered behavior 19 20.

Resistance and Restraint

The Hunger Ghost withstands attacks that would decisively suppress weaker supernatural entities 11.

• Certain-death curse: A curse amplified through Yang Jian’s four-layer Ghost Domain tears a gash in its head but fails to bring it down 11.
• Ghost Wind: Fang Shiming’s photographed manifestation temporarily halts its movement; it resumes advancing when the wind ends 13.
• Wishing Ghost: Restricting its movements requires most of the Wishing Ghost’s available supernatural power during the school battle 13.
• Ghost Rope: Keeps its toes against the ghost children beneath it to avoid the rope’s supernatural attack while continuing to chew through the restraint 17.
• Coffin Nail: A nail driven into its forehead suppresses it sufficiently for transfer into a gold coffin. Jiang Li nevertheless warns that the restraint may not last forever 21.

Behavior

The Hunger Ghost is described as lacking self-awareness and acting through supernatural instincts rather than human motives. Its expression remains blank even after being wounded 11 19.

Its dominant impulse is to devour. Once the Wishing Ghost stops restricting it, it immediately resumes approaching potential victims. Apparent hesitation does not necessarily indicate conscious choice: when it pauses over the fallen severed hand, another supernatural rule redirects it toward Yang Jian 13.

History

Outbreak and Failed Hospital Operation

The Hunger Ghost Incident is already underway when Jiang Li arrives in Dachang City. Trapped in a supermarket filled with its derivatives, he gains control of the Person-Hiding Ghost and clears the first floor, but recognizes that the source ghost remains a much greater threat 1 3.

Jiang Li joins the operation at the haunted hospital and encounters the Hunger Ghost beside the ghost child Ye Feng. The investigators discover Ye Feng’s discarded corpse and conclude that the source ghost has consumed his two ghosts. With the Hunger Ghost strengthened and the Wishing Ghost interfering from concealment, the containment attempt fails 5 6.

Dachang No. 7 Middle School

During Jiang Li and Yang Jian’s confrontation with Zhao Kaiming, the Hunger Ghost tears into Yang Jian’s Ghost Domain and picks up Zhao’s severed head. The Wishing Ghost then restarts the area, undoing the immediate situation 9 10.

Jiang Li wounds the Hunger Ghost with a stacked supernatural curse but cannot suppress it. Zhao Kaiming reveals that the Wishing Ghost intends to use its body, originally hoping it would first consume Yang Jian and become more complete 11.

After the Wishing Ghost’s restraint lapses, the Hunger Ghost resumes feeding. It attacks the bodies hanging from the Yin-Yang Ghost Rope; Jiang Li later determines that it has nearly finished eating Zhao Kaiming’s body. Yang Jian awakens and escapes through his Ghost Domain 13 14.

Ghost Rope and Competing Possession Attempts

The Hunger Ghost becomes suspended above a mountain of its derivatives, using them as footing while gnawing through the Ghost Rope. Yang Jian, Jiang Li, and Zhang Han prepare to approach with the Coffin Nail, but the Newspaper Ghost’s interference delays them 17 19.

Both the Wishing Ghost and Newspaper Ghost attempt to claim the Hunger Ghost’s body. They seize control of surrounding ghost children and clash beneath it while it continues chewing. After the Newspaper Ghost disappears, Jiang Li notices that the hanging children have vanished and realizes that the Hunger Ghost may be undergoing a far more dangerous transformation 19 20.

Containment

Jiang Li approaches with the Coffin Nail supplied by Yang Jian, but the Hunger Ghost retreats into darkness and rises above the surrounding buildings. The enlarged Person-Hiding Ghost’s shadow reaches beneath it, and a pale hand drags it down from the air. It lands buried in the ground with the Coffin Nail embedded in its forehead 20 21.

Headquarters personnel arrive with a solid-gold coffin and secure the suppressed ghost. Jiang Li cautions that its transformation may still be continuing, while Yang Jian expects Headquarters to keep it sealed rather than risk another outbreak 21 22.

Relationships

• Jiang Li — Principal opponent and eventual suppressor; recognizes the danger of its Ghost Rope transformation and uses the Coffin Nail during the final confrontation 20 21.
• Yang Jian — Leads containment efforts, supplies the Coffin Nail, and supports Jiang Li with his Ghost Domain 14 16 20.
• Ye Feng — Source of its acquired Ghost Shroud and Ghost Teeth 5 6.
• Wishing Ghost — Temporarily restrains it and repeatedly attempts to take over its unconscious body 11 13 19.
• Newspaper Ghost — Competes with the Wishing Ghost for possession of its body, manipulating the surrounding ghost children 19 20.
• Zhao Kaiming — Allows the incident to develop under the Wishing Ghost’s direction; his body is later consumed by the Hunger Ghost 14.