In a narrow alley in the old district stands the "Shadow-Side Steamed Bun Shop." It never opens in a sunny spot, and its business always turns strange after dusk. Lin Mo has come looking for her missing cousin. The first time she steps into the fog-shrouded alley, she is haunted by the faint smell of blood inside the shop, a familiar fragment of a backpack in the corner, and the shopkeeper's swollen, pale face.
As her investigation deepens, she discovers that the bun shop is hiding more than the secret behind a string of disappearances. It seems to be a dark hub connecting networks of human trafficking, telecom fraud, and pyramid schemes. Motorcycles making deliveries in the dead of night, the sounds of someone struggling inside a sack, and a fleeting figure begging for help behind a second-floor window all hint that this is no ordinary shop.
Everyone who appears in the shop has a hidden agenda, and every bun that looks ordinary may conceal a clue pointing to some crime. As Lin Mo pursues the truth, she must not only contend with the cunning shopkeeper but also evade the threats of forces lurking in the shadows. As traces of more victims emerge, she gradually realizes that she has already stepped into a trap far larger and more chilling than she imagined. The secret of the Shadow-Side Steamed Bun Shop may be just the tip of the iceberg in this dark game of chess...
