Chapter 1: Prologue

Prologue

Peaks gather like a crowd, waves surge like anger, the mountains and rivers inside and out, the Tongguan road. Looking toward the western capital, my intent hesitates. At the heartbreaking places where Qin and Han once passed, tens of thousands of palaces have turned to dust. In prosperity, the people suffer; in ruin, the people suffer. (Zhang Yanghao — 'Shanpo Yang? Tongguan Huai Gu')

Amidst eight huge stone pillars, the Nüwa Palace stood towering.

Countless stalactites of various sizes hang upside down from the huge black rock dome, while several venomous hunting spiders dart swiftly between them, their dull green eyes tinged with a hint of bloodthirsty madness as they overlook the huge Nüwa Valley below.

"Peaks gather like a crowd, waves surge like anger..."

"At the heartbreaking places where Qin and Han once passed..."

"Win, the gold coins aren't bitter..."

"Lose, the gold coins are very bitter..."

He tugged at the breezy, torn hemp shirt covering him, the rat‑headed, human‑bodied, skinny Jinbi—under four feet tall—muttered to himself, suddenly remembering his comfortable, warm ancestral leather armor.

He looked up at the False Sun slowly darkening in the center of the black dome, the surrounding light quickly fading, listening to the spiders' hoarse roars, Jinbi shivered and hurried along a narrow path carved into the stone wall, lightly running toward the nearest abandoned mine outside Nüwa Valley.

After running several hundred meters, Jinbi resentfully turned his head to glance at a stone house on the edge of Nüwa Valley downhill.

That was the only tavern in Nüwa Valley; an hour ago, Jinbi was still inside enjoying the waitress's meticulous care like a true boss, but now he is no different from a real beggar.

"I really should chop off these two hands..." he muttered viciously while running lightly: "My gold coins, my money... my ancestral leather armor... damn it, they must be up to something when they throw the dice..."

"How can I not control this pair of hands?"

Jinbi walked forward with his head down, dejected; the road ahead suddenly opened up, gusts of hot wind blew toward him, and faint red light appeared on the distant stone wall, while a faint 'ding-ding' knocking sound came on the hot wind.

Jinbi suddenly stopped, turned around, and made a rude gesture toward Nüwa Valley. He snarled through gritted teeth: "Jinbi boss will return! You wait…… Jinbi boss will definitely return! He will definitely win all your gold coins!"

The ground shook violently with a low rumble, and four earth‑yellow stone steles several meters high rose from the ground with a rumbling, exactly surrounding Jinbi in the center. Yellow light swirled on the steles, and a tremendous pressure suddenly bore down on his under‑four‑feet‑tall emaciated frame.

Jinbi let out a strange cry, his body shrank suddenly, and clouds of black smoke erupted around him, diving into the ground.

Under the immense pressure, actions Jinbi could normally perform in the snap of a finger suddenly became several times slower.

A large hand shot out from behind a stone stele and grabbed Jinbi's shoulder.

A burst of red light exploded on the hand, a fiery, blazing energy surged outward, the black smoke was blown away by the firelight, and the limp Jinbi was hoisted into midair by the hand.

A towering, burly man over ten feet tall stepped out from behind the stone stele, hefted Jinbi and shook him hard twice, and his voice boomed like thunder as he lowly called out: "Nüwa Valley's best information broker…… Jinbi?"

Jinbi lifted his head, gave a fawning smile showing a mouthful of snow‑white fangs, and said: "Sir…… you must have mistaken me! Who is Jinbi? I'm a lifelong native of Nüwa Valley…… I swear on my father's brain, I've never heard that name!"

With a clang, a handful of gold coins spilled onto the ground.

Jinbi's pupils shrank suddenly, he lifted his head, and said fearlessly: "Sir…… no mistake, I am Jinbi! You…… are these gold coins meant for me?"

The big man's tone became unusually low and weak: "Find Wu Tie Wu Tai Ping, and I'll give you ten‑fold, a hundred‑fold the gold coins!"

He paused, and the big man muttered heavily: "Alive, I want to see the person; dead, I want to see the corpse…… no matter what, find him!"

Jinbi's smiling face froze abruptly.