Prison Dragon County

Biodata

Background and History

Prison Dragon County is a remote, impoverished county where supernatural incidents are serious enough to cause widespread public panic. Its distance from major centers means it has no local branch of the Imperial Astronomy Bureau, the Great Zhou office responsible for anomalous events. 8 9

More than twenty years before the story, the man later known as the Old Heavenly Master arrived intending to impersonate a ghost-exorcising Daoist and leave after swindling money. Local landlords instead funded his continued residence, and he remained in the county while maintaining a reputation for supernatural expertise. 1

The Dragon-Imprisoning Monastery was built through donations from local landlords and wealthy residents whom the Old Heavenly Master had deceived. Despite its fraudulent origins, regular incense offerings gave the monastery's True Martial Great Emperor statue a trace of divine power. 5

Governance

• County Magistrate He Caisheng — The county's rank-seven magistrate. He avoids summoning the Imperial Astronomy Bureau because its investigators could expose corruption within the county yamen. 8
• County Assistant Li Shen — The rank-eight second-in-command of the county. 8
• County Yamen — The local government office. Officials stationed there possess the passive skill Official Qi Protection, though they appear unable to actively control it. 8
• The county administration relies on local Daoists, monks, and reputed cultivators when anomalous events arise, rather than immediately seeking outside intervention. 7 8

Major Anomalous Incidents

Water Ghost and the Foot Shackle

A green-faced water ghost attacked Wang Lao Er at a river near the county. The ghost was destroyed by Fan Wu, but it left behind a deteriorated foot shackle marked with talisman-like script, suggesting that it had been deliberately created rather than naturally formed. 3 5

After Constable Liu's group brought the shackle into the county yamen archive, the yamen was haunted. The incident prompted He Caisheng to offer five hundred taels of silver and twenty mu of fertile land to anyone who could eliminate the threat. 7

County Yamen Attack

The haunting escalated into an assault on the county yamen. Exploding crows rained blood that formed mystic scripts across the grounds, suppressing the yamen's Imperial Qi protection and allowing hostile entities to attack. 12

The attack involved a white-robed vengeful ghost and a Giant Paper Figure. Fan Wu destroyed the vengeful ghost and defeated the paper figure, while Yang Yizi and the Abbot of Golden Dragon Temple provided support. 14 15

Xuan Shizi and the Great Venerable

Fan Wu traced the linked cases of the water ghost, vengeful ghost, paper figures, fetal corpses, and brothel activity to Xuan Shizi. Xuan Shizi was a heretic who worshipped the Great Venerable and used ghost-nurturing and paper-figure techniques. 15 16 18

After killing Xuan Shizi, Fan Wu recovered a chest of gold and silver from an underground chamber beneath the brothel. Fearing reprisals from other followers of the Great Venerable, he left Prison Dragon County immediately after collecting the magistrate's promised payment. 19 20

Notable Locations

• Dragon-Imprisoning Monastery — A Daoist temple on a mountain within the county. It housed Fan Wu and the Old Heavenly Master, as well as the True Martial Great Emperor statue and its Demon-Slaying Sword. 1 5
• Prison Dragon County Yamen — The county government compound and site of the ghost-related attacks. 7 12
• County archive room — The evidence-storage room where the green-faced water ghost's foot shackle was placed before the yamen haunting began. 6 7
• Brothel district — The area connected to Xuan Shizi's cult activities and hidden underground chamber. 15 19
• Riverbank — The site where the green-faced water ghost attacked Wang Lao Er and was later destroyed. 3 4

Reputation

• The county's residents regarded the Old Heavenly Master as an omnipotent exorcist for decades, unaware that he was a fraud. 1
• After Fan Wu killed the water ghost, Constable Liu, the yamen runners, and the county magistrate treated him as the Old Heavenly Master's genuine successor. 5 8
• News of the county yamen haunting spread quickly, causing residents to fear approaching the yamen or even discussing the supernatural disturbances openly. 8 15
• Outside the county, Dragon-Imprisoning Monastery was largely unknown despite Fan Wu's growing reputation. 22 25