In the twenty-fifth year of the Republic of China, Tianjin Wei was in turmoil. A Shang and Zhou bronze gui with strange patterns unearthed from a mysterious ancient tomb led to a series of bizarre deaths: archaeological team members, greedy antique dealers, and even unrelated scholars who participated in the excavation all died in extremely tragic and strange ways, leaving corrosive traces similar to the bronze gui's patterns on the scene. Gu Yunshen, a former police station non-staff consultant who is down and out but has a keen sense of smell, is forced to join forces with Su Qingmo, a calm female forensic doctor who has returned from studying abroad, to conduct an in-depth investigation. They dealt with various forces - Japanese cultural agents, the Kuomintang's mysterious agencies, Jianghu gangs, Western collectors - and gradually uncovered a shocking secret hidden behind an ancient bronze artifact that could shake the country. This is not only a fatal chase spanning ancient and modern times, but also a life and death battle to protect the fire of civilization and national dignity at a time of national crisis.
