[Mystery and crime-solving + eerie tales + human greed + Republican-era secrets] Shanghai isn't all bustle. When the city grows quiet, it's just as suited to storytelling as the old storytellers' tales. Like two branches blooming, each with its own story: the first looks to the past, devoted to tales of ghosts, monsters, and gods; the second turns to the present, delving into mysteries and the supernatural. Whether they feature gods and monsters or eerie phenomena, the hardest part is making all thirty-six stories different, with every installment fresh and new. Just as you emerge from a mystery, you sink into a supernatural quagmire; just as you're moved that even demons can feel true love, you lose yourself in a realm of gods and monsters. The modern volume's stories are stylish, dazzling, fantastical, supernatural, and deeply moving. The ancient volume teems with whales swallowing and dragons battling, storms churning and waves surging, and secret exchanges of scented sachets.
