My name is Lin Yan. My ancestors were earth collectors in a secret trade.
We don't deal in antiques or search for treasure. We do just one thing: venture deep into Yin Mountain and collect Yin soil, which contains a sinister, chilling aura. Once it touches you, it clings to your life. It hunts down anyone it encounters. Ordinary people steer clear of it, but earth collectors alone can suppress it, gather it, and seal it away.
Before my grandfather died, he left me only half a piece of black pottery and repeatedly warned me never to set foot in Yin Mountain. I intended to put our trade behind me for good and live a quiet life, but one strange event followed another. Black soil came knocking in the dead of night, children's handprints appeared on its surface, and the aura of the cursed land pressed closer with every step. That's when I understood: some debts are destined to be repaid from the moment you're born.
To stay alive and uncover the truth about why my grandfather secretly left Yin Mountain all those years ago, I was forced to take up the work of an earth collector. My three companions each have their role: the old Daoist, Scar, leads the group and scouts the way; Qing He, meticulous and skilled at reading the earth's energy and finding the path, goes ahead to explore; and the sturdy, steady Stone guards the rear and protects the team. Earth collectors seek no riches, only survival and soil.
Inside Yin Mountain, there is no light, and the strangeness is beyond imagining. Black soil that wriggles on its own, footprints that silently follow, eerie sounds like the whispers of the living: danger lurks beneath every inch of earth. There are no funerary objects or ancient tombs here, only soil more terrifying than any evil spirit. If the Yin soil gets out of control, it will devour everyone across the mountain.
Holding the piece of ancestral pottery, I make my way deeper underground, collecting sinister soil and suppressing its eerie aura. With every handful I gather, I draw closer to the secret hidden deep within Yin Mountain. What exactly did my grandfather conceal all those years ago? What secret does the half-piece of pottery hold? And what manner of being is sealed at the very bottom of Yin Mountain?
My name is Lin Yan. I am an earth collector.
