White Impermanence, Black Impermanence, life and death without refuge, tales of ghosts and spirits.
Old debts still pile up, and what lies ahead is yet more absurd.
Who can say that a lifetime of foolish passion and anger was all for nothing?
What cause, what effect? I ponder it all at length.
You stir countless thoughts in me, and lay my karmic retribution bare.
In the end, we return to the great dream, lost in an endless haze.
Why speak of declining morals and cold, fickle hearts?
In the late Northern Song, the young Xie Lian passed the imperial examination at the top of the list and was appointed registrar of Daming Prefecture. His future seemed limitless. But the times were unstable and the officialdom corrupt. Xie Lian offended the powerful, and his close friend Fan Ruoyu consequently met a violent death. Unwilling to implicate anyone else, Xie Lian, grief-stricken and furious, hanged himself to make his stand.
After their deaths, their souls went to the underworld to have their lives judged. Moved by their integrity, the Judge reported them to Yama, who recruited them both to serve as Black and White Impermanence. From then on, they traveled between the realms of yin and yang, guiding the souls of the dead.
I can't say any more, or it'll be a spoiler. This is an episodic story combining fantasy mythology and historical legend, told from the male protagonist's perspective as he witnesses the changing world. Everyone gets a tragic bad ending. The pacing is very slow, and updates are at a snail's pace, so you might want to wait until there's more to read.
Theme: A first meeting brings fortune
