In 2026, the nation is at peace, and ghosts and gods have vanished.
Lin Xuanming, an orthodox successor of Longhu Mountain and a registered netherworld bailiff, has entered the most wretched period of his life. His bank account holds just fifty yuan, and the dignified Celestial Master is nearly starving to death over a bowl of instant noodles in his enormous villa. To make ends meet, he and his partner Qin Yue have no choice but to reopen the rundown Shengwang Hall, a shop specializing in goods for the dead, hoping to scrape together a few coins from the cracks of the times. But one night, a pale-faced woman exuding a chilling aura pushes open the shop door, and with it unleashes a vast conspiracy long since forgotten. Beneath the streetlamp on the corner, two shadows that do not belong to the living flash Lin Xuanming a mocking smile. This is no simple case of a vengeful ghost haunting someone, but a calculated provocation. When ancient forbidden arts that vanished long ago resurface in the modern city, and terrifying beings that should have remained sealed beneath the dust of history begin to awaken, Lin Xuanming and Qin Yue realize that this so-called era of peace is built atop a volcano on the verge of eruption. This time, their opponents are no longer lonely wandering ghosts. They are cunning and powerful, and know the rules of Daoist magic and the underworld inside and out. Every clash is a crushing contest of strength and wits; every investigation leads them closer to a terrifying truth, deliberately erased from history, about the origins of the realms of yin and yang. From cold morgues to bustling livestreaming platforms, from desolate mountains and ancient tombs to the neon-lit heart of the city, Lin Xuanming must take up the Daoist arts that have nearly rusted away and carve out a bloody path for himself and for the precarious balance between yin and yang in an age when ghosts and gods are unseen. After all, a Celestial Master may be broke, but the rules must never be broken.
