Liu Qiyuan of the Stargazing Tower possesses a supernatural ability: with one glance, he can see the threads of fate coiled above everyone's head and foretell good fortune and calamity. But above his own head, there is nothing. He has no fate to divine and exists beyond all the laws of destiny.
A long night of rain breaks the little tower's prolonged quiet. His master, Gu Changhe, leaves behind a brief letter and sets off alone for the old ruins of the Northern Frontier's Heavenly Collapse. Before leaving, he says plainly that he is unlikely to survive the journey. The notes left on his desk, sealed remnants of the Directorate of Astronomy's archives, and a shard of starfall that carries a bone-chilling cold and can devour the living all conceal secrets about the catastrophe from thirty years ago.
Shen Qingwu comes seeking him. Half of her fate thread has already been severed, and her entire family perished in the Heavenly Collapse disaster. The two travel north together, carrying only two days' worth of coarse provisions, while ten perilous days lie ahead. The main road is about to be sealed, danger lurks along the way, the shard of starfall brings misfortune, and unseen eyes watch them throughout their journey.
Everyone in the world is bound for life by threads of fate. Some accept their lot; others struggle against it. Liu Qiyuan was a passerby beyond destiny, with no wish to be drawn into conflict, but his master's final request sends him into the wasteland. As he passes through fortified villages and refugee camps, and faces the bitter north wind, he will keep asking: Is destiny already written, and can the human heart break free of fate's shackles?
This journey to find his master is also a quest to see through the workings of fate. As the sealed restrictions are gradually lifted and the truth behind the Heavenly Collapse and the starfall slowly comes to light, the man without a fate will finally forge a path of his own in a world full of threads of destiny.
