A Spear Preserving the Moon’s Traces

In a world torn by chaos, an orphan named Wei Zilong lives beneath the bridge of Immortal Bridge. He is fifteen, known as a "jinx," and carries an ill-starred fate that keeps everyone away. One night, he brings home a child burning with fever. A jade pendant carved with a dragon hangs from the child's waist, and a sun-shaped birthmark marks his right arm. He is the little prince of Chen, missing for many years. From then on, a beggar boy and a young master call each other brothers. Wei gives his little brother his only scraps of food, takes off his tattered cotton coat for him, and even gives up the bright future within his grasp. He teaches the boy how to find his way and survive; the boy teaches him to write: Wei, Zi, Long, his own name. Three years, then five more, pass before he carries his brother on a thousand-mile journey to find his family. Along the way, he gives way again and again: food, clothing, fame, even the chance to live. At last, peace returns to the land. A plate of chopped chili fish head at a state banquet reunites mother and son, and the jade pendant is given to the elder brother. His mission complete, he retires to the mountains and vanishes without a trace. Eighteen years later, the king rules over a vast realm, yet the one who gave him every chance to survive never comes back. A final letter tumbles into the mud, its pages filled with the words, "To my beloved wife, open this letter. Your husband writes these final words." He avoided him all his life, hid from him all his life, and protected him all his life.