Watching the Mortal World Beneath the Willow

In 223 BC, Qin conquered Chu.

An ancient god awakens from a long slumber and begins his endless wanderings among mortals.

A princess from a fallen kingdom follows him for decades, growing from a young girl into a woman with gray at her temples.

An emperor who unified the realm comes to see him one last time during the final year of his life, dragging his ailing body along.

A descendant of a Chu general refuses to accept his fate, secretly gathering assassins in Wu County and waiting for his chance.

A village head from Pei County passes by Liuxia Academy, attends a lecture, and carries one sentence in his heart.

Farther north, there are still people who refuse to kneel.

Yan patriots pile up logs in the Liaoxi Corridor, while an old Qi minister ties his belt to a pear branch outside the city of Linzi.

They could not stop the Qin army’s iron hooves, but they made sure the history books would record that “some still stood their ground.”

They set out from different beginnings, each heading toward a different fate.

Some became kings, some became generals, and some were buried on nameless hillsides.

Only that willow tree remained.

He watched it all unfold, never once interfering.

In the midst of a great age, he simply recorded where each person came from and where they ended up.