Chinese drama A Prophet, starring Li Xian and Li Yi Tong, just finished filming a couple of months ago, but that hasn’t stopped the production committee from dropping a new set of six stills from the upcoming iQIYI series.
Stills that make this Chinese suspense thriller look quite a bit different than the usual fare both actors often appear in.
The six A Prophet stills not only feature the two main leads, but also show off Wu Gang (Joy of Life), Liu Guan Lin (Guardians of the Dafeng), and Guo Jing Lin (The Source of River) in their, obviously, very dark roles.
We also got a hint of the complications of the A Prophet plot, as iQIYI commented:
#A Prophet#
A beam of light, a lamp, a game of chess, a banquet.
When everyone is swept into the same storm, in the silence, thunder rumbles.
The Chinese production company/streaming service also confirmed the main cast, and the C-drama’s director:
Director: Yang Lei (The Legend of Heroes)
Starring: Li Xian as Shangguan Cheng Ming
Starring: Li Yi Tong as Jiang Fei Yan
Special Appearance: Wu Gang as Jin Bu Huan
Also Starring: Liu Guan Lin as Sha Liang, and Guo Jing Lin as Zu Ye
Along with its supporting cast that also includes the wonderful Hai Yi Tian (Blossoms in Adversity), Liang Tian (The Seven Relics of Ill Omen), and Zhang Jing Wei (Playing Go), this one has me more excited than I have been for a fair few Chinese dramas lately.
And you’ll know why when you read the wickedly delicious-sounding plot (at the bottom of this post).
Li Yi Tong as a villain? Sign me up
And, by the way, this one sounds like a really unusual vehicle for both Li Xian and Li Yi Tong, who first starred in Sword Dynasty together back in 2019.
But especially for Li Yi Tong who, it appears, is one of the villains in A Prophet.
Unless, of course, there is a plot twist we don’t know about yet.
RELATED: Li Yi Tong and Li Xian’s A Prophet wraps filming and drops cast photos
This is the official plot description for A Prophet and, man, while it definitely features a complicated story, doesn’t that sound like a banger of a script?
.Born into privilege in Jiangnan, Chengming (Li Xian) loses his mother young and grows distant from his busy father. Obsessed with the opera, he meets performer Jiang Feiyan (Li Yitong), and a fateful rescue sparks a doomed love. On their wedding day, a blind fortune-teller named Du crashes the banquet, warning Chengming that marrying Feiyan will bring ruin. Chengming dismisses him, until days later, his father dies, his siblings vanish, and his stepmother collapses.
Desperate to find his family, Chengming follows Du’s cryptic directions to the river, only to discover his siblings’ bodies.
Swept away by the current, he barely survives and is rescued by a crippled hermit, Jin Buhuan (Wu Gang). Jin reveals the terrible truth: the tragedy is no curse, but a man-made scheme, and Feiyan herself is part of it.
Du and Feiyan belong to the Jiangxiang Sect, a secret organization that preys on people through fortune-telling and elaborate cons. Jin’s own legs were destroyed by them.
As superstition spreads across a chaotic society, the sect grows bolder. Consumed by vengeance, Chengming becomes Jin’s disciple, mastering deception to strike back and destroy the Jiangxiang Sect from within.
Latest A Prophet poster also released
iQIYI and Tencent also dropped a new poster for A Prophet, with Li Xian and Li Yi Tong front and center, with her holding a long hairpin to his throat, and the message:
A murderous intent is hidden in the sharp edge of the hairpin that pierces the eye contact, as the undercurrent surges in the whispers in the photo.
Behind them is a smashed frame, with a photo of the couple in happier times.
The drama began filming on May 1st, 2025 and wrapped up its filming in mid-August.
It is now in post production and currently scheduled to premiere some time in 2026 on both iQIYI and Tencent Video. Hopefully sooner than later, eh?
Keep checking back to Michelle Topham, as I will keep you in the loop as more information about this what-sounds-like wonderfully creep Chinese drama is released.
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