Chronicles of the Ashen Earth

In the Qinling Mountains stands a town called Ashen Soil.

For a hundred years, it has known peace, and the peach blossoms bloom as they always have.

My name is Chen Nian, and I'm just an ordinary boy from Ashen Soil Town.

But from the day I took hold of that peachwood plaque, my life could never be ordinary again.

The plaque was smooth and warm to the touch, with one small, weighty character carved into it:

Guard.

Grandpa told me the plaque had been passed down for three generations.

The first generation held the Eight Plaques and quelled the Yin turmoil.

The second shattered the Ruins of Return and restored peace.

The third generation's turn had come to me.

"Nian, remember.

What you guard is not ghosts or gods, but the human heart."

As Grandpa's words faded, a soft tremor sounded in the sky.

Far away, atop the Qinling Mountains, nine spiritual veins flickered in and out.

A wisp of lifeless, blue-black darkness slowly opened its eyes deep beneath the earth.

The peachwood plaque in my palm suddenly grew hot.

After a hundred years of peace, the calamity had begun again.

This novel and its characters are entirely fictional. Any resemblance to actual people or events is purely coincidental. Do not imitate.