Monster Slayer of the Great Song Dynasty

Great Song Dynasty, Lanzhou Prefecture

Under the blazing sun, not a single cloud marred the sky. The entire heavens resembled a furnace, scorching the earth so fiercely that even the air was suffocatingly hot. Every breath seemed to burn the lungs.

Of all the cities in the Song realm, Lanzhou Prefecture stood as the most magnificent. If one were to look down from above, one would see the outermost edges encircled by a winding brook, with four main thoroughfares branching out from the heart of the prefecture in the cardinal directions.

Walking along one of these main streets, the bustle was overwhelming—stalls on either side offered dazzling arrays of wares: gold and silver jewelry, jade pastries, street performers, vendors selling candied hawthorn and rouge. The throng made for a lively scene.

“Make way! Clear the road!” a harsh voice suddenly shattered the peace. Following the sound, a line of prison carts rolled by. The prisoners inside had backs lashed raw, fresh blood staining their white garb scarlet.

Terror was scrawled across every face. Some looked vicious, caked in mud, still muttering their grievances through swollen lips. The crowd pelted them with rotten vegetables and spat; children even relieved themselves upon the carts. For those brought to the execution ground were all heinous criminals beyond redemption.

A captain clad in black armor, wielding a broad blade, shouted, “Parade concluded—execution in the street!”

Soldiers opened the carts, dragging the twenty-odd convicts out in pairs toward the execution ground.