Nine-year-old Zhou Ren carries an oracle bone engraved with the character for “dream.” The Faceless Office steals half his name. To rescue his second uncle, missing for seven years, and protect Zhou Family Village from sliding into the barren mountains, he inherits the title of “Zhou Gatekeeper.” With him is a black bird that owes him nine jin of meat. Together, they enter a seven-foot-tall Gate of the Living, one that only the living can pass through.
