Lin Yue, 24, is a rookie detective with the Criminal Investigation Division of the Beijiang Public Security Bureau and a firm materialist.
One rainy night, he receives a report: residents of an old apartment block claim they can hear knocking from inside an empty unit. After forcing their way in, he finds a woman’s corpse sealed inside the wall, hidden there for six months. The corners of her mouth have been slit up to her ears, and her death is grotesque.
Even more disturbing, that night he hears a voice from inside the wall.
Su Zhe, an old acquaintance from childhood, suddenly appears and tells him a truth that overturns everything he believes: Lin Yue was born to be a “guide,” able to see the underworld and communicate with the dead. And the apartment block, built on a mass grave, connects beneath its foundations to another world: the Shadowlands. Countless trapped spirits are waiting inside the walls to be saved.
The ghost Wang Xiu’e is driven by one obsession: “Give me back my face.” What she wants is not her appearance, but the dignity that was trampled underfoot.
When criminal investigation meets supernatural rules, and the living extend justice into the world of the dead, Lin Yue realizes he has to do more than solve cases. He must show a way out to the souls trapped in the darkness.
“I look after the living, and I look after the dead, too.”
This is a story about protection: protecting the living and letting the dead rest in peace.
