In the shadows of a bustling city, an ancient evil is stirring.
Zhang Jingxuan, the last orthodox heir of Qingyun Temple, tends its dwindling incense offerings and lives as a Taoist priest hidden away in modern society. When wealthy businessman Wei Guohua asks him to treat his daughter, Wei Yuqing, who seems to be “possessed,” Zhang assumes it will be an ordinary exorcism.
But the evil spirit attached to the black-eyed girl is far beyond anything he imagined. In their first clash, it carves the mark of “death” into his arm. The legend of the “Seven Fiends Locking the Soul,” recorded in the ancient text The Record of Xuanming, begins to merge with reality. And the mysterious antique shop Netherworld Pavilion, which Wei Yuqing visited, turns out to be connected to a strange plague from a century ago...
When Zhang Jingxuan discovers that Wei Yuqing is only the first victim, and that the “Seven Fiends Returning to Their Places” will bring disaster upon the entire city, the young Taoist must face a brutal choice: follow his sect’s teachings and protect himself, or risk using forbidden arts to fight this thousand-year-old evil spirit to the death?
In this clash between the modern and the ancient, Taoist arts and dark magic, Zhang Jingxuan gradually uncovers the hidden, dark history of Qingyun Temple, along with the shocking truth about his own origins. It turns out his connection to this calamity is far closer than he ever imagined...
