Records of the Xuanming Bureau

In the Xuanming Dynasty, the Bureau of Astronomy oversees the stars and calendar, and also investigates extraordinary cases throughout the realm. It is divided into seven departments, each in charge of arts such as astrology, feng shui, divination, and talismans. Of them, the most mysterious is the “Heavenly Secrets Pavilion,” which specializes in forecasting the fate of the nation and solving supernatural mysteries.

The protagonist, Lin Yebai, was once the foremost disciple of the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion, but was expelled from his sect over a bizarre bloodbath three years ago. On the night of a full moon, seven Bureau of Astronomy sorcerers died violent, unnatural deaths. The astrological charts left at the scene matched the “Immortality Sacrifice” recorded in the Book of Returning to the Hidden. Lin Yebai angered the Bureau’s chief by investigating the case without permission and was demoted to the lowest rank, “Star Watcher,” where he was put in charge of guarding the abandoned Imperial Observatory.

Three years later, a string of murders erupts in the Xuanming capital. The victims are all court officials, each found facing the Big Dipper with a bronze token engraved with the twenty-eight lunar mansions embedded in their chest. Even more bizarrely, on the day of the first crime, the armillary sphere in the Imperial Observatory began turning on its own, pointing toward the scene. Drawn into the investigation, Lin Yebai discovers that the case is almost identical to the bloodbath from three years earlier, and that a mysterious organization capable of manipulating the stars may be behind it.

As the investigation deepens, Lin Yebai learns that his own origins are tied to the Bureau of Astronomy’s secrets, and that his master, the former head of the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion, was a key figure in the bloodbath three years ago. Meanwhile, undercurrents are stirring within the court. Someone is trying to use astrology to undermine the dynasty, and Lin Yebai must uncover the truth and protect the fate of the Xuanming Dynasty while caught between competing forces.