A single ring brings the long-buried past of the capital’s great families to light. There is sinister Gu poison, endless pools of blood, mist that corrodes everything, and windows spinning in midair. Through the shadows cast by carved beams and painted rafters, one can see a love that runs deep. They built their love atop the corpses of others, and generations of their family have paid for it.
The Lou family of the capital stands above all the great houses. As the head of the clans, the Lou family lends out its ring so that the tombs of other clans can be opened for seventy-two hours. The Lou ring is also the token passed down to each clan leader.
All Lou Jingxing wants is to survive in these turbulent times. But as he plots each move like a piece on a chessboard, he draws in Bai Ting, eldest son of the Bai family. To cure his mother’s Gu poison, they enter the tomb of Bai Cong, Prince of Luoyang. Right and wrong, truth and lies, the old grudges from the imperial court, and the secret loves and rivalries behind closed doors are all revealed one by one within the tomb.
The great houses vie to be first among the clans, battling fiercely beneath a veneer of civility. Blood seeps through to the bones, and flesh builds the bodies in the tomb. Blood fills the endless tomb, shadows and light overlap, and there is a bronze gate but no way out. There are side chambers, but no main tomb. By the little window, she combs her hair, with only a thousand lines of tears to accompany her. Every line is stained with tears and blood; every word forms a tale. Each stroke records the past...
Theme: The past fades like clouds and smoke; the road ahead stretches far and wide.
