Cheng Die is a young music teacher living in a small town. Following an affair with a married man, she loses her job and has to leave town. She finds herself on an isolated island whose inhabitants cannot speak and where nothing is what it seems. She gets immersed in a dreamy experience.

In the early 1990s, "Public Order Defence Squads" in China — usually made up of discharged military personnel, unemployed young adults and local hooligans — were supposed to maintain public order in villages and towns. Most of the time, however, they ended up dealing with all sorts of mundane matters in their towns. The story begins with a mysterious case of serial dog killings. LI Lizhong, leader of the local defence squad, starts an investigation into the case, following a set of strange clues and studying them using piecemeal knowledge of primitive criminology and ichnology. After a string of hijinks, the squad catches the dog killer. However, the evidence also shows that the case is closely related to the accidental death of Lizhong’s father.

Two criminals hide in the apartment of a quadriplegic woman after a failed robbery attempt. Her brother, a disgraced officer, exploits the situation to return to the police force.

Sanjin, the little brother of Yiwu-based businessman Chen, ventures to Southeast Asia to expand his business and prove his mettle. Just as he strikes a deal with a television station, his business is hit by a global recession and a terrorist attack. Will Sanjin choose to be devoured by darkness, or will he be reborn from the ashes?