When people hear the name Shan, many find it unfamiliar, though they may vaguely recall a figure from the transition between the Sui and Tang dynasties: Shan Xiongxin, the “Red-Haired Divine Official,” known as the “Flying General.”
Shan Xiongxin was the second son in his family. His sworn brothers called him Second Master. He was the supreme leader of the outlaw brotherhoods across nine provinces. The Shan family was an old line of bandits; to put it bluntly, they were the progenitors of the underworld.
Second Master Shan was a superb martial artist, a hero listed among the Sui-Tang heroes alongside famous figures like Qin Qiong, Luo Cheng, and Yuchi Gong.
Back then, Li Yuan mistakenly killed the eldest Shan brother, Shan Xiongzhong. Second Master swore to avenge him. He first joined the brotherhood at Wagang, then sided with Wang Shichong against the Tang. After his defeat, he was captured. Li Shimin sent a group of veterans from Wagang to persuade him to surrender, but Second Master refused to yield and was later executed by order of the Tang emperor.
I am a descendant of Shan Xiongzhong's line. Shan Xiongxin was killed because he sought revenge for his brother. His obsession was too strong for him to enter the underworld, let alone be reincarnated.
Second Master Shan had no descendants, so he could only attach himself to a silver thread. My family has passed it down through the generations for more than a thousand years.
When I was five, my father told me the secret before he died. After he was gone, the silver thread was hung around my neck.
According to my father, Second Master Shan desperately wanted to be reborn, but he could never find a way. It had troubled him for a thousand years.
Second Master Shan doesn't interfere with my life. Aside from teaching me martial arts and a few secret techniques, and warning me when necessary, he rarely appears.
Since Second Master Shan was once the supreme leader of the outlaw brotherhoods across nine provinces, he carried a powerful bandit aura. Naturally, it affected me too. Most gangsters lose a good deal of their swagger when they see me.
Second Master Shan had taken countless lives while alive, and his obsession was too strong after death. On top of that, he had cultivated for a thousand years, making him extraordinarily powerful. Even ordinary ghosts tremble at the sight of him. As Second Master puts it, “I was a hero in life, and a king among ghosts in death.”
When my first love was harassed by gangsters, I badly injured the boss of the Sanhe Society and was sentenced to three years in prison. Our story begins on the day I get out...
