The Tale of Yue Xiaoyu

Synopsis of Wolong Sheng’s wuxia novel The Legend of Yue Xiaoyu

The spring waters of Dongting turn green; the traveling geese return to Hengyang. They wheel beneath the high mountains, longing to fly toward the Dragon Gate.

Night could not hide the prosperity of Pingyang City. In the wide open space opposite the Jincui Pavilion, fortune-tellers, lantern sellers, and stalls cooking noodles and porridge were packed together so tightly that the crowd could barely move. The place was even livelier than on a daytime market day. It was the Dragon’s Birthday, a grand festival unique to Pingyang City. Legend had it that the people could enjoy favorable weather, peace, and prosperity only because the Dragon Lord in the Dragon God Temple outside the city kept the land in check.

In all of Pingyang City, the only person who did not believe in the Dragon Lord was a boy of thirteen or fourteen, because he did not believe the Dragon Lord existed at all. Yet his father was the priest of the Dragon God Temple...