Political intrigue wrapped in the language of supernatural mystery, where every corpse is a clue and every clue rewrites what you thought the empire actually was. The three leads don't trust each other because they shouldn't. By the time you realize the rat soldiers are the least important threat, you're already locked into finding out what really burned the old dynasty.

Deaths by thunder and fire strike the imperial capital, rumors spread, and sinister soldiers with rat-like faces run wild in its streets. The trail seems to lead back to secrets of a former dynasty that thunder and fire wiped out. Jing Yifei, a cold, proud woman of the Jinwu Guard known as the first sister of the Bingmasi Division, is ordered to learn the truth about the rat soldiers. Bai Qi, a puzzle solver and descendant of Jieyi who lives secluded in the mountains, comes down to recruit Qin Ming, a young master of mechanical devices, into the Guard. Qin Ming turns out to be tricking him instead. Brought together through the Leihuo case, the three form a detective team, and as they close in on the truth they also come to understand their own backgrounds and what it means to serve in the Jinwu Guard.