The Temple of Cisheng in Anping County is thronged with worshippers. Those who have a wish come to burn incense and submit prayer slips. Shen Yan is just an ordinary copyist at the temple, responsible for transcribing prayer slips and recording them in the prayer register. Day after day, he writes down the hopes of ordinary people: for children, for wealth, for safety.
Until he notices that the three incense sticks beside some prayer slips are different.
Some give off no smoke. Some crumble for no apparent reason. Others go out on their own. And when certain wishes really come true, eerie red circles appear in the register.
A young wife, He Qingniang, prays for a child. The wealthy merchant Zhao Wanjin prays for his caravan's safe return and prosperity for the Zhao family's grain business. Strange events begin to unfold behind one seemingly ordinary wish after another. The West Granary, bells ringing at midnight, the day a wish comes true... Shen Yan gradually realizes that the so-called
