In 1925, Zhang Haiyan arrives in Changsha from Nanyang with Zhang Haixia and opens an inconspicuous pawnshop.
One has a silver tongue and a ruthless heart, killing with a blade before anyone can see it. The other has an uncanny sense of smell and can detect the scent of the dead in ancient tombs.
They are searching for the Map of Mountains and Seas left behind by their Zhang ancestors: nine fragments hidden in nine ancient tombs.
The Nine Gates hold sway, the Wang family watches hungrily, Zhang Qishan hosts a banquet to test them, and Qi Tiezui leaves them with just four words: “Look after yourselves.”
On the day the first fragment is unearthed, the fog over Changsha fails to lift for three whole days.
