Novels like Carrying the Living and the Dead
Books Chinese readers most often put in the same booklists as Carrying the Living and the Dead, best match first.
- 51 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 318Reads—Score—14d adds
- 52 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
- 53 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.) 428Reads6.9Score—14d adds
- 54 I Became a Skinner After Moving Into the Apartment 入住公寓后成了剥皮匠 On the day I moved in, the building manager handed me a rusty key and a yellowed set of house rules. “Light the red lantern in the living room every night. If it goes out, hide under the bed immediately.” Next door lived a qipao-clad female ghost who loved to sing. Downstairs was a doctor with a peculiar taste for blood. To stay alive, I lit the lantern on time every day, until the power went out on the seventh night. The instant the lantern went dark, I saw the dried corpses of the previous ten 3Reads—Score—14d adds
- 55 I’m a Dentist in a Small Town, and I Exorcise Demons on the Side 我在小城当牙医，兼职驱邪 [Mystery + the supernatural + urban legends + team growth] Pull teeth by day, exorcise evil by night: my side gig is way more thrilling than my day job! Chen Mo is an ordinary dentist in Qinglin City. One day, after pulling a mysterious old man's tooth, the man drew a blood talisman on his palm. That night, Chen Mo dreamed of a giant snake that could speak. When he woke up, he discovered he had become a disciple of the Willow Immortal, able to communicate with the realms of the living and the d 2Reads—Score—14d adds
- 56 The Rebirth Shop: I Handle Paranormal Cases at the Funeral Home 往生铺：我在殡仪馆处理灵异事件 My name is Chen Yang, and I run a funeral shop called Passing On in the outskirts of the city. By day, I sell wreaths and make paper effigies. My business is with the dead. At midnight, I burn incense and light candles, dealing with the “unclean things” that the living would rather avoid. 359Reads—Score—14d adds
- 57 I Got a Bad Review for a Delivery, and Now I’m Reincarnating as a Dog 外卖给差评，竟让我投胎做狗 Su Fan gave a bad review to a food delivery order and woke up to find himself mysteriously transformed into a dog. Luckily, the reclusive Taoist priest Shen Nian took him in. From then on, Su Fan was forced onto the path of vanquishing demons and subduing evil. Vengeful ghosts haunt the streets, an ancient mansion seethes with yin energy, and zombies roam a deserted village. Countless sinister dangers lurk in the corners of the city. Armed with talismans and a sword, Shen Nian joins forces with 1Reads—Score—14d adds
- 58 The Seventh Night After Death 头七 My grandfather said that whoever a hanged person sees last is the one they’ll come back to haunt. When I was twelve, the village hired a troupe to perform ghost plays. I went to play with them, never imagining that the troupe’s leading performer was hanging from the beam right behind me. 22Reads7.7Score—14d adds
- 59 The Killer Killed the Killer 凶手杀了凶手 Police tape cordoned off the underground parking garage. At four in the morning, someone found a body there. As I passed the cordon, a police officer asked me to register my details. I nodded without hesitation. “No problem. I hope you catch the person who killed that woman soon.” The officer looked up sharply. “Miss, I never said the victim was a woman.” 115Reads—Score314d adds
- 60 Tales of the Unextinguished Lights 不熄灯异闻录 More chilling than ghost stories, these tales recount the uncanny happenings secretly passed down by our elders! Children will be too scared to walk alone at night after hearing them, and adults will want to pay their respects to their ancestors. This is a book of taboos that the village elders tried to keep from being written! This collection of short stories features folk horror, supernatural mysteries, thrillers, legends, strange tales, and fantasy from across China and around the world. 17Reads—Score214d adds
- 61 Born the Ghost King, I Subdue Ten Thousand Evil Spirits 鬼王命，镇万煞 I was born destined for wealth, good fortune, and a long life, but someone stole my fate, and I nearly died when a horde of ghosts surrounded me. The villains who swapped our fates never imagined that they would be the ones to lead me back to the Ghost King’s destiny... [Horror, talismans, feng shui, curses, folk customs] Ghosts demand lives on a rainy night; a painted-skin demon returns; a devil’s sacrifice; a snake woman in a mountain village; a cursed guesthouse; blood crows snatch souls; a m 9.8kReads8.9Score63514d adds
- 62 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. 3.3kReads—Score11014d adds
- 63 Agent of the Living World: My Years Working for the Underworld 人间代理人，我给地府打工那些年 [Urban Supernatural + Ancient Legacy + Action, Humor, and Heart] The Black and White Impermanence dressed like corporate executives in suits? Zhong Kui is a burly biker in a leather jacket? The Ten Yin Marshals work in a skyscraper? You’ve seen too little of the world. Even the Underworld has to keep up with the times! After an accident makes Yang Chen the Underworld’s agent in the human world, he begins his life working for the Underworld. —Reads—Score—14d adds
- 64 The Midnight Shop: The Eight Lords of the Underworld Bring Me Customers 午夜店铺，地府八大爷给我拉生意 Ancient legends say that the Great Emperor Fengdu, ruler of the netherworld, was appointed by Lady Pingxin. The Great Emperor Fengdu is the master of the netherworld, and all of its realms must obey his commands. Yet his identity is a mystery to the Three Realms and Six Paths. No one knows who he is, except Lady Pingxin. My name is Chu Chen, and I own Chu’s General Store. During the day, I sell all kinds of strange and unusual goods, making a fortune! At midnight, the Eight Lords of the Underwor 41.2kReads8.0Score2.6k14d adds
- 65 Who Let Him Become a Grim Reaper?! 谁让他当鬼差的！ The king of overwork has arrived, so everybody get to work! If the living world has to grind, then the underworld does too. With the king of overwork here, all evil spirits should flee. I'm a brick in the underworld's wall, ready to be carried wherever I'm needed. This book is also known as I Got a Civil Service Job in the Underworld, The Underworld's Biggest Troublemaker!, and From Lowly Ghost to King of Hell: A Comeback Story. 1.1kReads7.8Score11714d adds
- 66 The God in the Cage 笼中之神 This is a requiem for prisoners, echoing between the abyss of reality and illusion. When the prison of consciousness is exposed, will you choose to sink into a sweet lie, or awaken to a cruel truth and be destroyed? The answer was already decided from the very start of the search. 1Reads—Score—14d adds
- 67 Didi Rides: The Ferryman of the Underworld 滴滴搭车，地府摆渡人 “Hey, beautiful, where are you headed?” “The Yellow Springs Road. I’m going to be reborn.” Qin Zeyu never imagined he’d become a ferryman for the Underworld, much less a special-contract driver with the number 007! Picking up passengers, fighting ghosts, earning merit, and flirting with Bai Shao, a beautiful ghost officer: his days are... thrilling! But when he meets a female ghost heartbroken by love, he discovers that the netherworld has its own tangled romances and bitter rivalries. 207Reads—Score1414d adds
- 68 Climbing the Steps 拾级 Climbing the Steps 3Reads—Score—14d adds
- 69 Miss, Wait Up, Little Taoist 女施主：小道长留步 Witty and humorous + grounded in reality and rich in metaphor + ghost hunting and the supernatural A Taoist priest descends the mountain + an utterly doting big brother + a collection of short stories + long-term foreshadowing + guiding souls to the afterlife In 2026, I hunt ghosts and guide souls in the city. Only later did I realize that human hearts are far scarier than ghosts. I have just two kinds of clients: the living and the dead. The living pay me to solve their problems. The dead pay w 30Reads—Score—14d adds
- 70 The Underworld Longevity Bureau 黄泉长生局 [Mystery + Tomb Raiding + Adventure + Ghost Hunting] They say the Yellow Springs are crawling with ghosts and demons. Once I raise my yellow talisman and form a hand seal, I'll wipe them all out. From three-eyed ghost lice and the Fish Kingdom tomb to the Ten-Thousand-Pearl Snake Woman... Li Que, a little nobody of the Daoist sect, and Fatty get caught up in a vast scheme for immortality. As the saying goes: “In paper shoes, I tread into the Yellow Springs; through the gloom of life and death, I 224Reads7.1Score—14d adds
- 71 My Road to Riches with a Taoist Who Sees Yin and Yang 我和阴阳眼道士的暴富之路 After graduating from college straight into unemployment, Su Nian was at the end of her rope when she stumbled into a company specializing in the mystical arts and somehow became a ghost-hunting master. While other people relied on their cultivation to hunt ghosts, she got by on talismans given to her by a female ghost possessing her. It was barely enough to keep food on the table. Who could have guessed that an ordinary ghost hunt would provoke a century-old ghost, which branded her with a de 34Reads—Score—14d adds
- 72 The Corpse Plague 尸瘟 Corpse Plague 1Reads—Score—14d adds
- 73 I Have a Book That Suppresses Ghosts 我有一本镇鬼书 [Wild imagination + ghost taming + fighting ghosts] [Punching Japanese Onmyoji in the face + kicking Satanist exorcists] During the Eastern Jin dynasty, the unorthodox Taoist Song Dingbo sealed more than a hundred evil ghosts that plagued the world inside a notebook. After his death, the notebook was buried with him in a grave on Yunwu Mountain. As the years passed, the grave was damaged one day in 2012, releasing all the ghosts. Li San, who happened to be on a mission nearby, was accidentally p 27Reads—Score—14d adds
- 74 I Picked Up a Calligraphy Brush and Ended Up as an Underworld Errand Boy 捡了一支毛笔，结果成了地府牛马 After unexpectedly finding a divine brush from the underworld, a mother and daughter are drawn into a strange world between yin and yang. With a stroke of the brush, they can draw talismans to suppress evil spirits in every direction. It can also forge a blade, creating a divine weapon that devours souls. Armed with their brushes, the mother and daughter embark on a unique supernatural adventure. 20Reads—Score—14d adds
- 75 Master of the Daoist Arts 道门高手 A funny, easy-to-follow story about catching ghosts and vanquishing demons in a modern city. My dad’s surname is Li, and my mom’s surname is Bai, so my name is Li Bai. By day, I wear a white lab coat and look impossibly handsome! By night, I wear a black suit and look devastatingly handsome! Do you believe in ghosts? You don’t, because you’ve never seen one. I do. Not only have I seen them, I’ve caught them! Two male leads: a slightly dim-witted second male le 49Reads—Score—14d adds
- 76 One Thousand and One Modern Tales of the Supernatural 一千零一个，现代灵异故事 [Based on True Stories] [Folktales] [Horror and the Supernatural] The stories in this novel feel full of everyday life. The people and events in every story are portrayed in a realistic way, bringing to life the supernatural experiences of all the main and supporting characters. If you’re a horror story fan, don’t miss this novel. (If you get scared, call your best hapless friend over… so you can be scared together.) 5.2kReads7.0Score21214d adds
- 77 I Own a Netherworld Underworld 我有一座幽冥地府 When Xiao Yang wakes up, he discovers that he has become the impoverished lord of a bronze-level city. Powerful enemies surround him, all watching hungrily, and one wrong move could spell utter ruin! Fortunately, a netherworld has awakened within him! As long as he has this netherworld, he can command its shadow soldiers and generals, along with the Ten Yama Kings! Summon the Black and White Impermanence, slay evil ghosts, and swallow the sun and moon! Summon judges and City Gods to punish evil, 1.1kReads—Score16814d adds
- 78 A Lonely Ghost Goes on a Blind Date 孤魂野鬼来相亲 A former top student returns to her hometown in disgrace and takes over her grandmother’s shabby, run-down matchmaking house. With a huge debt to pay off, she has no choice but to roll up her sleeves and get to work. Good grief! What kind of ghosts are showing up for these blind dates? The head of a ghostly date rolls right off. Terrifying-looking men and women ghosts want her to edit them into handsome men and beautiful women. Her best friend has been dismembered, yet still asks Su Yinran to fi 33Reads8.3Score—14d adds
- 79 Yellow Springs Medical Hall 黄泉医馆 On the fifteenth day of the seventh lunar month, ghosts roam at night and the living must keep away. Yet on Linjiang Road, an unremarkable clinic stands with all four doors wide open, inviting every kind of visitor. Above the eaves hangs a gilded plaque bearing four large characters: “Yellow Springs Clinic.” 531Reads8.1Score10014d adds
- 80 Lost Mountain Paranormal Society 迷山通灵社 [Traditional Supernatural] My name is Bai Shu, and I’m a medium. I deal with all kinds of spirits in my day-to-day life. A room in a rented apartment that must never be opened. A female ghost who hails a taxi to collect spirit money. A spirit that follows someone home from a car accident... The supernatural cases I take on might be happening right next door to you! 2Reads—Score—14d adds
- 81 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 3Reads—Score114d adds
- 82 Shattered Yin-Yang Jade 阴阳玉碎 [Supernatural + horror + suspense + first person + no idiots in the story + clever protagonist + a touch of angst] "I'm turning eighteen soon. I should die, too." Yu Yue and I are twin sisters, born eighteen years ago on Ghost Festival. A fortune-teller gave us each a jade pendant and said that on our eighteenth birthday, whoever's pendant broke would die. We're seventeen now, and suddenly both pendants have shattered. How can we possibly survive? 39Reads—Score—14d adds
- 83 Secrets of the Mortuary 殓尸秘录 Chen Mo is the young heir to the Wangsheng Studio funeral home. He thought he would spend his life in quiet company with cold, lifeless bodies. Then he took charge of a strange corpse known as the “Bride in Red,” and everything began to spiral out of control. The body never decays, and its smile is as lovely as a flower. The bronze bell tied around its ankle rings silently in the dead of night. From then on, Chen Mo is swept into one whirlpool after another, woven from local ghost stories and ho 3Reads8.3Score—14d adds
- 84 Supernatural: My Years Hunting Ghosts at Bureau 749 灵异：我在749局打鬼那些年 The appearance of a white coffin and a red coffin at the construction site changed my fate. That night, I saw corpses that could move and a ghost that could steal a person's soul. They were all "deceiving" me, trying to make me die. What should I do... When you think the person behind you is a ghost, the real ghost may be the one standing in front of you... Once it's dark... don't read this!! 216Reads—Score—14d adds
- 85 Dead City 死城 In this book, I’ll take you in search of the eerie things hidden in the city, and the terrifying taboos lurking in everyday life. 1.7kReads8.4Score25114d adds
- 86 The Campus Beauty Called Me Out at Midnight to Deal With a Ghost, So I Became Bai Wuchang 校花半夜招撞鬼，我化身白无常 Ye Qiu taps a bowl with chopsticks at a crossroads in the middle of the night, never expecting to summon Bai Wuchang. Even more unexpectedly, Ye Qiu obtains Bai Wuchang’s token and becomes the new Bai Wuchang. At that moment, a campus belle livestreamer is playing a summon-a-ghost game in her stream after making a bet with her viewers. She sits in front of a mirror and combs her hair in the middle of the night. “See? Nothing’s happening. There are no ghosts in this world.” The streamer turns her 481Reads5.4Score—14d adds
- 87 The Most Terrifying Class on Campus 高校里最恐怖的班级 A classmate who had been dead for two years suddenly spoke in the group chat. At first, everyone thought it was someone's prank, until the first classmate died unexpectedly. Only then did they realize this was no prank... 792Reads—Score—14d adds
- 88 Ten Thousand Ghost-Slaying Talismans from the Start 开局十万灭鬼符 [Endless twists | a touch of horror | both protagonists and antagonists are clever] [Definitely not a mindless power fantasy] The campus belle was being stalked by a pervert on her way home. Just as she was out of options, her mother came to rescue her. But... her mother had died years ago. So who... was that...? In the blink of an eye, a young man rescued the campus belle from danger. “You... you're actually... Wang Qi?” the campus belle exclaimed in disbelief. (The blurb doesn't do it justice. —Reads—Score—14d adds
- 89 My Hopeless Life Became Even More Desperate 我无望的人生更加绝望 After something happened to her family, Mu Xia could never move on from that day. She went through life in a daze. Until one day, she accidentally entered a world of horror. And so began a fantastical journey. She made new friends, faced all kinds of events, and lived a new life. 1Reads6.4Score—14d adds
- 90 The Yin Marriage Thread 阴缘线 Murong thought she was probably just born unlucky. Her master used her to nurture his soul, while her senior brothers and sisters used her to fend off the fate of the Five Bane-and-Deficiency Afflictions. Sometimes, she felt it didn’t really matter whether she lived or died. Then she met her little crew: her sisters, friends, and apprentices. They showed her how wonderful warmth could be! And there was that devoted, puppy-like young man. He was brave, confident, warm, and bright. He seemed like 35Reads—Score—14d adds
- 91 The Rouge House 脂楼 The Rouge Tower —Reads—Score—14d adds
- 92 A Corrupted Heart 糜烂之心 Deep inside the Luocheng Police Department, a metal filing cabinet labeled “Bloodstained Files” holds dozens of long-unsolved, grisly cases. Each one once shocked the nation with its bizarre deaths, but limited forensic technology at the time meant they were ultimately filed away as “unsolved.” In 2025, advances in forensic science prompted the department to launch the “Bloodstained Files Resolution Project.” The first case to be reopened was the most controversial of them all: the “Terrifying P 42Reads—Score—14d adds
- 93 You Call Me a Con Artist? I'll Scatter Your Ashes to the Wind! 说我招摇撞骗？骨灰都给你扬了！ [Shameless Celestial Master] [Ghost Hunting and Case Solving] [Fortune-Telling on the Overpass] [Sweet-Talking and Deceiving] After being reborn, Zhang Yang activates the Shameless Celestial Master System and discovers that he seems to have become entangled in a conspiracy spanning a hundred years... The Seven Evils Corpse Vault, a dilapidated City God temple, a haunted apartment building, a living sacrifice to the River Goddess... Every unusual criminal case turns out to have a connection to 4Reads—Score—14d adds
- 94 Paranormal Civil Servant 灵异公务员 Wang Xiaotian, a civil servant wielding the "Heaven-Measuring Ruler," transmigrates to a parallel world where the supernatural resurges in the 1990s. Zombies have to meet their KPIs, and ghosts who like people have to follow the proper procedures. Using the bureaucratic wisdom he's gained from writing reports and mediating disputes, he specializes in dealing with every kind of monster and demon that refuses to cooperate. When a red-clad vengeful ghost has to write a work summary, and a thousand- 17Reads—Score—14d adds
- 95 What Kind of Security Guard Is Responsible for Catching Ghosts? 谁家保安还负责抓鬼啊？ Baiyun Residential Complex is an upscale neighborhood, but the countless strange tales and ghost stories surrounding it have made many people wary of the place. The story begins when Li Si applies for a job as a security guard there... 5Reads—Score—14d adds
- 96 Paranormal Case Investigation Bureau 灵异诡案调查局 Who is getting married in the remote wilderness? A terrifying ride turns strange... Bizarre things happen during an overnight hotel stay... A knock sounds at midnight... A smiling man appears at dawn... Who is that person under the bed? A haunted village deep in the mountains... A woman waving in the middle of the night, a scarecrow on campus, a ghostly hand in the hallway... Where is that voice coming from? These paranormal, inexplicable events may be exactly why the Paranormal Investigation Bu 106Reads—Score—14d adds
- 97 The Daoist Tradition of Northeast China 东北道家 A story about real-life Taoist priests and spirit mediums in Northeast China. The content is based on true events. Any resemblance is purely coincidental. An illiterate author writing a book has it rough. 370Reads—Score—14d adds
- 98 The Delusion of the Final Sequence 终序之妄 [Dual heroines + mental illness + supernatural] Mo Shanshan has a pair of unusual crimson eyes. She can see ghosts, yet she’s been sent to a psychiatric hospital and diagnosed with delusional disorder. Ringing in your ears? That’s because people can’t understand what ghosts are saying! The Heavenly God Path, the Water Corpse Curse, corpse infants, a haunted lake, the collapse of the Six Paths of Reincarnation: is it all the plot of the Entropy God? No. This time, Luo Shisan absolutely will not d 21Reads—Score314d adds
- 99 I Became Haunted by Evil Spirits After Starting Out as a Corpse Burner 从当烧尸匠开始恶鬼缠身 To escape an arranged marriage, I took a job burning corpses at a funeral home. Old Li, who handled the bodies, actually brought a prostitute to the funeral home. That woman later died, leaving a red high heel at the entrance... The next day, Old Li died. A red high heel had pierced through the center of his forehead... With my father's help, I learned that before she died, the woman had been pregnant. Someone had cut the baby out of her and turned them into a Mother-Child Demon. After that, t 5.5kReads8.3Score44214d adds
- 100 From the Start, I Was a Ghost King, Forced to Become Bai Wuchang 开局鬼王，被迫成为白无常 Xie Yan transmigrates into the body of a Ghost King, expecting to throw his weight around. Instead, on his very first day on the job, he is surrounded by the Underworld's special task force for “cracking down on organized crime and evil.” Faced with the “kind invitation” of a hundred ghost-captain-level underworld enforcers, he signs a contract of servitude through tears and becomes the Underworld's number-one wage slave. From then on, he has KPIs in one hand and the Book of Life and Death in th 73Reads—Score—14d adds
