Records of Ghost Cases

Original title: Guiding Souls Across the Mountain 【Late-blooming, career-driven heroine ✘ love-at-first-sight, clingy hero】 【Supernatural mystery, plot-driven】 Song Yinshan has a rare constitution and was born able to see both the living and the dead. Her granny says people like her are born to be yin-yang masters, fated to do only one thing: guide the dead to the afterlife. Song Yinshan finds this terribly exasperating. What good is being able to see ghosts? She spends every day surrounded by chilling winds from the netherworld. She’s lucky she hasn’t been scared out of her wits already. How could she possibly have the strength to guide ghosts? Her stubborn granny issued her an ultimatum: “Girl, go down the mountain. Exorcise demons, uphold justice, guide lost souls, and earn a little money while you’re at it.” Song Yinshan said, “Granny, I don’t even know who I am.” “Perfect,” Granny replied. “You can look for answers while you work. That’ll keep you busy.” And so, after completing a month-long crash course in ghost-catching and exorcism, Song Yinshan, a woman with no past and no memories, was promptly kicked out of the house by her granny. The only things of value she took with her were a jade bell and a handwritten copy of The Complete Guide to Catching Ghosts, written by her Taoist master. Fine, then. She’d go down the mountain. She had blind faith in herself. New to the world, she was “duped” into going to Qingluan Town for five taels of silver. Even more infuriatingly, her employer vanished before she could reveal which ghost needed guiding. Where was Song Yinshan supposed to find it? She’d heard of ghosts finding people, but never people finding ghosts. Of course, if she didn’t go looking for ghosts, the ghosts would come looking for her. Hearing a ghost knock on the window in the middle of the night, Song Yinshan trembled with fear. Nobody had told her this job would be so hard! … Of course, more troublesome than the ghosts was Song Yinshan herself. She always felt as if something was missing from her body, and as if someone had dug chunks of memory out of her mind. In her dreams, a blurry figure would always tell her, “You’ve lost something very important. Go find it.” So she hunted ghosts while searching for the things she had lost. Along the way, she and that sharp-tongued but soft-hearted “tsundere ghost” investigated one case after another involving the myriad ghosts of the human world. Case One: Weeping from the Deep Well. In the dead of night, mournful sobs come from the town’s dry well. Three bold tomb raiders think no one can see them… In the morning mist, someone spots one head gnawing on another… Case Two: The Mountain Sealed, Souls Trapped. A caravan insists on entering the mountains amid a raging blizzard. A trail of bloody footprints appears, then vanishes. A horde of skeletons tries to crawl out of the abyss… The mountain-crossing bell rings, the soul-guiding lantern shines. The gate to Changgui opens, and all living things become ghosts. Legend says there is a clan of Mountain Guides who can command ten thousand ghosts and command both yin and yang. Song Yinshan had always thought it was just a fanciful old tale. But when fate swept in and the layers of mist began to lift, she discovered to her horror that those elusive mountain legends had all been written for her, her destiny set in stone. Song Yinshan was born able to summon ten thousand ghosts to follow her and command the path between yin and yang. So this is probably a story about: A heroine who gets cuddled by little ghosts wherever she goes + a hero overflowing with a sense of justice + one bizarre, supernatural case after another + a bunch of vicious ghosts who need a good sorting out + a villainous clan that just won’t stay dead. 【Reader’s Guide】 1. One-on-one romance, happy ending, episodic investigations plus an advancing main plot. 2. The heroine is a true powerhouse, but even powerhouses have their gloomy moments. 3. The hero: loyal and gentle, the type to win himself over, and fond of following the heroine around. 4. Plenty of chapters already written, so enjoy without worry! 5. A slow-burn story. 6. The heroine is somewhat of a beloved-by-all type. One-line summary: The heroine strides through the martial world with a staff, catching ghosts and recovering her lost self along the way, while falling in love with a “clingy pest.” Theme: Snow and wind may oppress me for years, but I’ll laugh them off as soft as cotton.