Novels like Southern Mao, Northern Ma
Books Chinese readers most often put in the same booklists as Southern Mao, Northern Ma, best match first.
- 1 Shocking! Taoists Who Can't Pass the Civil Service Exam Can Only Work as Contract Experts 震惊！道士不考编只能当外包专家 (No tired formulas, no System, no invincible protagonist, no dumbed-down characters, but still a satisfying story) (Well-reasoned + a touch of mystery + a little comedy + a little horror + a strong male lead) (Some innovative ideas, but the story is still written from a scientific, materialist perspective, so things generally won't get too outlandish) (The central idea is roughly: May all people have enough to eat and keep warm; I will gladly endure hardship to leave the mountains and help them. —Reads—Score—14d adds
- 2 Heir to the Maoshan Legacy 茅山传承人 I was born of a ghost. My mother died as soon as I was born, and no one knew who my father was. An old Taoist priest came to my home on the day I was born. When I was six, he took me up into the mountains to learn Taoist magic. 243Reads6.1Score—14d adds
- 3 Tales of the Strange in China 神州异事录 Ever since I was young, I’ve experienced all sorts of strange things beyond ordinary people’s wildest imagination. In particular, these eyes of mine can see the dead and all manner of yin entities… Now that I’m old, I have plenty of free time, so I’ve decided to look back on the things I’ve experienced. If life were a piece of music, I’d say it’s like the suona. Of all the instruments, the suona reigns supreme: it either sends you to heaven or plays at your wedding. Everyone gets to live a life 164Reads—Score—14d adds
- 4 The Dao Master's Manual 道驭录 Veteran Lu Fei and his junior fellow disciple Liu Bowen, nicknamed Fatty, use Aoshan Taoist arts to exorcise ghosts and ward off evil, taking on a series of supernatural incidents brought about by changing times. If it's not good, come hit me! 40Reads—Score—14d adds
- 5 Those Years of Exorcising Evil in Guangdong 广东驱邪那些年 Three decades, dozens of regions, and hundreds of exorcisms A true account of the tumultuous, terrifying lives of two generations of ghost hunters Behind every supernatural incident lies a heartbreaking story... Behind every story is a long-buried secret, unknown to others: things they cannot bear to leave behind, cannot let go of, partings from those they love, and resentment that endures... (Anthology, no System, no immortal cultivation, grounded in reality, a modern-day Strange Tales from a C 5Reads—Score—14d adds
- 6 The Founding Ancestor of the Northeast Ma Clan 东北马家开山鼻祖 Legend has it that in the desolate days of Northeast China, bandits ran rampant, and people lived in constant fear. In that harsh, heartbreaking era, no one cared whether others lived or died, and no one spared a thought for the families caught in the chaos. At last, it all came to an end at the hands of a young man from the shamanic clan, who broke the grip of that savage, evil age. No one knew who he was. All they knew was that his actions brought shame upon his people and disgraced his family —Reads—Score—14d adds
- 7 Riding an Electric Scooter Through the Yin and Yang, I Am the World's Last Heavenly Master 脚踏电驴巡阴阳，我世间最后天师 “Beautiful lady? Why is your address a mass grave?” Probably just a rookie mistake. Make a few more deliveries and you'll get the hang of it. Zhang Daozhi was stunned. The last Celestial Master of the dynasty had accepted the most powerful inheritance, the Celestial Master's Passing, just a moment ago. The next moment, he was reborn as a food delivery rider. But this life was one of peace and prosperity, with ghosts and monsters existing only in legend. Even the Celestial Master's spells had bee 7Reads—Score—14d adds
- 8 Command My Body 敕吾身 “Perfect my body, command my body. This body is no ordinary body, but one transformed into the golden body of the Supreme Lord Lao…” (The Edict to My Body, also known as The Xuanpin Academy and The Manifestation of Divine Power, is a prequel to The Xuanpin Teahouse.) I became an apprentice at nine, formally began studying the Dao at eleven, and decided to record my experiences and observations at twenty. This is the story of Feng Cai, a disciple of Master Hu Fawang of the Great Manifestation of 50Reads—Score—14d adds
- 9 Spirit Guide 渡灵师 My grandfather and I run a coffin shop in town. While delivering a coffin to a customer one day, I accidentally broke a taboo and was haunted by the deceased's soul. Thankfully, my grandfather's friend, Master Yang, helped resolve the matter. By chance, I saw that Master Yang had a young and beautiful female disciple named Xue Di. So I decided to become his apprentice, stay by his side, and court Xue Di. Instead, I ended up setting myself on a path of no return… 6.6kReads8.7Score6.1k14d adds
- 10 The Maoshan Celestial Master's Chronicles 茅山天师录 Maoshan is famous for its Taoist arts. I learned Maoshan Taoist magic and came down from the mountain to exorcise ghosts. My whole life has been filled with confusion. Is this really how my life is supposed to go? What is the meaning of what I protect? And who is behind the eerie doll and everything else? 89Reads—Score—14d adds
- 11 The Ninefold Celestial Master 九转天师 Maoshan is another name for the Shangqing School. Since it is based on Mount Mao, it is also called the Maoshan School. Maoshan arts are fierce and domineering, renowned for the Three Mao traditions: Upper, Middle, and Lower. They are considered the foremost of the Daoist methods, and flourished from the Southern Liang dynasty through the Northern Song. After the Northern Song, many lineages spread among the common people, with the Luofu Maoshan School becoming the most famous. Also known as Sou 143Reads—Score—14d adds
- 12 The Fated Demon Bride 天命妖妻 I was born under an unusual fate, and people predicted I wouldn’t live past the age of ten. To save my life, my parents arranged an extraordinary marriage for me. On the wedding night, my family laid out a grand feast, but no one came. I was left alone in the bridal chamber until a pair of cold hands led me inside. Only when the groom lifted my veil did I finally understand: I had married a demon... 62Reads6.7Score—14d adds
- 13 Be Careful, It’s Right Behind You 小心它在后面 Synopsis: Taoist cultivation + No System + Folk occult arts + The protagonist grows gradually Yuye is utterly stunned. He can understand Black and White Impermanence changing shifts, but why is White Impermanence asking him to call her big sister?! After Yuye is infected by sinister energy, a medium seals an extremely ominous entity inside him. And so begins his journey as a Taoist priest, seeking redemption for himself. —Reads—Score—14d adds
- 14 The Fox Immortal Seeks a Title: I Said You Look Like My Future Wife 狐仙讨封：我说你像我未来的老婆 The white fox who once snuggled under the covers with me came to ask me to grant her a human form. I said: “You look like my future wife: a tempting face and figure, a slender waist, soft breasts, peach-round hips, fair skin, stunning looks, and long legs. You're even more beautiful than a nine-tailed fox spirit descended to the mortal world.” 18Reads—Score—14d adds
- 15 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—14d adds
- 16 Unlicensed Celestial Master: Selling Talismans at a Street Stall from the Start 无证天师，开局地摊卖符箓 (Supernatural thrills and comedy early on, wish fulfillment, then Primordial Chaos later) The world is overrun with strange phenomena. After transmigrating here, Zhang Chen unexpectedly gains a Celestial Master System. He thought he was finally on his way to the top, but it turned out Celestial Masters in this world had to pass exams. Full of confidence, Zhang Chen went to take the test, only to fail at the very first hurdle: the written exam. With no other choice, he set up a street stall, but 40Reads6.2Score—14d adds
- 17 The Haunted Son of Heaven 诡天子 I can hear the dead speak and tell yin from yang. A serious illness in childhood gave me the ability to hear the last words of the dead and see the shackles on the living! My name is Zhao Changsheng. I was born among piles of corpses, and my life is fated to be bound to death. I won’t live past eighteen. To keep me alive, my adoptive father revealed the secrets of fate before he died, divining thirteen corpses that could defy heaven and change destiny… 216Reads6.6Score—14d adds
- 18 My Years as a Spirit Medium, Part 2 我当出马仙的这些年2 A year after the calamity that struck once every thousand years had finally stabilized, who could have guessed that upheaval was quietly brewing in the shadows? As the order of the Heavenly Dao was reshaped, species that should never have existed began appearing in the human world. When a woman nearing the end of her lifespan came to seek help, a ten-year struggle officially began... An evil aura that devours lifespans, descendants of the blood-sucking zombie Jiang Chen, and eight books of curse 126Reads6.8Score—14d adds
- 19 Maoshan 茅山 When I was little, my parents abandoned me in a mass grave. My master found me and raised me to adulthood. He was a Taoist priest who knew how to subdue demons and exorcise evil spirits, and he taught me everything he had learned in his life. I signed an agreement with the underworld to work as a ghost constable in the mortal world, trading my service as a ghost for extra years of life… 981Reads6.5Score—14d adds
- 20 The Taoist Priest's Pact with Three Thousand Ghost Brides 道士与后宫三千女鬼的约定 This Daoist Master doesn't care for fighting and killing. I've had just one hobby all my life: collecting all kinds of beautiful female demons and ghosts from around the world. 133Reads—Score1214d adds
- 21 Four-House Village 四户村 I live in Sihu Village, a place sheltered on all four sides. Just as its name suggests, Sihu Village has exactly four households, no more and no less. There is no life or death here, only reincarnation, once every twelve years. The rules of Sihu Village are simple: the master must not leave the village, and guests must not stay overnight. Then one day, I really did leave the village, breaking the rules... 12Reads—Score—14d adds
- 22 The Little Fortune-Teller 小半仙 A young half-immortal from Mount Qingcheng descends the mountain to gain experience. He tells fortunes, reads feng shui, explores ancient tombs, and battles venomous insects. He helps people avert disasters, eliminate evil, and uphold justice, all to broaden his horizons, improve his cultivation, and enjoy this wonderful world to the fullest. But as his fame grows, so do the troubles he faces... 70Reads6.9Score—14d adds
- 23 Great, the Whole Village Is Haunted, and I’m Beyond Saving 太好啦，全村都是诡，我没救了 [Horror + Body Collection + Comedy + Plot Twists] On the day I graduated from college, I got a call saying my dad had skinned himself and died. My mother said she had to meet her daughter-in-law before my dad was buried, so I had no choice but to pay a fortune to hire the campus belle to pretend to be my girlfriend. But when I returned to the village, I discovered that no one there was human! They were all corpses... After narrowly escaping death, I became a corpse collector. The first one I col 982Reads5.6Score10714d adds
- 24 The Northeast Ma Family 东北“马”家 Do you know what a spirit horse is? Do you know what a spirit hall is? Do you know who the guardian spirits of the Northeast are? Do you know the Four Beams and Eight Pillars? Do you know the Qingfeng spirits? Whether you do or not, this book will lead you through a strange doorway and introduce you to the world of spirit mediums in Northeast China. For the first twenty-five years of my life, I thought I was just an utterly ordinary speck of dust in this little county town. I never imagined that 51Reads9.1Score—14d adds
- 25 The Orthodox Unity Taoist Acolyte 正一小道爷 My master vanished without a trace. As the sect’s last heir, I have the sect’s treasured spirit sword and a purple-gold spirit talisman brush. One man, one sword, one brush: I descend the mountain to subdue demons and ghosts. Note: Some events in this book are based on real experiences the author has had, and some of the methods are quite authentic. Do not attempt to imitate them! 592Reads6.1Score10014d adds
- 26 Supernatural: Starting Work at the Funeral Home 灵异：从殡仪馆上班开始 A person who received nine years of compulsory education finds themself caught up in a series of utterly bizarre events because of a job posting and a job... The synopsis doesn't do it justice. Read the story and see for yourself. 629Reads—Score—14d adds
- 27 The Northern Horse Immortal Venerable 北马仙尊 [Supernatural]+ [Demons]+ [Immortals and Spirits] In Northeast China, there is a group of extraordinary people. Because of their own origins and family ties, they are chosen by spiritual beings cultivating deep in the mountains. From then on, their fates change, and they are destined to follow an extraordinary path. They often walk between the worlds of yin and yang, resolving people's troubles in exchange for nothing more than an honest fee. The world calls them spirit mediums. Those who serve 1.1kReads7.8Score10114d adds
- 28 The Underworld Descends 阴司降世 The day Han Luoxuan was born, the Underworld sent guardians to protect him, a hundred ghosts surrounded his home, and rogue cultivators came to claim his life. The independent Han clan, the Fox Immortals of the Northeast, and the Buddhists joined forces to save him. Born with unusual bones and naturally gifted with Yin Eyes, he carries his family's karmic burden and is guided by destiny. He becomes the focus of a struggle in this world. Hunted by a hundred ghosts and parted from his loved ones, 16Reads—Score—14d adds
- 29 Severing the Dragon Vein 断命龙脉 The men of the Gu family never live past forty. After his father, Gu Mingyuan, dies, Gu Chenchuan follows a train ticket to Baihe, a bloodstained compass, and a few unfinished last words into the old trails of the Changbai Mountains. But the deeper he digs, the more he realizes that the Gu family has not simply been haunted or cursed. They have been caught in a living account, buried for many years, that refuses to let go. From Baihe to Tamen Peak, from the Changbai Mountains to an old well in t 1Reads—Score—14d adds
- 30 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… 1.7kReads8.8Score52014d adds
- 31 The Daoist in Blue 青衣道人 "A Feel-Good Taoist Power Fantasy + Unstoppable Domination of the City! + No Female Lead" "Building a Taoist Temple Alone + Holding Court in the Golden Triangle of Northern Myanmar + Looking Down on All Under Heaven!" Dressed in blue, with a black sword in hand, he slays gods when gods appear and vanquishes Buddhas when Buddhas come! The Thirty-Six Heavenly Powers and the Seventy-Two Earthly Arts! The Twin-Fish Jade Pendant, mummies, pyramids, lizardmen beneath the earth, A world unlike any othe 49Reads—Score—14d adds
- 32 I'm a Young Daoist from Maoshan 我是茅山小道士 I'm a young Maoshan Taoist. I can't earn enough to eat, life is hard, and misfortune follows me everywhere. With no other choice, I set up a fortune-telling stall, reading the winds and studying the land, interpreting hexagrams and divining people's fates. When ordinary people are in trouble, they come to me for help. When vengeful spirits have grievances, I help them find justice… 267Reads—Score—14d adds
- 33 Ghosts in the High-Rise, Yet You Still Want Me to Go Undercover as a Security Guard 大厦闹鬼，你还让我去做卧底保安 My name is Ma Rui, and I’m a police cadet. Recently, a series of bizarre cases have taken place inside an office building: a little finger in a food delivery order; hair in a steamed bun filling; bloodstained banknotes; a strange tile cat; and a headless woman’s corpse in a woven sack… To solve the cases as quickly as possible, the police need to send an undercover agent into the building to work as a “night security guard.” So I took on this important assignment! 856Reads7.0Score—14d adds
- 34 The Paranormal Master of Xuan Zong Feng Shui 玄宗风水术师之灵异先生 City life, celestial masters, the supernatural, feng shui, talismans, witchcraft, dark arts, ghost hunting, exorcisms, monster slaying, evil-spirit banishment, demon subjugation, battling zombies, living with a policewoman. No cultivation. 734Reads6.1Score10714d adds
- 35 Northern Horse Notes 北马笔记 The Five Immortals of the Northeast are chiefly the Hu, Huang, Chang, Mang, and Hui. After cultivating their powers and attaining the Dao, they descend the mountains to take disciples, borrowing their bodies to do good deeds among humans and earn their way to ascension. This story is told in the first person. 414Reads8.8Score—14d adds
- 36 Jiangshi World: I Am the Sacred Painter Who Guards the Mortal Realm 僵尸世界：我是画圣镇人间 After waking up, Su Dan finds he has transmigrated into Uncle Jiu’s zombie world and bound himself to the Strongest Painting Sage System! In this world, Taoist priests cultivate immortality through the Dao, while Buddhist monks wield boundless power through the Dharma! But Su Dan uses the Way of Painting to crush every demon and monster under heaven! Daoist Master Simu: “With just a brush and paper, Su Dan has made the entire world of sorcery bow its head!” Uncle Jiu: “Wherever Su Dan has been, 275Reads7.1Score—14d adds
- 37 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! 354Reads7.8Score10114d adds
- 38 Wayfarer Between Yin and Yang 阴阳行者 The ultimate truths of heaven and earth are two: death and parting, and the way between yin and yang. I protect the living in the world of light, driving out evil and subduing demons until every specter is vanquished. I guide the dead across the Yellow Springs, and set foot upon the Bridge of Helplessness without hesitation. A traveler between the realms of yin and yang, I bear the balance of life and death on my shoulders. Have you ever seen an old sheep knock at your door, or a paper figure sp 268Reads5.6Score—14d adds
- 39 Cultivation: I Begin by Drawing Peach Blossom Talismans for the Aloof Campus Belle 修仙：从给清冷校花画桃花符开始 [Reborn][Spiritual Qi Revival][Lighthearted Everyday Life][Love Rivals] Ning Wei woke up reborn as a young Taoist priest at a temple on Mount Huangting in Mingzhou, just as Spiritual Qi was being revived. With a new era on the horizon, Ning Wei decided to start by drawing talismans. His very first job came from an aloof campus beauty who wanted a love talisman. Who would have thought the red thread of fate binding the campus beauty would lead straight to Ning Wei? Ning Wei: Miss Campus Beauty, a 477Reads7.0Score10314d adds
- 40 Fox Mountain Ritual 狐山祭 I was a child brought home by a wildcat. Little did I know that my arrival would bring my family an inescapable run of bad luck. Later, by a strange twist of fate, I was taken in by a fox immortal as graceful as jade and brought to his immortal mountain. From then on, I became the temple maiden who guarded his shrine. “Lingcai, Lingcai. It means lively and brilliant, full of spirit; it also means all living things, flourishing in their splendor. In the broadest sense or the narrowest, it is all 270Reads8.7Score—14d adds
- 41 The Qilin Boy Sets Out as a Spirit Medium 麒麟童子出马仙 Looking for book reviews! [First-person + mystery and the supernatural + cultivation + comedy] My new work is here. Everyone is welcome to read it, and I hope you'll enjoy it. The main story: The protagonist, Yang Chongwen, is the reincarnation of a fragment of a Qilin's soul. His unusual constitution combines yin and yang, making him the prize everyone fights over among the wandering cultivators of the Northeast. Later, he sets up a spirit altar and deals with all kinds of supernatural incident 718Reads8.4Score—14d adds
- 42 Uncle Jiu's World: I Became Maoshan's Junior Martial Uncle 九叔世界：我成了茅山小师叔 Chen Lan transmigrated into Uncle Jiu’s world and awakened a God-Tier Choice System. From the start, he became Maoshan’s junior grand-uncle! From then on, under his leadership, Maoshan swept across the land, crushing demons, monsters, and ghosts, clearing away anyone who stood in its path and reaching the pinnacle of glory! 145Reads7.8Score—14d adds
- 43 Carrying the Dragon Coffin 抬龙棺 The First Emperor's coffin was called the Dragon Coffin. By rights, everyone who carried the Dragon Coffin should have been buried alive with him. But my ancestor somehow escaped. Was the elixir of immortality really just a legend? And where did Xu Fu go after sailing east? My ancestor was the only person who knew the secret of Qin Shi Huang's mausoleum... 3kReads8.5Score30514d adds
- 44 The Thousand-Year-Old Snake Wife 千年蛇妻 [First-person POV + One Female Lead + Maoshan Disciple + Cultivation Prodigy + No System + No Immortality Cultivation] [A passionate romance between a human and a demon] [A mission passed down across thousands of years] [Wild ideas spanning ancient and modern times] In the rural Northeast, all sorts of eerie stories are always being told. But with my unusual constitution, I refuse to believe in the supernatural, so I insist on going to play in the haunted hills behind the village. There, I run i 15.5kReads8.9Score1.2k14d adds
- 45 The Spirit Medium's Road: My Adventures with the Old Immortal 出马仙，我跟老仙的江湖路 A disciple of the spirit mediums of Ghost Street, in his tenth year practicing the art. His greatest wish at first was to become the biggest local thug. He never expected to become a spirit medium, and only after taking it up did he discover that people in this line of work are worse than gangsters. What kind of person you are determines what kind of spirit you get, and the spirits follow their hosts. Zhao Zhengyang’s spirit companions are all like slick socialites in leather shoes. Then he runs 3.4kReads8.2Score39214d adds
- 46 The Maoshan Sect Leader 茅山掌教 The Dao is the foundation of the Way; arts are how it is put to use. Hidden soul-binding talismans, a life of poverty and an early death for initiates, the three Maos’ upper, middle, and lower teachings, and secret arts that leave ghosts and gods in awe! The most mysterious final patriarch of Maoshan leads his disciple Zhang Shouyi across the land, exorcising demons, exploring dangerous places in search of treasures, resolving ancient grudges, and roaming both the realms of yin and yang as he li 1.1kReads6.7Score10014d adds
- 47 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—14d adds
- 48 The Immortal Horse-Riding Shaman 长生出马仙 After a thousand-year cycle, spiritual qi revival begins, immortals and gods rise, and demons and evil spirits run rampant. All living beings strive for a chance at immortality. Yun Zhong, who transmigrated into this world, has brought along the ancestral offerings to the Ma Xian. See how he plots his way to power in this unfamiliar world, rising step by step, sweeping aside all opposition and pursuing immortality at his leisure. 206Reads6.9Score—14d adds
- 49 Case Files of the Unusual: New Century 异案调查录2：新世纪 A century marks one hundred years. In this new century, technology and information are advancing at breakneck speed, and all kinds of bizarre cases are springing up everywhere. News of them spreads faster than ever before. A boy who can only walk by hopping, another person's face appearing in the village well, a human shadow appearing on a factory warehouse wall in the middle of the night, and more... Only the Unusual Cases Investigation Bureau can handle this series of bizarre incidents... 53Reads—Score—14d adds
- 50 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 714Reads7.4Score10114d adds
