Ji Lin is a 20-year-old Chinese dressmaking apprentice living in Falim. She secretly works at a socially disgraceful dance hall to pay off her mother's mahjongg debts, carefully hiding this fact from her violent stepfather. Named for the Confucian virtue of knowledge, she possesses deferred dreams of becoming a teacher and constantly fights against the patriarchal restrictions of her era.

Ren is an 11-year-old orphan serving as a houseboy in 1930s Malaya. He possesses a supernatural sense that allows him to perceive unseen connections between people. Following his master's death, he travels to Batu Gajah to work for a new doctor. He carries a heavy burden to locate a missing finger within 49 days, hoping to prevent his former master's soul from wandering the earth as a beast.

Shin is Ji Lin's stepbrother who is currently studying medicine in Singapore. He spends his summer working as an orderly at the Batu Gajah District Hospital. He enjoys the social and professional freedoms afforded to young men, which creates friction with his stepsister. He serves as a reluctant ally when Ji Lin brings him a mysterious severed finger from the dance hall.

William is an English surgeon at the Batu Gajah District Hospital. He lives a bachelor's life marked by affairs with local women, carrying the weight of a scandal involving his former fiancée in England. He struggles to maintain a professional facade while dealing with rumors of local tiger attacks and managing his own impulsive desires.

Dr. MacFarlane is an elderly doctor who spent his final days in Kamunting suffering from dark moods. He possessed an intense fascination with local weretiger lore. On his deathbed, he leaves his houseboy with a strict command to restore his amputated finger to his grave so his soul will find peace.

Yi is Ren's deceased twin brother. He exists in a mysterious afterlife waystation characterized by a quiet train platform and a deep river. Named for the Confucian virtue of righteousness, he uses his lingering connection to his twin to offer warnings from beyond the veil of the living.

Lydia is a white woman and the daughter of a local rubber planter. Nearing spinsterhood, she applies herself aggressively to local health initiatives. She takes a strong romantic interest in William, presenting herself as an ideal match while maintaining an air of mystery regarding her past broken engagements.

Leslie is the pathologist at the Batu Gajah District Hospital. He manages the hospital's specimen storeroom and is known within the medical community for his sharp observational skills and tendency to gossip. He quickly notices irregularities in local death cases.

Chan is a salesman who visits the May Flower dance hall. He possesses a severed finger that he believes brings him good luck, which he accidentally passes to Ji Lin during a dance, setting off a chain of dangerous events.

Y.K. is a hospital orderly at Batu Gajah who actively searches for the missing finger specimen. He has unusually sharp teeth and frequently questions Ji Lin and Shin about the hospital's missing pathology items.

Koh Beng is a cheerful hospital orderly at the Batu Gajah District Hospital. He frequently jokes about the hospital's macabre pathology storeroom and presents a friendly, teasing demeanor to Shin and his visitors.

Pei Ling is a young nurse at the Batu Gajah District Hospital. She is terrified of her secrets being exposed to the strict hospital Matron and desperately tries to retrieve a hidden parcel containing evidence of her indiscretions.

Nandani is the 18-year-old daughter of a clerk at the local rubber estate. After being treated for a severe leg wound, she develops a crush on Dr. Acton, leading to a dangerous infatuation.

Ambika is a Tamil woman married to an alcoholic husband. She engages in a dangerous affair with Dr. Acton before becoming the apparent victim of a brutal tiger attack in the jungle.

Robert is a wealthy law student studying in Britain who returns to Malaya for the holidays. He aggressively courts Ji Lin, using his family's money and influence on the hospital board to present himself as a savior for her financial troubles.

Ah Long is the elderly Chinese cook who effectively runs Dr. Acton's household in Batu Gajah. He is deeply knowledgeable about local superstitions and offers practical, often blunt advice to Ren about avoiding the dead.