Su Guchen is a poor Daoist priest cursed with the fate of a lone star. Any money he gets is gone within three days.
He comes down from the mountain hoping to earn a little money from incense offerings.
There are more people in the city, and they’re even more reckless than the mountain ghosts. They kill, commit arson, steal treasures, and seize fortune, their karmic threads black as purple ink.
Other Daoists have to set up an altar and perform divinations to glimpse karma, and even then it’s blurry, and they can’t speak of it freely. Su Guchen is different. He can see it the moment he opens his eyes, and settle it with a mere touch. If someone owes a debt, he pulls on the thread and it’s paid on the spot.
So to Su Guchen, these reckless martial artists are all walking ATMs.
“This humble Daoist doesn’t get entangled in karma, so that’ll cost extra.”
“Don’t talk to me about feelings, feelings cost money. And don’t talk to me about money, money costs lives.”
Some laugh at him for being poor; others try to kill him. In the end, they all die. Not by his hand, but because the bill comes due.
Until one day, he discovers that his own fate is far greater than anyone else’s.
He thought he came down from the mountain to make money.
In truth, he came down to collect lives.
