The Desolate Village Road: My Past-Life Pact with a Spirit

Wu Village lies hidden among the folds of the Qinling Mountains. Its appearance has remained unchanged for a thousand years, yet it has been shrouded in sinister mist for centuries. The old locust tree at the village entrance bears strange white flowers. The well water has carried a fishy stench for as long as anyone can remember, and the soil in the graveyard inexplicably churns at night. The village elders often say, "Half this place is inhabited by people, and half by ghosts."

My name is Lin Yan. I was born in Qingwu Village and raised in an old family home. Ever since I could remember, I had been able to see the "things" lurking in the shadows: the woman in red sobbing beneath the old locust tree, the withered hand dangling from the hall's rafters, the child's shadow watching me sleep from beneath my bed. These dark spirits, which ordinary people would do anything to avoid, became the clearest memories of my childhood.

Only later did I learn that my ability to pass between the worlds of the living and the dead was no accident. It was a bond from a past life, etched into my very bones and blood. The secret my family had guarded for generations, the buried history of Qingwu Village, and my inextricable ties to the dark spirits gradually came to light as I grew up.

At first, the dark spirits kept me awake all night with fear. Then I was forced to confront the village's strange happenings. Later, I stumbled upon ancient cultivation texts left behind by my ancestors, and set foot on a path of cultivation interwoven with the worlds of humans and ghosts. With a mortal body, I guide lonely souls to the afterlife; with a steadfast Dao heart, I defeat evil spirits. Every village ghost story I resolve becomes a trial of life and death, and every entanglement with a dark spirit brings me one step closer to the ties of my past life.

I have crossed desolate graveyards and wilderness, breached the barriers of the netherworld, battled ferocious evil ghosts, and protected the innocent. On the boundary between the worlds of humans and ghosts, I have steadily tempered my Dao heart and improved my cultivation. But is the bond from my past life a boon that aids my cultivation, or a shackle dragging me into the abyss? What earth-shattering secret lies behind the sinister mist of Qingwu Village?