Seven Hundred Years of Chongzhen

On the nineteenth day of the third month of the seventeenth year of Chongzhen, the rebel army breached the capital. Beneath a crooked-neck tree on Coal Hill, just as Chongzhen was about to hang himself, spiritual qi revived within him and awakened the Red Dragon bloodline. Armed with nothing but a sword, he turned the tide, subdued Li Zicheng, who had likewise awakened the Azure Tiger bloodline, and made him Prince of Shun, with the title inheritable by his descendants, charged with guarding Xijing.

From then on, the Ming dynasty flourished anew and entered the age of the Immortal Court.

In the spring of the seventy-seventh year of Chongzhen, Grand Secretary Qian Qianyi submitted a memorial: “Monks, nuns, and Daoist priests now rely on their arts and supernatural powers to act with impunity and flout the law. Demonic creatures and ghosts are appearing everywhere among the people, who are suffering as a result. I ask Your Majesty to establish an office to deal with them.”

The emperor agreed. He appointed his third son, Cijiong, as commander and ordered him to recruit extraordinary talents among the people. The scales and horns of an Azure Flood Dragon were used to forge the official seal, and the Azure Scale Guard was established.

In the seven-hundredth year of Chongzhen, the emperor was nearing the end of his allotted years. I have arrived!

With the brush in my hand, I dip it into vivid colors and give you your most beautiful makeup, so you can move on to the next stop in life. In return, you must pay me a certain fee.

My name is Qin Mo. I come from a family that has passed down the art of corpse makeup and carrying bodies!