The Yin-Yang Master: Dream of Eternity

The Yin-Yang Master: Dream of Eternity is a 2020 Chinese fantasy film directed by Guo Jingming, with Mark Chao, Deng Lun, and Wang Duo in leading roles. It is based on the Japanese novel *Onmyōji* by Baku Yumemakura. Filmed in 2019, it premiered in China on 25 December 2020. Netflix acquired the streaming rights before the film hit theaters. The movie performed well at the box office, earning a record ¥452 million in its first ten days.

The story begins centuries ago, when a serpent demon born from human desires was trapped inside the Imperial City, sealed within the empress’s body and guarded by four stone sentinels. Whenever the serpent stirs, four masters must awaken the guardians. When the threat resurfaces, masters Hongruo, Longye, Boya, and Qingming gather at the city. Qingming and Boya clash over their views on demons but must cooperate after Hongruo is killed by a Hair Demon. The empress orders Princess Changping to investigate and appoints He Shouyue as Hongruo’s replacement. Qingming discovers Shouyue is a Spirit Guardian of his late master, Zhongxing, sent to protect the empress, but Shouyue is slowly dying due to Zhongxing’s death.

After a failed assassination attempt on the empress, suspicion spreads. Longye is accused but killed by the Hair Demon before she can reveal her findings. Qingming interprets her dying message as implicating the princess. Boya suspects Shouyue instead. They split up to confront the two. The princess angrily confronts Shouyue, who admits to killing Hongruo and Longye to protect their secret and insists Boya and Qingming must die. When Qingming confronts the princess, the Hair Demon attacks her. Qingming learns the demon sought revenge on the princess for sixty years. Realizing the princess hasn’t aged, Qingming deduces she is the real empress and the serpent’s vessel.

Qingming and Boya learn the princess and Shouyue plan to let the serpent rise so Shouyue can become its new immortal vessel. As the princess gives birth to the serpent, she recalls meeting Zhongxing, who learned her true identity and left to prevent her feelings from strengthening the serpent. He created Shouyue to protect her, taking Zhongxing’s form. The princess and Shouyue flee on the giant serpent, pursued by Boya and Qingming. Seeing the chaos, the princess tries to kill herself with Shouyue, but both are swallowed.