The Blood-Soaked Inkstone as Proof

Blood on the Inkstone is a groundbreaking epic about Judge Bao and his investigations. It retains Bao Qingtian’s defining image as an impartial judge with supernatural powers of deduction, while setting him against a dark backdrop that blends secrets from Song dynasty history, Eastern fantasy, and psychological suspense. The novel revolves around the “Blood Jade Seal Case,” an overarching mystery woven through more than a dozen independent yet interconnected strange cases. Piece by piece, they reveal a dynasty-wide curse spanning twenty years and build a magnificent yet horrifying “dark universe of the Song dynasty.” Here, every case is more than a crime: it is a startling mystery entangled with imperial bloodlines, secrets from a previous dynasty, and the strange arts of the martial world. The “justice” overseen by Judge Bao often forces him to make wrenching, almost unbelievable choices between the law, human feelings, and the stability of the realm...