The Otherworldly Switchboard Operator and His Astrologer

[Daily updates of 6,000 characters. My next book is My Dying Dragon Is My Dad]

[Calm on the outside, freaking out inside, (supposedly) immune to the paranormal bottom] × [Laid-back, powerful, protective and doting owner of the Star-Dust Hall, top]

Chu Qi's greatest wish was to be an ordinary person. Unfortunately, he was born with a constitution that attracted ghosts. He saw them at work, encountered evil spirits in rented homes, and his life was stamped with the word “cursed.”

Only after the mysterious astrologer Mu Xuan took him in to work at his shop was he forced to face reality:

It turned out his ancestral bloodline was so fearsome that resentful spirits saw him as an all-you-can-eat feast.

It turned out the world had a bright side and a dark side, and he was the unlucky guy stuck between them.

It turned out being afraid of ghosts and being able to communicate with and cleanse them weren't contradictory at all.

Mu Xuan thought he'd brought home a walking headache, but he hadn't expected that the kid could tremble with fear while drawing talismans and laying ghosts to rest without changing expression. He was timid enough to hide behind Mu Xuan, yet so gifted that he caught the attention of the spirit hall's higher-ups.

Watching Chu Qi grow from a trembling beginner into a powerful spirit master who could stand beside him, Mu Xuan's protective instincts gradually took on a different flavor.

“Don't be afraid.” He put an arm around the trembling boy, constellations turning at the tip of his fan. “When you can't see, I'll be your eyes. When you're scared, I'll be your courage.”

But when the dormant bloodline fully awakened, shadows and conspiracies from the past came one after another...

Could this yin-yang duo protect each other and the faint light of humanity amid urban legends and nights of a hundred ghosts?

Reading guide:

1. First-person narration.

2. Paranormal episodic stories plus a main plot with progressive power growth. Folk-horror atmosphere, with a sweet and warm romance where they dote on each other.

3. The bottom is naturally gifted with powerful spiritual energy, but it is sealed at first. He's terribly afraid of ghosts but doesn't show it, says one thing and means another, and rises to prominence later.

4. The top is a hidden big shot. Astrology is just a side gig. He's extremely protective and a master of flirtatious banter.

5. Happy ending, single-couple romance, strong leads working together to solve mysteries and overcome crises.

-----Next book preview------

- My Dying Dragon Is My Dad -

Qiu Rong is the weakest junior disciple of Qingzhu Sect, at the third level of Qi Refining with an ordinary spiritual root.

Aside from having his master's favor, he has a secret no one knows: an ancient relic called “Xuanjing” lives in his mind.

Xuanjing nags him all day: [Record a spirit plant, points +1.]

The reward is sickeningly sweet honey crystals, which are utterly useless.

That is, until he digs up a Red Dragon's Whisker stained with dragon breath in the sect's forbidden Misty Valley.

Xuanjing suddenly starts issuing frantic alerts:

[Endangered life-form detected! Bloodline similarity: 63%! Time until death: seven days!]

Deep in the valley, beneath a seal formed by an ancient formation.

This is the forbidden place where three Foundation Establishment uncles disappeared twenty years ago, when fiery meteors rained down from the sky.

A faint breath of life resonates with the broken iron token in his arms, both of the same origin.

His senior brother, desperate to pay off gambling debts, begs, “Little Junior Brother, you mustn't go there!”

His master, worried about the sect, warns sternly, “Rong'er, don't take risks.”

Only Xuanjing's mechanical voice calculates coldly:

[Grade B spirit plant can be exchanged for 1,500 points.]

[Analysis of dragon-clan formation fragment: 5,000 points.]

[Task: Save a direct blood relative. Reward: Unknown.]

Qiu Rong clenched the rusty iron shard in his hand.

Beyond the thick fog of Misty Valley lay not only the sect's forbidden secrets and lost cultivation techniques.

It might also hold... his last living family member.

Later, the cultivation world was shaken.

The ancient dragon clan reappeared in the Dongli Mountains. The legendary violent and cold Dragon Lord tightly shielded the most inconspicuous young disciple of Qingzhu Sect behind him, his red-gold slit pupils sweeping over the crowd as he said in a low voice:

“My son, Qiu Rong, has been in your care.”

At that moment, Qiu Rong, once mocked for doing business with honey crystals, quietly tugged at the Dragon Lord's sleeve and asked in a small voice:

“Dad, can we make a deal? Could I record one of your shed scales for points? Xuanjing says it's worth a hundred thousand!”

[Reading guide]

A traditional cultivation novel focused on leveling up. The protagonist loves collecting all sorts of strange things and has a collector's streak.

Traditional cultivation setting plus System assistance. The System is not from transmigration; it's a relic of an advanced ancient civilization.

A growing protagonist, starting as a young disciple at the Qi Refining stage. Family and career plots have equal weight, while the romance develops slowly but deeply.

The dragon dad is his biological father. He's powerful but doesn't dote blindly, and he has a past and secrets. The love interest is someone else and appears later.

Secret-realm exploration, sect life, cultivation-world markets, and ancient secrets intertwine.

Theme: Science solves everything, and learn about folk culture.