In the midst of a centuries-old tradition, 22-year-old Chen Yan receives a notice of his grandfather's passing, accompanied by a registered letter and a brass key, urging him to return to the old town of Zhenyuan on the 15th of July. As he unlocks the sealed backyard, he is met with a wall of Nuo masks, which have been storing vengeful spirits, and the foremost red mask reveals a crack, emitting a faint glow. The Chen family has been masters of Nuo masks for six generations, using them to make pacts with ghosts, seeking justice for the wronged spirits and helping the living repay their debts to the underworld. The brass key left by his grandfather is not a coercion to inherit the tradition, but an offer of freedom to choose. A hundred years ago, the Nuo mask lineage split into three branches: the Chen family, who guided ghosts; the Zheng family, who sealed ghosts; and the Jian family, who summoned ghosts, resulting in the core red mask shattering into three pieces. Consequently, a series of supernatural events unfolds, including the appearance of ancient trees with human faces, poisonous insects, and vengeful spirits that had been sealed away for two centuries, forcing the descendants of the three lineages to reunite. Chen Yan, however, does not struggle with the decision to become a Nuo mask master, but rather questions the established rules: do ghosts truly wish to be laid to rest? By giving the ghosts a choice, he breaks a century-old tradition. The people of the old town, each with their unique profession, coexist with the spirit world, using their crafts to maintain harmony. The Nuo masks were never meant to be weapons, but rather a means to calm fears. The cost of the pacts is slowly eroding the townspeople's vision, a burden that the entire town bears together. Only when humans let go of their urgency can the ghosts find peace.
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