I was framed for murder, and the authorities offered a hundred taels for my capture.
On the run, I was saved by a spirit creature, which proposed a deal: “Give me your face and name, and I’ll play the ‘Chen Yan’ the world sees.”
From then on, I wore a mask and became a guard, like my own shadow.
I watched it use my face to pass the imperial examinations and court my fiancée.
Until one night, drunk, it put an arm around my shoulders. “Chen Yan, do you know...”
“After pretending to be you for so long, I can’t tell who I really am anymore.”
I suddenly tore open its robe. Where its heart should have been, there was nothing at all.
