In the winter of the sixth year of Yonghe, a "demon fire" suddenly appeared in the west city of Yecheng, and the scorched corpses had a sly smile on their faces. Du Min, a mixed-race imperial doctor, was secretly ordered by Ran Min to conduct an autopsy, but found out from the ashes a clue that his father was mysteriously buried in a fire twenty years ago - half a volume of "Red Flame Notes".
At the same time, Su Wan, the daughter of the Su family of Chen County, came to her door with an encrypted blood letter left by her brother before he disappeared. A blood-stained lotus was painted on the last page of the silk.
Cinnabar, stone gall, saltpeter, heart poison... Ancient killing techniques have reappeared in the world. The underground palace in Yecheng, the Buddha's shadow in Songshan Mountain, the fog of the East China Sea, and the secret sacrifice of Qiang Valley, Du Min and Su Wan were forced to step into a life and death mystery that spanned the Hu and Han Dynasties and lasted for three generations.
But when they finally touched the source of the "red flame", they discovered that it all started with the secret of Yongjia that was not recorded in the history books - the powerful people used their skills to play games, and the dark fire had already burned deep into the palace of Jiankang.
Troubled times are like a furnace, and human lives are like firewood. The only chips in their hands were half a scroll of scraps, a broken talisman, and the only remaining trust in each other.
Fire can burn a city or illuminate the night.
