[Angst with sweetness | Past and present lives | A bit of a male-rivalry showdown | Beastfolk | Happy ending]
Xuan Yuan, a dark-gray dragon beastfolk, is a novice ghost hunter who has just had his badge taken away by the Exorcism Bureau. His spiritual power ranks near the bottom, his ratings are terrible, and even a wandering ghost in town nearly killed him. His life is already bad enough.
Then he picks up a wisp of ghost fire that refuses to cross over to the afterlife.
The ghost fire stays in his soul-catching pouch. He can’t make out what it looks like or understand what it says, yet it keeps watch by his bedside when he’s injured, brushes dirt off him after he falls asleep, and shields him when a vicious ghost grabs him by the throat.
His senior fellow disciple Ling Yuan, meanwhile, gives up his badge, sells his home, and follows him from the capital all the way to Pingning Town. When he carries Xuan Yuan out of a pile of broken bricks at a kiln, his hands tremble so badly he can barely hold his sword.
Then an imperial decree summons him to the capital. On the golden dragon throne sits a young man with golden, slit-pupil eyes exactly like his own.
“You are my younger brother,” the emperor says.
The story focuses mainly on plot and relationships, with few fight scenes.
