The Zikong Covenant

In a modern Chinese city, a series of brutal murders bears the hallmarks of the ancient Spring and Autumn tragedy where the people of Zheng rose up and killed the tyrant Zikong. Forensic detective Qin Lang discovers that every victim was a long-rejected soul, recruited into a university psychology experiment promising a complete life rewrite. The experiment, designed by a charismatic professor obsessed with obedience and power, recreates the historical "Zikong usurpation" structure. As the boundaries between role-playing and reality dissolve, the subjects' pent-up alienation ignites a bloody massacre that mirrors the very ancient case, forcing the detective to confront how society itself manufactures the monsters it fears.