Rat and Shanghe used to look after their mother, an alcoholic who once worked in a variety troupe and then became the Mama-san of a hostess bar. Soon after Shanghe left for the States, Shuo took Rat on a short trip to Kaohsiung in the south. There, they clashed with local gangsters and Rat scarred the face of the gang boss Ah-xiang. While Rat was away, his mother died in an accident. Several days passed before her body was found. Both her sons live with the guilty feeling that they weren’t there for her when she needed them. And since her death, the spirit of Thanatos seems to have entered the house, affecting both brothers in ways they don’t understand...