Novels like Return to Life
Books Chinese readers most often put in the same booklists as Return to Life, best match first.
- 1 The House of Corpse Incense 尸香门第 Grandpa said I was “cursed to die young,” and that I had to go home for my birthday every year. One year, it poured, and I didn’t go back... [PS: Updates are a little slow while the book is new. If you don’t mind reading a finished novel, check out my completed work, The Yin-Yang Merchant: http://www.heiyan.com/book/48682 275Reads7.0Score—Shelves
- 2 Buried by Fate 葬天命 No man in the Gu family has lived past thirty. To prolong my life, I married a corpse and defied fate itself. 254Reads8.0Score100Shelves
- 3 Possessed by an Evil Spirit 撞邪 Grandpa spent his whole life doing good deeds. He never imagined that one night, he would ruin a young girl's life... 290Reads8.4Score—Shelves
- 4 The Maoshan Taoist 茅山道士 There are many things in this world that are unknown to most people. Five hundred years ago, hordes of ghosts and monsters roamed near the Kunlun Mountains. They fed on the spiritual qi generated by the Kunlun Dragon Vein and grew powerful enough to wreak havoc on the human world. For reasons unknown, the Nine Hells shattered, leaving the souls of humans and other living beings with nowhere to go after death. They gathered at the Kunlun Mountains, where they absorbed the spiritual qi of heaven a 20Reads7.5Score—Shelves
- 5 Living Witness to the Strange 活见异闻 Grandpa had seen a ghost for himself. In the dead of night, he went behind the villagers’ backs to dig up a dead woman’s grave, and even stripped off her... 36Reads6.5Score—Shelves
- 6 The Dragon Raises the Coffin 龙抬棺 There is an ancient stone stele in Qinglong Mountain. Its inscription reads: “The living must not enter; the dead must not be buried.” The local county records state that during the Hongwu era of the Great Ming, a coffin pulled by nine dragons descended from the heavens and landed on Qinglong Mountain. And I am the child of the person in that coffin. 408Reads9.0Score—Shelves
- 7 A Life Borrowed from the Yin Realm 借阴命 To keep me alive, my grandfather borrowed someone else’s life for me. Years later, that person’s descendants came seeking revenge... 190Reads7.2Score—Shelves
- 8 The Hundred-Ghost Storyteller 百诡传人 To solve the mystery of the Seventy-Two Ghost Mounds, Yang Tianming descends the mountain with the Hundred Ghosts Register, ventures into the city, and meets beautiful women. He rescues a Corpse Sister, practices forbidden arts, and guides wandering spirits to the afterlife. With the Soul-Whipping Whip in hand and the Hundred Ghosts Register at his side, when the Dragon Soul returns to his body, he won’t be alone! 74Reads8.6Score—Shelves
- 9 White Russian Cemetery 白俄公墓 [Supernatural + Mystery + Horror + Forbidden Sites and Zone Exploration + Dark] While traveling, I passed through a small town called Beima and accidentally entered a strange internet cafe. The terrifying legend of a woman ghost hanging upside down, messages from an online friend dating back to 2001, an old school campus regarded as forbidden ground, a mysterious ghost village behind the school, and a cemetery that exists only in people's memories. Somehow, all of it seems connected to me. This 49Reads8.0Score—Shelves
- 10 EN Otherworldly Merchant 阴间商人 I’m a merchant who specializes in collecting sinister, supernatural objects. Anything that belonged to the dead is valuable! In the hands of ordinary people, these things can bring anything from a haunting to the ruin of an entire family. But in my hands, they can help you get promoted, make a fortune, defy fate, and meet every need a client could have. Want to know why? Shh. If you’re brave enough, come hear about the first terrifying deal I took after entering the business... 188Reads8.9Score—Shelves
- 11 Yellow Springs Medical Hall 黄泉医馆 On the fifteenth day of the seventh lunar month, ghosts roam at night and the living must keep away. Yet on Linjiang Road, an unremarkable clinic stands with all four doors wide open, inviting every kind of visitor. Above the eaves hangs a gilded plaque bearing four large characters: “Yellow Springs Clinic.” 531Reads8.1Score100Shelves
- 12 Visitor from Hell 狱下来客 A modern supernatural mystery. Not wish fulfillment, not brainless, and no System. In this life, you pass countless people on the street. What makes you so sure they're all human? I never believed in this stuff either, until my landlord tricked me into moving to a place called Happy Community. The people around me didn't seem to be people at all. Footprints on the ceiling, dolls made of human skin, bloated drowned giants, people raising zombies, mother-and-child ghosts... Just how many secrets l 596Reads8.0Score100Shelves
- 13 Strange Feng Shui Affairs 风水异事 My grandfather is a feng shui master. While he was away, a woman came looking for him. After I greeted her, I saw purple-black veins of blood on her face, writhing on their own… 1.7kReads8.8Score520Shelves
- 14 The Divine Seer in Hemp Robes 麻衣女神相 Face reading is based on the Book of Ma Yi. Study someone’s face, and you can read them right before their eyes. Wealth and poverty, fortune and misfortune, blessing and calamity: it is all written in a single face. The Divine Physiognomist Ma Yi says: “When the heart is good but the face is not, the face will follow the heart. When the face is good but the heart is not, the face will fade as the heart does.” 2.7kReads8.5Score253Shelves
- 15 The Yellow Springs Pawnshop 黄泉典当行 The Underworld Pawnshop has existed since time immemorial, with a long and storied history. It can travel between the worlds of the living and the dead, reaching the far shores of the Yellow Springs to trade with ghosts and gods. It stands somewhere in the modern city. Find the Underworld Pawnshop, and any wish can be granted, but only at an equal price. You can pawn anything you own: organs, years of your life, ancestral treasures, even your soul. In exchange, you can get whatever you desire: m 123Reads7.4Score—Shelves
- 16 The Yin-Yang Affairs Office 阴阳事务所 The Yin-Yang Affairs Office is closed during the day and open at night. We don't take cases from the living, only from ghosts. I'm a man of principles. What? A pretty young lady wants to come visit? Yo, I might consider it! A bewitchingly beautiful, sultry red-robed female ghost; a headless ghost whose head was chopped off with an axe; the Black and White Impermanence from the underworld... They're all regulars here. To tell you the truth, even the King of Hell was raised by me! 354Reads7.8Score101Shelves
- 17 Spirit Village 灵村 Thrills and the supernatural! There's an ancient village called Lingzhuang, also known as Bagua Village. I was born there. Lingzhuang is always shrouded in an atmosphere of terror: Enormous pythons, centipedes, black spiders, strange birds, and ferocious beasts roam about, attacking people... Lingzhuang is also rife with strange tales and bizarre happenings: A female ghost haunts the village; a cave in Longmian Mountain holds an arsenal from the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom; a mysterious master live 75Reads—Score—Shelves
- 18 The Northeast Paranormal Investigator 东北灵异先生 Fangshi, spirit mediums, exorcists: these professions are famous, but their abilities are limited. There is one calling that stands above them all: its practitioners are known as paranormal masters. My name is Huo Jie. When I was nine, I encountered a vengeful spirit and nearly died of fright. To survive, I became a paranormal master! From then on, I roamed between the worlds of yin and yang, wielded the art of feng shui, and guided ghosts and gods through their trials! 230Reads8.5Score—Shelves
- 19 The Eerie Coffin Bearers 诡抬棺 Nine peaks, a sea of blood, mountains of bones... Murderous danger lurks everywhere. Every step is fraught with peril, and I never know how much longer I'll survive. It wasn't until I deciphered the nursery rhyme I'd heard when I became someone's disciple that I uncovered a shocking secret... 63Reads9.0Score—Shelves
- 20 A Yin Corpse Brought Me to the Mortal World: The Living, Keep Away 阴尸送我来人间，生人退避 My name is Luo Ansheng. I was delivered by a Yin Corpse. A Yin Corpse brought me into the world, and a hundred ghosts fought over their food. All manner of fearsome beings gathered, eager to devour my flesh and essence. After I gave them a good beating, they settled down and began competing to protect me. 4.2kReads8.8Score386Shelves
- 21 Upholding Justice in Heaven's Name 替天行道 Yin cannot thrive alone, and yang cannot exist by itself. I grew up in the countryside, left behind by my parents and raised by my grandfather. All his life, Grandpa was either helping widows and orphaned girls or on his way to help them. So, for as long as I can remember, I heard the villagers cursing him behind his back. Then one day, a stranger in a burial shroud asked me a question. A tree without bark but with a soul is bound to die. What happens to a person with skin but no soul? The relat 3kReads8.9Score247Shelves
- 22 Blood Wedding 血嫁 Ever since I received a strange hundred-yuan bill, every wedding I attend ends in bloodshed. The grooms have their throats slit, their blood splattering across the brides’ white gowns. Ten couples have died for no apparent reason, and I’m the only one who has seen the killer: the Grim Reaper, holding a scythe... A cold and aloof fiancé appears out of nowhere. A mysterious exorcist hides in a coffee shop. Strange supernatural incidents pull me into a terrifying, thrilling spiral. At last, the da 951Reads8.6Score118Shelves
- 23 The Heavenly Master Descends the Mountain 天师出山 When the King of Hell says a man must die at the third watch, who would dare keep him alive until the fifth? I would! The Celestial Master descends the mountain, his mastery of the Dao profound. Above, he can move heaven and earth; below, he can shake mountains and rivers. In the light, he can command dragons and tigers; in the darkness, he can capture ghosts and gods. His power can raise the dead, and his cultivation can transcend life and death! Demons, monsters, ghosts, and fiends, whoever di 482Reads8.4Score—Shelves
- 24 The Yin-Born Child 阴生子 Before I was even born, someone plotted against me. I was cut from my mother’s womb before I was full-term, born with a congenital defect, and prone to attracting evil spirits. My fate was cursed, and I was destined not to live past a hundred days. To stay alive, I went to live with my maternal grandfather, a medium who could travel between the worlds of the living and the dead. After years of learning from him, I became a medium myself. From then on, I could communicate with the gods, enter the 110Reads8.9Score—Shelves
- 25 Huang Daxian 黄大仙儿 The Huang Daxian of Northeast China, also known as the Huangpizi, are weasels that have cultivated into spirits. This is a terrifying story about the shamanic traditions of Northeast China, told in the region’s authentic style. A supernatural tale rooted in the everyday life of Northeast China. 3.1kReads8.6Score337Shelves
- 26 The Uncanny One 邪门儿 In the old days, bandit gangs had four pillars and eight posts. The foremost pillar was called the Heaven-Supporting Pillar, and its holder served as the gang's strategist. Since strategists tattooed goshawks on their chests, they were also known as Mountain-Circling Eagles. A Mountain-Circling Eagle is neither monk nor Daoist, yet can discern yin and yang, communicate with spirits, and foretell fortune and misfortune. Neither immortal nor shaman, yet can cast talismans, drive out evil spirits, 1.4kReads8.6Score154Shelves
- 27 The Corpse Keeper 守尸人 The morgue is where life and death meet. At this boundary, there are many taboos to heed. I grew up beside a hospital morgue, and I'll tell you about the hospital's taboos from a different perspective. Taboo 1: If you see a patient being resuscitated, don't gather around to watch. Taboo 2: If a patient's family throws away something the deceased used while alive, don't toss your own trash on top of it. Taboo 3: If you hear a cat meowing at night, don't go outside to look, whether you're a patien 891Reads6.3Score102Shelves
- 28 A Tale of Ghost Hunting in Town and Country 城乡捉鬼奇谭 A string of bizarre murders rocks Tianquan City. The victims’ deaths are so strange that no ordinary person could be responsible. Lin Feng, a college student who has just inherited an antique shop, is accidentally drawn into the turmoil. The family heirloom in his hands, an ancient book, contains secret arts of fortune-telling, ghost-catching, and feng shui. A plea for help from his childhood friend Zhang Long, a criminal investigator, pushes Lin Feng to the edge of the truth. Alongside Li Yue, —Reads—Score—Shelves
- 29 Heir to the Five Arts 五术传人 All the arts of divination under heaven fall into five branches. They are: Mountain, Medicine, Destiny, Divination, and Physiognomy. More specifically, they include magic, talismans and incantations, the Four Pillars of Destiny, Zi Wei Dou Shu, Qi Men Dun Jia, feng shui based on the principles of qi, face reading, bone reading, and more... Our Wei clan is the guiding principle behind all five arts. The five arts encompass everything and seize the workings of Heaven. Thus, only those blessed with 1.7kReads8.3Score171Shelves
- 30 Strange Yin-Yang Tales: A Half-Immortal’s Records 阴阳诡事：半仙诡录 [This is no ordinary supernatural story. It’s all about horror and suspense: no mindless power fantasy, just yin-yang taboos, the Grinning Fiend, the Ghost Bride’s Gown, eerie shadows in an ancient mansion, and the Mandarin Duck Pendant. If it’s not good, you can break my legs!!] There’s no shortage of bizarre happenings between the worlds of yin and yang. The Grinning Fiend: what unknowable resentment lies behind that sinister face? The thousand-year-old fox: what cunning schemes hide beneath h 1.2kReads—Score—Shelves
- 31 Snake Sacrifice 蛇祭 Two virgins + Sweet romance + Strong female lead leveling up The Snake Lord is fearsome. A promise made a thousand years ago, a meeting in dreams, a bracelet carved from nine dragons’ bones, protection for his wife, a Soul-Devouring Demon Blade, souls scattered to the winds, old grudges brought to an end... On the night of the Ghost Festival, the fifteenth day of the seventh lunar month, Old Song carried me back from the village’s Spirit Snake Mountain. Strange changes swept across the sky: ligh 343Reads9.1Score116Shelves
- 32 The Corpse Carrier 背尸工 My name is Chen Feng, and I work as a corpse bearer at a funeral home. After a class reunion, I spent the night with Jiang Lixin, the school beauty. I never expected to see her corpse at work the very next day, or that I'd have to carry her on her final journey... 5.4kReads7.0Score327Shelves
- 33 The Soul-Returning Soup 还魂汤 I was born in a remote village. The day my mother gave birth to me, she died a horrible death! I was born disabled, missing an arm, and with a red birthmark shaped like a coiled snake on my foot. My master said I had been cursed by an evil spirit, and that the curse could only be lifted if I found the one who cast it. Otherwise, I wouldn’t live to see twenty... 96Reads—Score—Shelves
- 34 The Deadly Taboos of Horror 惊悚死人禁忌 [Definitely not ordinary paranormal fiction. Focused on horror and suspense, not mindless wish fulfillment. Folk tales of the supernatural, ghost babies. If you don’t like it after reading, feel free to criticize it.] A mountain village shrouded in mystery is beset by one strange incident after another. A coffin that cannot be lifted at a funeral, children mysteriously drowning, and the question of why a water ghost has appeared. What truth lies behind the deaths? A baby’s anguished cries ring o 154Reads—Score—Shelves
- 35 The Unlucky Heavenly Master Walks the Mortal World 冤种天师走人间 The Maoshan Celestial Master holds yin and yang in check, slays ghosts, banishes demons, and dispels ill omens. A three-foot peachwood sword, a stick of incense for virtue! My fate is unusual: I court death but never die, so my master took me in as a disciple and taught me the secret arts of Maoshan. After descending the mountain, I met a beautiful older girl I knew as a child, and she led me down a road of no return. A beauty in an ice coffin, a snow-mountain witch, a fox spirit beneath the moo 714Reads7.4Score101Shelves
- 36 The Corpse Leaps Over the Wall 尸跳墙 I’ve been blind since childhood, so I work as a massage therapist for the blind. Then one day, I met a terrifying woman who said she could restore my sight. The price was... 140Reads7.8Score—Shelves
- 37 A Dragon's Son, Carried in a Ghost's Coffin 龙生子，鬼抬棺 My name is Ding Lin, and I was born covered in dragon scales. The villagers said my mother wasn’t human. When she died, a hundred ghosts carried her coffin, and the River Earl wept at her funeral. My mother said I was the child of a dragon, born extraordinary, blessed by a hundred ghosts and immune to every taboo... 5.2kReads8.8Score524Shelves
- 38 Folk Taboos and Strange Tales 民间禁忌怪谈 Ever since I was a kid, I thought my grandpa was strange. Whenever he had nothing to do, he liked to wander deep into the old forest. Then one day, he brought a little girl back from the woods, and I discovered the secret he was hiding. From then on, I tried to get away, but only became more deeply entangled... 667Reads8.3Score100Shelves
- 39 Horror Revival: I Get Stronger from the Start by Slaying Ghosts 恐怖复苏：开局砍鬼就变强 Tong Zheng transmigrates into a world where supernatural horrors have returned and ghosts run rampant. He activates the Physical Exorcism System. He starts with a knife, and the only way to level up is to slash. A vengeful ghost haunts a hospital. Tong Zheng arrives and strikes once, leaving it completely stunned. Ghost: What did I ever do to deserve dying to a blade like that? A construction site uncovers an ancient tomb, where a century-old fierce ghost causes trouble. Tong Zheng arrives to su 1.1kReads8.5Score101Shelves
- 40 Death Photo 死亡照片 [Suspense + Mystery + Mind Games + Puzzle-Solving + Imagination + Superpowers] Lin Yi goes to attend his high school reunion. At first, everything seems normal. His long-unseen classmates chat away happily. Then someone finds a photograph on the floor! At first, no one pays it any attention. But soon, the classmate in the photograph dies unexpectedly. Then one classmate after another dies in a series of bizarre accidents! Everyone is terrified. What's really going on? Will anyone else die? Who's 12.8kReads7.4Score1.1kShelves
- 41 Hearse 灵车 A hearse is a vehicle used to transport coffins or urns. You could also call it a vehicle exclusively for the dead. I was a bus driver for four years, and for all four years I kept a secret bottled up inside. Now I'll tell you firsthand about the terrifying things that happen on trains, things you don't know about. Maybe you've never heard of hearses being converted into buses, but the buses you've ridden may not have carried only the living... 1.5kReads8.0Score141Shelves
- 42 One Hundred Ways to Encounter a Ghost 见诡一百法 The day my eldest uncle died, all our relatives and friends went to his funeral. My cousins wailed as they finished burning the joss paper. When it was my turn, I just couldn't cry. I could have faked it, but no tears would come, and my aunt's family looked displeased. That wasn't really a big deal. The problem was that when I tossed paper money into the brazier, the flames, which had been burning fiercely, went out in an instant! I tried several times, and it happened every time. It was creepy, 1.9kReads8.5Score134Shelves
- 43 Adventure Journal 探险手札 The Yellow Springs snake demon in a mysterious ancient village; a mirror that wards off evil amid endless dunes; an ancient corpse buried beneath the snowy mountains, untouched by decay... My name is Xu Kaiyang, and I’ll take you on an unprecedented adventure! 7.8kReads8.6Score670Shelves
- 44 The Ghost Emerges from the Coffin 鬼出棺 Xie Bangui is secretly recruited into the Ghost Yamen and, on his master's orders, serves there, making a living by hunting demons and ghosts. Yet he has no idea that he carries a world-shaking secret. Leading the Ghost Yamen's warriors, Xie Bangui launches a night raid on a prison for evil spirits, fights a bloody battle on the execution platform against a demon, encounters a soul-snatching carriage, and cleverly breaks a skeleton lock. He survives evil spirits' attempts to claim his life, outw 1.6kReads9.1Score144Shelves
- 45 The Maoshan Coffin-Raiser 茅山升棺人 From the moment I was born, someone secretly plotted against me, making my mother give birth prematurely and changing my birth date. My birth chart clashed with my parents' fates, and they both died on the very day I was born. I vowed to find the culprit, and in time became a Maoshan coffin-raiser! Coffin-raising is the practice of relocating graves. After death, people should be buried in a place with good feng shui to protect their descendants. But some ancestors are buried in malevolent place 1.3kReads9.0Score102Shelves
- 46 Paranormal Encounters: What I Saw and Heard 灵异事件之所见所闻 No System + no transmigration + no power fantasy + no harem + no invincible protagonist + no sweet romance + no clichés + no female lead + no cultivation. Important notice: if this isn’t for you, don’t read it. If this isn’t for you, don’t read it. If this isn’t for you, don’t read it! Do you believe there are things in this world that science cannot explain? Have you ever experienced anything supernatural yourself? Treat the events in this novel as stories, and remember: Fear and respect the sp 130Reads—Score—Shelves
- 47 The Maoshan Occultist 茅山诡术师 My name is Fang Gang. I was stolen the moment I was born. From then on, my life unfolded into an epic tale, as turbulent as it was mysterious. 397Reads8.6Score106Shelves
- 48 The Beautiful Snake Wife 蛇妻美人 I slept in a coffin from the time I was little. When I was six, a snake slithered in and kept me company in the coffin for six years… He had never slept in a bed as a child, only in a very ancient coffin. When he was six, a snake slithered in and kept him company in the coffin for six years. Later, a graceful fairy came and said she would marry him when he turned eighteen. 132Reads9.1Score—Shelves
- 49 The Midnight Spirit Shop 深夜灵店 I'm neither a yin-yang master nor an exorcist, but I do have an unusual left eye. I run a shop that opens only at midnight, serving customers who have run into special troubles. A little shop, a cup of tea for a guest, and so my story begins... 1.8kReads8.6Score194Shelves
- 50 My Pale Life 我苍白的一生 My name is Zhang Yuan, though my childhood nickname was Ergou. I'm male, born in 1990. Everyone encounters all kinds of strange, inexplicable things in life. By the way, do you believe in ghosts? 473Reads8.4Score101Shelves
