Gu Ye, a graduate student in folkloristics, enters the isolated village of Yinhuai to search for his missing best friend. An ancient well and an old energy circuit draw him into a real world hidden for a thousand years.
He discovers that he carries the bloodline of the Scripture Keepers, inheritors entrusted with protecting the ley-line network beneath China. But undercurrents stir within the ancient guardians' own organization. Outside it, the mysterious Secret Diggers and the Unity Society, whose followers believe in "purifying the world," both eye the prize. Their sights are set on the heart of the ley-line network, and they seek to overturn the existing order of civilization.
From the Dragon-Quelling Nail in Yinhuai to the Su family's painted-skin illusion arts in Lancang Town; from the wrath sealed in the Gu family ancestral home to the sinister shadow gu deep in the Miao highlands; from bloody struggles within the Scripture Keepers to the search for the nine sites across the land guarded by the ancient Yu King's Nine Cauldrons... Gu Ye and his companions unravel the mysteries one thread at a time, working together as a team of levelheaded scholars, heirs skilled in illusion arts, technological geniuses, and well-read generalists.
They use modern technology to decipher ancient secrets and stand firm against fanatical madness. At last, at the Axis of Mountains and Rivers, a symbol of China's destiny, they face not only powerful enemies but also a clash of ideals over the direction civilization should take.
This is more than an adventure. It is a journey about responsibility, growth, and legacy. When the smoke clears, the duty of protection will find a new home in the ordinary bustle of everyday life, carrying on without end.
