Novels like The Scripture of the Dead
Books Chinese readers most often put in the same booklists as The Scripture of the Dead, best match first.
- 1 The Little Maoshan Taoist 茅山小道士 He keeps insisting that he is a respectable Taoist priest, but wherever he goes, people refuse to believe him because of his outfit and his outrageous Taoist arts. He proves them wrong with one face-slapping after another. As he fights evil and punishes the wicked, he lives freely in the city. 139Reads—Score—Shelves
- 2 A Human Face, a Ghostly Visage 人面鬼相 In my second year of college, my father mysteriously disappeared. The next day, my grandfather forced me to drop out and take over the family's fortune-telling stall. Later, I learned that our family fortune-telling shop read people's faces by day and ghostly faces by night. I just never expected my first customer after completing my training to be a corpse. 78Reads—Score—Shelves
- 3 A Child Disciple of the Three Pure Ones 三清座下一童子 A world where black and white, order and chaos, East and West, technology and religion all coexist... A novel that truly tells stories about Taoism and its teachings. Dao Meng has been an orphan since childhood. He scrapes by in the Westland, once the Continent of Taoism and Buddhism, now occupied by the Church. Technology is advanced here, but anything connected to the Church costs a fortune... By chance, Dao Meng is taken in by an old Taoist. From the first moment he sees the Three Pure One 3Reads—Score—Shelves
- 4 The Little Chick’s Diary 小鸡快跑笔记 Long ago in ancient times, there was a chicken named “Run, Little Chicken.” This chicken was filled with righteous spirit, its lower half as white as snow and its upper half as golden as gold. Its yellow comb stood proudly atop its head. It slew demons and banished evil to protect its homeland and bring blessings to the people. As the saying goes, the world stays divided after a long period of unity, and united after a long period of division. In a chaotic age, one chicken was invincible under —Reads—Score—Shelves
- 5 A Fool by Day, a Taoist Priest by Night 白天当傻子，夜晚当道士 Who says a Taoist priest has to hunt ghosts? Can’t he flirt with girls? Can’t he be a tomb raider? —Reads—Score—Shelves
- 6 I Transmigrated and Became a Daoist Priest 穿越后我成了道士 Why do these clothes make me look like a beggar? And I'm way too young. What am I supposed to do when I meet a beauty later? Being a Taoist priest is still better than being a monk, so fine, I'll go with it. But remember this: a fellow Taoist's death is no reason for a poor priest to die. My lady, allow me to help you overcome this romantic calamity. It's simple: just give me a kiss. Don't think I'm pulling your leg. The lips you're kissing belong to a pure-yang virgin! Taoist priests really don 24Reads—Score—Shelves
- 7 The Hehuan Sect: Turning the Tables, Starting with a Confession to the Saintess 合欢宗，从表白圣女开始逆袭 My new work is out! You can read it on Tomato Novel. I hope you'll enjoy it. Your support motivates me to write, and I'll do my best to tell every story well! 3.2kReads8.3Score261Shelves
- 8 The Demon King and the Celestial Master 妖王天师 Have you ever heard of a sinister art that can turn a living person into a human-skin paper effigy overnight? Have you ever seen the bizarre sight of a lifelike human face growing out of a tree trunk? And surely you've never heard of a five-year-old child killing a wolfdog that feeds exclusively on corpses. Yes, there are far too many inexplicable things in this world. I may be young, but the things I've been through are things you may never have heard of. That's right. I'm Luo Tian, a Celestial 3.8kReads8.8Score355Shelves
- 9 Bronze Tomb Guardians 青铜镇尸 In the 26th year of Guangxu's reign, Shen Henian, the last Celestial Master of Maoshan, used his own life to seal the ancient Zombie King Ying Gou inside a bronze coffin and sink it to the bottom of the Yangtze River. He left behind a warning: Reinforce the seal with blood every sixty years. If this vow is broken, Ying Gou will see daylight again, and not a soul will remain for thousands of miles. Twenty-four years later, the seal begins to weaken. Shen Henian's grandson, Shen Changgeng, is a co 29Reads—Score—Shelves
- 10 Breaking Calamity 破厄 “Blasphemy! What an outrage! How dare a mere mortal like you gaze upon a god!” Take another look at the god you speak of. Where is its compassion? If it really is a god, why won’t it let the people behold its glory? Instead, it hides behind you all. If you ask me, it’s nothing but an evil spirit that beguiles people. “It can deliver us from our suffering!” “Perhaps it’s the source of that suffering. Let this Daoist priest help you cut it off at the root!” Everyone, just watch and see how Chen Gu —Reads—Score—Shelves
- 11 Ghost Eyes 鬼眼 I'm an orphan. To scrape together enough money for college tuition, I stole offerings from a cemetery. The next day, a bizarre eye grew on my body. To stay alive, I apprenticed myself to an insanely powerful master and learned some insanely powerful magic. Before long, I was a badass young Taoist, slaying demons and banishing evil. But hey, I'm just a nobody. I have no great ambitions or sense of justice. I do all this just to survive, earn a living, and enjoy the freedom of college life! Don't 2.5kReads—Score125Shelves
- 12 I Am the Demon King, and I Swear to Restore the Demon Race! 吾乃魔王，誓要振兴魔族！ [Villain protagonist + invincible + no goody-two-shoes heroics + ruthless and decisive + no heroine + conquest + strategy + magic + light System elements] Years ago, the Demon King was assassinated, and the demon race steadily declined... After the passage of time, the Demon King is reborn and returns in triumph! Yet in this age, the other races of the world actually look down on the demons? The terror once associated with the demon race seems to have long since faded into the river of history.. 134Reads—Score—Shelves
- 13 A Curious Record of Getting By 奇妙糊口录 [Not a wish-fulfillment story, slow-paced, slice of life, horror, urban cultivation, a harem of spirits and demons, and chuuni comedy] Skyscrapers conceal mysteries of yin and yang, while deep forests hide monsters and demons. He learned secret Daoist arts passed down through his family, but he isn't chasing the path to ascension. He just wants to live a peaceful life. Eerie screams in the middle of the night, spirits lying in wait under cover of darkness, and evil cultivators with sinister inte 1Reads—Score—Shelves
- 14 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 146Reads—Score—Shelves
- 15 Tales of Strange Happenings from the Mystical Sect 玄门故事异闻录 Where the Mysterious Gate stands on its own, clouds disperse and moonlight shines clear; The wind settles, the heart is cleansed of dust, and pure light fills the sleeves. A gathering of stories about Daoism, Buddhism, shamanic spirit-mediums, the Gospel, and the evil art of curse-casting. A book that explains what Hebei’s incense tradition is all about. It resembles the spirit-medium tradition of the Northeast, but is not the same. The story is entirely fictional. 8Reads—Score—Shelves
- 16 Records of Yin-Yang Mysteries 阴阳异闻录 The newly dead have their brows painted and faces made up; those long dead have their skin painted and bones carved. The people around you may not be human, and the stories you've heard for years may be more than just stories. 440Reads8.4Score—Shelves
- 17 I Came from the Taoist Sect, Call Me the Dao Lord 我从道门来请叫我道君 [Supernatural] [Modern] [Daoist priest] [Ghost hunting] [Demon slaying] Zhang Qingyuan was born with yin-yang eyes. To keep him safe and healthy, his parents sent him up a mountain to become a Daoist priest. After graduating from university, he returned to the temple and inherited his master's affairs. He thought demons and ghosts had become exceedingly rare in this day and age, leaving him with no chance to put his skills to use. Then a chance encounter showed him a different world. Demons were 4Reads6.5Score—Shelves
- 18 Tales from the Folkways of Northeast China 东北民间轶事录 [The new book, The Northeast Folk Tales: An Account of Zhong Kui, is now being serialized] [Ensemble cast + folk legends + the customs and character of Northeast China] The land and skies of the Northeast; its folk customs and its people Set in the rural Northeast of the 1990s, this book is adapted from remarkable folk legends and true events widely told across the vast lands of Northeast China. It recounts the hardships protagonist Xu Liang faced in his youth, along with the many legendary expe 3.4kReads8.8Score409Shelves
- 19 A Record of Folk Curses and Diseases 民间诡病实录 “Don't treat ordinary illnesses. Treat only those illnesses no one else can cure.” “If you cure them, take the patient's most precious possession. If you fail, close the clinic and get as far away as possible.” One day, a beautiful, icy woman came to the clinic with an extraordinarily bizarre illness. The thing she treasured most was her young and beautiful younger sister... 619Reads7.4Score104Shelves
- 20 The Whole of China Has Gathered, and You Tell Me This Is a Cultivation World? 华夏齐聚，你告诉我这是修仙界？ Reborn into this life, I receive a chessboard from a mighty expert, with seven pieces on it. The first piece falls, ushering in the age of the System for all. The second falls, and the Seven Fairies descend to the mortal world. The third falls, bringing all of Huaxia together in the cultivation world: Sun Wukong battles Zhao Yun? The fourth falls. What? You’re saying Zhuge Liang can use magic?… In my past life, the junior brother who controlled my senior and junior sisters, and the Child o 42Reads—Score—Shelves
- 21 Tales of a Taoist Priest 道士往事 Join me as I uncover the Three Realms, the Heavenly Court, the Thirty-Three Heavens, blessed grotto-heavens, magic arts, golden pills, ancient times, Gu, Zhuyou healing, feng shui, fortune-telling, divination, investigating and reading cases... demons, devils, ghosts, monsters, imps, evil masters and fallen saints... as well as the modern-day Imperial Observatory! The Three Teachings trace their origins to the Dao, which stands above the empty titles of Confucianism and Buddhism. Golden scriptur 45Reads—Score—Shelves
- 22 Moon over the Golden Summit 金顶月 Moon on the Golden Summit 7Reads—Score—Shelves
- 23 The Yin-Yang Master of the Wilderness 山野阴阳先生 [Yinshan + Maoshan + Folk legends + Supernatural + No saintly protagonist + No womanizing] My grandfather from Yinshan protects my life, and my brothers from Maoshan protect my body. As a Yin-Yang Master who walks among the dead, all I carry is an umbrella and a copper bell. Deep in the mountains, I encountered an old shapeshifter gnawing on a living person's hand. In southern Xinjiang, a demonic carpet sucked people's lifeblood in the middle of the night. In western Yunnan, a one-legged ghost 56.6kReads6.7Score2.4kShelves
- 24 The Daoist Sect's Underworld Office 道门阴司 [No System + No Golden Finger + Not a Mindless Power Fantasy + Young Taoist + Slow Burn + Earth God] All beneath heaven belongs to the king. Under the Celestial Court, the Underworld Bureau and the Taoist Office govern side by side, one yin and one yang, complementing each other! The protagonist's soul transmigrates into the body of a young Taoist. Starting as an off-the-books employee of the Underworld Bureau, he rises step by step until he stands equal with heaven and earth. 31Reads—Score—Shelves
- 25 The Yin-Yang Master Keeps Coming and Going 阴阳先生她走来走去 There are 360 trades, and not one of them puts enough food on the table. What to do? Do them all! The protagonist is an orphan adopted by a feng shui master. But before he even turns sixteen, his master dies, leaving him alone with eight younger orphan disciples. To keep the family fed, the protagonist has no choice but to dabble in everything. (It's set in a partly fictional world. The overall timeline still follows modern history, but the author has a bad memory, and sometimes can't be bothere —Reads—Score—Shelves
- 26 The Yin-Yang Fate Borrower 阴阳借命师 [Traditional Supernatural Horror]+ [Feng Shui and Mysticism]+ [Suspense and Deduction] On my seventeenth birthday, I watched my best classmate die horribly right in front of me. That was when I learned someone had stolen my fate! A mysterious old man told me I was one of the Seven Wise and offered to take me as his disciple. If I refused, I wouldn’t live past thirty. When I was twenty-five, my master ventured alone into the underworld to negotiate with the King of Hell and extend my life. He ult —Reads—Score—Shelves
- 27 The Orthodox Taoist Priest 正一道士 The scourge of evil cults has plagued the world for thousands of years. Though repeatedly eradicated, they never truly disappear. In this age of peace, a massive evil cult stands against the righteous path, seeking to destroy it and take its place. Science is revered in the modern age, and the Daoist arts have declined. Yet Daoism has been passed down for thousands of years, with many branches and schools still standing across China, and gifted practitioners emerging one after another to keep th 406Reads6.2Score—Shelves
- 28 The Myriad Worlds' Beauty Slave Album: Master of Peach Blossom Island 万界美女奴隶图：桃花岛主 My new work is out! You're welcome to read it on Tomato Novel. I hope you'll enjoy it. Your support motivates me to write, and I'll do my best to tell every story well! 20Reads—Score—Shelves
- 29 Crematorium Corpse Burner: From the Start, I Turned the School Belle into a Puppet 火葬场焚尸，开局把校花制成傀儡 [Advanced Martial Arts + Power Fantasy + Multiple Women + Training + Growth + Steamrolling + Illustrations in the Final Chapter] A beast tide erupted, and a massive number of corpses were sent to the crematorium. Jiang Jun was burning bodies there when, just as he was about to cremate a campus beauty, he activated the Puppet System. Turning the campus beauty’s corpse into a puppet let him control her and gain corresponding boosts to her strength, synchronized feedback, shared experience, shared 38Reads6.4Score—Shelves
- 30 The Great Medium 通灵大法师 A mysterious young man gets dragged into one conspiracy after another when he takes on a ritual job. To stay alive and avoid becoming a pawn, he launches an epic battle to defy fate and change his destiny. 10Reads—Score—Shelves
- 31 The Maoshan Sect Master 茅山宗师 The greatest blessed land under heaven, the eighth grotto-heaven, is known as the Orthodox Maoshan Tradition! The Manifest Sect has carried its mandate for a thousand years, while the Esoteric Sect has subdued dragons across ten thousand miles. The thousand-year struggle between the two branches of the Maoshan Sect has become a legendary tale without precedent. Gathering the finest wisdom of the immortal way from the ages and preserving the ancient essence of rare secret arts, the path is simple 1.3kReads8.4Score105Shelves
- 32 Is the Taoist Temple Open for Business Today? 道观今天开张了吗？ There is a Taoist temple in the back hills of Qingcheng, built during the Ming Dynasty and fallen into ruin over the centuries. Celestial Master Zhang Qingyuan is the most gifted practitioner in six hundred years. He has mastered thunder arts and talismanic magic, and can see the threads of cause and effect. With seven students and more than thirty mouths to feed, he lives a simple life in this drafty, leaky temple. The second senior brother, Qingxu, runs the Douyin account “Qingxu of Mount Qing 111Reads6.7Score117Shelves
- 33 Heartless Evil Ghost 失心恶鬼 [Scheming + Genius + Academy City + Magic + Puppeteer + Slave Girl = ?] The fates of a genius and an assassin intertwine, while a conspiracy to bring down a kingdom lies hidden within a puppet. The free magic city of Rochester, the heart of the continent, a crucible of wealth and power, and the highest temple of magic. Four years ago, his grandfather left him a letter of recommendation. Alone in the world, the young man stepped into Longzhao Academy, a gathering place for nobles and geniuses. He 92Reads8.2Score—Shelves
- 34 There Are No Such Things as Ghosts 哪有什么鬼 (Urban supernatural, talismans and Taoist arts, yin-yang and feng shui, two male leads, mysterious agency) One of the male leads is a complete novice, forcibly carried to victory by a lecherous old man, a chubby chatterbox, and an internet-addicted loli. Together, they form the ultimate demon-hunting team. The other is a celestial master from Mount Longhu, the first in a century to emerge from seclusion. But after predicting that he will die at 28, he gives up and spends his days playing around. 4Reads—Score—Shelves
- 35 The Southeast Asian Medium 东南亚通灵先生 Under duress, I embedded a woman's corpse inside a Buddha statue in a temple. After I was framed, Master Dad taught me Southeast Asian spirit-medium arts. From that day on, the world I saw was no longer inhabited by the living alone... 3.6kReads8.4Score427Shelves
- 36 The Yin-Yang Occult Artisan 阴阳诡匠 As the old saying goes: “Better to offend the King of Hell than a carpenter.” A carpenter isn't someone who puts together a plank to make a door or builds a table. That's just woodworking! A true carpenter understands the yin and yang, knows feng shui, and can bring prosperity to a household or cause someone to die a sudden, violent death. I might have spent my whole life as an ordinary woodworker, if Grandma hadn't given me a mysterious old book... 4.7kReads7.0Score494Shelves
- 37 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
- 38 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 1.1kReads6.7Score100Shelves
- 39 The Name of Heaven's Wrath: Divine Thunder from the Nine Heavens Scours the Mortal World 天罚之名：九霄神雷劫红尘 Falling flowers and flowing water seem heartless; green mountains and evening snow each go their separate ways! The young Daoist from Shenxiao and his childhood friend, his junior uncle, journey through the mortal world together, enjoying life! The extraordinary may be closer than you think. The so-called gods, ghosts, and spirits may all be illusions! Those who cultivate the Dao cultivate the heart. Entering the world is a way to sever one's karmic ties! 220Reads—Score—Shelves
- 40 I Guard the Realm with My Dao 吾以吾道守山河 [Taoist Priest + Spells + National Destiny + Supernatural + Taoist Arts] Disciples of the Taoist sect command spirits and generals, exterminate evil and vanquish demons, all because the Tao endures! Has the ghost army deep in the Taihang Mountains really seized control of China's dragon vein? Could the lost Heavenly Master's sword really be on the roof of the Peace Hotel? As the Heavenly Master's representative, he actually destroys a temple with thunder and fire at the slightest provocation! He 152Reads8.7Score—Shelves
- 41 Strange Tales from Western Hunan 西湘散异 Historical fantasy: When things are hard to speak of, let strange tales record them; when people are not of our kind, seek out the spirits anew. To outsiders, the most mysterious thing about Xixiang is surely corpse-driving. But beyond that, there are also uncanny tales and legends about praying for rain, Zhuyou rituals, dragons and snakes, mirrors, and more. Even carpenters who make coffins can determine life and death with a single swing of their axes. Through these stories, Chen Jun discovere 9Reads8.3Score—Shelves
- 42 The Ruyi Teahouse 如意茶馆 In a lively old town stands a century-old teahouse where residents and passing travelers come to rest. Who could have guessed the true meaning of the words “as you wish”? As you wish, as he wishes, or... as it wishes! 5Reads—Score—Shelves
- 43 Maoshan Ghost-Suppressing Records 茅山镇鬼录 The gates of the underworld shatter, and ten thousand ghosts emerge! Enchanting ghosts steal souls, birth ghosts claim lives, zombies devour people, painted-skin demons steal faces, and water ghosts drag people under... The mortal world has become a living hell. Everyone fears ghosts and monsters. Only the Maoshan priests take up talismans and tread the Big Dipper steps! Talismans subdue the dead, swords cut down vengeful ghosts, incantations slay a hundred evils, and dark spirits are sealed awa 5.7kReads8.4Score480Shelves
- 44 The Heavenly Wolf Feng Shui Master 天狼风水师 “The Heavenly Wolf reborn, feng shui as the blade, medicine as the heart; through the mortal world's purgatory, beauty at his side, he breaks the deadlock and changes fate!” He is a lone star born under the Heavenly Wolf, and humanity’s savior. The night Li Xingfan was born, the Heavenly Wolf star fell into the mortal world. The three elders of Zhongnan declared: “If this child does not learn the secret arts, he will not live past twelve.” At seven, he heads up Zhongnan Mountain. There, he learn 142Reads—Score—Shelves
- 45 Kangxi's Fake Heiress Cousin Has Had Another Set of Twins 康熙的假千金表妹，又生龙凤胎了 Welcome to my new book, The Fierce Northeast Top: De Fei of the Kangxi Era! … (Mind-reading + fake heiress + face-slapping + both reborn + Kangxi + twins + easy pregnancy + System + transmigrate into a book) Girls? Who gets it? Who wakes up one morning to find she’s transmigrated into a book, becoming the fake heiress in a Qing dynasty transmigration novel? But, that isn’t important. What matters is that the real heiress has been reborn too. And then? Kangxi went totally nuts and sent both the 2.4kReads7.0Score256Shelves
- 46 Chronicles of Mountains and Rivers: Don’t Call Me a Male Escort, Call Me a Celestial Master 山河志：别叫我男公关，喊我天师 [Feel-good power fantasy + gloomy male lead + everyday comedy + Taoist mysticism + guardian spirits + folk horror + emotional healing] I’ve lived for twenty-six years, but I can’t cry, laugh, or get angry. The doctor says it’s called “emotional detachment.” There’s no cure, so I should just wait to die. I didn’t take it seriously. I delivered food, worked as a security guard, pulled night shifts at a funeral home... until I opened the door to karaoke room No. 3. Grandpa had been waiting for me “ 7Reads7.0Score—Shelves
- 47 A Fading Lamp Shines on the Lonely Dead 残灯照孤冥 (Mystery + supernatural + no female lead) (Ghost case files + Taoist arts) (Tomato Original) The male lead is born under the fate of a lone star of calamity, destined to walk alone. A dying lamp lights the lonely darkness, and that darkness lights me in turn. 321Reads—Score—Shelves
- 48 Terror Descends: It Begins at the Haunted Hotel 惊悚降临：从恐怖旅馆开始 Twisted rules, a world thrown out of balance, ancient gods whispering in secret, and indescribable horrors descending upon the world. Some die, some weep, some flee in every direction, while others fight their way upstream! 2kReads—Score164Shelves
- 49 Zhenwu Subdues Demons: Sixty Years of Peace 真武荡魔：甲子太平 [Invincible Protagonist] [Pure Supernatural] [No Female Lead] I was the True Warrior Emperor in heaven, but could not bear humanity's suffering. Moved by compassion, I descended to the mortal world, to vanquish evil, deliver ghosts, and bring peace to all. The Five Arts of geomancy, medicine, destiny, physiognomy, and divination can determine the fate of the world. Geomancy suppresses demons and evil; medicine saves people. Destiny can be changed, and physiognomy reveals the powerful and the nob 2.1kReads—Score143Shelves
- 50 After Eighteen Years of Foolishness, I Became a Yin-Walker 痴傻十八年后我成为了走阴人 Every ancient village has a mysterious legend passed down through the generations: the Village Guardian. They bear a secret duty, using their broken bodies to ward off disasters and misfortune for the village, shouldering every calamity alone. People say they have come to the mortal world to endure hardship, and that their suffering in this life will bring blessings in the next. Yet fate treats them cruelly. Most die young, grow old alone, and endure endless mockery and cold stares. And I am one 11Reads—Score—Shelves
