The Cautious Little Daoist

In the Age of Declining Dharma, Taoist arts have fallen into decline. Zhang Gou, the last heir of Mount Longhu, blew himself up in a final battle with the Zombie King, taking them both down. But he was reborn three months before the spiritual qi revival.

This time, he decides to live differently. Fighting and killing is so uncivilized! He'll rely on the art of keeping his head down and the power of smooth talk to lie low and grow stronger, quietly making his fortune amid the coming paranormal tide.

And so, everything takes a sharp turn: while others duel with magical treasures, he pulls out the Criminal Law and explains the crime of intentional assault to evil spirits. While others use peachwood swords to subdue demons, he sets up a hot pot and invites a fox spirit to dinner, negotiating over spicy skewers. While others summon divine generals, he summons the Zombie King and asks, “Brother, why not quit and come work for me? Food and lodging included, plus commission...”

With his nonstop stream of Sichuan-accented nonsense, endless deadpan jokes, and deeply ingrained commitment to keeping his head down, Zhang Gou not only recruits a thousand-year-old fox spirit, bluffs a century-old zombie, and saves a pure-yin policewoman, but also puts together an eccentric “Research Center for Abnormal Humans, Demons, Ghosts, and Zombies.”

When spiritual qi fully returns and demon kings and ghost emperors reappear in the human world, with every faction watching for an opening, they discover that the greatest threat isn't those ancient beings. It's that grinning celestial master who says things that could infuriate the dead and is always surrounded by a band of oddball teammates...

Standing atop the ruins, Zhang Gou raises a megaphone to the demons filling the sky. “Hey, monsters over there! Your mom's calling you home for dinner! If you don't go back now, I'll make Afu dance ‘Heavenly Bliss Pure Land’ for you!”