Swordbone Opens the Heavens

"Descendant of the Sword Bone... What does that even mean?" Lin Che touched the mark on his chest, and at last, he couldn't hold back his tears. He remembered how, just before the village chief died, he had pressed a black jade pendant into his hand and told him that if he ever found himself in danger, he should take it to Falling Star Valley, deep in the Broken Dragon Mountains. At the time, Lin Che had thought the old man was talking nonsense. Now, it was his only hope.

He pulled the pendant from his clothes. It was cold to the touch, and a complex pattern carved into it looked like a coiling dragon. Lin Che clutched the pendant and gazed at the vast mountain forest before him, drawing a deep breath. Whatever lay ahead, he had to keep going, for the villagers who had died and to uncover the truth about his own origins.