The Blade Marks: Three Generations of Knife Peddlers

Amid the turmoil of the Guangxu era, Li Shisan, a knife peddler who sold his wares on credit, traveled across the lands of the Qing with an inherited cleaver bearing a notch, following the three-colored strips of cloth tied to its handle. His basket held more than knives to be sold on credit. It also concealed debts left unsettled across three generations: a knife-shaped mark left by his grandfather during the Daoguang era, a mysterious ledger entrusted to him by his dying father, and a sinister poison-worm plot laid by the Black Wind Hall over the course of a century.

From the Buddha-worm nest in the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests to the beast-worm formation in a shaman temple beyond the passes, from the mother gold-worm in the Mohe gold mine to the examination-worm mystery at the Jiangnan Imperial Examination Hall, Li Shisan and the boy Gousheng follow the knife marks, tracing the mysterious organization that uses poisonous insects to control people’s minds, rewrite the cultural legacy, and seize land. A conspiracy to manipulate the imperial court lies hidden in the incense at the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests; greed that devours human lives is buried in the mineral sand; a plot to corrupt the world of letters is written on exam papers; and in the opium jars of the Thirteen Factories slumbers the Black Wind Hall’s ultimate ambition to throw the whole world into chaos.

Every knife-shaped mark is a prophecy, and every contract to sell a knife on credit is bound to life and death. When the Black Wind Hall’s supreme leader reveals a half-human, half-worm form, and the dragon veins beneath the imperial tombs are on the verge of becoming a nest of poisonous insects, three generations of knife peddlers write their oath to settle the score in blood and steel. Their story is not only about settling old debts, but also about the chivalry and resolve hidden in the everyday life of the common people. The knife marks span a century; old debts remain unsettled, and new grudges arise. The trembling of that notched cleaver is a constant reminder: the knife is what they gave on credit, but what they demand in return is justice for the world.