On the eve of his ascension, the four life lamps Lu Hanshan had lit with his own hands went out almost simultaneously. His four disciples were stationed in Northern Yan, Southern Chu, Western Liang, and Eastern Qi. He thought they were dead.
But an old ledger pointed to something else: the price paid to seal Guixu three hundred years ago was being recorded in the names, lifespans, and forced labor of mortals. Someone had even entered his four disciples' life lamps in the ledger of compensation. Their lamps had gone out because they refused to pay someone else's debt.
Lu Hanshan gave up ascension and descended the mountain to investigate the entry he had once overlooked. But extinguished lamps could not bring back lost days, and the seal could not be repaired through one person's sacrifice. The five master and disciples had no choice but to travel through the four lands, recover the true stones, and claim the wages owed, so that those whose names had been written down could decide for themselves whether to stay or leave.
