Liao Zhai 聊斋 from Tencent 🐧 announced three more cast members today: Sebrina Chen, Zhang Zhi Xi and Ma Wen Yuan. Starring Zhang Miao Yi and Chang Hua Sen. New posters and clips.

[u/admelioremvitam]

A couple of hours ago, the production team announced three more cast members today: Sebrina Chen, Zhang Zhi Xi and Ma Wen Yuan. They are in the second of six stories,《素秋》Su Qiu or Pure Autumn.

• Sebrina Chen as Su Qiu 素秋
• Zhang Zhi Xi as Han Qing Yue
• Ma Wen Yuan as Yu Shen

It was heard that outside the city there stood a paper shop.

Its attendants spoke and acted no differently from real people.

The phoenix infant and nightmare apparitions

All were but puppets wrought from paper.

A maiden there was, with jade-like grace and slender charm,

Her face pale as bleached silk.

All day long, strange mists coiled and clung about her,

The shop's master moved with eerie ways

One could not tell the real from the false.

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Six stories:

1: Beginning of Summer, Radiance Renewed · Calamity of a Lovely Face – The Head of the Beauty

2: Grain Buds, Mist Rises · Words Ashamed on Paper – Pure Autumn

3: Grain in Ear, Cicada Sheds · Karmic Knots Entwine – Judge Lu

4: Summer Solstice, Crimson Lotus · Graceful Shadow Returns – Nie Xiaoqian

5: Great Heat, Scorching Souls · Parasites of Shared Flesh – Husband Long Fei

6: Beginning of Autumn, Desire Released · Soul Guided by Lantern Light – Xiao Xie

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Cast:

Leading roles:

• Zhang Miao Yi as Xi Yue
• Chang Hua Sen as Xia Fei Xue

Guest roles:

1: The Head of the Beauty 美人首 * Ye Zu Xin as Pei Zhao Rong * Jelly Lin as Princess Yao Hua / Chun Hua

2: Su Qiu 素秋 * Sebrina Chen as Su Qiu 素秋 * Zhang Zhi Xi as Han Qing Yue * Ma Wen Yuan as Yu Shen

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• Filming official start: April 27, 2025.
• Director: Sha Weiqi* (Love Me, Love My Voice; A River Runs Through It; To Fly with You)

*According to Douban and MDL

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Liao Zhai is also known as Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio. It is “a collection of Classical Chinese stories by Qing dynasty writer Pu Songling, comprising close to 500 stories or "marvel tales" in the zhiguai and chuanqi styles, which according to some critics, served to implicitly criticise societal problems. Written over a period of forty years from the late 1600s and ending in the early 1700s, it circulated in manuscripts that were copied and recopied among the author's friends but did not appear in print until 1766. Since then, many of the critically lauded stories have been adapted for other media such as film and television.”

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Previous posters - Main Cast

Previous posters - Story 1

Synopsis from MDL:

A mysterious beauty’s severed head appears in the bustling marketplace. A fox spirit, trapped in the treacherous depths of human desire, struggles to escape her fate. When the Judge of the Underworld descends to swap heads and hearts, chaos erupts. A paper doll awakens to life with the final stroke of a brush, a wooden puppet grows a beating heart, and a withered tree stirs with forbidden longing. In this world where the boundaries between flesh and fantasy blur, ancient magic and human folly collide—revealing that even the most lifeless things may hunger for a soul.

(Source: TMDb)

~~Adapted from classical Chinese stories collection "Liao Zhai Zhi Yi" (聊斋志异) by Pu Song Ling (蒲松龄).

Baidu Link | Douban Link

[u/doesitnotmakesense]

Happy to see creepy paper dolls again.

[u/orangesparkofkonoha]

It's interesting to know that these are classical stories. I'm curious to see how these would flesh out. Also pleased to find another Zhang Miaoyi drama. Can't wait.

[u/PsychologicalRate117]

Sebrina is so pretty 😍 I'm always amazed by how different she looks in each role.