Beneath the Republic-era world of neon lights and qipao, an unseen “other world” is at work. The compass points to more than directions, and talismans ward off more than demons: they are instruments in a silent war over the fate of heaven and earth.
Shen Wanggui, a teacher at a missionary school, expects to spend his remaining years among old books. But after his elder brother's mysterious death, he is drawn into the trade, wandering among power struggles, conspiracies, and ancient taboos.
Then he discovers that every strange and uncanny case points to an ancient secret buried for a thousand years, and a cataclysm that is counting down to its arrival. When the Eight Trigrams and hidden transformations cannot reveal a path to survival, and the Taiyi Divine Numbers cannot break through a deadly impasse, will this last heir follow the will of heaven, or take up his compass and defy fate? Thus begins a strange tale of feng shui.
