The story takes place in the "Yinmu Realm" of the Twelve Earthly Branches. When the protagonist He Guoqiang was 21 years old, during an archaeological expedition, he accidentally touched the totem pole of the ancient "Qingqiu Demon Kingdom". The sleeping totem spirit "Sacrifice" within it awakened and merged with his consciousness. He Guoqiang was able to hear the "memory echo" of all things from then on, and obtained the incomplete "True Biography of the Taixu Star Chart". He discovered that as the living carrier of the "sacrifice" of the totem spirit, its ancient demon believers had long been extinct in the conflict of civilizations. In the process of pursuing the truth about the demise of believers and the meaning of his own existence, he met "Su Wanyin", a rebellious musician who advocated integrating all walks of life, and "Mo Shou", a disciple of the Shoucheng sect who adhered to the ancient rituals of the Yinmu Realm. They travel through the Earthly Branches with their own characteristics, facing the obstruction of the "Forgotten Guardians" - these mysterious beings claim that completely forgetting the painful past is mercy, and try their best to obliterate the truth of history. He Guoqiang gradually became involved in the grand conflict between the inheritance sect and the integration sect that swept across the twelve realms, and discovered that the extinction of the ancient demon clan was related to a concealed taboo experiment on the "essence of civilization." In the end, he did not choose revenge or rebuild his faith, but as a "sacrifice", he became the bearer and mediator of civilization's memory. In the sound of the "Eight Wasteland Silence Bell", he found the "third way" that connects the past and the future and coexists in conflict.
