Eight Trigrams Robe: Suppressing the Nine Netherworlds

Heavy rain washed open a cave in the back mountain. A dark ancient coffin floated in muddy yellow water, its surface covered in faded patterns of the Primordial Bagua.

My master gripped his peachwood sword, his voice hoarse. "Xuanzhou, your birthday has arrived. There's no escaping this contract."

I stared at the Dark Yin Coffin as a cold black mark slowly crept up my wrist, like a living chain.

"This is the fate of the Primordial Bagua Altar. The woman in the coffin is your ghost wife, Su Qingwan. From now on, you'll wear the Bagua Robe, tread the celestial steps into the underworld, enter Fengdu, and ferry lonely souls. Her fate is bound to yours. If she dies, your three souls will shatter."

A bone-chilling wind suddenly swept through the rain, and a woman's cool, quiet whisper drifted from between the coffin's boards.

My master lifted a hand and draped the Primordial Bagua Robe, passed down through generations, over my shoulders. The robe was heavy and carried the cold, earthy stench unique to the Yellow Springs.

"Remember the altar's secret incantation. Recite it to protect yourself when you enter the netherworld: 'Clad in the robe of the Primordial Bagua, I gather the Three Flowers into the Cauldron and journey to the Court of Feng...'"