In the waters of the north, families of water ghosts have salvaged shipwrecks for generations. On a night in 1987, five-year-old Shi Muyang watched a crystal coffin emerge from the water. The woman inside said, “He’s back.” A past life from 150 years ago has haunted him ever since.
Three central mysteries that run through the entire story
1. The mystery of the crystal coffin: The woman inside, “Shi Linglong,” was an ancestor of the Shi family from 150 years ago, connected to Shi Muyang through their past and present lives.
2. The River Dragon pact: The Shi family’s generations of salvage work aren’t for money. They’re making offerings to the “River Dragon” sleeping beneath the river, keeping it from waking and destroying the northern waters.
3. The mystery of two souls: Two souls dwell within Shi Muyang: his present-day self and Muyang from his past life.
Seven key story elements
A northern water-ghost family x feng shui arts x shamanic magic x past and present lives tied to a crystal coffin x grudges and rivalries in the underworld of the Guandong corpse-retrieval sect and the Boat Coffin Gang x the ancestral secret manual, The Sunken Vessel Record x the historical depth of the Republican era and Japanese occupation
In a word: This is a story about “fate.” Some people are destined to bear certain burdens, and some choices are destined to take a lifetime to answer.
Theme: The bonds and endings of past and present lives, love and hate, resentment and longing, parting and unfulfilled desire
