Novels like The Secrets of the Strange Arts
Books Chinese readers most often put in the same booklists as The Secrets of the Strange Arts, best match first.
- 51 Horrifying! The Eighth One 惊悚！第八个 Horrifying! The Eighth One 38Reads—Score314d adds
- 52 Taboo of the Living 2 活人禁忌2 Heaven Official's Blessing, no taboos under heaven. The second installment of Living People’s Taboos! 7.9kReads9.1Score1.2k14d adds
- 53 Strange Tales: Notes from a Supernatural Investigation 异闻：诡事调查笔记 Enough talk. The show is about to begin. If you want to know what 1999 and the confidentiality agreement are about, turn to Volume Six, Revelation. If you’re interested in a genius’s downfall, Volume Five, The Twelve Movements of the Abyss, is a requiem. If you want to know what lies behind Midnight FM, read Volume Four, Leviathan of the Upside-Down City, and uncover its secrets. If you’ve been having trouble sleeping, or can’t fall asleep, take a look at Volume Three, The Sleepless Prison. It m 110Reads9.4Score13014d adds
- 54 Borrowing Yin Lifespan 借阴寿 Have you ever slept wearing burial clothes? Don’t try it. I did once, and that night... My name is Li Yiliang. I was born with a shortened lifespan, and my birth caused my mother to die in childbirth. But one night when I was eighteen, my mother came back and said she wanted to take me with her... My grandfather told me to sleep in burial clothes, then gave his own life to help me escape that fate. From then on, my life was never free of strange and uncanny things... 4.7kReads8.9Score41114d adds
- 55 The Fox Bride of Qingqiu 青丘狐妻 Liu the Half-Immortal told my mother, “On the night of the full moon, take your child and a chicken to Qingqiu Mountain and wait. Whoever eats your family’s chicken will become your child’s spouse, whether it’s a snake, an insect, an ant, a bird, or a beast...” That night, a little fox and a little white wolf fought fiercely over the chicken, and from then on, the gears of fate began to turn... 9.5kReads8.6Score83114d adds
- 56 The Ghost Way, Midway Through Life 半路鬼道 Smart male lead + one heroine On the night of the Ghost Festival, the living send off the dead, burn incense, make offerings, and burn joss paper. But that night, I heard a ghost calling for a soul… The gong sounds, the night grows dark, and the road to the Yellow Springs is hard to travel… With talismans to guide the way and the departed to show the path, summon the gods and command the ghosts: only then can one master the Ghost Path between Yin and Yang! 6.6kReads8.9Score48614d adds
- 57 Special Operations Bureau 特事行动科 One thousand three hundred and ninety years ago, under the emperor’s direction, human adepts gained control of the “Void” and used it to create the “Wall,” which separated the real world from the anomalous one. After more than six centuries of effort by adepts from various schools, the anomalous remnants in the real world were finally purged, leaving humanity with a world of its own. Anomalous creatures became demons, ghosts, gods, and monsters in tales of the strange. As time passed, the adepts 1.7kReads7.0Score20414d adds
- 58 The Six-Fingered Exorcist 六指诡医 Born with six fingers on his left hand, he was called a jinx by his family. His father died the day he was born, and misfortune followed him everywhere as he grew up. He endured discrimination and contempt. When he turned eighteen and suffered his third half-cycle tribulation, even his beloved grandparents died. From then on, the protagonist was forced to wander. While struggling to stay alive, he investigated the truth behind the mysteries. Caught in an endless struggle between life and death, 4.7kReads9.2Score82014d adds
- 59 The Underworld Bureau of the Yellow Springs 黄泉阴司 When I was a kid, I went to the back hill of the village to play and pick up human bones. There I stumbled upon a ghost opera and nearly lost my life. Luckily, a green snake saved me, but the snake also began a strange, shadowy romance. Ghost operas, spirit summoning, yellow-skin spirits' yin graves, peachwood seals against evil: the bizarre folk customs of southern Guizhou and chilling, uncanny tales of the worlds of yin and yang are coming your way. Warning: Not for the faint of heart!!! 5.8kReads8.4Score58614d adds
- 60 Urban Astrologer 都市星相师 [Physiognomy + Fortune-Telling + Feng Shui + Celestial Master + No Livestreams + No System + Cultivation + Immortality] My name is Ling Xiao, and I'm an astrologer making my way in the city! You might not know much about astrologers, but I'll name a few of my fellow disciples and you'll get the idea! Zhuge Liang, Yuan Tiangang, Li Chunfeng, Liu Bowen... They're all senior members of my school! Astrologers are skilled at observing the stars, allowing them to discern the past and future, as well a 4kReads9.3Score29414d adds
- 61 Secrets of the Northern Steed 北马秘闻 After spending seven years in a daze as a fool, I was told by the Yellow Immortal that I had a spirit altar within me, and that my origins were far from ordinary. From then on, I set out on the Northern Ma path. 11.5kReads8.5Score2.1k14d adds
- 62 Thirty Years on Maoshan 茅山三十年 ♥ Don’t let the rating fool you, my book is top-notch! A feel-good story about a Taoist priest who descends the mountain to catch ghosts and drive out evil. No romance, no saintly do-gooder. Traveling far and wide to vanquish demons and uphold the Dao. No padding, no rambling, no romance. 9.3kReads8.8Score75714d adds
- 63 My Days at Bureau 749 我在749局的那些日子 My name is Lin Bai, and I’m a sophomore at Diannan University. I have a secret I’ve kept buried deep inside for a long time. I feel like I might not be an ordinary person, or maybe… I don’t know if I can even be considered human. I can easily do many things ordinary people can’t. At first, I thought it would earn me admiring looks from others. But gradually, I realized it didn’t make me stand out from the crowd. Instead, it made me feel like I didn’t belong in this world. The way they looked at 4.1kReads8.8Score46314d adds
- 64 Who'd Have Thought This Guy Was a Ghost-Catching Taoist Master? 这货居然是捉鬼天师 The protagonist, Wang Yang, is a gifted Taoist with a fragment of Emperor Fengdu's soul hidden within him. He has trained in the mountains since childhood, and Black and White Impermanence are his childhood friends. One day, after blowing up his master's alchemy furnace out of sheer boredom, he is kicked off the mountain to gain experience. At the foot of the mountain, he meets his martial uncle. On the way, he hears that the Taoist world is holding a new disciple tournament, so he heads there t 1.4kReads8.2Score—14d adds
- 65 The Empty Grave 空坟 Don't mess with the mirror in the house! After my favorite mirror disappeared, I began to fear the light. The doctor said I was allergic to sunlight, and I thought I was just sick. Until one day... I saw... my own grave! 1.1kReads9.0Score10714d adds
- 66 Yin-Yang Eye Realtor: Selling Haunted Houses in Chongqing 阴阳眼中介：我在重庆卖凶宅 A novel inspired by local Chongqing legends and historical anecdotes. This story is entirely fictional. As a child, the protagonist gained the ability to see yin and yang from a Qing dynasty skeleton. His family’s ancestral ledger is filled with secrets of old Chongqing. The folklore is meticulously researched, with traceable details ranging from place names and historical anecdotes to traditional remedies and feng shui formations. Each haunted house seems like a self-contained case, but in trut 194Reads8.3Score—14d adds
- 67 The Green Satchel Corpse Robe (Complete Collection, Volumes 1–3) 青囊尸衣（1-3册合集） In the thirteenth year of Jian'an (208), beneath the unsteady glow of an oil lamp, a white-bearded old man handed a cloth bundle to the jailer and whispered, “This can bring the dead back to life.” In the eighth year of Hongwu (1375), three days before Zhu Yuanzhang ordered his death, Liu Bowen faked his own death. Afterward, he hid in Wolong Valley and devoted all he had learned in his lifetime to completing The Corpse-Cloth Scripture. In 1975, within a single month, Zhu Hansheng, a barefoot do 18.1kReads9.4Score3.2k14d adds
- 68 A Notebook of Folk Taboos 民间禁忌笔记 I was born with a pair of snake eyes, and everyone at the forest farm said I was a demon child born of a snake. The night I was born, thunder crashed again and again. The next day, a huge, gold-scaled python was found dead from a lightning strike outside Laolingou. Something was squirming inside its belly. Master Sang sliced open the python with a single stroke and carried out a blood-soaked baby. He named me Lin Shisan. From that moment on, my fate was bound to Master Sang’s for life… 19.5kReads9.3Score1.5k14d adds
- 69 Tianxia Bachang's Tomb-Raiding Legends (Five-Book Set) 天下霸唱摸金传奇（共五册） This series consists of five books: Tracing the Sacred Spring, The Mysterious Tombs of Xiangxi, The Monster Tombs of the Mountains and Seas, The Poisonous Gu of Fuxian, and The Wild Sands of the Treasure Vault. Tracing the Sacred Spring: The greatest tomb-raiding trio in history, Hu Bayi, Wang Pangzi, and Shirley Yang, are back in full force. They venture deep into the distant Amazon rainforest to begin a new expedition! The Mysterious Tombs of Xiangxi: The greatest trio of gold-touching experts 20.6kReads9.3Score2k14d adds
- 70 The Clue System: No Criminal Can Escape 提示线索系统之犯罪分子无处可逃 (Urban crime investigation + System + mystery and deduction + team investigations.) The protagonist, Song Mozhou, unexpectedly awakens a System that provides clues to criminal cases. Follow along as he solves one baffling case after another with the System’s help. This is a pure crime-solving novel, with no romance, featuring a series of standalone cases. All cases and characters in this book are fictional. Any resemblance to real people or events is purely coincidental. Here’s hoping you’ll enj 264Reads—Score—14d adds
- 71 Mysterious Revival: My Memories Bury Vengeful Ghosts 神秘复苏我的记忆埋葬着厉鬼 Warning: It gets more and more brain-bending as you read! Extremely high intelligence and logical reasoning as the characters solve paranormal mysteries! Don't read if you dislike mind games! Everyone gradually awakens to their powers or takes the abilities of ghosts! High intelligence + aesthetics of despair Scenarios: Dreams, zombies, myths and legends, Cthulhu, and more Difficulty: “Despair!” (No harem, no System, no invincible protagonist, no formulas, no power fantasy, no brainless characte 859Reads—Score10314d adds
- 72 A Decree from the Underworld 阴司有旨 Before Grandpa died, he gave me a strange ledger. The first page bore four eerie characters: “Filed with the Underworld.” And the entries weren't sums of money, but “lives.” I used that strange ledger to collect debts and settle accounts on Grandpa's behalf, and it was as if I'd become a living judge of life and death in the human world. Somewhere beyond mortal sight, everything had already been decreed... 21.9kReads9.1Score1.2k14d adds
- 73 Tales of the Taoist Sect 道门往事 Cha Wenbin holds the ancestral seal of the Maoshan sect and is the last heir to the position of sect leader in the Orthodox Way. He saves people caught between yin and yang, but brings disaster upon himself and suffers Heaven’s punishment. With a chivalrous heart and a mastery of Taoist arts, he rescues the living from the cracks between worlds and guides the dead through the endless hellish roads! Who are the ancient Di people clad in fish scales, the mysterious king brought back to life, and t 23.9kReads9.1Score4.4k14d adds
- 74 The Soul Ferry Lantern 渡魂灯 [Supernatural + mildly scary + episodic stories, a fast-paced ghost-hunting romp with all kinds of tricks!] Fire runs in my veins, and I'm cursed to bring bad luck. When I was fifteen, my father kicked me out. To survive, I climbed into a stone tomb. The strange knocking at the door of the funeral home at midnight, The body that mysteriously vanished after a fatal car crash, A headless old man, a talking human skin, and haunted schools and skyscrapers... I guide five-element spirits onward and f 17.7kReads9.2Score1.6k14d adds
- 75 The Feng Shui Diviner 风水神相 [The short drama and comic adaptation are now available] First comes fate, then luck, then feng shui; fourth, accumulate good karma; fifth, study; sixth, choose a name; seventh, read faces; eighth, honor the gods; ninth, make friends with benefactors; tenth, maintain your health. Eighteen years ago, an old Daoist priest found an abandoned baby in the mountains. Eighteen years later, a young feng shui master left his temple and came down from the mountain. Over the years, Jiang Chen learned all m 10.9kReads9.0Score1k14d adds
- 76 Spiritual Qi Revival: The Nation Invites Me to Head the Paranormal Bureau 灵气复苏：国家邀请当诡异局局长 [Memo: No Female Lead, Romantic Tension, System, Livestreaming, High Stakes] Lin Zixuan transmigrates here to shoulder a great responsibility. Invited by the state, he becomes director of the Bureau of the Uncanny. “I am Heaven's Master in the mortal world, guarding the Nine Provinces. Any demon or monster that dares threaten the Nine Provinces will be destroyed!” Lin Zixuan says sternly, blocking every danger in front of him. Behind him stand the old and young, men and women of the Nine Provinc 3.7kReads8.2Score21814d adds
- 77 The Secret Treasures of Mountains and Seas 山海秘藏 I have stood atop mountains and descended into the vast seas. I have ventured into every mysterious corner of China! Could a distant ancient kingdom in the Western Regions really be home to a stunning queen who lives forever? Could the vast mausoleum of Qin Shi Huang really conceal the greatest sword under heaven? Did hundreds of people really witness a legendary dragon on a misty island in the North Sea? In a dark old coffin in western Hunan, the King of the Undead stirs restlessly. I venture i 3.2kReads8.9Score45914d adds
- 78 The Yellow Emperor’s Secret 黄帝秘藏 With a blood-written deed on my body, I fought hungry dogs for food. In the bitter cold of winter, I was about to be beaten to death on the frozen ground, until someone stood before me and told me I was a dragon in the art of feng shui... 14.8kReads8.9Score59214d adds
- 79 Hunters of the Forbidden Zone 禁区猎人 All things have a spirit. In this world, there are always people and things we have never encountered. Six years ago, a mysterious legend about a giant python undergoing tribulation drew the world's finest hunters to the Kunlun Mountains. In the end, the python died, and Lin Shuo was the only hunter to survive. Afterward, he withdrew from the world and went into hiding in the mountains. Six years later, a huge scale appeared before Lin Shuo. The giant python that had failed its tribulation had s 4.9kReads8.7Score51414d adds
- 80 The Living Must Keep Away 活人回避 Originally titled Living People, Keep Away. An antique set me on a desperate path. From then on, just to stay alive, I became a yin walker who dealt with the dead and the walking corpses. Three years searching for dragon veins, ten years locating acupoints, roaming between yin and yang, dealing in ghosts and spirits. I kept walking, struggling my way to where I am today. 2.7kReads8.9Score33114d adds
- 81 Suppressing the Dragon 镇龙 For one person, he dug up an ancient grave, broke into a dragon's tomb, and wielded the Yang Sword to slay yin spirits! An heir to a family of secret arts, he joins a group of men and women bound together by fate. Together, they travel far and wide, fighting monsters in the mountains, slaying evil in the cities, breaking into the underworld, and robbing ghost messengers... To change our fate, we defy the heavens! 2.5kReads8.8Score53214d adds
- 82 The Last Soul-Quelling Master 最后一个镇魂师 I grew up at my grandfather's house in the countryside. He was the most respected suona player in our village. One day, Li Dashan, a fellow villager, beat his pregnant wife to death and came to ask my grandfather for help. My grandfather tried everything he could, but still couldn't calm the resentment of Li Dashan's wife. In the end, he had no choice but to play a suona dirge to forcibly pacify her soul. On the night of the Lantern Festival, Li Dashan and his family turned into vengeful ghosts 116Reads8.5Score1014d adds
- 83 My Years with the 037 Special Operations Team 我在037特别行动队的那些年 An accident awakened my supernatural ability, and from then on I joined a mysterious special operations team. The mystery of Qin Shi Huang’s immortality, a vampire uprising, World War II bombers striking a Ming Dynasty arms depot, the hidden history of Huo Qubing fighting giants... One supernatural incident after another unfolds. Could another world of strange beings be hidden beneath the surface of a peaceful, harmonious society? There are countless strange tales in this world, and nothing unde 15.5kReads9.2Score1.5k14d adds
- 84 Monks Don't Give Their Names, Daoists Don't Speak of Their Lifespans, but I Can Exorcise Ghosts 僧不言名道不言寿但我会驱鬼 He was nearly buried alive at birth. The venerable Taoist Zhang Jiuye defied fate and changed his destiny, but in doing so planted a curse: he was fated to face three tribulations. At sixteen, he was summoned to call back a soul, then fought the Five Plague Gods by night, only to have his spirit dragged into a temple in the underworld! At nineteen, his life-and-death trial arrived, and beneath the Laojun Temple, a mysterious stone slab sealed away for a thousand years was unearthed... Other peop 1.5kReads8.6Score14014d adds
- 85 Old Haunts 陈年诡事 There is only one disease in the world, and it's called poverty. There is only one kind of ghost in the world, and it's called a poor ghost. My name is Chen Xiaofei. I'm a high school sophomore who's both afflicted with the disease of poverty and a poor ghost. 31.5kReads8.5Score2.6k14d adds
- 86 Dark Face Reading 黑相术 After I lost my sight, a matchmaker set me up on a date, and I met a girl. She wasn’t human… One night, as we slept, I touched her tail. 24kReads8.9Score2.9k14d adds
- 87 Calculating Fate Through Yin 算阴命 My mother was snatched away by a beast when she gave birth to me. Twelve years later, my father brought home a woman. Three days after that, my father died… 1.8kReads8.9Score25714d adds
- 88 My Sect Has Eleven Graves 我的门派有十一座坟 Fantasy and the supernatural, with a lighthearted, humorous tone and a touch of horror. My name is Zhang Shiyi. I have ten senior brothers, so my name is Zhang Shiyi. But all ten of my senior brothers are dead. They’re lying in the graves outside. What? My master? He’s dead too. The biggest, roundest grave is his. Haha~ Well, congratulations, then~ Get ready to sing: Congratulations, congratulations, congratulations to you, hey! Congratulations, congratulations to you~ 24.2kReads9.1Score2k14d adds
- 89 A Taoist Priest Enters the World 道士入世记 [Professional Taoist + slow burn + folk customs + the supernatural + mild horror + realism + gradual development + no wish fulfillment] (The central theme of this second novel: people and their relationships.) The Taoist's Journey into the Mortal World is a continuation of The Little Taoist of Qingshan. New readers can enjoy it on its own, while returning readers will find it an even richer experience. Do you want to learn about folk spiritual mediums? Curious about spirit mediums? Want to know 470Reads8.7Score—14d adds
- 90 The Case Files of Shen Rufeng 沈如风探案录 There's only one truth. Follow Shen Rufeng and his colleagues as they piece together the clues and solve each case. The stories are mainly standalone cases. This is a new book by a new author, so please show your support. 1.5kReads—Score10014d adds
- 91 The Heavenly Coffin 天棺 Because of a joke, my grandmother’s spirit refused to leave after her death and insisted on taking me with her to the grave. Otherwise, my whole family would die. To save my family, I went into the grave with my grandmother... 21.8kReads9.0Score1.9k14d adds
- 92 Raise Your Head Three Feet, and There’s an Evil God 举头三尺有邪神 [Eastern Fantasy + Lovecraftian Elements + Plot-Driven + Mystery + No Cliches + No System + No Brain-Dead Characters + Not a Power Fantasy] [Readers who may be bothered by this, proceed with caution] [The first five chapters are slow-burn setup. The story picks up afterward, and there's a detailed outline, so read with confidence!] After transmigrating, Zhou Mo finds himself in a small village that resembles one from ancient China. Gradually, strange and utterly inexplicable things begin happeni 912Reads8.1Score—14d adds
- 93 Major Crime Investigation Files 刑侦大案录 6.5kReads6.9Score42414d adds
- 94 Hello, Police? Someone's Kidnapped a Law-Abiding Female Ghost 妖妖灵吗？有人绑架良家女鬼 Chen Ziye came out of prison “reformed” and was planning to do something bad to make some money. But he never expected to kidnap a female ghost! Chen Ziye: “Hello? Police? I kidnapped a female ghost, and now I have no idea what to do!” The police showed up, said he'd done the public a service, and rewarded him with ten thousand yuan! You can make money by kidnapping ghosts? And so… Female ghost: “Hello? Police? I'm the female ghost who escaped earlier. I've been kidnapped again!” Zombie: “You lo 7.6kReads9.2Score74114d adds
- 95 The Fragrance of the Coffin's Beauty 棺香美人 When I was born, the river swelled and washed a coffin right into my home. Fifteen years later, the coffin opened, and inside was a woman... Feng shui, fate and destiny... There are endless folk legends to tell, and more bizarre wonders than words can describe. 32.2kReads9.4Score76114d adds
- 96 Tales of the Strange in Western Hunan 湘西异闻录 [A friendly warning: This book has no System. It's funny and terrifying, with suspense and clever twists throughout, plus plenty of passion and brains. The more you read, the better it gets.] When I was four, I was kidnapped and taken to a cursed village to be sacrificed alive. A fox spirit risked her life to save me, and secretly pledged herself to me for life. To marry my fox bride, I venture deep into the Miao Valley, tread the Nether River Gorge, and walk the boundary between Yin and Yang. I 6kReads9.1Score57914d adds
- 97 The Miaojiang Gu Chronicles 苗疆蛊事 The calamity of witchcraft and poison is spoken of only by people in the countryside. Many people who are unknowingly caught up in it have no idea it exists. Friends, do you really think there are no extraordinary people in this vast land of China? You do? No! No! No! Do you want me to tell you that I’m a poison-raising practitioner from the Miao borderlands? All right, come on in and let’s dish… 13.8kReads9.3Score2k14d adds
- 98 The Yin-Yang Master of the City 都市阴阳天师 Traditional supernatural horror. The protagonist starts out as a Celestial Master, turns into a purple-eyed zombie midway through, and transforms whenever he can’t win. If that bothers you, please give this a pass. Zhou Yuanqing studied under a purple-robed Celestial Master and chose to join Bureau 749, handling supernatural cases across the country: evil spirits, zombies, mountain demons, Japan’s Kiku School, Nanyang curse practitioners… In places ordinary people cannot see, battles of magic ha 30.9kReads8.1Score2.4k14d adds
- 99 My Years as a Buddhist Nun 我当师太的那些年 I was born a girl with a Pure Yang fate into a family of feng shui masters. For generations, my family had practiced feng shui in the countryside. My grandfather had hoped his eldest grandchild would be a boy, so he could pass down his skills to the eldest son and grandson. But I turned out to be a girl. Grandfather never took a liking to me, so my parents could only take me to live in the city. No one expected that, during the Ghost Festival in the year I turned twenty-five, Grandfather would s 425Reads8.7Score—14d adds
- 100 Day 49: The Whole Internet Watches Me Tear Through the Horse-Shaman World 第49天，全网看我杀穿出马仙 [The first novel online to tackle the “spirit-medium” genre from an opposing perspective] Before my dad died, he left me a blood curse: “If you meet a god, beat it. If you see an immortal, kill it.” Now the whole village is made up of spirit mediums, and I'm the only ordinary person left. They livestream “catching an old immortal,” so I report them and get their accounts banned. They stage “the Tragic King being killed,” so I expose their tricks on the spot. Then I rescue a snow-white fox, and i 15Reads—Score—14d adds
