In the waning years of the Late Tang, as the last light of a golden age fades, demons and monsters run rampant. A string of bizarre cases erupts in Chang'an: master craftsmen die mysteriously, and their life’s work lets out mournful cries in the dead of night. The case comes to be known as “The Weeping Puppet Case.” Lu Mingyuan, a former official of the Eastern Palace, was demoted to the obscure Bureau of Strange Tales over a court sorcery case. Wronged and afflicted with a hidden illness, he is forced to join forces with a retired veteran who believes in “sending ghosts to the afterlife by physical means,” and a Western Regions woman skilled in poison and witchcraft. Together, they venture into the darkest corners of the prosperous imperial capital. From eerie rumors on the streets to the treacherous schemes of the imperial court, they follow a trail of exotic fragrance from the Western Regions and gradually uncover a shocking conspiracy capable of shaking the empire to its foundations. The truth is often more terrifying than ghosts and monsters.
