Lamplight: An Inch of Leather, Ten Thousand Miles of Empire

My name is Chen Ye. I run a full-service funeral business in the city, and people in the underworld call me "Wild Dog."

Before Blind Liu died, he left me a shadow puppet of the Conqueror King with no eyes. A capitalist boss wanted to turn it into a plastic blind box, and even trampled on my grandfather's pride.

I have no money or power, only a butcher's knife, a few scraps of hacksaw blade, and a group of brothers from the bottom of society whom everyone looks down on.

No cowhide? I'll steal pigskin! No stage? I'll take apart a 28-inch bicycle and weld one together!

Intangible cultural heritage isn't a plaything for scholars and literati. It's a weapon the downtrodden can use to fight back against the powerful. Today, I'm putting on this shadow puppet show, no matter what!