A Mysterious Invitation from Yongning City

Windblown sand rolls over layered clouds, stretching endlessly, while pavilions and towers return to a thousand years ago. Snow is unnecessary; a single sandstorm is enough to restore Yongning City to its ancient appearance. The story I am about to tell takes place within this thousand-year-old city. Wu Ge is a minor police officer at a local station, yet she bears a name of war and bloodshed. The story she brings is as cold and murderous as her name. Because of her tragic past, she had intended to live out her life in cool detachment and indifference. But one dispatch completely shattered her deathly still existence. A corpse that vanished before her eyes, a dead person returning to life, a black handprint that suddenly appeared, a mysterious membership card, an invitation from the Yao Li Spirit Medium Society: one bizarre incident after another made it impossible for her to cover her ears and pretend nothing was happening. Beside an ancient temple stood a fortune-telling shop. In its dim basement, a long table covered with red velvet stood surrounded by a group of masked people gathered by invitation. At first, Wu Ge came merely to listen to stories. But as the stories grew increasingly real and the tellers died one after another, she had no choice but to connect these strange tales with reality.