Haunted Houses’ Chronicles (Xiong Zhai Bi Ji / Haunted House Handbook) – Teaser Translation & Introduction

“If you love the sprawling mystery of Daomu Biji, adore the friendship of Iron Triangle and savour the dynamic of PingXie, you will definitely find a strikingly similar vibe in this novel.” – My personal review in one sentence

Xiongzhai Biji, or Haunted Houses’ Chronicles / Handbook, is a supernatural webnovel that tells the adventures of two real estate speculators who deal specifically with houses that are affected by ‘supernatural forces’.

Soon after its launch, Haunted Houses’ Chronicles took the Chinese Internet by storm and quickly became a favourite of tens of millions of readers, ultimately earning the title “The Most Popular New Suspense Novel of 2012”.

Famous author of Grave Robbers’ Chronicles, Nan Pai San Shu, has high opinions of the book. According to him, “Haunted Houses’ Chronicles is a very unique work. The idea of a haunted house is more relatable to the readers. You can’t rob a tomb¹, but you may stumble upon a haunted house. This is what attracts me the most to this novel.”

¹ A reference to his own novel where the main characters are tomb robbers.

The novel has since been adapted into a manhua of the same name. A drama adaptation starring Hou Ming Hao and Liu Dong Qin as the leading duo has also been set for release in October 2020. In case you’re interested, you can check out the show’s details on its MyDramaList page.

Synopsis:

A “xiongzhai”, or “haunted house” in English context, is a house where someone dies an unexpected death. Legend has it that if a person dies in such a manner, they would be resentful because their destined lifespan has not yet finished. Their ghosts will then linger around, causing ‘unnatural’ things to occur in the place.

Jiang Shuo and Qin Yiheng are a peculiar duo of real estate investors who purchase well-known haunted houses at low prices. After exorcising the ghosts and evil spirits, they sell the houses again, each time earning great profits. Their ‘business’ is doing exceptionally well! However, the lucky duo never expect that they are being followed by some strange people. Surrounding them, a big conspiracy is quietly being harboured. The mysterious real estate collaborator Six Fingers and the ‘non-human’ partner Yuan Zhen comes one after another; many extremely dangerous haunted houses keep appearing. Things become increasingly difficult to handle, sometimes even bring them to the verge of death. At this point, they realise they are trapped in a deadly net!

In the end, what conspiracy is hidden there? Is it true that those haunted houses’ ghosts and feng shui² want them dead? Who is the Mysterious Figure behind all this?

² 风水 [feng shui], also known as Chinese geomancy, is a practice originating from ancient China which claims to use energy forces to harmonise individuals with their surrounding environment. Believed to be a pseudo-science and still widely used in many East Asian countries today, feng shui’s most common application is to orient homes and buildings in an auspicious manner.

Written by:  Er Shi San (贰十三)

Genre: Mystery, Supernatural, Horror, Drama, Comedy, Chinese Mythology

Length: 5 volumes (308 chapters) + 1 Prequel volume

Status in country of origin: Completed

A few words from translator:

I decided to pick up the translation for Haunted Houses’ Chronicles after reading the first 3 volumes and completely falling in love with it. This novel is, after all, recommended by the author of Grave Robbers’ Chronicles, and if you like that novel, there’s a good chance you may like this one too. Perhaps, it would also be interesting to know that the fandoms of these two novels overlap quite a lot in China.

What appeals to me at first glance is that the novel provides a vast pool of knowledge on Chinese mythology and the ancient art of feng shui. Now, I’d say feng shui isn’t extremely easy to understand, especially if you never came across its concepts before. Thus, to help readers who aren’t familiar with these things, I create this section called “Michelle’s elaboration time” at the end of the individual cases to dive into certain details I think might be confusing. Look out for it if you aren’t sure of something!

Chances are this novel will seem rather slow and wordy at first. And I’m gonna be honest: Pay attention or you might miss it. The narrative is heavily based on descriptive passages, cultural references and obscure theories surrounding ‘spiritual matters’. That said, I promise the writing will get significantly better and an exciting overarching plot will take shape nearer to the latter half of Book 1. You will soon find your adrenaline rushing.

On the characters, man I love them. Jiang Shuo, the narrator, is a somewhat gullible young man who happens to get himself into the baffling business of haunted houses (and the many troubles as well as hilarity that ensue), whereas Qin Yiheng is a remarkably wise yet mysterious man who suspiciously knows a lot about ‘the supernatural arts’. Or, I should quote Jiang Shuo, “Qin Yiheng is the type that if you ask ten questions, he’ll reply one. He definitely knows a lot but just doesn’t want to talk about it.” Hm. Sure makes one wonder.

Another reason why I love this book so much is the extraordinary chemistry between the male leads. Their dynamic grows stronger with each and every chapter, and at one point, it will reach a level so deep that you will squeeze your heart in the middle of the night because of the angst. Seriously though, one needs a full essay to talk about their relationship alone (in fact, I happened to write one, find it here (｡•̀ᴗ-)✧).

Just for fun, do you want to know what our leading duo’s favourite lines are?

Jiang Shuo to Qin Yiheng: “Whatever it is, I’m not worried because I have you by my side.”

Qin Yiheng to Jiang Shuo: “Whatever I do, it is for your sake!”

Geez, men, okay, we get it (￣▽￣).

If you are a Bromance and/or Mystery junkie like me, go no further: Haunted Houses’ Chronicles is guaranteed to be a great pick!

Updated Nov 2020: As of now, this project has been dropped due to the difficulty of translating & conveying the novel’s ideas. Do I feel sad about having to drop it? Yes, I do T.T.

Translated Chapter List

Volume 1

Prologue
Chapter 1 – Chapter 2 – Chapter 3 – Chapter 4 – Chapter 5
Chapter 6 – Chapter 7 – Chapter 8 – Chapter 9 – Chapter 10