In the tenth year of Wanli's reign in Jinling City, evil spirits were rampant behind the lanterns. Tong Yan, a junior official in the imperial prison, found a strange black cat that was seriously injured on a rainy night. The black jade steps on the snow, and the eyes of different colors can actually feed on nightmares and see through the ghosts of people's hearts.
Painted-skin ghosts dress up every night, and the embroiderer's fingers are all destroyed; Hongwu ancient coins reappear in the world, and those who win them are transformed into drowning craftsmen in their dreams; silent puppets perform desperate dramas in the misty wilderness, and the viewers are stunned... One after another strange murders point to the depths of the dream.
Tong Yan and Su Yunshang, a female head catcher who does not believe in ghosts and gods, are forced to join forces. Following the clues left by Mo Yu Meng, they step into a murderous trap set by an ancient organization called "Nightmare Pavilion". The incense shop hides evil spirits, the drunken monks hide their secrets, the proprietress of the rouge shop is both good and evil, and the imperial master in the deep palace seems to be weaving a nightmare web that swallows up the entire Ming Dynasty.
When the sword of reality cannot cut through the illusory nightmare, only by relying on each other can we find a ray of dawn amidst all the weirdness.
