《Blood Oath》(Episode 01)(English version)

Section 1: Blood-Stained Conquest Garb

The harsh northwest wind swept up yellow sand, tearing the sky into fragments。Xiang Zhao, wounded in the brain during the last campaign and suffering from partial amnesia, gazed at the endless beacon fires. The QingGang Sword (a famous sword in Chinese history) in his hand gleamed with cold light, the faded tassel on the hilt fluttering in the wind。This was the third campaign against the XiongNu (a nomadic people who were historical enemies of the Han Dynasty). His armor was soaked with blood, yet he stood firm as a rock on the highest point of the castle。Behind him, three thousand iron cavalry gleamed in the sunlight, like a sea of silver scales。

“General! Scouts on the north line report that the XiongNu main force has broken through the YinShen Fortress! Huo YuanJia, his lieutenant, spoke with a clear, ringing voice。Xiang Zhao’s eyebrows furrowed. Suddenly, he noticed a flash of white clothing near a breach in the castle wall, moving among the crowd。The figure was as light as a swallow, and the wooden hairpin (簪–zan) in her hair was faintly recognizable, it was an object he vaguely remembered. This woman always appeared quietly after battles to tend to the wounded。

“Wait”。Xiang Zhao murmured, tossing a half tiger talisman (虎符–hufu–an ancient form of military identification) towards Huo YuanJia。“Order the strong archer camp to form a line in a staggered formation. I will personally lead the vanguard camp to cut off their retreat”。As he mounted his horse, his boot kicked against a XiongNu corpse, the silver lock around its neck still dripping blood. The lock was engraved with the characters “Bai Yi”。This reminded him of the dying XiongNu woman he had rescued by the river seven days ago. She had pressed the lock into his palm before she died, her eyes blurry with tears, saying：“Please… please find out the truth about ‘Bai Yi’…” At that moment, a hazy memory flickered in Xiang Zhao’s mind, he seemed to recall the woman’s elders teaching him to use a wooden hairpin to secure arrows。

The sound of horses’ hooves like thunder. When Xiang Zhao led two hundred elite cavalry into the battlefield, he saw the XiongNu Zuo Xian Wang leading a thousand riders besieging a Han army grain convoy。His QingGang Sword slashed through the air, scattering blood mist wherever it passed。Suddenly, a clear flute sound rang out from the flank, the tone seemingly able to penetrate metal。He was startled to see a white shadow flashing through the dust, a hundred paces away. The figure moved with incredible speed, the jade flute in her hand touching the throat of a XiongNu deputy commander. With a crack, the deputy commander fell from his horse. The white-clad woman immediately remounted, her laughter like the tinkling of silver bells。

“The General’s QingGang Sword truly lives up to its reputation”, the woman said as she rode towards him, the wooden hairpin in her hair and the wine gourd at her waist swaying in the wind. “However, if you want to capture the Zuo Xian Wang alive, you’ll need my ‘Drunken Battlefield’ technique”！She threw a wineskin, and the amber liquid condensed in mid-air into a short sword, aiming for the back of the XiongNu commander。

Xiang Zhao’s pupils constricted. This was clearly the legendary “Phantom Moon Traceless” lightness skill and the “Drunken Sword Style” combined. But the woman’s face was veiled with a translucent silver gauze, and he couldn’t see her features clearly。“Who are you?” he demanded sternly. But the woman was already engaged in a whirlwind of light and shadow with the XiongNu commander。

A wolf howl suddenly echoed across the battlefield. Among the XiongNu army, a blood-red banner rose, depicting a ferocious wolf totem。The XiongNu commander, Zuo Xian Wang, roared, his bone wolf spear piercing the white-clad woman’s left shoulder。Xiang Zhao roared, swinging his sword to deflect the bone wolf spear, and caught her as she fell from her saddle。Her face was finally visible through the bloodstains, it was similar to the pale-faced woman he had seen outside the castle walls a few days ago, and the wooden hairpin in her hair had the same patterns as the hilt of his sword。

“General… that banner…” The woman coughed up blood, pointing towards the XiongNu formation. “That is… what our ancestor left for…” She stopped abruptly, collapsing into unconsciousness。Xiang Zhao felt a weak heartbeat in his arms, and a jade slip slipped from her hand. It was engraved with the words: “When the bone flower blooms, the wolf soul will return”。Thus, Xiang Zhao resisted the Zuo Xian Wang, forcing the XiongNu army to beat drums and temporarily retreat。

As night fell, a fragrant lamp burned within the medical camp tent。The white-clad woman leaned against a white felt cushion, the bandage around her right shoulder soaked with blood。Xiang Zhao poured a bowl of Jade Spring Wine (玉壺春–Yuhuchun–a type of wine) into a ceramic bowl, the liquid shimmering with amber light in the moonlight。“You seem to be a jianghu (江湖–the martial arts world) person. Why did you interfere in the Han-XiongNu war”？he questioned. But the woman gently touched the pattern on the sword hilt, her fingertips trembling, her eyes filled with pain。

“Because… this sword should have been on the peak of Yanshan Mountain.”。Her voice was as soft as willow catkins. Years ago, our ancestor, in order to promote peace and harmony between the two sides, divided the Bone Wolf Banner’s Bone Wolf Spear and the QingGang Sword between the two realms. If the two were to fight… She stopped suddenly, and the sound of XiongNu shamans cursing and a bone flute wailing drifted in from outside the tent. The wolf soul will break through the earth！

Outside the tent, Huo YuanJia urgently knocked on the curtain：“General! Scouts have discovered that the marrow of all the XiongNu corpses… is glowing”！Xiang Zhao stood up abruptly, but the white-clad woman grabbed his sleeve。She removed part of the silver gauze, revealing a small mole near her left eye——it was very similar to the appearance of his mother described before she died, but why couldn’t he remember who she was？

“Remember, if you see the bone flower bloom, it will be…” Her words were cut short by a deafening roar outside the tent。The ground beneath the entire camp suddenly trembled, and bones burst from the earth, forming humanoid monsters。Under the blood-red moonlight, those skeletons carried spears on their shoulders, and blue flames burned in their eyes。

Xiang Zhao caught the white-clad woman and jumped out of the tent, his QingGang Sword slashing towards the nearest skeleton。The sound of the blade cutting through bone and flesh made his heart clench——the skeletons reassembled after being shattered, as if they were alive, attacking again。As the QingGang Sword slashed at a skeleton again, the skeleton turned into smoke and disappeared without a trace. At this moment, he heard the white-clad woman whisper in his ear：“The General’s sword should coexist peacefully with the XiongNu’s bone spear”。

Section 2: Crimson Marriage Contract

The third watch drum sounded, and plumes of smoke rose from the XiongNu main camp。Xiang Zhao, protected by ten elite guards, infiltrated the enemy camp, his QingGang Sword reflecting the flickering firelight within the tents。A blood-red banner depicting a Bone Wolf hung in the center of the main tent, and seven fang-like bone teeth attached to its base emitted eerie wails in the night wind。

“No!” Xiang Zhao’s pupils dilated as he pushed aside a curtain。On a stone platform within the tent, a XiongNu priest was plunging a Bone Spear into the heart of a Han Chinese woman. The woman resembled the white-clad woman—but the position of her small mole below her left eye was slightly off。

“Stop!” Xiang Zhao’s roar shattered the tent flaps, and he swung his QingGang Sword. However, the XiongNu priest blocked the attack with his Bone Spear。The weapons clashed with a metallic ring, and the force sent the surrounding tent fabric fluttering like butterflies。“Drop the QingGang Sword, or she dies”。The priest suddenly pressed the Bone Spear against the Han captive’s throat, while holding a partially unfurled embroidered marriage contract in his other hand。Xiang Zhao’s pupils constricted. The embroidery matched the “Han-XiongNu Peace Alliance Contract” (汉匈和亲契 – a historical type of agreement involving marriage alliances between the Han Dynasty and the XiongNu) among his father’s relics。At that moment, the white-clad woman suddenly appeared, leaping from behind Xiang Zhao towards the stone platform, quickly snatching the marriage contract from the priest’s hand。

“General, don’t listen to him!” The white-clad woman suddenly laughed, throwing several ancient talismans into the air. “These are… illusionary formations set by the XiongNu kings to defend against the Han Dynasty”！Before she could finish, she suddenly threw herself towards the Bone Spear, but spun at the last moment, using a jade flute to strike the captive’s pressure point, rendering her unconscious。

A dramatic turn of events unfolded。The XiongNu priest suddenly opened his mouth and spewed out a cloud of black energy, transforming into a wolf-shaped curse that lunged towards Xiang Zhao。

The silver gauze behind the white-clad woman swirled without wind, wrapping her and a curse within it。At the moment the curse tore the gauze, a faint blue light erupted from the wound on her left shoulder, resonating with the patterns on the hilt of the QingGang Sword。

“This QingGang Sword…” she suddenly exclaimed, “was forged with the blood of our first ancestor”！ Blood-red runes appeared on the tip of the QingGang Sword as her blood touched it。At that moment, the XiongNu priest chanted a cursed ballad, and the bone spear suddenly transformed into chains of blood, attempting to bind their wrists. Both of them instinctively dodged。

“Who exactly are you?” Xiang Zhao finally asked the question amidst the chaos of battle。The white-clad woman pressed a blood-stained marriage contract into his palm：“It happened in Yanshan… my mother, protecting the ancestral scrolls, was struck by an arrow. Your mother used the QingGang Sword to cut the arrowhead, but failed to sever…” She pointed to the wound on her left shoulder where the bone spear had pierced it. “The arrow then, and the location of the wound now, corresponds exactly to the mark of the Bone Wolf on her shoulder”。

The tent suddenly shook violently。A sound of flesh and bone rubbing together came from beneath the ground, as if the entire desert was awakening。The XiongNu priest laughed maniacally, offering two withered skeletons onto a stone altar：“The Han and XiongNu bloodlines are one and the same. Today, let the souls of this ‘couple’ pave the way for the Bone Wolf King”！As he finished speaking, the white-clad woman suddenly plunged a jade flute into her own wound, letting the blood drip onto the marriage contract。

The blood-stained marriage contract instantly transformed into a map, revealing a network of underground veins。Xiang Zhao realized it was the very path the Han army’s supply route would take。“So you knew all along…” he began, but his words were cut short by the woman’s laughter：“Me was saved by your mother because… I am also a descendant of the former king”。She coughed up blood that congealed into blue in the moonlight. “If the QingGang Sword is tainted with the blood of the Bone Wolf, the Han Dynasty and the XiongNu will be in endless turmoil”！

At that moment, the XiongNu priest’s blood chains reformed into a bone spear and thrust forward. Xiang Zhao pushed the white-clad woman aside, and as the QingGang Sword collided with the bone spear, seven grooves suddenly appeared on the sword’s surface, the bloodstains from the wounds inflicted upon his ancestor, [Xiang Zhao Yu], when he took his own life。

“Retreat!” The white-clad woman suddenly scooped up a sleeping Han female captive and leaped into the air, using her other hand to draw a sealing rune with the jade flute。Her figure became increasingly transparent within the light of the rune. “When I am captured by the XiongNu priest, General, you must live… and wait for the Bone Flower to bloom”！Before she could finish speaking, she used a technique called “Phantom Moon Traceless” to quickly rush out of the tent, and the XiongNu priest, seeing this, frantically pursued her。

When Huo YuanJia led his iron cavalry into the tent, they found their general, Xiang Zhao, clutching the blood-stained marriage contract, his eyes burning with both anger and confusion。The roaring from beneath the ground grew increasingly violent, and the sand outside, bathed in the moonlight, took on an unusual indigo hue。

At that moment, Xiang Zhao ordered Huo YuanJia to take the iron cavalry back to their camp to reinforce their defenses, while he himself raced out of the tent in pursuit。

Section 3: Bone Bloom · Blood Oath

The yellow sand outside the tent surged like a blood wave, and the bone flute of the XiongNu priest pierced through the sandstorm, causing sharp pain in everyone’s ears。Xiang Zhao’s QingGang Sword was stained with seven crimson streaks, its blade vibrating like a living thing as it roared。Xiang Zhao burst out of the tent and saw the XiongNu priest already standing in the center of a distant altar。Upon closer inspection, he finally saw the altar’s offering——a white-clad woman pierced through the shoulder blades by chains, her silver, butterfly-like skirt soaked in blood and turned black. It turned out the white-clad woman had been bound by a trap set by the XiongNu priest, and unconscious Han woman captives were placed nearby。

The XiongNu priest laughed wildly, saying, “You shameless descendant of the Han Dynasty, hand over the QingGang Sword of your ancestors”。The white-clad woman suddenly raised her head, saying, “General, do not believe his lies.” As she lifted her head, Xiang Zhao’s pupils contracted to pinpoints。Her right eye was the amber color he was familiar with, but her left eye was sealed with a wolf-shaped golden pupil unique to the XiongNu, as if two opposing fates were confronting each other。Dark gold patterns began to appear on the floor tiles beneath her feet – the same symbols as those on a hunshu (marriage document), but twisted at the end into bone spurs.。

A muffled whimpering came from beneath the ground, and the sand at their feet turned into liquid。Xiang Zhao’s sword suddenly emitted a piercing cry, the dragon patterns on its blade resonating with the runes on the white-clad woman’s chains。At that moment, he caught sight of a barely visible line of small text at the end of the hunshu：“If the Bone Wolf King is to be resurrected, it requires the blood of twins to break the seal, but only if the blood of both twins…” Before he could finish reading, the XiongNu Zuo Xian Wang appeared。

“So you are the final key,” the XiongNu Zuo Xian Wang laughed, shattering the sand and dust. “Let you, a descendant of the Han Dynasty, be a sacrifice for the vengeful spirits of my XiongNu ancestors!” He raised a bone wolf spear inlaid with human teeth. “Let you two infatuated lovers be sacrificed for the resurrection of the Bone Wolf King”！

The QingGang Sword suddenly flew out of Xiang Zhao’s hand, turning into a mist of swords in the air。Xiang Zhao realized this was the omen described in the song “Hundred Battles Become Poetry”: “When vital blood becomes a mechanism, how can it be willingly trampled upon?”——it turned out the last mechanism left by the former king had transformed itself into a medium to break the seal。Huge bone chains emerged from the sandstorm, each link reflecting illusions of a century of Han-XiongNu warfare。

“Stop!” The white-clad woman suddenly threw a wooden hairpin (zan) towards Xiang Zhao’s forehead, awakening a portion of his memory lost due to injuries sustained in battle. She then struggled against the chains, a drop of blood falling to the ground。Immediately, pale blue flower buds sprouted there, their stems formed from white bones, and their petals covered with tiny thorns, resembling crying eyes。This was exactly what the song “Bone Bloom” sang: “Winter has come again, and withered bones have bloomed into flowers.” Each bone flower recreated fragments of their encounters：her rescuing him when he fell unconscious during the YanShan disaster, a late night watching falling blossoms on the Chang’an castle walls, and the warm touch of their interlocked fingers when they vowed their love。At this moment, with his memory partially restored, Xiang Zhao couldn’t help but cry. “Twenty years ago, when my mother died saving you, I should have hated you, but I inexplicably fell in love with you. Was I wrong”？

Xiang Zhao’s voice fragmented in the sandstorm. He suddenly grabbed the white-clad woman’s chains, letting the bone spurs pierce his palm. “But it turns out we were both deceived… You aren’t a spy from the enemy XiongNu, but the love of my life”！

The Bone Wolf King began to take shape beneath the ground, its first spine piercing the altar。The white-clad woman suddenly pressed a blood-stained marriage contract onto the palms of both of them. Hidden characters emerged on the paper, forming a secret blood oath：“Locked by bone, opened by blood. If the alliance is broken, a sea of bone flowers will bloom, and blood will stain the underworld.”。It was then he noticed the first characters on the marriage contract – “Zhao” and “Li” – written with their fetal blood。

“No, my existence is a curse.”。The white-clad woman’s golden pupils completely occupied her left eye, but she stubbornly held onto Xiang Zhao’s clothes…… “Twenty years ago, your mother carried me, wounded, through the XiongNu military camp. She said, ‘If you live, protect him with your life.’” Before she could finish, the Bone Wolf King’s claws tore through the altar, and half of the white-clad woman’s sleeve turned to ash。

At that moment, the QingGang Sword, surrounded by a mist of swords, suddenly converged and pierced Xiang Zhao’s arm！The moment blood sprayed out, the seven grooves on the sword became instruments to absorb his essence。As his blood dripped onto the woman’s body, bone flowers suddenly bloomed wildly. Each petal transformed into a rune, breaking the seal and slowly drawing the Bone Wolf King’s body back out of the ground。He finally understood the meaning of “Blood Jade Lotus” hidden within the song “Bone Bloom”, and realized that a general’s success is built on countless bones. These tens of thousands of withered bones would eventually bloom into flowers, releasing their fragrance. Unfortunately, their fragrance was to serve their master, but it also hinted at their sacrifice and the master’s greed and ruthlessness in achieving his own greatness。

“You misunderstood the meaning of the Blood Oath”。The white-clad woman laughed softly amidst the bone flowers, but coughed up blood mixed with thorns. “It’s not just a vow of love, but a decisive severance – as long as our blood dries up at the same moment, we can seal the Bone Wolf King and our souls together”。It turned out that “If the Bone Wolf King is to be resurrected, it requires the blood of twins to break the seal, but as long as the blood of the twins dries up simultaneously, the Bone Wolf King and the souls of the twins will be sealed together. After one hundred years, the souls of the twins will be released”。

At that moment, the white-clad woman pressed her blood-stained fingertip onto Xiang Zhao’s collarbone, where patterns identical to those on the marriage contract appeared. “Look, our bone marrow patterns have already intertwined within the earth’s womb”。

A deafening roar came from beneath the ground. The Bone Wolf King’s claws pierced the white-clad woman’s abdomen。Xiang Zhao’s QingGang Sword suddenly transformed into chains, binding their wrists. He finally noticed the tiny patterns on the sword-turned-chains were identical to the palm prints of the white-clad woman. As the XiongNu priest’s bone flute played its final note, the entire sand sea suddenly tilted——it turned out that this desert was actually a massive unsealing formation, and they were standing at its core。

Section 4: Blood Moon Eternal Night

The blood moon hung in the sky, and Xiang Zhao’s gaze pierced through the thicket of bone thorns。He knelt amongst the half-person-high blue bone flowers, blossoms condensed from ashes that flickered with his heartbeat. Each petal held her face——the white-clad woman who had trained with him since childhood, wiping the blood from his wounds outside the XiongNu castle walls。Now, her name finally cleared from the haze in his mind: Bai Li, the daughter of the former king and a XiongNu woman, and the final piece of this thousand-year-old seal。

The bone flute of the XiongNu priest sliced through the night like a blade, and the sand sea surged into a crimson tide。Xiang Zhao’s QingGang Sword trembled violently, and the words “Bai Li” suddenly appeared on the hilt, glowing faintly——the ink from a love letter he had written to her. Now, however, it served as a curse, triggering the Bone Wolf King’s rampage。He suddenly remembered Bai Li whispering on a snowy night on YanShan (Mountain)："If you see bone flowers blooming crimson under the moon, that will be the moment my spirit merges with the Bone Wolf King’s”。

The Bone Wolf King’s claws tore through the sandstorm, but in that instant, Xiang Zhao understood the truth。Bai Li’s fragments of white clothing, his mother’s hairpin, the alliance scroll from the former king’s tomb… all his memories linked together like chains forged from the QingGang Sword。When he brushed aside Bai Li’s blood-stained hair, he finally saw the Bone Wolf mark on her left shoulder。

“Why did Mother sacrifice herself?” Xiang Zhao’s roar mingled with the Bone Wolf King’s howl。Bai Li’s lips moved slightly, and she drew the lyrics of the middle section of “Hundred Battles Become Poetry” in the sand with blood: “Shouldering the bitter sea, gripping worldly troubles”。“Your mother was a truly admirable and respected elder”。Her pupils dilated, but she used her last strength to push a blood marriage contract into his palm。

A whisper echoed from beneath the earth – the spirit of the former Han king, Xiang Zhou：Thirty years ago, I sealed the soul of the rebellious XiongNu Bone Wolf King beneath the earth for a thousand years, but a fragment of his soul escaped。Soon after Bai Li was born, I, already controlled by the Bone Wolf King’s soul, imprinted the Bone Wolf mark on her left shoulder. I also embedded the curse of the ancestral blood pact and wrote the marriage contract in your fetal blood to bind your fates together. I used a wooden hairpin as a token, its patterns corresponding to the markings on the QingGang Sword hilt, to serve as identification. I waited for someone with the blood of the Han Xiang family – the only lineage capable of wielding the QingGang Sword as they wished – to come along… to break the seal on the Bone Wolf King himself. Your mother was the only one who saw through this scheme。“But she couldn’t bear to see an infant harmed, and she worried about you, so ten years ago, when the XiongNu attacked and Bai Li was severely wounded, she said to her：‘If you live, protect Xiang Zhao until the very end’”。“How despicable! My mistake and the Bone Wolf King’s fault have fallen upon you and Bai Li! I have truly erred”！

Xiang Zhao’s pupils suddenly flashed with a scene from twenty years ago：him as an infant nestled beside a baby girl near a campfire, his mother bandaging Bai Li’s wounds inflicted by his father. His father’s QingGang Sword was flowing with his blood within the furnace——it turned out the sword wasn’t a weapon anymore, but a key to breaking the seal！

“Since the sword is no longer the one created by our ancestor,——” Xiang Zhao suddenly reversed his grip and thrust the QingGang Sword into his own throat. The gushing blood in the air condensed into the shape of a large blood-jade lotus。

Each petal reflected scenes of Xiang Zhao and Bai Li’s time together：the wine pot they shared on a snowy night on YanShan (Mountain), their passionate kisses。Then, with a determined look, he said, “To restart the seal, it doesn’t require the blood of a sacrifice… but the souls of twin loves”！Xiang Zhao’s voice was mixed with blood as he plunged the QingGang Sword deep into his throat. More blood surged forth, condensing into another large lotus of blood jade, each petal reflecting their loving memories：In the wine pot shared during the snowy night on YanShan (Mountain), Bai Li wrote the words “I love you” on the surface of the wine using ice crystals. They then pressed their fingerprints against each other’s chests, and Xiang Zhao said to Bai Li：“If the peace treaty (和親 – a marriage alliance for peace) between Han and the XiongNu is broken, may flowers grow from my bones, and those flowers will be my very being”。Countless flowers of my body will protect you, my elegant and beautiful colored butterfly, as you fly towards YanShan (Mountain)。

At that moment, the Bone Wolf King’s roar abruptly stopped。Xiang Zhao felt his marrow merging with the QingGang Sword, with Bai Li’s flesh and blood. This was the true meaning of “Eternal life comes at a price, and there has never been a winner” – to become an eternal chain。He covered Bai Li’s heart with the blood-stained marriage contract, watching as her transparent body merged with the blue flowers。“The price of eternity is not flesh and blood…” Bai Li’s voice came from the bone flowers, “but the love of twin souls, willing to become each other’s sealing chains”。Her fingertips turned into bone thorns, piercing Xiang Zhao’s heart, sending his consciousness into the belly of a giant skeletal beast。It was the former king’s soul prison, and the QingGang Sword was transforming into a stream of light, piercing the Bone Wolf King’s heart。

As the last drop of blood fell from the woman’s lips, the bone flowers in the sky transformed into crimson butterflies, dyeing the entire sand sea a glaring dark red…。

The Bone Wolf King’s resurrection failed, and the XiongNu Zuo Xian Wang led the priests and remaining soldiers to retreat, taking the unconscious Han women with them。

As dawn broke through the blood moon, the desert returned to silence。Only two things remained on the battlefield：a blue bone flower, condensed from Bai Li’s ashes, blooming in the ashes of the marriage contract, its petals covered in uncoagulated blood, and Xiang Zhao’s armor, turned to sand. The half-rolled alliance scroll he had tightly gripped in his hand still whispered the lyrics of “Bone Flowers”：“Fireflies fill the mountains with longing, the north wind dances” and “Hidden lyrics: Even if bones turn to ash, I will never regret it”。

The sound of chains still trembled from beneath the earth, and fragments of the QingGang Sword were deeply embedded in the sand, the blade displaying overlapping illusions of Bai Li and Xiang Zhao’s faces。As the first ray of sunlight touched the bone flowers, the withered bones transformed into colorful butterflies, the petals accompanying the butterflies as they flew together towards YanShan (Mountain) in the west – Bai Li’s most longed-for homeland。

The Blood Moon Eternal Night fell, but it also unveiled a more cruel prelude：although the Bone Wolf King’s soul will be sealed beneath the earth for a thousand years, the souls of Xiang Zhao and Bai Li will be released in a hundred years. Therefore, the bloodline of Bai Li and Xiang Zhao is destined to be reborn and experience double death in cycles, until they can find a way to break the blood pact and destroy the Bone Wolf King’s soul in these thousand years。And now, the fragments of the QingGang Sword, lost its master, scattered somewhere in the sand sea, emitting a faint glow, waiting for the arrival of the next “relative” who can control the sealing chains。

（Episode 01: End）

Family Tree

1. The First Ancestor: [Xiang Gu (The First Ancestor) and his wife (unknown)] had [Xiang Tian] and [Gu Hu Wang (Bone Tiger King)]. [Xiang Gu] used a mysterious, immense power to establish a kingdom, dividing the land in two, giving each half to [Xiang Tian] and [Gu Hu Wang].

2. Second Generation: [Xiang Tian and Han Woman A] had [Xiang Di]. [Gu Hu Wang and XiongNu Woman A] had [Gu Lang Wang (Bone Wolf King)].

3. Third Generation: [Xiang Di and Han Woman B] had [Xiang Yu]. [Gu Lang Wang and XiongNu Woman B] had [Quan Xian Wang - son] and [Bai Yi - daughter].

4. Fourth Generation: [Xiang Yu and Bai Yi] had [Xiang Zhou]. [Quan Xian Wang and XiongNu Woman C] had [You Xian Wang].

5. Fifth Generation: [Xiang Zhou and Han Woman C] had [Xiang Zhan and Xiang Zhao - two sons]. [Xiang Zhou and XiongNu Woman D] had [Bai Li - daughter]. [You Xian Wang] had [Zuo Xian Wang].

Story Synopsis

1. The First Ancestor (Xiang Gu): Both the Han Dynasty and the XiongNu tribes share a common ancestor in [Xiang Gu].

2. The First Ancestor’s Secret Scroll: This scroll can only be opened with the bone marrow of someone with XiongNu blood and the blood of someone with Han blood, and with the mutual [love] of both. It contains techniques for vanquishing demons and the source of the First Ancestor’s immense, mysterious power.

3. YanShan (Mountain): The birthplace of the First Ancestor, it conceals a mysterious, immense power within its depths.

4. QingGang Sword, Bone Wolf Spear, Bone Wolf Banner: To ensure peaceful coexistence between the Han Dynasty and the XiongNu, [Xiang Gu] used his own blood to forge a QingGang Sword for the Han, and crafted a Bone Wolf Spear from his little finger bone and a Bone Wolf Banner from the skin of his little finger for the XiongNu. He urged both sides not to slaughter each other, reminding them they share a common origin, and that mutual destruction would be foolish. When the QingGang Sword and Bone Wolf Spear clash, it signifies conflict between the Han and the XiongNu.

5. Han-XiongNu Peace Pact: [Xiang Gu] established a Han-XiongNu Peace Pact to foster goodwill and affection between the two tribes.

6. Xiang Yu and Bai Yi: The grandparents of Xiang Zhao. Because the XiongNu resented the Han possessing the [First Ancestor’s Secret Scroll], conflict often arose, preventing lasting peace. Bai Yi’s father, Gu Lang Wang (Bone Wolf King), launched an invasion of the Han Dynasty, forcing this loving couple (Xiang Yu and Bai Yi) to flee to the Wu River. Xiang Yu’s attempt to break through enemy lines failed, and seeing the situation hopeless, he sang a lament. Bai Yi danced for him with a sword, then took her own life. Seeing this, Xiang Yu drew his sword and followed her into death, leaving behind only one son (Xiang Zhou).

7. Xiang Zhou: The father of Xiang Zhao. To avenge his father, Xiang Yu, Xiang Zhou infiltrated the XiongNu, captivated a XiongNu woman with legitimate XiongNu lineage with his handsome appearance, and secretly fathered Bai Li. He also obtained a small amount of Bai Li’s bone marrow and used his own blood to secretly unlock the [First Ancestor’s Secret Scroll], but lacking the [love] of both sides, he only glimpsed a technique for sealing souls. He used this soul-sealing technique on Gu Lang Wang, but was also partially affected by Gu Lang Wang’s soul, causing Xiang Zhou to sometimes be controlled by him.

8. Marriage Contract: Xiang Zhou wrote the marriage contract using the blood of <Xiang Zhao and Bai Li> to bind their fates together.

9. Blood Oath: “With bone as lock, with blood as key, should the pact be broken, flowers will bloom from bone, and blood will stain the underworld.” The Blood Oath was a punishment curse set by the First Ancestor, anticipating conflict between the Han and the XiongNu.

10. Heart’s Whisper: A language of the heart used to break the Blood Oath curse.

11. Zuo Xian Wang: The great-grandson of Gu Lang Wang (Bone Wolf King), constantly attacking the Han Dynasty in an attempt to revive Gu Lang Wang.

12. The Twins: Refers to Xiang Zhao and Bai Li.

13. Underground Bone Beast: One of the sources of the First Ancestor’s mysterious power.

14. Sleeping Han Woman: Bai Li’s close friend and confidante, who likes to dress like Bai Li.