The Ancient Thunderclap: A Call to Rule the Land

In ancient times, after Fuxi forged the Thunderclap Zither, he took "Starfall Dark Ice" from the summit of Kunlun Mountain and carved it into twelve jade pendants. He gave one to each of his twelve disciples and charged them with guarding the Thunderclap Zither and the Dragon Vein for generations. These twelve were known as the "Tianshu Envoys." They lived at the Stargazing Terrace in the Kunlun Ruins and used the resonance of their jade pendants to sense the zither's whereabouts. Their mission had three parts:

Guard the zither: Ensure that the Thunderclap Zither never falls into the hands of evil.

Choose its master: In times of turmoil, find someone "with a heart free of defilement" to wield the Thunderclap Zither.

Protect the vein: Use the zither's music to harmonize the earth's energy and prevent the Dragon Vein from running wild.

Before Fuxi died, he carved a secret incantation for the Tianshu Envoys into the underside of the Thunderclap Zither: "The mountains and rivers are its strings, the Way of Heaven its bridge, and the human heart its frets."

Lin Qingyuan, a master guqin craftsman, runs a century-old workshop on Pingjiang Road in Suzhou. Faced with the pressures of modern commerce and his daughter's growing distance from traditional craftsmanship, he finds himself in a crisis of inheritance.

One day, an unexpected visitor brings the Thunderclap Zither into his workshop, breaking a century of quiet...

The voice of restoration: "Continue the tradition and protect all living beings. This is your mission!"

The voice of renewal: "Break the cycle and forge a new path. That is true salvation!"

In the end, he takes a deep breath and gazes resolutely at the River Chart pattern inside the zither, murmuring, "If restoration means repeating the mistakes of the past, then I'd rather risk remaking it and leave future generations a glimmer of hope."