During the Yuanyou era of the Northern Song, Shen Mu, an orphan of the Western Army, sets out alone for Bianjing with a broad-bladed saber, an iron token, and a secret letter. The letter holds the lives of a hundred thousand soldiers in its hands, yet he is swept into the raging undercurrents of court and jianghu. The Map of Mountains and Rivers resurfaces in the jianghu, and old factions and new favorites, martial arts champions, heirs of the imperial clan, and lone survivors of massacres... everyone’s fate converges on a rainy night. Gradually, he comes to understand that the greatest enemy in this world has never been beyond the frontier. Beyond the court and the jianghu, there is a third path: the pinnacle of martial arts is not killing, but protecting. The foundation of a nation is not weapons, but the hearts of its people. A long-form wuxia novel that will make you believe in the power of protection again.
