Royal Sand

The yellow sand rolled up three feet high and slapped the long-decayed wooden door of the inn. This is Shazhou, the westernmost Guimen Pass in the Tang Dynasty. Further ahead is the territory of the Tubo people, and behind is the world of the Zhang family of the rebel army. The people who make a living in this crack are all like bones that have been polished by the wind and sand - hard and brittle. Pei Lie was sitting in the darkest corner of the inn, with a plate of air-dried mutton and a pot of muddy roasting knives in front of him. His knife was leaning against the edge of the table. It was a straight-edged sword with a scabbard wrapped in shiny shark skin without any unnecessary decoration. The handle of the knife was wrapped with dark linen, which had been soaked in blood too many times, giving it a dark red color that was almost black. … This novel and its characters are purely fictitious. Any similarity is purely coincidental and should not be imitated.