The film is based on the background of the late imperial dynasty, anti-king usurpation, and the whereabouts of the young emperor.

A timeless love story of a scholar who falls in love with a female ghost and tries to free her from eternal servitude to a demon. Scholar Ning Cai Chen heads to the capital to take the state examinations. Along the way, he spends the night at Lan Ruo temple where he meets and falls in love with Nie Xiao Qian a ghost who seduces men to absorb their life essence as offering to Lao Lao. After much struggle, Ning Cai Chen and Nie Xiao Qian become a couple, however, Lao Lao plans to marry Nie Xiao Qian off to the Heishan Demon. In his desperation, Ning Cai Chen commissions the help of demon hunter Yan Chi Xia.