Withered Flowers, Old Dreams: The Vengeful Hanging Ghost

Eerie + exhilarating + tragic romance + revenge + deeply satisfying

Liu Xiaoyan, the village accountant, discovers that village Party secretary Li Fucai has been abusing his position to embezzle on a massive scale. Determined to see justice done, Liu Xiaoyan sets out to report him. But in the dark reality of officials shielding one another, she meets roadblock after roadblock, and every complaint comes to nothing.

Li Fucai retaliates, violating her in an act of rape. When Liu Xiaoyan discovers she is pregnant, her life plunges into despair. With nowhere to turn for help and not a glimmer of hope in sight, she chooses to end her life by hanging herself, saying goodbye to a world that has utterly failed her.

But justice is not swallowed by darkness forever. Before taking her life, she leaves behind a diary detailing Li Fucai’s embezzlement and her own tragic ordeal. After Liu Xiaoyan’s death, the diary sets events in motion, drawing the attention of the authorities. It becomes a blade that tears through the darkness, exposing Li Fucai’s crimes and delivering revenge on the villain. At last, long-delayed justice arrives.