Chen Yuan gets a call from home: his third uncle, Li Shouren, is critically ill. He returns to the isolated Mistveil Village, only to discover that he has become the heir to the family shrine.
The “Old Immortal” enshrined there is not as benevolent as the ancestral teachings claim. It follows a set of bloody and bizarre rules:
· Rule One: If the shrine’s red lantern lights up, you must immediately burn incense. No matter what you see, do not look back.
· Rule Two: Any fortune bestowed by the Old Immortal must be spent within three days, or disaster will strike.
· Rule Three: Never agree to any “request” made by the Old Immortal.
Chen Yuan thinks that following the rules will keep him alive, until he finds a blood-written note from his third uncle in the shrine cellar: “Child, what we worship isn’t an immortal at all… It’s a ‘fake’ wearing an immortal’s skin! It’s searching for a perfect body so it can return to the world.”
At that very moment, the red lantern in the shrine silently lights up behind him.
[The red lantern hanging beneath the eaves: a blessing, or a curse that claims lives? The incense burned for a hundred years: an act of faith, or a blood debt that can never be repaid?]
