The Diviner Jiuhe

In the second year of the Xuantong reign, the unscrupulous merchant Zhao Wanshan digs up graves and takes lives, only to be hunted by vengeful spirits in the form of paper effigies. The diviner Jiu He sees through his fatal predicament with a single remark, but in doing so, he accidentally crosses Shen Yanzhi, a master of the underworld trade. In the third year of Xuantong, dark forces run rampant across Beiping, the ghost market opens its gates, and restless spirits stir beneath the river. Bone lanterns, crafted from the spines and skin of the living and their trapped souls, reappear in the world. The lantern-bearer Liu Qi uses dark arts to wreak havoc between the worlds of yin and yang, slaughtering innocents in pursuit of revenge and a soul-forging massacre. At his divination stall in Liulichang, the young diviner Chen Jiuhe upholds the legacy of his master, the one-eyed Li. Armed with soul-nurturing coins and a peachwood sword, he lives by the rule, “No divinations for evildoers, no talismans for the faithless.” He wants no part in the strife of the netherworld, but a grudge from ten years ago leaves him with nowhere to turn. Using divination to find his way, talismans to subdue evil, and righteous resolve to fight fierce ghosts, he faces down inhuman horrors in a boundless darkness, locked in a battle to the death.

With divination, he discerns yin and yang; with his sword, he slays demons and evils; with his heart, he holds fast to the righteous path. Witness how the diviner Jiu He, armed with the pure yang vitality in his veins, takes on the ghosts of the underworld and brings an end to a cataclysm that could have destroyed Beiping.