No Taboos

Qingyang, also known as Qinyang, is the land south of the ancient Qin Prefecture, named for its position at the heart of the dragon's meridian. To the north of Qingyang County’s town, mountains encircle the land, their heads and tails lost to sight in the mist. Yet one peak stands apart, serving as the gateway to all these ranges—a sentinel at the southern and northern angle. At its foot, the Wei River weaves its way, much like a blue dragon threading through a gap, its tail raised to the heavens, its head lifted as if to swallow sun and moon. This mountain has, since ancient times, borne a formidable name: Dragon Rock.

Dragon Rock Mountain is steep and densely wooded, its narrow paths winding and crisscrossing through forest, so treacherous that there is a saying of “seven passes and eighteen bends.” Only by crossing this formidable peak does one truly enter the territory of Swallow Ridge, a land scattered with at least twenty villages, each facing a different mountain, drawing from different waters, and yet forming a patchwork of rustic harmony.

“Hey, Old Duan, are you squatting in the latrine or daydreaming about your wife? Could you hurry up?”

A middle-aged man rubbed his hands incessantly, his eyes never leaving the chessboard before him. His large, wind-catching ears quivered slightly, flushed with excitement.

But the man across from him, called Old Duan, paid him no heed, clutching a chess piece tightly and hesitating endlessly over his next move.

The middle-aged man rolled his eyes, well acquainted by now with Old Duan’s ways. H