今本《冤魂志》係經輯佚而成，保留約六十則故事，卻都以鬼靈復仇故事為主題。雖然是書主要取材歷代經史典籍，或由顏之推撰作完成，但都強調被害者的死並非出於偶然，而是生前受到冤枉造成，明白表達遭鬼靈害死之加害者的人品或行事有瑕疵。雖然故事本身或落入圓滿結局的俗套，卻隱含顏之推對現實人生想法的投射，及被害者面對不公平之事時，希求正義伸張和落實報應機制的心態，彰顯報應理論能超越時空的拘限被證實，藉此達到宣說善惡有報觀念的目的。然而，顏之推並不單純只有對佛教因果說進行複製，還融合了中國傳統的報應思想，以獲取更多讀者的認同，達到利用《冤魂志》向世人推廣佛教的目的。

The current version of Yuan Hun Zhi was completed by compiling and editing scattered documents. Approximately sixty stories are preserved, with their themes centered mostly on the revenge of ghosts. The book mainly originated from classics in past dynasties, but through edits at various stages, it deliberately stressed that victims' deaths resulted from unjust treatment rather than by accident, and clearly indicated that the victimizers killed by ghosts had defects in their personalities or behaviors.
Though many stories conveyed the conventional happy ending, they also detailed how the characters' ideas impacted their lives. It depicted the victimizers’ fear by guilty conscience when faced with ghosts. This reflected the victims’ expectation that unfair matters will be resolved, and that karma theory is independent of time and space. The stories promoted the concept of karma, along with good versus evil.
Yan Zhi Twei does not simply replicates Buddhism’s theory of causation; but instead, he also merges China’s traditional thinking to acquire more affirmation from the readers. This way, his purpose of promoting Buddhism through Yuan Hun Zhi may be fulfilled.