Jinling, a city of prosperity and imperial splendor, served as the capital for ten dynasties. Beneath its glittering facade lies the shocking secret of the Ming dynasty's dragon vein. Everyone knows the Four Lineages of Tomb Raiders, but few know of the Jinling Tomb Guardians, who have protected the national treasures left behind by the founding emperor, Zhu Yuanzhang, for generations, passing down the ancient art of the Star-Gazing Bureau, which surveys the earth's veins.
Shen Han, owner of the old bookstore The Pile of Old Papers, is the last heir of this lineage. On the surface, he is an elegant restorer of ancient books, but in truth, he holds the key to an underground palace and bears the duty of guarding the dragon vein. An unexpected visitor shatters his peaceful life: Zhang Manting, a museum artifact restorer, brings a bronze fish tally engraved with the Star-Gazing Bureau's "Earth Vein Network" pattern and reveals a plot by tomb raiders coveting the "Ding Qin Lock."
This mysterious key, which can both seal and unlock the earth's veins, has lain dormant for a century. Now, with clansmen missing from the northern foothills of Purple Mountain, tomb-raiding gangs stirring near the Ming Xiaoling Mausoleum, and mysterious blood relatives watching from the shadows, Shen Han and Zhang Manting are drawn into a game spanning past and present. Amid the oars and lanterns of the Qinhuai River lurks deadly danger; deep within Purple Mountain's dragon vein lie traps that spell life or death.
As the Tomb Guardians' duty collides with the family's hidden grudges, and the patterns on the bronze fish tally point to a lost art of earth-vein secrets, Shen Han must join forces with his extraordinarily strong cousin, Shi Lei, to face well-equipped tomb raiders and a destiny closing in at every turn. They must find the "Ding Qin Lock" before their enemies, uncover the secret of the Twin Wind Pearls, and protect the ancient power beneath Jinling that must never be awakened.
An adventure concerning the survival of the dragon vein and the honor of a family quietly begins under cover of night.
