Buried alive from the start, bound to a System, with grievance blind boxes and a dissection knife that has gained a mind of its own, eating anything it sees and even hungrier than she is. Lu Qingcai, formerly the chief forensic pathologist at the city bureau, transmigrates into the underworld as an intern coroner. Everyone says, “Don’t investigate. You’ll die.” Lu Qingcai sharpens her knife. “I’m a forensic pathologist. I know how to listen to the dead.”
“Ah, the purples and reds once bloomed in profusion, only to be left to ruined wells and broken walls…”
A haunting voice rises from the bottom of the well, carrying Du Xiaoniang’s sorrow, as well as the tremor of the brass key in Lu Qingcai’s mind.
The willow-leaf knife quivers excitedly in her sleeve. “Master! There’s something delicious in the well! It’ll be so nourishing!”
Lu Qingcai: “…Give it a rest. Keep eating, and the evidence will all turn into your poop.”
Exorcist Xie Bu Chen, splattered in blood and glaring at her with a livid face, said, “You! And that demon blade of yours! Shut up!”
Lu Qingcai looked up, expressionless. “Exorcist, if you can stay cool while getting sprayed like a tomato, by all means, carry on. But I have to investigate the case. The key is inside my knife, and there’s something waiting for us at the bottom of the well. If you’re afraid of getting dirty…”
“Who’s afraid of getting dirty!” Xie Bu Chen roared, only to get splashed with more dark-red foam left around the well as he flung his sleeve.
Lu Qingcai silently handed him a coarse cloth. “Wipe yourself off. I recommend changing into black before we climb down.”
Xie Bu Chen: “…”
The willow-leaf knife: “Gah ha ha! Great job, Master!”
Lu Qingcai: “Shut up. You’re going down there too. If you dare eat anything in the well, I’ll leave you soaking in the outhouse for three days when we get back.”
The willow-leaf knife: “…(trembling in fear)”
Paper figures beat drums, red shoes appear in the well, and the ghostly yamen opens its doors. The truth at the bottom of the well is more than Du Xiaoniang’s injustice. It is a conspiracy spanning both the living and the dead.
