A History of Chinese Folk Ghost Stories

Xin Xiaonuo, a graduate student in ancient geography, accidentally obtained an old compass that could connect the realms of yin and yang during a field expedition. From then on, she was swept up in a series of uncanny events spanning past and present. Following the compass’s guidance, she ventured into hidden corners of the countryside across the country, unearthing folk ghost stories buried by time: the old well in Qinghe Town held the resentment of a bride who drowned thirty years ago; the dye vats in Wuzhen concealed the secret of a human sacrifice; and the inn along the Ancient Tea Horse Road was haunted by the spirit of its landlady, who had died with a grudge...

Behind every story lay a forgotten injustice and an obsession that had never faded. Combining modern knowledge with ancient arcane arts, Xin Xiaonuo solved one bizarre case after another, gradually uncovering the compass’s true origins. It turned out to be a relic left behind by Dong Xiaoming, a young hero of the Ming dynasty who had fought against Japanese pirates. And the seemingly unrelated ghost stories were secretly linked by a fate that crossed through time and space. When she finally pieced together every clue, she found herself standing at the edge of a rift in time and space, with the reality of returning home on one side and the wishes of the dead on the other. The ultimate struggle over memory, redemption, and time itself had only just begun.