This is a story that takes place in a different era. The chief arrester of the six gates, Yun Lie, possesses a unique internal power, the "Nine Nether Cold Flames", which can detect the remaining marks of the deceased. Strange murders occurred one after another in Qinglong City - some people had their faces peeled off, some people had their souls painted on them and claimed their lives, and some people bled to death in their dreams. Yun Lie and his deputy Lei Yi pursued the investigation and found that all the cases were related to legendary magic: disembodiment, painted skin, man in the mirror, faceless man, painted soul, life-changing, double, nightmare, reincarnation...
As the investigation deepened, Yun Lie found that he was also deeply involved. His unique internal power appears on the dead body, his face is made into a mask, and his life experience hides the secret from thirty years ago - is he Yun Lie or the reincarnation of a cult leader? And who is that "person" who is always peeping at him in the mirror?
The story is written in blank pages, telling hundreds of interrelated strange cases. From the skinning case to the return journey, while Yun Lie was chasing the murderer, he was also pursuing a more fundamental question: Who am I? When there are countless "selves" superimposed on a person, which one is real? In the end, he found the answer at the end of the "return" - the end of the return is himself.
This is a story about searching. Find the murderer, find the truth, find yourself.
Purpose: With the core theme of "Searching for Self", Yun Lie explores the philosophical propositions of identity, reality and illusion, self and others through the process of Yun Lie's pursuit of ten strange cases. The work uses the image of "man in the mirror" to metaphorically represent the multiple selves deep within each person - we are both ourselves and ourselves in the eyes of others; we are both the existence of the moment and the sum of past memories. From the initial belief that "I am who I am", Yun Lie discovers that he is a shadow, a substitute, a reincarnation, and a superposition of countless selves. Finally, at the end of his journey home, he realizes that the self is not a single existence, but a collection of all experiences. The answer to the question "Who are you" lies not in finding a certain "true self", but in accepting the sum of all "I"s. At the same time, the work also explores propositions such as good and evil, cause and effect, and redemption. Aji killed someone for revenge, Sun Wu killed himself to save his daughter, and Xu Nian was trapped in nightmares for thirty years... Every perpetrator has his own tragic background, and every victim has become a perpetrator at some point. Good and evil are not distinct, but are like images in a mirror, reflecting each other. Ultimately, the work conveys a simple attitude towards life: living is true. Finding yourself is not to get an exact answer, but to be able to face the face in the mirror calmly.