Set during the Republican era of China, Ma Wencai and his apprentice Zhang Xiaohou roam the southern regions, surviving by posing as spiritual masters and running small-time scams. Their drifting lives take a dark turn when they are accidentally drawn into a murder case and falsely accused of the crime. Forced to remain in the area to clear their names, the pair begin investigating the truth. As a series of eerie and unexplained events unfolds, long-standing ominous rumors seem to come true, pulling Zhang Xiaohou deeper into a hidden mystery and toward the real killer.