Zhu Min

An epic animated fantasy anthology film intertwining six storylines from China's classic supernatural story collection "Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio" by Pu Songling. The six stories center on Lanruo Temple, an ancient ruin haunted by spirits. Weaving in classic tales like "Taoist from Laoshan Mountain," "Princess Lotus," "Nie Xiaoqian," "The Painted Skin" and "The Daughter of Magistrate Lu." These stories — spanning humans, ghosts and demons — explore love, death and morality against shifting time. The film merges six distinct styles into one anthology. For example, "Taoist from Laoshan Mountain" uses felt-textured animation, while "The Painted Skin" mirrors Song dynasty painting aesthetics.

Where the Yellow, Yangtze, and Lancang Rivers begin as one, dwell the three "Water Ghost" clans, the Ding, Jiang, and Yi, along their banks. What are Water Ghosts? Beings who move through water as they please, masters of geomancy and treasure hunting. Yi Sa, the last of her line, runs an "underwater bank" along the Lancang. During a perilous "Golden Soup" dive, she rescues Zong Hang. Seeking truth and a cure for her own fate, Yi Sa trains him as a Water Ghost. Together with Ding Yu Die of the Ding clan, the trio descends into the primordial "Ancestral Golden Soup."