The Deer and the Cauldron: Secrets of the Forty-Two Chapters Sutra

In the fifteenth year of the Kangxi reign, a shocking conspiracy is brewing beneath the surface of the martial world and the imperial court. Wei Xiaobao, personal bodyguard to Emperor Kangxi, is drawn into the whirlpool of secrets surrounding the Forty-Two Chapter Sutra after receiving a mysterious letter pleading for help. This secret text, which records the Great Ming's dragon vein and a stone carving of the Buddha Tathagata at Shaolin, sparks a fierce battle among three factions: the Heaven and Earth Society, the Western Depot, and the Xuanming Cult. When Wei Xiaobao discovers an unparalleled treasure covered in Sanskrit in the underground palace of Shaolin Temple, when he enters a fight to the death against the twin demon lords, the Thousand-Handed Dowager and Young Master Ni Lin, and when he learns that a high-ranking court official is actually a hypocrite who betrayed the Ming and surrendered to the Qing... How will this clever young man of humble origins find a way to survive amid power and principle, relying on the true meaning of "Overthrow the Qing and restore the Ming" taught to him by Chen Jinnan of the Heaven and Earth Society? In a martial world where blades flash and beauties smile, can he unravel the ultimate mystery behind the Forty-Two Chapter Sutra, one that concerns the fate of the Great Qing and the realm of the Han people?