On the Ghost Festival in July 1995, a young man named Lu Chen is drawn into a case involving the vengeful spirit beneath an old locust tree because of his “soul-leaving mark.” Zhang Huaiqing, a disciple of the Three Purities Temple, reveals the truth: the hanging ghost Li Qiulan, whom Lu Chen sees, is actually a wronged spirit. Her clan leader drove a soul-pinning nail into her and buried her beneath the tree. Once she voices her grievance through Lu Chen, her spirit finds peace. Impressed by Lu Chen’s talent, Zhang Huaiqing takes him as his disciple, and he is about to begin his training at the Three Purities Temple.
Set in the rural Jianghuai region, the story revolves around Lu Chen’s unusual ability to see supernatural beings and the Daoist principle of “saving the living, not the dead,” as master and disciple investigate a string of paranormal cases: a soul-pinning nail beneath an old locust tree, a bronze bell ringing on its own in an ancestral hall, and mysterious locust leaves appearing wherever the two travel... As the exorcisms gradually reveal the truth, they uncover not only the grievances of the dead, but also the greed, selfishness, and prejudice in the hearts of the living, more terrifying than any ghost. In a struggle between Daoist magic and human nature, with the wronged spirits and the truth entwined, see how the master and disciple use locust leaves as their guide to unravel the mysteries of the world between yin and yang.
