The Story of Fang Xiezhen: A Proud Heart, Jing Feijing's Dream

Fang Xiezhen is a classic character from Wen Ruian's original Fang Xiezhen Stories series, including Killing Chu and Breaking the Formation. This collection is a tribute written in the same style, comprising the trilogy Proud Bones, Silent Flight, and Dream of Terror, titles Wen Ruian had planned for works he never completed. Outside Luoyang, atop Mount Mang, there is a man in white. His name is Fang Xiezhen. By day, he teaches five mountain children to read in a school beside the graves. By night, he is the sole master of the Soul-Reaping Sword. No one can say how many souls have perished beneath its blade. Some say thirty-seven, others one hundred and eight. What matters is that everyone killed by this sword deserved to die. Or perhaps that doesn't matter either. What matters is that he is beginning to lose sight of the line between “deserving to die” and “wanting to kill.” So he hangs his sword on the wall and tries to live a clean life. But the twenty-year struggle between four families in Luoyang is reaching its final move: Chasing Fate has been struck by an incurable poison, Xixi has died in his arms, and an invitation from the city lord, Wen Wan, summons all the heroes to the summit of Mount Mang. In small print at the end of the invitation is a single line: “Mr. Fang is requested to bring the Soul-Reaping Sword to the gathering.”