When someone in this world is bound by an unresolved regret, that regret becomes an obsession, and the obsession becomes a demon. After death, a world of its own forms in the space between their brows, known as a “Calamity.” Within a Calamity, time flows backward and past events repeat. Those who enter may lose their minds, or worse, become puppets doomed to never be reborn.
A thousand years ago, the Heavenly Dao collapsed and foul energy seeped into the world, spawning Calamities everywhere. Powerful cultivators rose to face the tribulation, using their own bodies as vessels to guide people through their obsessions, dispel Calamities, and cleanse misfortune. They were revered as “Calamity Guides.” The founding master, Perfected Gu Xue, had four direct disciples, each of whom mastered one of the arts of Heaven, Earth, Humanity, and Creation. Yet in his later years, the patriarch came to bear a monstrous burden of sin. His disciples joined forces to seal him within the Demon-Suppressing Array on Mount Beimang. His name became forbidden, and his sect fell apart. Only a few scattered descendants remained, struggling to survive and make their way in the world.
A thousand years later, the last registered disciple passed away in misery, ending the lineage. With his final strength, he drew a long-lost summoning talisman and brought someone back from a mass grave at the foot of Mount Beimang.
This person had no name. He had crawled out of a mountain of corpses, his whole body wrapped in enough foul energy to corrode bone and soul alike. He looked like a demon just crawled out of hell, yet had a face as cool and otherworldly as snow. All he remembered was that he had studied under Perfected Gu Xue and was the last Calamity Guide in the world.
