The well at the Hua family home suddenly tastes of rust. Auntie Li's chickens in the eastern part of the village and Grandpa Zhang's sheep in the north die one after another under mysterious circumstances, all with marks around their necks. Rumors of the "Nighttime Madman" quietly spread through the village. The three women Hua Yue, Tan Jiao, and Song Qin notice something is wrong and follow the clues: scraps of blue cloth in the pine woods on the western slope, a copper bell at the old mill, and a pottery jar in a wilderness kiln. Their suspicions gradually focus on Xiao Dabao, a seemingly simple-minded villager. His increasingly strange reactions deepen their doubts, while a handkerchief embroidered with the character "Xiu" at a deserted grave on the western slope and a bell fragment floating up from the old well west of the village suggest that Lin Xiu, a woman who disappeared while fleeing famine three years ago, may still be alive. As Xiao Dabao's son Xiaobao goes missing and a silver shard and bloodied hair are discovered in a hidden compartment in the woodshed, mysterious rumors about a "coal boss" come to light, and the story takes several unexpected turns.
