Painted Skin is based on among Pu Songling's classic short stories in Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio. Zhou Xun stars like Xiao Wei, a fox spirit that feasts on human hearts in order to maintain her lovely, youthful appearance. When General Wang Sheng (Chen Kun)'rescues' her from the band of bandits and brings home, trouble brews since the protagonist falls inlove with the entire general public.