Novels like The Local Official
Books Chinese readers most often put in the same booklists as The Local Official, best match first.
- 51 The Heavenly Master Descends the Mountain: Others Read Faces, I Read Fate 天师下山：别人看相，我窥天命 The Netherworld infant Xiang Ling is born, delivered by underworld officials, with Black and White Impermanence guarding the gates and the Ten Great Nether Marshals patrolling the streets! The feng shui Xiang family suffers a devastating calamity and nearly faces extinction! Xiang Ling survives against all odds, finds shelter on Longhu Mountain, and becomes an heir to the Celestial Masters. Twenty years later, having mastered the mystic arts, Xiang Ling descends from Longhu Mountain to break evi 141Reads6.1Score—Shelves
- 52 Feng Shui Yin-Yang Master 风水阴阳师 "Born under the Emperor Ziwei's fate, with yin-yang eyes from birth." An extraordinary life is his destiny. He inherits his ancestors' feng shui arts. In the world of the mystic arts, yin flourishes while yang declines. A thousand-year plan awaits just one person. 1.2kReads7.1Score114Shelves
- 53 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! 607Reads6.1Score100Shelves
- 54 I Became a Heavenly Master of the Dao 我成了道门天师 My name is Li Changqing. When my mother gave birth to me, ghosts roamed the night, and a wandering Daoist saved my life. He said my fate was far too harsh, bringing calamity to my closest relatives. My parents might not die peacefully… and I still had three disasters to survive. My only chance of survival was to join the Daoist sect. 11Reads—Score—Shelves
- 55 The Yin Sovereign: The Fox Immortal Arrives 阴天子，狐仙驾到 I was born with an extraordinary destiny, meant to become an emperor. But just after I was born, someone tried to sabotage my fate. To save me, my grandfather gave away the merit accumulated by eighteen generations of our family, and risked his own life to defy the heavens and change my destiny... 5.4kReads7.4Score348Shelves
- 56 The Third World You Don't Know 你不知道的第三世界 Have you ever doubted the world you see with your own eyes? Have you ever experienced a supernatural event? Are you curious about unknown creatures? Open this book and step into the mysterious, unknown Third World! 838Reads6.6Score102Shelves
- 57 Songs of the Underworld 冥歌 [Not a wish-fulfillment novel] It’s a tangled, lengthy story, not one about a loser turning his life around by fawning over women. [There is a heroine] I’m new to this, so I don’t understand why novels have to be tagged as having no heroine. To be honest, mine has one, though she doesn’t appear much. [Not necessarily funny] Hard to say. The author has a strange sense of humor. [Neurotic] The author is a little crazy, with a mind that keeps jumping around, so the plot can sometimes feel erratic. 1Reads8.1Score—Shelves
- 58 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.” 23Reads—Score—Shelves
- 59 Strange Tales from the Countryside 农村里的奇异怪谈 [Traditional supernatural horror + third-person narration + one female lead + no immortal cultivation] In a strange, gloomy bamboo forest, evil forces claim people’s lives. A university graduate has just returned to his village when he becomes embroiled in a series of bizarre events. In the end, he takes a master and learns the Dao. Is the mysterious woman good or evil? What other strange events will the protagonist encounter? Find out in the book. 21Reads—Score—Shelves
- 60 The Heavenly Official's Edict 天官敕令 When Chen Qi awakens the long-lost “Word Spirit Edict” during a haunted-house livestream, he thinks it’s just a way to earn money to save his father. But when fragments of an antique bronze mirror reveal a thousand-year-old formation, and the technology group “Entropy” uses algorithms to optimize feng shui and kill, he realizes he’s been dragged into an ultimate war between traditional occult arts and modern technology. From malignant spirits in haunted houses to ghost soldiers on the march, and —Reads—Score—Shelves
- 61 The Borrowed Blade 借刀人 As a shooting star streaked across the sun, a young man borrowed a blade. The Guigu Seal was broken, the Chiyou Banner appeared, and war erupted. The five immortals of fox, weasel, hedgehog, rat, and snake traveled by night and day, while the five evils of judges, tribute collectors, insects, corpses, and livestock roamed the land. Earth gods and City Gods, zombies and hanging ghosts, dragon maidens, vengeful spirits and monsters, Thunder Gods and drought demons walked between the realms of yin 16Reads8.3Score—Shelves
- 62 Is It Too Much for a Fortune Teller Like Me to Know a Little Yin-Yang Magic? 我一个算命的会点阴阳术不过分吧 [Maoshan Arts + Ghost Hunting + Face Reading + Powerful Connections + Walking Between the Yin and Yang Worlds + Team] Zhao Yang's grandfather made him study three books from a young age: the Zhouyi, the Ma Yi Divine Physiognomy, and a third book with no cover, whose contents were handwritten. After his grandfather passed away, Zhao Yang inherited his mantle. But now that cremation was the norm, all he could do was read people's feng shui, barely earning enough to get by. Just as he was thinking 323Reads—Score—Shelves
- 63 The Day I Was Born, the Heavenly Coffin Bestowed Blessings, and Nine Dragons Suppressed Evil 我出生那天，天棺赐福，九龙镇煞 The day I was born, the Nine Dragons wailed, and a divine coffin appeared in the sky. Feng shui lore says that when the Nine Dragons bow before a coffin, it becomes a Heavenly Coffin. Whatever lies inside will bring either immense fortune or great calamity. I was never meant to live in this world. My grandmother stole my life from a dragon-bone Heavenly Coffin. When I turned eighteen, she told me a great secret about the Heavenly Coffin… 4.1kReads7.6Score329Shelves
- 64 Yin-Yang Paper Effigy Maker 阴阳纸扎匠 The paper effigies my grandfather made could subdue spirits and drive away evil energy. He passed this craft down to me alone. Back in his day, my grandfather was a renowned master in the world of feng shui. I thought I could carry on his legend, but I was set up as soon as I struck out on my own. It turns out there’s another me in this world! (No System, no mindless protagonist, no stale tropes, no cultivation.) 422Reads6.9Score—Shelves
- 65 The Strange Realm Frontline 诡界战线 [Mystery and Puzzles + Supernatural Powers + Eerie Folk Customs + One Heroine + Not Mindless + Ensemble Cast and Political Intrigue + Takes Off Around Chapter 30 and Gets Better and Better] The Ten Halls of the King of Hell stand empty. The mysterious Miscellaneous Affairs Bureau barely maintains order between the worlds of the living and the dead. Confucianism, Buddhism, Taoism, and magic; Yin-Yang arts and Mount Mao; cyber exorcism, electronic dance music to ward off misfortune. Awaken all man 5Reads—Score—Shelves
- 66 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… 1.5kReads8.8Score484Shelves
- 67 The Daoist Arts Compendium: Flirting with Ghosts in the Underworld 道术灵册我在冥界调戏鬼 Supernatural and bizarre incidents keep happening, along with the use of all kinds of talismans, spells, and Taoist arts. Follow me, Lin Feng, as I promote traditional Chinese Taoism. Lin Feng was raised from childhood by his grandfather, Lin Yousheng, a renowned Taoist priest. The story takes place in a small town in the 1980s and 1990s. Before turning thirteen, Lin Feng had little interest in his grandfather's identity as a Taoist priest, but at thirteen, he began his journey down the Taoist p 2Reads—Score—Shelves
- 68 The Great Master of the Ma Yi School 麻衣大相师 I was born on the fifteenth day of the seventh lunar month. My grandfather, a feng shui master, never let me go outside after dark when I was little. Then one day, he had to leave the house… 243Reads8.6Score—Shelves
- 69 The Yin Official Forensic Doctor 阴倌法医 Armed with half a tattered book left behind by my grandpa, I took up the shady trade of a Yin Constable, making a living by swindling people. I thought that as long as I followed the rules, I’d be safe and sound. But my final job dragged me into a bewildering whirlpool, and from then on I found myself walking the boundary between the world of the living and the underworld... 1.6kReads7.7Score245Shelves
- 70 The Gu Master 蛊人 I became a gu person at the age of seven… I was the only one of nine children to survive. The other eight died with blood pouring from their seven orifices as countless worms burrowed into their hearts… The most mysterious gu magic! The strangest stories! Find them all in this novel! 298Reads8.0Score—Shelves
- 71 The Jiuzhou Pawnshop 九州当铺 [Urban Supernatural Powers + Traditional Paranormal Mysteries + Ghost Hunting and Demon Exorcism + Taoist Arts and Incantations + National Special Organization] The Jiuzhou Pawnshop is a mysterious organization dedicated to handling paranormal incidents. As a forfeited pawn at the shop, Bai Lian had his naturally double pupils sealed by his father not long after he was born, in exchange for three small gold bars. The seal would automatically break once he turned twenty-four. After that, he encou 360Reads6.4Score—Shelves
- 72 The Third Yin Messenger 第三阴差 He is neither a Taoist priest nor a mage, yet with a raised hand he can banish ghosts, and with a breath he can destroy demons. Heaven may be first, and earth second, but he is the third Yin messenger walking among mortals: Qin Wuming! 1.8kReads7.2Score162Shelves
- 73 The Eerie Game: From the Start, I Picked Up a Top-Tier Star 诡异游戏：开局捡个顶流女星 [Horror game + dark tone + unscrupulous tactics + Infinite Flow + one female lead] Could the strange creature Gu Changqing brought out of a haunted villa really be a top-tier star and a high-level player in the horror game? And does she really need to form a "deep connection" with Gu Changqing and devour his "life essence" to maintain her human form...? 7Reads8.0Score—Shelves
- 74 I Know a Few Ghost Tricks 我会点鬼术 A hundred years a ghost, ten years a good man. My name is Bai Yaoyao. In this world overrun by vengeful ghosts and monsters, all I want is to tend my little paper funerary shop and live in peace. But my meager ghostcraft seems to keep getting me into enormous trouble. With no other choice, if I want to survive, I’ll have to hone this little bit of ghostcraft to perfection! 1Reads—Score—Shelves
- 75 The Earth Master 地先生 Every title in the occult arts has a special meaning: tomb raiders are called grave diggers, those without a school or sect are called Mr. Bai, and those who sew heads onto corpses are called Old Madam Butian... Our trade calls us Earth Masters. Ghostly incense, the flayed-skin curse, the pecking-eye gu, the Cave of Nine... Every job I take on is full of twists and hidden dangers. Fight your way through, and the spirits and ghosts will fear you, and you’ll reign supreme in the occult world. Fail 81Reads7.0Score—Shelves
- 76 Diagnosed With Terminal Cancer, I Became a Guardian of Civilization 确诊癌症晚期，我成了文明守夜人 The doctors said I had only three months to live, but I became the last guardian of civilization. Late-stage cancer? No, it was turbid breath entering my body! Chemotherapy was useless? Only ancient artifacts infused with spiritual energy could keep me alive! From ghostly shadows in the Forbidden City to Pangu creating the heavens, I coughed up blood as I traced back five thousand years, laying my hands on the dragon veins of the Xia and Shang dynasties and the heroic spirits of the Han and Tang 8Reads—Score—Shelves
- 77 The Rain God’s Journal 雨神手记 When I woke up, I discovered that all my human traits had gone haywire, like a program riddled with bugs; Just as I was at a loss, a System codenamed “Whale Brain” appeared and issued a task. If I could find “anomalies,” record the strange events surrounding them, and upload my accounts to “Whale Brain,” I’d receive a “fragment” of a human trait each time I succeeded; Just as I collected all the “fragments” and became a complete person again, the world had changed beyond recognition, like a fl 6Reads—Score—Shelves
- 78 Master of Exorcism 镇邪先生 These days, there aren't many people with real skills left. I've been in this line of work for more than ten years, dealing with the dead every day. Carrying corpses, painting faces, stitching skin, keeping watch, probing the water, digging graves, performing rites, guiding spirits, and sealing coffins. My grandfather told me I could retire at thirty. But I cast a fortune for myself, and learned that I only have thirty years to live. With what little time I have left, I'll tell you all about my 20Reads7.4Score—Shelves
- 79 The Young Zombie Hunter 捉僵少年 On one side is a passionate young man just starting out, dreaming of becoming the greatest zombie-hunting celestial master. On the other is a thousand-year-old zombie, the strongest in history, who has slumbered for a century. An unforeseen turn of events sets the rookie young man on the path of hunting zombies. Strength and weakness, good and evil, who will emerge as the ultimate victor? 17Reads7.2Score—Shelves
- 80 Celestial Official of the Corpse-Subduing Sect 镇尸天官 The unfathomable mystery of immortality, horrifying strange happenings in a mountain village, a mysterious ancient tomb buried deep beneath the earth, and ancient legends from the barren wilderness... None of it should have had anything to do with me. But after my grandfather's bizarre death, I could no longer escape my fate and was dragged into this endless conspiracy... 461Reads7.3Score102Shelves
- 81 Awakening the Heavenly Eye: Summoning a God to Face the Great Black Buddha Mother 天眼眸启：请神硬刚大黑佛母 (Supernatural + not a self-sacrificing saint + funny + almost invincible) Li Yang was born on the twenty-fourth day of the sixth month in the lunar calendar. He never expected to be born with a third eye and a strange destiny, drawing him into a mysterious conflict beyond imagination. The Great Black Buddha Mother, far away in Yun Province, even came in person to seize him... Fox spirits, zombies, Miaojiang gu, Kuman Thong, Yellow River corpse collectors... When Li Yang arrived in Yun Province w 66Reads—Score—Shelves
- 82 A Record of Strange Encounters 怪异见闻录 [Folk horror, Taoist exorcists, spirit mediums banishing evil, no romance, intelligent protagonist] My grandmother is a spirit medium. Just tonight, Uncle Bei from our village came to ask her to perform an exorcism. He said Auntie Liu from the village was actually a ghost? But Auntie Liu only came to my shop yesterday to buy paper money! And so began a series of strange encounters… that turned me from an ordinary person into someone with only three souls and six spirits left! 15Reads—Score—Shelves
- 83 Heaven's Secrets Forbidden: A Metaphysics Master's Art of Feng Shui and Yin-Yang 天机禁忌：玄门风水相师镇阴阳 Xu Daoyi was born with a pure Yang constitution, a once-in-a-century rarity. The Yang energy within him was so strong it could burn vengeful ghosts to ash. But this gift was also a death sentence. His master told him that unless he found a woman with a pure Yin birth chart before the Summer Solstice and united their Yin and Yang, he would explode and die seven days later. The seven-day deadline drew closer, and the Yang energy in his body surged higher every day. Xu Daoyi had saved countless liv 110Reads—Score155Shelves
- 84 The Yin-Yang Judge of Life and Death 阴阳生死判 [Slow-paced story. Enter at your own risk if that’s not your thing.] Remote villages are often home to all kinds of bizarre legends. A hundred ghosts carry a coffin for a thousand miles to deliver a child... The King of Hell calls the roll, then hunts someone down for a thousand miles... These strange events all happen to Ye Qiu. Ye Qiu: “I am the Judge of Life and Death. I’ll handle affairs in the world of the living, and affairs in the underworld too. The laws of the Underworld are strict. Le 40Reads—Score—Shelves
- 85 The Pact of the Ancient Book 古书之契 It all began when Lin Zhiyu picked up a strange book. Then he met the equally strange Yu Zhiyan, who seemed to have a secret connection to the book. —Reads—Score—Shelves
- 86 The Deadly Yin-Yang Master 绝命阴阳师 I was born extraordinary. To stop me from being born, Heaven and Earth battled across the void. Half the masters of the feng shui world perished, dying with resentment in the northwest. In the end, only my father could restrain the Nine Dragons Taiji Diagram on my body by giving up his practice. To change my fate, my father arranged several betrothals for me within the feng shui world. Who knew this would only mark the beginning of calamity for the feng shui world... 448Reads8.5Score101Shelves
- 87 The Last Grave Chaser 最后一个撵坟人 [Tomb raiding + the supernatural + suspense + Taoist arts + feng shui + spirit-walking + witchcraft + no System + original, not fanfiction + slow burn] In southwest China, there is a little-known profession whose practitioners are called grave chasers. They read the flow of qi and water, scour the mountains and track down tombs, and are experts in feng shui, burial sites, Taoist arts, and witchcraft. What are grave chasers really looking for? How did I get dragged into all this? It all began whe 6Reads—Score—Shelves
- 88 The Boy in the Hemp Robe 麻衣少年 [Ma Yi Divine Physiognomist, Young Feng Shui Master, Defying Fate] The year I was born, torrential rain fell from the heavens, and hordes of weasels swarmed into my home. To save me, my father leapt into the flood. When I was seven, my grandfather took in five female disciples, and they all became my senior fellow disciples. My bizarre story begins with these five senior sisters. 2.5kReads8.6Score235Shelves
- 89 The Cunning Yin-Yang Doctor 阴人诡医 [Supernatural + Feng Shui + Fortune-Telling + Doctor + Witchcraft + Ghosts + Mystery + Wild Imagination + Qimen Bagua + Professions] To repay a debt of gratitude, I went against my grandfather’s dying wish. From then on, there was a strange doctor in the world, and I encountered countless extraordinary people. A human face that appears on your back at night, man-eating Gu insects, evil spirits with human faces and snake bodies. The wandering knife peddlers who sell their wares on credit, and the 167Reads7.1Score—Shelves
- 90 The Feng Shui King of the Underworld 江湖风水之王 On the day I was born, ten thousand demons emerged from the mountains, a hundred ghosts clawed their way out of their graves, and an immortal corpse guarded the way. My master, Daoist Jingxian, took me from a tomb and raised me for twenty years, only to fall under a curse and die a horrible death, skinned alive. Knowing he was going to die, my master left me a letter. First, he warned me not to seek out the killer. Then he urged me to stay away from the world. But I chose a third path, resolute 129Reads7.1Score—Shelves
- 91 The Number One Mystic Arts Master 玄门第一相师 A young Taoist is forced to leave his temple. Luckily, he finds a secret manual and slips into the city to begin his cultivation journey. Even the head of a major corporation treats him as an honored guest. 2.1kReads7.7Score289Shelves
- 92 Hell Station 地狱车站 [Horror Infinite-Loop + Hell Apartment Style + Supernatural + Deduction + Bizarre + No Couple + No Female Lead + Ensemble Cast] There is a Hell Station in this world. They say every train departing from it leads to Hell, and the only way to truly leave is to complete mission after mission. Ye Luo, who suffers from a mental illness, stumbles into it by accident. “Welcome to Hell Station.” “Who am I? I’m just a servant of Hell.” First Train: Jigsaw [Completed] Second Train: Plague [Completed] 14Reads—Score—Shelves
- 93 The Spirit Chaser 赶阴人 Read the stars and moon, and declare life and death with ironclad certainty. A man on the margins of the human world, he sets right the injustices of the underworld. My new book, The City's Strongest Immortal Son-in-Law, is out now. I humbly ask for your support! 450Reads7.1Score—Shelves
- 94 Coming for My Life on the Seventh Night? I Can Command the Most Ominous Creatures 头七索命？我能御大凶之物 Anyone who makes money from the dead knows there are three kinds of corpses you must never handle. First, don’t take the bodies of people who died violently or are missing limbs. Such corpses carry baleful energy, damage your fortune, and bind you to karmic debts. Second, don’t take a corpse that has been left unattended for seven days after death. After seven days, the flesh has begun to decay and the soul has nowhere to settle. Disturb it, and you may find yourself haunted by evil things. Thir 262Reads—Score—Shelves
- 95 The Book of Buried Ghosts 葬诡经 Most people know about Thailand's black magic, but few realize that China's own Jiangmen tradition is the true source of all such sorcery. As the saying goes: “A master of sorcery has no ancestors in the Southern Seas; reverence for the Three Teachings is the true tradition.” Let me tell you all about the Chinese sorcerers and their craft… 3.2kReads8.4Score410Shelves
- 96 A Feng Shui Master Born in the 1990s 90后风水师 One glance tells you who is destined for riches. Two reveal who will live or die. After realizing that the goddess was doomed to disaster, Li Shiyi embarked on a road of death from which there was no turning back. 282Reads8.9Score—Shelves
- 97 Corpse Driving in Western Hunan: The Soul-Calling Guide on the Night Road 湘西赶尸：夜行引魂人 A sudden disaster at a mass grave! Wu Liangzi is struck on the back of the head and wakes among rotting coffins and bones, clutching a bloodstained piece of yellow paper. It bears the name of the man he has spent three years tracking down for murdering his father! Seven corpses in black robes dance around him all night, their lifeless eyes seeming to “acknowledge their master.” A mysterious corpse driver tosses him a life-and-death contract. “Four of your seven souls have scattered. If you can’t 240Reads—Score—Shelves
- 98 The Feng Shui Master 风水相师 Look up to observe the celestial signs, look down to study the lay of the land, and read the fortunes of heaven, earth, and beautiful women! My name is Tang Dabao. I studied feng shui and occult arts in the tradition of the “Celestial Aspect” school from childhood. After my grandfather suddenly passed away, one scheme after another was set against me. I take on the feuds between powerful families and the blood vendettas of the occult world all by myself. Dancing with a coffin on my back, strolli 2.2kReads8.4Score194Shelves
- 99 Master Coffin 棺爷 My godfather died under mysterious circumstances. His body was cut into more than two thousand pieces. After the burial, Eighth Master took me on as his disciple! I inherited the Coffin Master's legacy! 351Reads7.5Score—Shelves
- 100 The Yin-Yang Master of the Living World 阳间阴阳先生 I was an ordinary first-year college student. Then one incident gave me a whole new understanding of the world. From that day onward, I walked between the realms of yin and yang. 3.6kReads—Score110Shelves
