Eighteen Staircase Ghost Stories

Yichen Moxiang's "Ghost Stories on Eighteen Ladders" is a phenomenal mountain city suspense masterpiece rooted in Bayu. The novel is set in Chongqing in the Republic of China in 1932. It uses 1.63 Million words to deeply integrate the geographical features of the mountain city, local folk beliefs, the ecology of rivers and lakes in the Republic of China, and the supernatural and strange things of Yin and Yang. It breaks away from the suspension routine of traditional supernatural online novels and uses solid research, full pyrotechnics, and a strong sense of history to create an epic memory of old Chongqing with both thrilling texture and cultural heritage. The biggest feature of the novel is the 100% localized narrative of the mountain city. The story takes the Eighteen Staircases, the core landmark of Chongqing's mother city, as the core stage. This bluestone staircase connecting the upper and lower half of the city is not only the carrier of the fireworks in the old Chongqing market, but also given the unique setting of "the junction of Yin and Yang". Relying on the regional characteristics of Chongqing's foggy and humid regions with crisscrossing rivers and waters, the novel constructs a supernatural worldview in which dense fog locks ladders, the Yin-Yang barrier is loosened, and evil spirits appear along the river. At the same time, it connects the Jialing River water eye of the Yangtze River, the dragon veins of Geleshan, stilted buildings, air-raid shelters, mass graves and other geographical features to build a complete Sichuan-Chongqing Feng Shui system of "dragon energy determines the city's destiny". In terms of folklore and historical depictions, the works are solidly researched and authentic. The book deeply restores the style of Chongqing in the Republic of China, and fully presents the Feng Shui culture of finding dragons in Sichuan and Chongqing to point acupoints, suppressing evil spirits and Anzhai, as well as the rules and morals and hatreds of Brother Dock Pao. Local taboos such as never walking by the river at night and not sitting on ladders, combined with market elements such as authentic dialects, Jiugongge hotpot, and Sichuan River chants, are filled with the hot fireworks of old Chongqing. At the same time, it relies on the turbulent background of the Republic of China with warlords' melee, prosperous shipping, and the initial construction of air-raid shelters, and integrates the real history of warlords' tomb destruction, anti-Japanese war tragedies, etc., Allowing the supernatural and strange things to take root in the real troubled times, achieving a unique immersive feeling of interweaving reality and reality. The main plot line revolves around Chen Yanchen, the heir of a family of metaphysics. He adheres to the ancestral precepts and is stationed at the Eighteen Tigua stall. When the city is locked in thick fog and a series of mysterious crimes occur in the river, he encounters the Yin Qi Ye Fan Qi and has since been involved in the vortex of disputes between the Yin and Yang worlds. The story reveals the root cause of the disaster layer by layer: a hundred years ago, the dragon's veins were artificially destroyed, and the yin and yang rift tore the mountain city apart. This is where the water ghost curse, the corpse's transformation, and evil spirits caused chaos. Chen Yanchen, as a mortal, uses hexagram magic tools to kill evil spirits and balance yin and yang. While dealing with the entanglements in the yang world between warlords, brother robes and ordinary people, he also fights against the chaos and evil conspiracies in the underworld, and maintains his original intention of protecting the city and the people. The work breaks the clichéd black-and-white setting and creates a highly tense core conflict and vivid characters. The underworld, represented by Fan Qiye, abides by the law and is selfless, while the mortals, represented by Chen Yanchen, are warm-hearted and take the initiative to break the situation. The opposition and balance between the rigid order of the underworld and the soft human responsibilities make the story go beyond simple horror and extend to deep thoughts on order, responsibility and human nature. A group of small people in the city and all living beings in Jianghu are vivid and three-dimensional, fitting the upright and passionate regional temperament of the mountain city, and there is no flat setting like a tool man. Compared with ordinary supernatural novels, "Eighteen Stairs of Ghost Stories" has extremely high cultural and narrative value. The eight narrative units in the book progress step by step, from a single person's mystery to a city-wide crisis of yin and yang. The plot is compact and the layout is grand, achieving a perfect balance of thriller, suspense and urban warmth. What's even more rare is that the work has become a textual carrier for the inheritance of Bayu culture, awakening the public's urban memory of old Chongqing, and assisting in the recovery of local folklore and historical materials and the restoration of old city culture. In the final analysis, "The Ghost Story of Eighteen Ladders" is not only a suspenseful supernatural novel, but also an affectionate love letter to the mountain city. The author uses the pen as a ladder to preserve the eighteen stone steps, the fireworks on the stilts, and the character of old Chongqing. He hides warmth in the confusion and confusion, and sees perseverance in the ups and downs of troubled times. He allows the dust-covered memory of the mountain city in the Republic of China and the thousand-year-old folk culture of Bayu to remain forever in the text. It is a highly representative masterpiece in the genre of folk suspense.