In the Realm of Fancy

Lei Xuan is the prefect of Tiānpíng Prefecture in Tang dynasty China. In the course of his duties he confronts a group of what he believes to be religious charlatans who claim to be in possession of divinely inspired magical powers and who demand money to placate their deity. Despite his sceptism Lei Xuan pretends to have powers of his own to combat the fraudsters, who seem to have genuine powers. After a battle of wits Lei Xuan exposes the fraudsters for what they are and that the majority of their so-called magical powers are tricks, however even when exposed the fraudsters continue to claim that some of their powers are real and derive from a magical treatise.