My Dao Companion and I: A Love That Defies Heaven and Sea

Amnesiac red-robed ghost top x refined, elegant scholar bottom

In truth: ruthless, vicious evil spirit x obsessive, unhinged immortal

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Tags: Chinese horror | light Lovecraftian elements | supernatural cultivation | rules-based horror | folk legends and Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio | underworld food show

Synopsis: A strange-tale story about a beautiful evil spirit and an elegant scholar entering instances, cooking ghost food, and falling in love (Ghost: Am I an ingredient?)

This is the most desperate of times.

The sky splits open, and humanity loses the moon. The netherworld encroaches, and ghosts and monsters run rampant across the world.

Two hundred years later, a red-robed evil spirit crawls out from the leyline of Mount Sumeru. The immortal who lived in seclusion on East Mountain descends from the mountain.

[Instance 1: The Shrine of Dongjun in Snow and Wind]

An abandoned village, an ancient temple, and drunken talk on a snowy night.

A red-robed evil spirit with no memories meets a scholar in blue robes traveling to the spring imperial exams.

A strange temple keeper, seven pilgrims, eerie taboos, and a boundary between the living and the dead...

At midnight, do not disturb the gods!

Who would have thought these two, one human and one ghost, came equipped with chopsticks and spatulas to make dinner?

Pei Huaijun rolls up his sleeves. “Xiao Yi, calm the ingredients down first.”

Yi Jiangxue nods seriously and smashes a boulder with one palm.

Pei Huaijun coats the ghost in golden batter and drops it into a pot of hot oil.

He smiles gently. “Xiao Yi, is the ghost fried through? Should we fry it again?”

Yi Jiangxue drifts around with a strip of fried ghost in his mouth, eyes sparkling. “It's done! So yummy!”

The ghosts behind the scenes: What did they come here for?

[Instance 2: A Collision of Red and White]

Yi Jiangxue and Pei Huaijun rent a house and discover that the neighbors on the street are acting strangely.

As soon as they move in, they receive invitations to a wedding and a funeral, both on the same day.

[Wedding Invitation: No guests in mourning clothes should be crying at the wedding feast. If you see any, burn red paper money.]

[Funeral Notice: The coffin should make no noise during the wake. If the lid opens, leave the mourning hall immediately.]

Yi Jiangxue is a warmhearted, model evil spirit. “The ghost bride forgot her veil, so I just helped put it on her.”

Pei Huaijun wipes his long sword and smiles. “It's the New Year. Since we're here, we may as well stay. Xiao Yi is still a child. You ghosts who don't know the rules, give him some space.”

The red-robed evil spirit is having a wonderful time.

At the wedding feast, he hangs himself from the southeast branch. At the wake, he drags a ghost out and lies down inside the coffin.

Yi Jiangxue says politely, “I'm sleepy. Please close the coffin lid for me. Thanks.”

Pei Huaijun climbs into the coffin too. “All right, we'll be buried together.”

[Top's perspective]

Sometimes Yi Jiangxue thinks that when an evil spirit meets a scholar, it sounds like the beginning of one of those Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio.

The scholar is gentle and frail, but makes up for it with his extensive knowledge. He's an expert on ghosts.

He's also good at cooking ghost food. Stockpile +1.

Then I'll just have to take this foolish scholar along!

A human and a ghost become cultivation partners, traveling and working together, entrusting their lives to each other.

For a time, Yi Jiangxue believes the scholar understands ghosts, is gentle and considerate, and can cook ghost food. He's the best person in the world.

That is, until the day the scholar drops his mask and everything falls apart.

Yi Jiangxue, his crimson robes like waves and his heart filled with overwhelming hatred, looks at the refined and elegant true immortal. “Pei Huaijun! I've come to claim your life, ”

They've traveled together all this way, yet his cultivation partner is also his enemy. He can't tell love from hate. If he tears the immortal open now, will he become a vessel for ghosts?

Hearing this, Pei Huaijun smiles as if lost in love. “This is truly the sweetest confession.”

[Bottom's perspective]

In the Lingjun Realm, there is an immortal named Pei Huaijun.

He is the greatest person in the world, yet for a thousand years he has lain drunk on East Mountain, living in seclusion and refusing to appear.

The cultivation world knows full well that Dongjun went mad after his cultivation partner died.

He doesn't think he's mad.

The supreme, most exalted, most holy Dongjun does not live in the celestial capital's crimson palaces. Instead, he built a hut on East Emperor Mountain, where he spends all year facing a gravestone.

Unfortunately, Pei Huaijun is the only true immortal in the Lingjun Realm.

When the sky cracks, the cultivation world's patriarchs cling to him and beg him to descend from the mountain. When ghosts and monsters run rampant, they cling to him again and beg him to manifest his power.

Pei Huaijun mends the rift in the sky, then goes back to the mountain to think of his cultivation partner.

He stands beyond the five elements, outside the mortal world, yet he cannot find his partner. It's as if this person was only someone he imagined, someone who never existed.

Until one day, the broken red thread on Pei Huaijun's ring finger moves ever so slightly.

At the same time, a red-robed evil spirit crawls out from the leyline of Mount Sumeru.

The beautiful evil spirit in bloodstained crimson robes is missing most of his memories, but his hatred is boundless.

All he remembers is his name: Yi Jiangxue.

He wants to kill the man with a red thread at the base of his ring finger.

In a nutshell: An evil spirit devours ghosts and monsters all the way to becoming a ghost king, only to discover that his cultivation partner, who's been by his side, is the hidden final boss he's been seeking revenge on.

Reader's Guide:

1. Ghost top, immortal bottom; 1v1, equally matched, no switching, each other's one and only, with a high intensity romance. Two madmen, one a mad ghost and one a madman, are inseparable. No switching, dream substitutions, polyamory, or “better off alone” endings.

2. Yi Jiangxue (top): Amnesiac Xiao Yi is a charming nonhuman 1; after regaining his memories, he's ruthless and vicious, with a beautiful mental state.

Pei Huaijun (bottom): As a disguised scholar, he's gentle and considerate; his true self is obsessive and deranged, neurotic and incredibly strong.

3. Weibo: @Chen Ge Wants to Pet Cats

Core Theme: Reconciliation after a breakup; face fate with optimism.