Novels like Opening the Road to the Underworld
Books Chinese readers most often put in the same booklists as Opening the Road to the Underworld, best match first.
- 1 Nine Out of Ten Divinations Are Wrong 【十卦九不准】 [No heroine, not a power fantasy, no tired tropes. A sequel to The Nether Road, also known as Strange Tales of the Spirit Road.] Read people's fortunes when you meet them; divine the dead's paths when you encounter ghosts. Use yarrow stalks to cast hexagrams, and pluck gold to change fate. Walk among the corpses without fear, and never lose your way in the underworld. The practitioners of yin and yang arts investigate strange cases, while ancient mystic traditions probe the hearts of humankind. 546Reads8.7Score10714d adds
- 2 Agent of the Supernatural 诡怪代理人 Comic artist Lin You suddenly gets a phone call informing him that he’s inherited an estate. In the blink of an eye, he becomes a rich second-generation heir. Grateful, he burns paper offerings and prays to the gods, never expecting to summon a ferocious ghost... 82Reads9.1Score—14d adds
- 3 The Corpse Village Puppeteer 尸乡偃师 Fifteen years ago, the once-prosperous Qi family was consumed by fire overnight. He was the last child of this family of tomb raiders. Now, after fifteen years, he has returned to the path of tomb raiding, determined to uncover the mysteries hidden in ancient tombs. Why did the Shang dynasty's master craftsman sacrifice his eldest son and bury him beneath a long street? Did Emperor Taishu of Shang achieve the immortality he sought? What did the Gu family members see when they ventured into the Q 228Reads—Score—14d adds
- 4 The Ghost's Messenger 鬼遣人 “Offer the three sacrificial animals and fine grain to the ghosts and gods.” At eighteen, I happened by chance to meet a half-baked Taoist priest and got swept into a quest to uncover an ancient sacrificial rite. It all began when I took in a “Lord.” 99Reads—Score—14d adds
- 5 Chasing the Wind by Moonlight 乘月追风 [Mystery and horror + supernatural + ghost stories + not a power fantasy + no heroine] Intern doctor Lu Zhuifeng's family is framed by villains, and from then on, all kinds of spirits and ghosts frequently possess him, forcing him to get involved in supernatural incidents. He has only one unreliable, half-trained young fortune-teller by his side. How will they overcome the crises they face? As they get drawn deeper into the fray, a filthy conspiracy begins to emerge... 74Reads—Score—14d adds
- 6 I Tamed the Paranormal 我把诡异收服了 Born with ghostly eyes, I share a desk with the City Lord of the Underworld. A vengeful female ghost wants me to kiss her, I take in a powerful underworld enforcer, and a princess from a thousand years ago swears an oath with me. Onstage, they sing of sorrow and grief. Beneath the stage, I capture every kind of evil. My name is Zhang Qiang. Watch me run rampant through the Underworld! —Reads—Score—14d adds
- 7 The Yellow River Mystery Journal 黄河惊奇手札 The white fish in the Yellow River, the stone tortoise resting on the riverbed, the black boat drifting by at midnight, the red carp leaping through the Dragon Gate: these are stories passed down among the people who live along the Yellow River. 139Reads6.3Score—14d adds
- 8 Apocalypse Descends: So I’m the Leader of the Mutants 末世降临：原来我是异种老大 In 2056, a solar storm swept across the globe, plunging the world into darkness for seven days and seven nights. Earth's ozone layer was destroyed, and solar radiation reached the ground. After that, the whole world changed. Then the crisis arrived, officially ushering in the Age of Death. A hundred years later, Fang Duonan, a boy from an ordinary border city, was supposed to go out and complete a task as required. But someone tried to kill him. When he woke up, he had a strange ghost hand attac 153Reads8.4Score—14d adds
- 9 The Hidden Treasure 密藏 On the twenty-eighth day of the twelfth month of 1998, Qiu Ming receives a mysterious phone call telling him to pick up a file from a specified location the next day. The file comes from the distant Kunlun Mountains and records some of the Qiu family’s past, including part of the truth about his grandfather’s death. One passage in the file catches Qiu Ming’s attention. It concerns a hidden treasure kept secret by an ancient Western Regions kingdom. For generations, members of the Qiu family have 841Reads—Score16814d adds
- 10 The Longevity Project 长生计划 A handsome young man has turned up at my house, mooching food and lodging without paying, all under the excuse that he’s lost his memory. Every sign points to the fact that he has been alive for a very long time... 479Reads8.3Score10614d adds
- 11 Jade Curse 玉咒 My family has a blood curse passed down through the generations. None of the men in our family live past the age of fifty. The source of the curse turns out to be a living piece of ancient jade. 1.7kReads8.8Score34214d adds
- 12 The Gods Must Keep Their Distance 诸神回避 On the very day I completed my training, my patriarch refused to let me through the door. By the rules, I was supposed to fend for myself. I never expected that someone destined to meet me three times and save me three times had been waiting for me at the crossroads all along. He led me into a world beyond the reach of ordinary people. On the banks of the River of the Dead, beyond the boundary between yin and yang, atop Cloudpeak, at the bottom of the abyss, wherever he goes, his first words are 373Reads8.8Score—14d adds
- 13 Young Taoist Master 少年道师 In southwestern China, funeral ritual officiants are also known as Daoist masters. When someone dies, rich or poor, their family will hire these masters to perform rites, choose a burial date, and select a gravesite with auspicious feng shui. Their daily work also involves many other things, including driving away evil spirits, conducting rituals, and even glimpsing the secrets of fate. Why does the boy leading the funeral procession set off firecrackers? What do the black and white strips 1.4kReads8.6Score24214d adds
- 14 Notes on Suppressing Evil 镇邪笔记 The four infamous evil objects passed down in folk legend are the Red-Clothed Fiend, the Grinning Corpse, the Bronze Coffin, and the Upright-Burial Grave. I’d only just graduated, and I’d already run into two of them… 4.5kReads8.7Score44114d adds
- 15 Ghost Curse 鬼咒 Stars are people too. Let me tell you about the times I followed my master and helped some Chinese celebrities change their fate. Changing someone's fate, of course, starts with raising a little ghost. 3.1kReads—Score63214d adds
- 16 I Have a Ghostly Wife 我有鬼娇妻 [Mystery] [Comedy] Have you ever experienced something like this? I mean, asking for a wife at the bottom of a dry well! I live in a small village in the mountains, cut off from the outside world. No outsiders have visited in hundreds of years. Maybe it's because of a curse, but no baby girls have ever been born in our village. 1Reads—Score—14d adds
- 17 Usurping Heaven's Mandate 篡天命 The arts of the Dao often say, “Fate can be known, but not changed; calamities can be calculated, but not avoided.” Yet when my grandpa passed down three ghost coins to me, he told me there was another kind of person in this world, someone who could toy with destiny as if it were in the palm of their hand. I’m one of those people who gamble with life: I gamble with other people’s lives, and with my own. But if you want to gamble with Heaven, you have to find a coffin first... 528Reads7.2Score—14d adds
- 18 Searching for Dragon Pearls 寻龙藏珠 [First person + Suspense and exploration + Supernatural arts + Ensemble adventure + Ancient civilizations + No romance] To find my missing childhood friend, I accidentally wander into an underground cave, where a thousand-year-old drought demon bites me and leaves me afflicted with an ancient curse. The only way to suppress the curse and stay alive is to cultivate using Dragon Pearls. Thus begins my perilous and unpredictable quest to find dra 220Reads8.9Score—14d adds
- 19 The Day I Left My Master, I Banged My Head and Killed My Entire Family 出师当天，我一头磕死满院亲人 A yellow weasel weeps at a grave, a dead woman gives birth. A sinister, uncanny world of curse magic unfolds... 2.4kReads8.9Score31814d adds
- 20 Corpse Town 千尸镇 Today, we're not talking about anything else. We're just telling a story. They say that somewhere in Hebei, there's a very strange paper effigy shop called the Yin-Yang Shop... 505Reads7.3Score6714d adds
- 21 After Doing Good Deeds, I Became the Strongest Esper of My Time 行善事后，我成为当世最强异能者 [System + supernatural powers + comedy + no female lead + a world at peace (with nukes)] Xu Ling transmigrates and accidentally saves an unlucky classmate from disaster, unexpectedly activating the Good Samaritan System and gaining supernatural ability points! He thinks the System will help him become overpowered and reach the peak of life, but then he discovers that its good-deed quests are downright ridiculous... Why is stealing an old lady's coat hanger a mandatory System quest? Is kicking ov 19Reads6.4Score—14d adds
- 22 One Stick of Incense to Worship the Gods, an Outlaw Exorcist: Zhang Wulang! 一香祀神法外狂徒，端公张五郎！ This book is a work of fiction. The rituals, incantations, and water-based magic performed by Duangongs are invented for the story. Do not imitate them. What you read here is a story, not a craft. Cherish life and trust in science. Read the final chapter, and you will see with your own eyes what lies at the end of tearing down altars and temples. I transmigrated to the late Qing dynasty and became an outlaw. In other words, a man beyond the reach of the law. My skills came from ancient times, b —Reads—Score—14d adds
- 23 The Nether Mausoleum 幽陵 A fleeting dream, a glance at passing scenes; eight thousand ghosts emerge from this realm. The Dragon Palace's blue waters are the real world; immortals point out the ancient kings of Shu... With nothing but a treasure-hunting verse, the Xiling Divine Manual, Bai Ze accidentally tore through a veil that had concealed secrets for millennia. The ancient age of slash-and-burn farming, the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors, Yanzi creating the heavens, Fuxi making humankind: all seem both real and 565Reads8.2Score10614d adds
- 24 The Temple That Eats People 吃人的庙 The Man-Eating Temple 1Reads—Score—14d adds
- 25 A Thousand-Year-Old Corpse Immortal Opens His Eyes, and the World Is Free of Ghosts 千年尸仙，睁眼后人间无诡 He lay in his coffin for a thousand years. At dusk, when an archaeological team pried open the lid, Chen Xuan opened his eyes. A sealing formation from the Demon Suppression Division instantly descended. Eighteen golden chains coiled around his limbs, the old professor collapsed in terror, and everyone in the warehouse screamed. But Chen Xuan rose to his feet and shattered the formation with one palm. “When a thousand-year-old corpse opens its eyes, no more monsters will run rampant in the morta 267Reads—Score12514d adds
- 26 Grandpa Started the Trouble, Three Generations Must Pay 爷爷闯下的祸，三代来还 The trouble Grandpa caused will take three generations to repay. 3Reads—Score—14d adds
- 27 Murderous Intent Profiling 杀意侧写 [Sci-Fi/Crime Solving/Psychological Infinite Flow/Brain-Bending, with Many Foreshadowing Clues/Unique Worldbuilding/No Female Lead, No Formulaic Tropes, Not a Power Fantasy] “The people who sell bullets will never hope for peace.” “Groups that profit from crime will never maintain social order.” Three years ago, after learning of the Nova Group’s Totem Project, Yu Bai laid out his plans, decided to forget everything, and turned himself in. Three years later, during a rooftop hostage crisis, he b 77Reads8.1Score—14d adds
- 28 Slapped the School Belle from the Start, Then Changed Class to the One and Only Sword Immortal 开局扇校花耳光，我转职唯一剑仙 [Sword Immortal + System + No Romance + No Forgiveness + Game Merges with Reality + Ensemble Cast Later On + Not Invincible + Growth-Oriented + Slow Start, Strong Finish + Swordsmanship + Brotherhood] Fifty years ago, a game descended upon reality. Since then, all of Blue Star has been digitized. Martial arts reign supreme, ferocious beasts run rampant, and dungeons are everywhere! Xu Gui transmigrates into this world and awakens the Divine Choice System: Every choice he makes earns him a corres 387Reads8.8Score10414d adds
- 29 Taoist, Spare Us! Zombies, Ghosts, and Monsters Are Freaking Out! 道士请饶命，僵尸鬼妖慌麻了！ [Supernatural] [Feng Shui and Folk Customs] [Ghost Hunting and Corpse Suppression] [Transmigration] [No System] Chen Yang, a Taoist who used to sweep temple floors, transmigrates to a world without Taoist priests and discovers that he has become the village idiot tasked with guarding the village. The village chief says, "My dead father is causing too much trouble. You have to get in the coffin and keep him company!" Chen Yang replies, "Trouble? That's right up my alley. I'll have your dad settle 109Reads—Score914d adds
- 30 The Keeper of Fate 守命人 Five years ago, my brother became addicted to gambling and racked up 700,000 yuan in debt. To pay it off, he went to Xiangxi’s Corpse-Hiding Cave to carry corpses and gamble with his life. 841Reads7.2Score16314d adds
- 31 Clan Cultivation: From the Start, I Transmigrate into a Demonic Rope 家族修仙：开局穿越成了魔绳 #Cultivation Clan#Slow-Burn Ordinary-Mortal Story#No Female Lead#Decisive and Ruthless... Shen Mo transmigrates into a demon god sealed by a rope of Immortal King rank. A cultivation clan on the brink of destruction finds him. He can communicate with its members and lend them his power for a short time, but the price is their lives, essentially a sacrificial possession. He can also briefly possess outsiders, grow stronger, and clear away obstacles. From then on, he dwells within the demonic rope —Reads—Score—14d adds
- 32 I Came from the Yellow Springs 我来自黄泉 At the border between yin and yang, at the mouth of the Yellow Springs, the living guard the Thirteen Ghost Gates. The prison governor, the jailers, and the Brocade-Robed Marquis; at the post station for the dead, a mountain dog keeps watch. The door gods, the water nymph, the Confucius Temple; red lanterns and white funeral banners circle the streets. This ghost ballad, missing one line, conceals a world-shaking secret. I was a child my grandfather stole from the Yellow Springs, so before I was 16.4kReads9.0Score1.8k14d adds
- 33 I’m Going to Lure 100 Lost Souls 我要勾满100个亡魂 Sequel to I Guide Souls at Wangxiang Terrace Lin Jiaojiao, 24, an overworked office worker, suddenly dies on the Nth night in a row of staying up all night revising proposals. When she opens her eyes again, she has already completed every step of the underworld’s procedures. But just as she reaches Wangxiang Terrace, the guide Zhou Yi stops her. “Your attachment remains unresolved. You can’t be reincarnated.” Judge Li Muzi offers her a way forward: work as a soul reaper under him, and she can be 11.2kReads—Score4k14d adds
- 34 Exorcism Records: The Supreme Judge of Yin and Yang 镇鬼实录：阴阳第一执宰人 [Traditional supernatural horror + ghost hunting + no romance] The city is full of tricks. I want to go back to the countryside. After losing his job, Jiang Bai returns to his rural hometown, only to find that a wicked spirit has begun tearing out people’s hearts. More and more villagers are being killed, and the whole village is helpless. Ignoring his late grandfather’s prohibition, he inherits his grandfather’s legacy and enters the world of the mystic arts. In a once-quiet town, accidents kee 79Reads—Score—14d adds
- 35 I Heard of Strange Things That Year: Never Read This Late at Night 那年听闻怪事，千万别深夜翻看 These stories are adapted and fictionalized from various experiences shared by friends. They are written in an accessible style and make for a good way to unwind. A reminder: reject superstition. This is all imaginative fiction. Any similarities to real events are purely coincidental, so don't take it seriously! 11Reads—Score—14d adds
- 36 Becoming an Ancestor After Death 死后当祖宗 No heroine + Chinese-style ghosts and gods + history + a contest for national destiny + family clan Wang Laosan is dead. The dead should act like the dead and go obediently to be reincarnated. But which bastard lifted the lid of his coffin and bullied his wife and children? 2Reads—Score114d adds
- 37 Thirteen Years in the Shady Business 我捞偏门十三年 [The rating just came out, but it'll go up later] I entered the business in 2008 and retired in 2021. People usually call those of us in this line of work "readers of the unseen." In thirteen years on the job, only about eighty percent of the strange cases I handled ended well. All I can say is that ghosts aren't the most sinister things out there. Some things don't even have names you can call them by. 60.4kReads8.9Score10.4k14d adds
- 38 After My Face Was Stolen, I Drew the Six Realms of Living Beings 我的脸被夺走后我画出六道众生相 My face was stolen. It wasn’t disfigured. It wasn’t disguised. My face was literally gone. To stay alive, I had no choice but to paint one new face after another onto my own. Human, ghost, demon, beast, god, immortal. Every face I painted gave me a new ability. As I tried to reclaim my original face, I gradually discovered that this world was far more complicated than it seemed. 96Reads—Score12614d adds
- 39 I Prove Longevity Alongside the Azure Wolf 我与青狼证长生 The bad news: I egged my buddy on to climb a mountain, and it made him transmigrate! The worse news: My buddy transmigrated into a beast demon?! To stay alive, I made a life-bound pact with my buddy, who's now a blue wolf! And so the Beast Taming Sect gained one very oddball duo! Me, a brawny body cultivator, charging into close combat! Him, a top student of a beast demon, wielding every technique under the sun! Other people charge into battle with their spirit beasts leading the way. With mine, 4kReads7.1Score42714d adds
- 40 One Hundred Thousand and One Folk Horror Stories 十万零一个民间恐怖故事 A collection of short horror stories in an episodic format, with a new story every chapter. No dragging things out! Haunted houses in the countryside, mountain spirits, urban legends, old customs and taboos... Every kind of Chinese-style horror is covered, with nonstop thrills and no filler. Anti-superstition disclaimer: This story is entirely fictional. Believe in science and read rationally. Please don’t apply it to real life~ 291Reads—Score1014d adds
- 41 Medium's Notes: My Left Eye Can See Ghosts 灵媒笔记：我的左眼能见鬼 The Cangye lineage of the Southern Frontier unleashes chaos. The Cherry Blossom Curse, Yin Soil summoning, Ruin Spirits, and malevolent earth veins emerge one after another, leaving the seals protecting the land on the brink of collapse. In a desperate battle, pure Yang Heavenly Energy collides with the turbid qi of Yin Soil inside him, forming a yin-yang vortex whose blessings and dangers are impossible to predict. His old enemies flee into the Hundred Thousand Mountains, seeking a chance to p 12Reads—Score—14d adds
- 42 Rule Horror: My Talent Keeps Getting Stranger 规则怪谈：我的天赋越来越奇怪 The rating just came out, and I hope you'll show it lots of support. Thank you! [Original Instances + Creepy + Live Streaming + Comedy + Gets a Little Crazy Later] Also known as Leaving the World, I Was Chosen by a Rules-Based Horror Xia Yu was about to leave this beautiful world when he transmigrated. When he discovered that he had transmigrated to a world invaded by rules-based horror, he quickly calmed down and continued writing his own death notice. If he gets chosen by a rules-based horror, 226Reads6.1Score—14d adds
- 43 You Were Told to Guard a Village, So Why Did You Make the City God Cry? 让你守个村儿，你把城隍打哭了？ After the old madman died, I always thought I was the only person left in the village. Then one year, two men showed up carrying a camera and said they wanted to film a documentary about walking marriages... 452Reads8.5Score—14d adds
- 44 Haunted? Don't Worry, Grandpa Can Summon the Gods 闹鬼？没事的，阿公会请神 Have you ever heard that you shouldn’t pick up red envelopes you find on the road? You might accidentally claim a partner from the underworld. Want to talk to your departed loved ones again? Then… let’s try a spirit-world séance. Worship at the Yin Temple and grow rich. If you’ve got the guts, come give it a try! 142Reads—Score—14d adds
- 45 After My Master Left, the Funeral Shop Became Connected to the Underworld 师父走后，白事店连通了地府 [Completed story + supernatural horror + funeral customs + no female lead] After my master passed away, I took over the funeral shop’s business. Only then did I realize that my master had tricked me. This funeral shop was actually connected to the underworld. It didn’t just handle business from the living world; it also had to take care of all kinds of requests from the dead. Wayward children, heartless parents, sinister relatives... The living are hard to deal with, and the dead are even harder 9.4kReads8.8Score1.1k14d adds
- 46 Rule Horror: After Five Years Away, I’ve Lost My Human Registration! 规则怪谈：消失五年后人籍没了！ [Rule Horror + No Female Lead + CP + Male-Male Romance] Note: This is not a wish-fulfillment novel!!! Rule Horror descends upon Blue Star. Clear a scenario successfully and earn lavish rewards; fail, and the horror will descend upon your world. For three years, the scenario clear rate has remained at zero. Scenarios of all kinds have appeared in cities, and desperate cries can be heard everywhere. While countries everywhere are scrambling to deal with the scenarios, the Dragon Kingdom has made i 1.4kReads8.4Score25514d adds
- 47 Someone New Appeared in the Footage 录像里多出一个人 The test shoot’s discarded footage was four seconds longer. Everyone in the frame held the same poses they had at the end of filming. No one moved. I counted three times. There were six people every time. But only five people had been there that day. On the hard drive my mother left behind, there was an empty folder with a four-character name: Do Not Fast-Forward. In the recycle bin was a deleted video, four minutes and twenty-five seconds long, which couldn’t be recovered. Our production crew w 2Reads—Score—14d adds
- 48 The Amulet Shop 佛牌专事店 [No female lead + two male leads] My name is Zhou Yi. I’m a broke loser who just graduated from college and can’t even find a decent job. Then a shop owner called and asked me to interview for a sales clerk position. At last, I found a job that could keep food on the table. But the things sold in this shop were nothing like ordinary merchandise. They even seemed a little sinister. Still, I needed to make a living, so I gritted my teeth and stuck with it. I never imagined that this job would plun 11.6kReads9.0Score1.6k14d adds
- 49 The Whole World Wants to Ship Me with Someone 全世界都想跟我组CP [Dual Protagonists, No Romance, Powerful and Ruthless Protagonist-Centric Story, Dark Tone] As the protagonist of a virtual game world, Feng Shenling has maxed-out talent and skills. He is devoted to helping the weak and fighting the strong, and wants to kill every monster to protect humanity. He is the conquest target of every player and a savior who exists as a "god." Yet despite his immense power, Feng Shenling was born unable to understand emotions. That changed when he met a mysterious yo 109Reads8.1Score—14d adds
- 50 Land of Miracles 神澜奇域无双珠 Fahua is the greatest genius in the Domain of Law. He lives there, follows order and etiquette, excels at leadership, and commands the Canon. Lange is the greatest genius in the Domain of Blue. He lives there, cherishes freedom, does as he pleases, excels at fighting, and commands the elements. The Domain of Law believes that humans are descended from gods. In ancient times, they received the Canon’s blessing, created order, and abide by it. The Domain of Blue believes that humans are nature’s d 3.1kReads8.8Score46914d adds
