Twenty years after dying in the midst of playing a paranormal game with his classmates, letters signed in his name are received by the four remaining friends, inviting them to a reunion. In deciding to attend, none could have imagined the dangers awaiting them that stormy night.

Shao Ying-chieh meets up with four of his middle school classmates in the middle of the night to play “Broom Spirit”. But after Fang Chih-hua, the most easygoing of the bunch, actually becomes inspirited while standing knee-deep in a stream, his friends callously abandon him. Hearing the next morning that Chih-hua had drowned, the four make a pact to keep the whole affair a secret. Through the intervening years, they gradually fall out of touch.

Twenty years later, Ying-chieh, now co-host with his girlfriend of a paranormal livestream show, is a regular interloper at haunted houses and folk-religious ceremonies. One day, he receives a letter threatening to reveal his “secret” should he fail to return to his old family home in Lukang at an appointed time and date. After learning his other co-conspirators had received the same invitation, all four agree to see if their friend Chih-hua had indeed returned from the dead for revenge.

Ying-chieh’s girlfriend, eager to explore the folk-legend landscape of Lukang, and his horror comic illustrator sister tag along as well, bringing props and paranormal game equipment in expectation of filming another livestream episode of their show. But that night, with a storm raging outside, little goes according to plan. The planned livestream falls through, one of Ying-chieh’s classmates unabashedly harasses his sister, and another seems unable to stop abusing his own teenage son. The whole affair collapses into chaos and, by the time dawn finally breaks, not all are lucky enough to leave the house alive.

Blending elements of folklore and paranormal horror, Zuiliuli’s standalone mystery novel shines light on the fractures that threaten the very foundations of asymmetrical interpersonal relationships and vindicate, albeit with anguish, their ultimate disposition.