Seven Stars, a Startling Flight

At the Yuelai Inn in Yangzhou, the young waiter Ahong has been wiping the same tables for years.

The rag smells of soapberry, and calluses have worn into his fingertips. He thinks he'll spend his whole life surrounded by grease, the smell of wine, and Uncle Ya Bo's coughs, until one night, a man in blue says, "Xiao Bojun's son," and pierces the cocoon of silence he has woven around himself.

The last embers of the Lotus Society, the shadow of the Seven Stars Secret Record, the cold gleam of the azure saber: the great fire that burned everything twelve years ago has finally reached his doorstep.

The chaotic age is a mire, the imperial court a tiger, and the martial world a wolf.

Some come for the secret record, hiding blades behind their smiles; some come to settle old grudges, leaving blood on the steps; and unseen eyes watch the heart in his chest, the heart that carries the Lotus Society's bloodline.

Will the flash of a blade cut through the darkness? Can a new lotus bloom from the ashes?

When Jinghong meets the Seven Stars, this escape that began at an inn will ultimately carve its answer into the bones of the martial world with blood and fire.

This novel and its characters are entirely fictional. Any resemblance to actual people or events is purely coincidental. Do not imitate.