Chen Lie is a newly graduated vocational college dropout from the old industrial district west of Songjiang City. He has his diploma and his grandmother’s portrait in his pocket, and less than two thousand yuan in savings.
After getting stabbed three times in a street fight, he is on the verge of death when he is forced to establish a spirit altar and take on a full house of immortal spirits. Hu Tianlong, the sly old fox in charge, has a sharp tongue but a soft heart. The Five Great Immortal Clans are forever passing the buck with their shift schedules. The three Qingfeng spirits love watching the drama, and the three Yanhun spirits smoke even more than Chen Lie. Other spirit mediums accumulate merit by doing good deeds. Chen Lie thinks it over and decides: The spirits can’t fight? Fine. You handle dirty tricks, clearing out nasty spirits, and cutting off our enemies’ escape routes. I’ll take care of grabbing territory, street fights, negotiations, recruiting people, and expanding our power.
From one street to half a city, from a small-time street punk to the underworld king of the whole city. His brothers join him one by one, then fall one by one. Seven women enter his life, then leave one by one. From 2010 to 2026, over sixteen years on the streets, Chen Lie goes from asking, “Is the cigarette done?” to saying, “The cigarette’s out.” The people standing beside him dwindle from six to two. The spirits work so long they become indistinguishable from humans. This is not a story about cultivating immortality. It is about the rise and fall of the Northeast underworld over sixteen real years.
The Ma Xian from the Northeast underworld is strong and has the right taste.