Chen Cheng is a young man in his early twenties who inherited a tea house from his master Xiao Quansheng. He dresses casually in a gray T‑shirt, black capris and flip‑flops, and carries a cloth bag containing ritual items. He has a cynical, materialistic demeanor – he negotiates reward money and bickers with police – but also possesses genuine supernatural abilities. He can communicate with the dead, as demonstrated when he summoned the soul of victim Cao Jiaoer to obtain clues. He uses incense, candles, yellow paper and a soul‑summoning incantation. Despite his lazy attitude, he is perceptive: he deduced that the murderer may be a woman based on the lack of male assault traces. His background is tragic: his mother died giving birth to him, his father died in a car accident when he was six months old, and he was raised by his blind grandmother. His master took interest in him because of his unusual fate. He shows no fear when threatened by gangsters and even uses a police gun to scare them off. He is the main consultant for the 5.17 case and works closely with Zhang Qian.
