Chapter 1

Huaxia Calendar, July 15th.

Suitable for sacrifices, fasting, praying for blessings, making alliances, and crafting objects.

Avoid embalming, burial, excavation, moving into a new house, and marriage.

......

Lin Yi opened his eyes, and the room was pitch black.

A faint smell of ointment wafted into his nose.

Dragging his heavy head, Lin Yi slowly sat up.

Where am I?

Suddenly, a daze came over him, and a flood of memories surged into his mind.

A moment later, he knew he had been transported to another world.

It was the Dàyú Dynasty, the eleventh year of Tianyou.

The court was corrupt, demons and ghosts ran rampant, natural disasters and human misfortunes abounded, and the land was filled with suffering and death, with bones exposed in the fields and no roosters crowing for miles.

He was now a sorcerer in the Fog Hidden Sect in the western part of Shoulin City, making a living by selling Hu Hu wine and dogskin ointments in a secluded shop.

......

What is the Fog Hidden Sect?

Actually, it's a homophone. The real name is the Five Yin Sect.

There is an old saying in the market that describes professions that make money from the dead.

The executioner's blade, the coroner's eyes, the paper craftsman's skills, and the second-generation tanner's needlework.

There is also a catchy rhyme about these four professions.

The executioner's blade, hanging on the wall.

The coroner's eyes, can see.

The paper craftsman's skills, vivid and lifelike.

The second-generation tanner's needlework, working on the surface.

Because they all make money from the dead and are considered lowly professions, they are called the Four Minor Yin Sects by those who like to name things.

As the old saying goes, money weighs down the hands of slaves, and skills weigh down the hands of professionals.

In the past, the Four Minor Yin Sects were a well-known brand, just like today's famous brands.

Once the name was out, they would be looked up to.

But the Four Minor Yin Sects are not something anyone can call themselves.

They must have inherited their skills from their ancestors, at least through four generations, to call themselves members of the Four Minor Yin Sects.

But if they are the Four Yin, why is it called the Five Yin Sect?

That's because the way of the world is a balance of yin and yang.

The first four Yin professions deal with the dead, so they need a profession to balance and harmonize.

That is the fifth Yin profession, the itinerant sorcerer.

The front door deals with the dead, the back door saves lives.

However, the sorcery of the fifth Yin profession has almost disappeared over the ages, leaving only some remedies for wind-cold and dogskin ointments for blood circulation.

Now it's like selling dog meat under the sign of mutton, a name without substance.

But the things passed down by the ancestors must be preserved, and no one dares to break the rules set by the ancestors.

As the old saying goes, rules are dead, but they are the standards of the profession, passed down by the ancestors.

Whether you believe it or not, follow it or not, the rules are there.

It's like a pair of eyes in the dark, always watching the actions of the practitioners.

As the saying goes, there are gods three feet above our heads, who can guarantee that these seemingly absurd rules have no hidden meanings?

The Five Yin Sect has been passed down this way.

Because the Five Yin Sect has too much negative energy, a wise person suggested changing the name to the Fog Hidden Sect.

Thus, the saying "Six Sectors of the Temple, Fog Hidden Sect of the World" came into being.

......

Although they are all part of the Fog Hidden Sect, the other four sects do not look favorably upon the fifth Yin Sect.

Think about it, the first four sects have skills passed down through generations.

But what about the fifth sect?

Itinerant sorcerers?

Pah!

Let him show you some magic?

No one has seen it for years.

All that's left are some insignificant things.

So the other four sects have some popularity, with skills passed down, and disciples coming and going, unlike the fifth sect, which has always been struggling, with skills gradually declining.

However, because Lin Yi's shop helps to suppress the negative energy, the other four sects never bully him, a solitary man.

If it weren't for his suitable birth date, why would a quiet and seemingly foolish boy like Lin Yi have his own shop?

It was assigned by the government.

After all, the executioners and coroners work for the government, and the paper craftsmen and second-generation tanners' work is related to the first two sects.

As for Lin Yi's status in the Fog Hidden Sect,

He is just a living ornament to suppress the negative energy.

As long as he stays alive and doesn't cause trouble, that's enough.

If he dies, the government will have to find another person with a suitable birth date.

No one wants to deal with that hassle.

So even though his business is not good, Lin Yi still receives some silver from the government every month.

One person's full, the whole family is worry-free.

......

After sorting through his memories, Lin Yi felt that the current world was in chaos.

It was far from the peaceful era of his previous life.

Here, not only were demons and ghosts rampant, but the other four sects of the Fog Hidden Sect were also unstable. Even with the negative energy suppressed, there were still incidents of disciples going mad, dying suddenly, being possessed, going insane, losing their souls, or falling ill from time to time.

A few days ago, a paper craftsman went missing, and his clothes were returned by a funeral monkey.

It was a business that traded lives for money.

Who knew when such a tragedy would fall on him?

But to live a different life, he had to change his way of living.

Lin Yi got out of bed and walked to the table, where he saw a small book with the title "Taoist Scripture" on the cover.

Opening the first page, he found an unnamed poem.

"Prosperity and poverty are all by fate, why lament in vain? Just do good deeds, don't ask about the future.

Winter ice will melt, spring grass will grow. Observe this truth, the way of heaven is clear."

After reading the poem, Lin Yi felt a sudden clarity.

Poverty and wealth are determined by heaven, no need to sigh and lament. Just focus on doing good now, don't worry about the future.

When winter passes, the ice will melt; when spring comes, the grass will grow. If you can understand this, you can see through the world.

This poem gradually calmed Lin Yi's anxious and fearful heart.

Live in the present, do what should be done.

Do what you can now, that's enough, don't worry about things that haven't happened yet.

Just as he was thinking, Lin Yi suddenly felt a sharp pain in his forehead.

A mist slowly rose before his eyes, and in the mist, a mountain range appeared.

A strange mountain stood tall, surrounded by other mountains, green and steep, shrouded in clouds and mist.

On the mountain, three large characters appeared: Mount Sumeru.

......