The Record of Strange Events in Nanda Wa is a long supernatural suspense novel set in an ancient village in Northeast China. The story centers on Nanda Wa Village, which has been guarded for generations by five great clans: Zhang, Wang, Li, Zhao, and Jin. Their arrangement corresponds to the Five Elements and conceals a thousand-year-old secret. On the first day of the Lunar New Year in the Wuxu year, Zhang Daqiang, Wang Dabing, Li Yuchun, Zhao Leizhen, and Jin Changgen, who all work away from home, return to their village for various reasons. They discover that everyone has mysteriously vanished, and the village is shrouded in an eerie silence and danger.
Carrying their respective family heirlooms, the five investigate the village's uncanny phenomena: an ancient elm oozing blood, banging sounds from an old well, fox spirits and weasels roaming at night, and pythons appearing at Huoliang Ridge. They gather at the Jin family's old residence in the center of the village and light the "Gatewatch Lamp" to fight the spreading "Old Defilement." Zhao Leizhen is gravely injured and disappears while trying to seal the "leak" at Black Hollow Mountain. The other four struggle to keep the flame alive with their incomplete Five Elements powers, uncovering the truth behind the five clans' guardianship: they are holding shut a passage to the "Old Land."
As their investigation deepens, they discover that the village is laid out like an "earth basin," while the Mabaizi Cave on Black Hollow Mountain is a "leak" connecting to another realm. With their Five Elements powers incomplete and time running out, the five must find a way to seal the leak for good, rescue the villagers, and survive. They embark on a desperate battle to protect the village, crossing the boundary between yin and yang and spanning past and present.
