Hell Money

Johnny Lo enters a Chinatown apartment and is confronted by an eerie warning on a fresh hongza. When he touches the white paint, a tense encounter unfolds with a flashlight-wielding man who demands that he 'pay the price.' Lo declares he wanted out, then lunges with a switchblade and strikes the man down, turning to see three Shi Gong masked figures. The scene shifts to Bayside Funeral Home, where a security guard later discovers the trio near a crematory oven and Lo's silhouette burns in the oven's iron mouth.

Federal and city detectives are drawn into a disturbing pattern: a string of fatal incinerations among recent Chinese immigrants across San Francisco, Seattle, Los Angeles, and Boston. Mulder leans toward a supernatural thread while Scully cautions against leaping to occult explanations. A glass eye is found on Lo's body, and a shard inside the oven translates the Chinese character gui as ghost, deepening the mystery.

Investigators recover a burnt scrap of 'hell money' and connect it to the Festival of the Hungry Ghosts, steering the case toward Chinatown's lore and darker corners. A translation of a shard confirms a ghostly motif that staff associate with vengeful spirits. The team begins to focus their inquiries on the cultural codes guarding the community.

The Festival of the Hungry Ghosts is introduced as a ritual realm where spirits haunt the living. Li Oi-Huan is drawn into an underground lottery where participants win money or have a body part claimed, illustrating the macabre stakes behind the case. The investigators begin to trace connections between the ritual and the organ-trade network.

In a herbalist shop, detectives learn more about the medicine and the front-door symbols that mark a protective boundary. The clerk hints at an underground economy sustained by fear and secrecy, mentioning that she knew Johnny Lo. The clue-laden atmosphere deepens the sense that the case bridges folk tradition and organized crime.

Li Oi-Huan sits amid the underground ritual when vengeful specters arrive, including a ghost reaching for Li's heart. The Hard Faced Man, one of the lottery's organizers, appears in surgical scrubs and observes the proceedings with clinical detachment. The scene cements the fusion of ritual fear and real-world coercion behind the disappearances.

At Highland Park Cemetery, Mulder realizes a grave is too shallow and Li Oi-Huan's body is found beneath the soil. Scully autopsies Li and notes surgical scars and a glass eye, revealing involvement in illicit body-part sales. A live frog escapes from the chest cavity, a macabre detail that intensifies the mystery.

Back at the underground network, Hsin Shuyang’s name is drawn and a red-edged tile signals his heart as the fate of another participant unfolds. The investigators uncover how the game channels fear into profit and begin to connect the dots to the organ-procurement scheme. Kim, Hsin’s leukemia-stricken daughter, becomes a critical focal point.

Glen Chao’s ties to the operators come into focus as he defends the community yet risks compromising the investigation. The detectives piece together the broader organ-procurement network that profits from fear and silence. Chao’s position becomes precarious as loyalties collide with the pursuit of justice.

Chao travels to a hospital to gather information, where a hidden truth emerges: the lottery is fixed and tiles are manipulated to control outcomes. The Hard Faced Man pressures Chao to protect the scheme as the law closes in, and the investigators move toward an arrest. The tension mounts as the criminal operation appears increasingly airtight.

The arrest reveals a tacit code of silence that makes prosecuting those responsible difficult. Hsin Shuyang remains on life support and Kim waits on the organ-donor list, underscoring the human stakes behind the crime. Mulder and Scully stress that testimony is essential for lasting justice.

In a haunting turn, Chao vanishes from the courtroom gaze and reappears as a spectral presence. The final sting comes when Chao wakes inside a crematory oven, facing a grisly end as the closing lights dim on the night's escalating terror. The case leaves a chilling imprint of folklore colliding with organized crime.