The brief flash of lightning reveals the imposing red mass of the old building that was built high up in the wild mountainous region of Han-yuan. Judge Dee and his entourage seek refuge in the Taoist Monastery of the Morning Clouds, finding there a warm welcome and protection from the storm raging around them. However, the monastery is not the peaceful retreat it appears to be... it harbors dark secrets, fleeting glances in moments of wrongdoing from the distant past, and a suspicion that the crimes of the present include vice, conspiracy, and murder.

As a thin veil of monastic complicity disturbs and conspires against him, Judge Dee spends a feverish night during which he conducts yet another rigorous investigation...

In this eastern "Name of the Rose," Robert van Gulik presents a mysterious story with Judge Dee, following the great tradition of classical Chinese detective fiction.