Records of Spring's Awakening: The Days I Spent with Uncle Ying

In the chaotic Republic of China, warlords carved up the land, famine left the countryside strewn with corpses, and resentment festered as ghosts and monsters seized the chance to wreak havoc. Chunsheng, an orphan from the watery towns of Jiangnan, was rescued during a zombie rampage on a rainy night by Lin Zhengying, a Maoshan Taoist living in hiding among the people. From then on, Chunsheng became his disciple and embarked on a strange journey of reading qi, drawing talismans, and laying tormented spirits to rest. Uncle Ying was a master of folk arts. He drew talismans as effortlessly as a calligrapher, chanted spells like a singer, smote evil spirits with a peachwood sword, and bound ghosts with inked strings. Though he wielded no world-shaking powers, his righteous heart and superb skills carved out a haven for the people amid the chaos. Traveling the land with Uncle Ying, Chunsheng witnessed one bizarre sight after another: the sobbing water ghosts of Qingxi Town, foreign evil invading the Shanghai concessions, the awakening of the Corpse King in the Xiangxi corpse-driving hills, and the sinister mysteries of Beijing's dragon vein. Along the way, they encountered floating corpses whose hair strangled passersby, resentful spirits in old houses whose embroidery brought death, an invulnerable Golden Armor Corpse King, and Japanese invaders using the dragon vein to unleash evil sorcery. Every battle against demons was a stand against the world's injustices; every ritual to send spirits on their way was an act of compassion for all who suffered. Chunsheng grew from an apprentice afraid of ghosts into a master willing to pit his own life force against a thousand-year-old corpse demon, while Uncle Ying devoted his life to the belief that righteousness must be upheld and evil banished. The bonds between master and disciple, loyalty to their homeland, and the warmth of human kindness intertwined in the storms of the Republic of China. In the end, the Spring Record, a book documenting countless strange events and the truths behind them, became the most moving legacy of a chaotic age. Rooted in folklore, this is a suspenseful horror epic with no System to grant its heroes power. All they have is kind hearts and a mastery of the arts. Follow Uncle Ying and his disciple as they drive back the darkness with the little strength they have, in an era beset by warlords and surrounded by Japanese invaders, letting justice and human warmth endure in both the worlds of the living and the dead.