Emperor Qin unified the world, and 700,000 servants were driven into Lishan Mountain to build the underground palace that swallowed countless lives.
Li Er, a stonemason in Lantian, originally wanted to spend his life with his wife and Susukian in peace. However, an order was issued and pushed him into the abyss of blood and dust.
At the Lishan construction site, his skillful hands became a curse, forcing him to struggle between "chess piece" and "abandoned piece". He is both a craftsman and a slave; he is both used and spied on.
In an imperial machine whose laws are as iron as iron and life as grass, will he choose to keep his head down and survive, or will he shatter the chessboard of destiny in the sinking sand and blood and fire?
This is a story about craftsmen, empires and the weight of life. Stones have textures, jade has temperament, and human hearts are equally hard and fragile in troubled times.
