During the Xiantong era of the late Tang Dynasty, in the scorching heat of June, the Daming Palace suddenly reported the sudden demise of Princess Jinghe at the tender age of sixteen. Born to the Emperor's favorite consort and showered with utmost favor during her lifetime, she was nevertheless hastily buried in the abandoned imperial tomb at Mount Lishan. Rumors swirled across the court and the country, claiming that the princess did not die of illness, but was instead murdered by palace poison, and that her burial goods concealed the Lishan Pearl, a supreme treasure of the previous dynasty. Shen Yan, a tomb raider of the Mojin school, taking his young apprentice A Dou, sneaked into the tomb grounds under the guise of offering prayers at a ritual. Using bone-shrinking secret arts to tunnel directly to the underground palace, he intended to retrieve the Lishan Pearl—also marking his final tomb-raiding venture of his life. After rescuing the princess, he would then proceed to uncover the hidden truth behind her sudden death.