In the second year of Longxing in the Southern Song Dynasty, bizarre murders occurred frequently in Lin'an, the capital: the owner of a silk and satin shop died in a secret room with fox claw marks on his neck; a water transport envoy fell into the water and died with water ghost fingerprints on his ankles; a Confucian scholar was scratched by a "zombie" and his school was banned; even "fierce ghosts" appeared in Deoksugong Palace, alarming the retired Emperor Gaozong and the reigning Emperor Xiaozong. People in the community are in panic, and they all say that ghosts are causing trouble. Only Du Meng, the former judge of Dali Temple, and Su Mu, a young girl, do not believe in the evil.
