The Mystic Master

The night I was born, ghosts surrounded our home, and underworld officials came to claim my life. A gigantic snake glowing all over with a blue-green light coiled in front of the old house, holding the soul-reaping chains firmly outside the door. My father named me Shen Du. The Du meant “to weather a calamity.” Because I was destined to survive six calamities before I could grow up. At three, I nearly drowned. My neighbor and playmate died in my place. At six, a great fire broke out. My wet nurse died in my place. At nine, a plague struck. My childhood friend died in my place. At twelve, a landslide hit. My classmate died in my place. At fifteen, a lethal curse took hold. My father went gray overnight. Five lives in all, traded for my survival until the age of seventeen. When I turned seventeen, my father told me that my true calamity was still to come. On the night of my eighteenth birthday, the yin energy accumulated from the six calamities would erupt from my bloodline. That would be my final tribulation. There would be no scapegoat to die in my place, only me. There was only one way to stay alive: descend the mountain, gain experience, and become the eighteenth Tongxuan Master of Xuanwei Hall. I thought I would face demons and monsters when I went down the mountain. Only later did I learn that the most fearsome things in this world had never been ghosts. They were the obsessions, hatred, and unresolved debts in people's hearts. A Tongxuan Master doesn't master mystic arts, but the human heart: suppress evil whenever it appears, dispel calamity whenever it strikes, and help the good wherever they are.