Carrying the Mountain Out

Zhou Yimin is an ordinary office worker in City B, the capital of Huaguo, whose life is plagued by relentless misfortune. After a series of escalating accidents, including a bicycle crash and near-death experiences, he encounters Yan Zhen, a breathtakingly beautiful young man who appears on a quiet sidewalk. Yan Zhen offers Zhou Yimin a Five-colored Jade Stone, claiming it will ward off an unlucky ghost haunting him. Skeptical but desperate, Zhou Yimin accepts the gift and invites the stranger into his home. Yan Zhen reveals he is an entity from the mountains who has come down to the human world and needs an identification card to navigate modern society. In exchange for helping Yan Zhen obtain a legitimate ID, Zhou Yimin hopes to secure the master’s protection against his curse.

Yan Zhen proves to be a powerful supernatural being capable of repelling spirits and healing damaged structures with a mere touch. He also possesses an inexhaustible supply of gold bricks, which he produces from his sleeve to purchase a traditional courtyard house in the historic Zhenlong Alley area. Zhou Yimin assists Yan Zhen in liquidating the gold and renovating the property, which becomes the Jade Accumulation Studio. During this time, Zhou Yimin’s niece, Liu Xiaozi, serves as Yan Zhen’s assistant, guiding him through modern city life and media. Yan Zhen becomes fascinated with romantic dramas, believing he is learning how to coax a lost treasure, though his true motive is to find his missing companion from the mountain.

The narrative shifts when Qiu Xiaoling, a young woman whose face is darkened by bad luck, enters the newly opened shop. She purchases a transparent Water Jade hairpin from Yan Zhen, which inexplicably saves her from a fatal fire caused by her cheating boyfriend, Du Fang. Qiu Xiaoling later joins the Special Affairs Bureau, a secret government organization that monitors supernatural phenomena. The Bureau’s captain, Lin Yangfeng, is a mysterious, violent figure who uses a wheelchair due to his weakened state, a condition caused by the scarcity of pure spiritual energy in the modern world. Lin Yangfeng’s team investigates Yan Zhen after discovering the source of the gold bricks, leading to a tense confrontation at the shop.

Upon seeing Lin Yangfeng, Yan Zhen experiences an immediate and intense emotional reaction, recognizing the captain as his long-lost treasure, Dan Zai. Misunderstanding Lin Yangfeng’s hostility and amnesia as feigned anger, Yan Zhen becomes overwhelmingly affectionate and nurturing. He carries the wheelchair-bound captain into his home and prepares a feast of rare spiritual beasts and herbs. The meal revitalizes Lin Yangfeng, restoring some of his strength and vitality, though he remains guarded and refuses to stay. Yan Zhen, interpreting the rejection as a temporary rift, vows to persist in winning back his companion’s trust. The Special Affairs Bureau views Yan Zhen as a volatile but potentially ally-able variable in a world where spiritual energy is slowly returning, setting the stage for future conflicts and alliances between the ancient entity, the government, and the supernatural forces emerging in the city.