A down-and-out scholar Atsai is so disillusioned with life that he tries to commit suicide in a dilapidated temple. At that very moment, a female ghost appears on the scene. As she is on the verge of killing him, a male ghost also shows up. The male ghost saves him, but Atsai gives him a scolding for his trouble. Then they start sharing their woes, and end up drowning their sorrow in wine. Unfortunately, the wine is drugged and Atsai dies. Forty years later, a Taoist priest meets the ghost of Atsai, who asks for his help because he is being controlled by an old demon and cannot be reborn.