During the Chongzhen era of the Ming dynasty, the empire teeters on the brink of collapse. The court crushes the Lian Sect after Lin Sai’s rebellion, and in the sect’s horrific mass self-immolation, Xiang Yu, the guardian general, rescues Lian’er, the young daughter of Lin Sai, and Shitou, the young son of the traitor Guo Jianglong. From then on, the three wander the Western Regions.
Lian’er and Shitou should have grown up as childhood sweethearts, but entanglements from the previous generation set them on a path of love and hatred. In the Western Regions, one becomes a fearless warrior, while the other inherits his mother’s illusions and becomes an illusionist. After many adventures there, they return to the Central Plains, ready to avenge their fathers and the destruction of the sect. But the world has grown even more chaotic in their absence: the peasant rebellions led by Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong are raging, while the Later Jin in the northeast eyes the land hungrily.
What can superior martial arts or powerful illusions do against the tide of the times? Lian’er and Shitou are lost. Personal grudges pull one way, and the fate of their homeland pulls the other. Which path should they take?
This novel offers boundless imagination in its mystical weapons and illusions, the exhilaration of peerless warriors facing off, and the breathtaking spectacle of battles fought with cold weapons. Great historical figures such as Chongzhen and Li Zicheng appear one after another. Through the eyes of two ordinary people, Lian’er and Shitou, fifty years of upheaval from the late Ming to the early Qing unfold before us.
