Tu Shanjiu is the last of the Shedao, wandering knife-lenders, and she carries a heavenly curse that is running out her time. To buy more of it, she comes down from the mountain to collect on a marriage contract signed ten years ago, owed by the warlord Xie Shiyu, a man born under the Ziwei star of emperors. She is soon caught up in a plot against his fortune and the dragon veins that hold the nine provinces together. A rival spirit medium waits in the shadows, and every step comes with a new trap.