The Jing'an Edict

To quell rebellion is to bring peace. To escape disaster and hardship is to find security. In the thirty-first year of Yuanjia, Emperor Zhao Wu of Xia issued the Edict of Peace and Security. The land was at peace, and the rivers ran clear beneath a tranquil sky. But. The demon race returned, and the dynasty toppled in a single day. The eight-hundred-li Ironblood Pass lay silent, its smoke and dust scattered. Hundreds of thousands of elite soldiers and cavalrymen were wiped out to the last man. The imperial family fled south, and commoners sighed in despair. A young noble traveled a thousand miles in flight, determined to preserve a sliver of hope for the dynasty. A bald monk, too, knelt before the immortals in every direction, begging them to open the land for all living beings. The people fled south, bringing their culture with them. On Vermilion Bird Street and in Black Robe Alley, who is the lovely woman? Are kings and nobles born to rule? A country boy raised his axe and demanded an answer. The flowers in the rear garden withered; a tragic song of defiance rang out. This was the worst of times: dark, bloody, indifferent, and cruel. A million displaced people and a thousand miles of scattered bones: who would bear witness? Shen Bai drew his sword and rose, determined to march north and reclaim the Central Plains.