She Said the Spring Lanterns Had Gone Out, and He Turned Rivers Red with Blood

She Said the Spring Lantern Went Dark, and He Turned the World into a River of Blood

“Madwoman bent on revenge” × “Ascetic Buddhist scion with blood on his hands”

At sixteen, Chu Huaiyin was bound to an altar in the Northern Desert on her wedding day. Her wedding dress was torn, and her skin was flayed alive, all to make a “spring drum of human skin.” She watched her personal maid get skinned, while her birth father and stepmother raised their cups in celebration. And Xie Wujou, the Buddhist scion who had once copied sutras for her, knelt before the Buddha and lit a six-sided spring lantern in her honor. When the lantern went out, she was reborn in a mouthful of blood.

Back at fifteen, she tore off her mourning cloth and beat her concubine aunt. In front of everyone, she exposed her father's murder of her mother. Using a map of the Northern Desert's defenses from her previous life, she bargained for the Buddhist scion's promise: “Three years from now, I'll keep you alive.” During the Spring Lantern Festival, a million fire-phosphorus bombs ignited the imperial city. She dug people out of the snow with her bare hands, and her bloodied fingers intertwined with the Buddhist scion's broken-finger prayer beads to form a “Phoenix Blood Pact.”

Crown Prince Xiao Ce broke off their engagement for her and descended into madness. Northern Desert King Helian Jin lost an arm for her and knelt before her. But atop the snowy peak, she swore an oath in phoenix-feather blood, drove back a hundred thousand wolf riders, ascended the throne, and promulgated the Spring Lantern Laws: abolish burial sacrifices, put an end to flaying, and let the lights of ten thousand homes burn for the dead.

The lantern's wick was finally rekindled with Buddha's bone and a strand of dark hair. The Buddhist scion vanished for ten years. Then, on a snowy night, a young monk brought her a new lantern. Its wick was still made of phoenix-feather blood, and the signature read two words: Wujou.

From a flayed avenger to an emperor who lit lanterns, she wrote laws in her enemies' blood and cleansed the land with the people's tears. Her story holds both the most unrelenting revenge and the tenderest compassion. Every chapter delivers an unforgettable, exhilarating scene, and every lantern is a tender prayer to light the way for all living things. While the lantern burns, hatred endures; when the lantern shines, all shall find salvation.