🠑To Novel | 🠒To Awl of Mountains and Rivers Arc
These chapter summaries are based on RainbowSe7en 's translation and use terminology coined by the translator.
The chapter "names" are made-up summaries neither taken from the novel nor the translation. The subscripts in this article are the original novel's chapter headings (which are really quotes from the chapter) and the translations thereof are (mostly) from RainbowSe7en's translation.
This arc deals with the Sundial of Reincarnation.
Chapter 1 - Guo Changcheng's First Day[]
他……他他他他还没有脚！- He, he, he... doesn't have feet!
Guo Changcheng is going to No. 4 Bright Road to the offices of SIU, the "Special Investigations Unit", to start his new job, at 4am in the morning. Guo Changcheng is described as having mediocre looks and being introverted, even cowardly. It is his first job after graduation.
He first meets Old Wu, the receptionist ghost, then the Chief, Zhao Yunlan.
Zhao Yunlan is described as young and handsome, "slender and tall, with upright shoulders, thick eyebrows, deep eye sockets, and a high nose." He looks serious and in authority, and is very friendly towards Guo Changcheng.
Old Wu explains that he himself and the person responsible for HR (Wang Zheng) can only work nights. Guo Changcheng wonders why, but is too shy to ask.
When he sees Wang Zheng, and notices her throat is marked by a red line because her head is sewn onto her neck, Guo Changcheng faints.
Chapter 2 - A Murder at the University[]
凌晨，还不到五点，床头柜上的电话铃响得像叫魂。- It's dawn, almost five o'clock, and the phone on the bedside drawer is ringing with a ghastly howl.
Li Qian, a student at Dragon City University, is attacked by a "shadow" late at night on her way home through university grounds. She fights her attacker with a brick but can't seem to win, ending up lying on the ground with the shadow standing over her.
Wang Zheng wakes Zhao Yunlan to send him to investigate a murder. He has just gone to bed after working all night. His apartment is described as a mess, looking "worse than a dog's lair." He first tries to hand off the assignment to one of his subordinates, but none are available.
He grudgingly goes and tells his big fat black cat Da Qing to meet him at the scene of the murder. Da Qing tells him that the area smells unusually bad.
The victim is a woman in a University shirt, like Li Qian had been wearing the night before. Next to the body is a bloody handprint, which Zhao Yunlan notes cannot be human, since it has 20cm long fingers. When he sees it, Zhao Yunlan officially takes over the case for the SIU.
The SIU's function is explained as being a secret department within the Ministry of Public Security. Nobody knows what exactly it is that they do. Nobody knows where to find them, and the media are not allowed to report about them. They have relatively free reign about their organization within the ministry, but their procedures are wholly non-transparent, and the criminals involved in their cases always seem to die in the end.
Chapter 3 - Zhao Yunlan and Shen Wei Meet[]
免贵姓沈，沈巍。我在本校任教 - It's Shen, Shen Wei, I'm a professor here.
Zhao Yunlan and Da Qing go to take a look at the victim's dorm room. They take Guo Changcheng along. There is a trace of a ghostly handprint on the window sill. To mess with the newbie, Zhao Yunlan makes Guo Changcheng stand out on the window sill.
Guo Changcheng has a vision of a skeleton hanging on to the window sill, visible only in the reflection of the window. He is very scared, and when Shen Wei, who happens to be walking by, calls to him what he's doing up there, he startles and falls to the ground.
Shen Wei sees him fall and berates him for his carelessness. Zhao Yunlan rushes outside. When he shakes Shen Wei's hand, he notes that it is icy, "like that of a dead corpse straight out of a refrigerator."
Zhao Yunlan has the impression that this is not the first time they have met each other, but even though he is skilled at memorizing faces, he doesn't remember having met him before.
Da Qing immediately takes to Shen Wei - he purrs and lets him pet him, which Zhao Yunlan finds strange.
Chapter 4 - Up To The Roof[]
沈教授一低头一颔首，都有种“君子端方”的味道 - Professor Shen's every movement seems so gentlemanlike
Shen Wei takes them to the administrative office building, in an effort to find out more about the victim, who was a Mathematics student.
Zhao Yunlan, Shen Wei, Da Qing, and Guo Changcheng take the elevator up to the eighteenth floor of the building. Zhao Yunlan notes that the building has terrible Feng Shui and that Professor Shen is acting suspicious - he doesn't seem curious about the murder at all, and he keeps looking down and avoiding Zhao Yunlan's eyes. He seems to be genuinely interested in everything Zhao Yunlan has to say, even the small talk, and Zhao Yunlan wonders how anyone can constantly keep smiling.
We learn that Zhao Yunlan owns a watch that can detect spirits. It turns red, which means there are ghosts nearby. The reflection of an old woman, "dressed in all black, and vacantly glaring" is suddenly visible in his watch.
We also learn that Shen Wei teaches "Chinese and a few Arts electives," and that he doesn't like it when Zhao Yunlan smokes, because it's bad for his health.
Chapter 5 - Scary Ghosts[]
郭长城有种莫名的感觉，就好像他已经在那里站了成千上万年一样。- Guo has a strange feeling that Shen must have waited like that for centuries.
Zhao Yunlan surreptitiously chases away the ghost that was about to attack Shen Wei by sprinkling it with cigarette ash.
Shen Wei leaves them alone in the cold, gloomy and ghost-infested corridor. Even though he has previously stated that the offices of the Mathematics faculty are on that floor, that doesn't seem to be the case. It makes Zhao Yunlan suspicious, but he is sure that Shen Wei is human, so for now presumed innocent.
Another ghost attacks them and Zhao Yunlan shoots it with his gun, frightening Guo Changcheng so much he faints and Zhao Yunlan has to carry him. Zhao Yunlan and Da Qing discuss Guo Changcheng's family connections, both agreeing that he must have some or he would never have gotten the job with the SIU.
Da Qing accuses Zhao Yunlan of lacking integrity and sucking up to superiors, and Zhao Yunlan doesn't disagree. We learn that Zhao Yunlan is very good at playing the social game and interacting with people, which is unusual for the Guardian.
Chapter 6 - Serial Suicide[]
他们漠然地站在一边，眼睁睁地看着马上要掉下去的自己，发出幸灾乐祸的“桀桀”的笑 - They are standing by, watching impassively, eagerly awaiting their fall with gloating giggles
Zhao Yunlan leaves the unconscious Guo Changcheng in a corner, but not before protecting him with a spell.
The old lady ghost appears again and leads them to a haunted roof access stair. The stair is "afraid of Zhao Yunlan" and thus doesn't stop them from going to the roof.
Da Qing says he smells "grudge", a certain kind of haunting, but that it can't kill people, so it cannot be the thing they're looking for.
Zhao Yunlan sees a girl at the edge of the roof. When she jumps off, he tries to catch her, but it turns out she's a ghost. We learn that "ever since birth, Zhao Yunlan has been able to see ghosts. But because of this ability, it becomes difficult to tell human from ghost if he doesn't take a closer look."
The same girl appears again and again, and even though he is soon out of breath and Da Qing complains that it is useless, Zhao Yunlan tries to catch every single apparition. The tenth one turns out to be real, and he just catches her around the waist as she jumps.
He almost falls off the roof, himself, but Shen Wei comes running across the roof and pulls them both back up.
Chapter 7 - Shen Wei Saves Zhao Yunlan[]
从沈巍这笨拙的反应中，敏锐地闻到了一股暧昧的尴尬 - From Shen's clumsiness, he recognises a hint of desire, restraint and embarrassment
Shen Wei pulls Zhao Yunlan onto the floor of the roof with a lot of strength, hugging him tightly.
Both Zhao Yunlan and Shen Wei berate the girl, the former for trying to kill herself, and the latter for endangering Zhao Yunlan in the process.
Chapter 8[]
这个谎九真一假，却说得他几乎心力交瘁 TODO
Chapter 9[]
“那位”来拜帖了 TODO
Chapter 10[]
就像只开屏的花孔雀，抓紧一切时间显摆他充满荷尔蒙的花尾巴 TODO
Chapter 11[]
夜幕，就这样降临了 TODO
Chapter 12[]
轮回晷，轮回晷，三生石上转三遍，你半生来我半世，不求同生求同死 TODO
Chapter 13[]
“该死，离开那里，马上！” TODO
Chapter 14[]
“沈教授，您有啥未竟的心愿吗？” TODO
Chapter 15[]
手底下统共管着这么几个货，除了非人类就是脑残 TODO
Chapter 16[]
他保持着这个装逼的造型，像条大尾巴狼一样低声问：“沈教授，没事吧？” TODO
Chapter 17[]
赵云澜坏笑了一下，在沈巍的右手背上轻轻地亲吻了一下，叼了满口的嫩豆腐 TODO
Chapter 18[]
黑衣的斩魂使低头抿了一口：“好茶，多谢。” TODO
Chapter 19[]
他听见李茜沙哑的声音打破了死寂的沉默，女孩轻声说：“是我。” TODO
Chapter 20[]
等闲变却故人心，却道故人心易变 TODO