In the early Tianbao era, Chen Zhao, a young man from a frontier city, enters Chang'an as a junior military officer, hoping to make a quiet life for himself. But his family's inherited Daoist arts draw him into the currents of court intrigue. He exposes the sorcerer Wei Chengyun's plot to concoct elixirs for Li Linfu, only to be exiled to Anxi. After witnessing the disastrous defeat at Talas, he begins a long journey into exile.
From the Gobi Desert of Anxi to an eagle's nest on an Arabian cliff, he becomes a disciple of Hassan, leader of the Assassins, and learns how to survive in foreign lands. Crossing the Byzantine Empire and the Mediterranean, he stumbles upon the dark secrets of the Church's Inquisition. Sailing across the sea, he encounters strange ocean demons and foreign mystics. In a desperate situation, he saves the Japanese monk Fashan and makes his way onward to Japan.
Along the way, he exorcises demons and vanquishes monsters. He witnesses fox spirits bewitching rulers, rakshasas devouring Buddhas, ghouls digging up graves, and vengeful ghosts lurking in walls. He also sees that the evil in human hearts surpasses that of demons and monsters. By the time he has traveled across Asia, Europe, and Africa and returned to the Tang, the An Lushan Rebellion has reduced Chang'an to ruins.
After traveling thousands of miles to return, the young man now has white hair. At Qianling, Chen Zhao finally stops Wei Chengyun's dark magic, which seeks to steal the nation's fortune, and protects the foundations of the Tang with his righteous path. The golden age has fallen, and old friends are scattered. With a sword and a talisman, he completes a journey through the vast lands of the Tang, a journey of a Tang man who never asks whether he will return, and only stays true to his original convictions.
## [Keywords]
#History #Xuanhuan #TangDynasty #Guardianship #LiBai #DuFu #FeelGoodFaceSlapping
