Night Watch Notes of a Paper Effigy Maker

Modern society has forgotten the traditional “Custom-Keeping Pact,” leaving the “custom spirits” born from taboos untethered. These evil beings, nourished by humanity’s collective reverence and fear, have shifted from a “suppressed state” to a “hunting state.” Each region’s abandoned folk customs give rise to its own kind of spirit: the “Water-Sacrifice Custom Spirit” of the riverlands, the “Apartment-Building Custom Spirit” of the city, and the “Coffin-Burial Custom Spirit” of western Hunan. They prey on those who “profane taboos,” while the “Custom-Keeping Craftsmen,” including paper effigy makers, carpenters, and feng shui masters, are the only ones able to renew the pact through traditional crafts. Lin Ye is the name his grandfather gave him. His grandfather chose it to express the idea that “customs are guarded at night, souls are at peace by day.” Custom-keeping paper effigy makers must handle matters involving custom spirits at midnight, when yin energy is strongest, so “Ye” is both the mark of his profession and his grandfather’s hope that he will carry on the mission of safeguarding tradition.