Prologue

It was the year 1934, Sexagenary Year of the Wood Element, Zodiac Year of the Dog on the Chinese Calendar, in the first month of autumn, when it all began. At the tomb of the Bian Clan alongside Huan Xiang River which flowed at the foot of Mount Yan, the swift galloping of horses broke the silence of the night. Horse bandits were riding fast, holding flaming torches in their hands.

One of the bandits was barking hoarsely, ordering his men to round up the family, who had been the keepers to the graves, before restraining them with ropes, gagging them and covering their heads with black bags. A few of the men tied a thick rope to a tree before lighting it on fire. Some of the rest ran for the cluster of graves in the mausoleum of the Bian Clan, with shovels, pickaxes, and other tools.

Not far away, a large man, with a face covered by a beard, sat on his horse. With proud eyes and a stern gaze, the man, who seemed to be the leader of the bandits, pointed to a mound and spoke to the man who was barking orders:

"Send some of our men to take that vantage point. Fire some shots and warn the villagers off. We do not need curious onlookers crowding around here!"

The man with a hoarse voice replied meekly to his chief, "But sir, won’t the gunshots attract the nearby soldiers?"

The chief waved off his subordinate's fear dismissively and replied, "No. This area is the demilitarized zone as sanctioned by the Tanggu Truce. Neither the Japanese or the Chinese military will be within a hundred miles from here. Tell the men to relax and do as they will!"

"Yes, sir!" His lieutenant croaked an assent and ran off, heading towards the clump of graves.

"Wait!" called the chief again. "Have men guarding every road that leads here. They are to drive away anyone who comes near. Shoot them if they must!"

"Bang! Bang! Bang!" Three gunshot sounds were heard from a distance. The people from the village nearby all slammed their doors shut, fearing that trouble would come knocking. The light spots shuttled through the cluster of graves and the smoke of the burning rope filled the air.

"Boss, this is not the one!"

"This one too!"

Numerous reports came from the bandits who were plundering the graves. They had not found the one they were after.

The chief took out a pocket watch and looked at it in the firelight. He leaped down his horse and walked quickly to his men still digging the graves.

"Time is running short! We must find it before dawn!" The chief shouted to his lieutenant.

Just then, another bandit came over to him, looking more mild-mannered than the others, although he carried a holstered pistol. He seemed to be the strategist of the group. The man spoke to his chief, "At this rate, Boss, we will not find it even when daybreak comes. The item we're looking for is ancient, so if we filter out newer coffins, we can find the oldest graves as soon as possible."

The band of robbers then split into groups, moving in several directions as directed by the strategist who checked the age of the coffins to decide which tomb would be further dug up.

"There's a stone tablet here!" One of the robbers cried out. The strategist hurried over and dusted off the dirt from the tablet. "It's an epitaph! Let's see the date..."

"It's among these graves here, Boss! The year inscribed here is not more than thirty years from the year of the item we're looking for."

They kept digging.

Time passed and the chief grew more restless.

"We've found it!"

A few of the men whisked off the soot from the burial items in the grave and placed them into a bag. The men then lifted a coffin from the grave and threw it outside. Another man, tall and large, hopped into the hole and pulled a knife out of his pants to test the earth beneath the coffin. He rose to his feet, saying, "This is it."

A few more men leaped into the hole.

"Enlarge it, but do not damage the item!" Their leader warned.

Carefully, the men slowly shoveled off the earth, revealing a trench filled with fresh soil. Digging further, they found the item that they had been seeking: an old and gnarly casket made of wood.

The casket was cautiously removed from the hole. Once opened, they found a bundle of silk wrapped around a sheathed sword.

"We've got it!" One of the men presented the sword to his chief.

He drew the sword for just a little to examine its blade, his eyes glimmering from the reflection off the steel blade. Satisfied, the chief chuckled and called for his lieutenant, signaling for the men to get ready to leave.

The lieutenant barked, "Let us go, brothers!" and the bandits left on their horses, fleeing the vicinity with the bounties they had found from the graves.