The story starts with a famous poet Li Bo and his faithful friend Ah Wu, a legendary crossbowman, traveling along the Long River to Yunnan to serve sentence Li Bo to exile in Yunnan, silencing his poetic gift. The two companions end up following a mysterious mist in the woods, leading them to the Dream Temple. After spending a night in the temple, the two awake from their dreams to find that the temple is gone. All that is left is what appears to be an ancient Han grave and an all-powerful sword that was described to Li Bo in his dream: The Dragon Pool Sword that he must take to the Rain Goddess on Mount Wu. Next, we meet an enslaved ghost named Chen who had been following the pair under the orders of a young, yet fearsome Blood Dragon. The …show more content…
While the mature form of these dragons have the balance of yin and yang, these younger dragons lack that, making them immature and entirely self-serving. Although the Blood Dragon represents a major source of evil and suffering in the book, it serves mostly as a vector to display the true source of suffering and evil in the world: humans themselves. One major example of this is the fact that, when on land, the Blood Dragon appears as the human’s most feared yang entity. In other words, it haunts them with their greatest fears from their past, forcing them to constantly relive these periods of intense suffering. For Chen, this is her uncle who did horrendous things to her, whereas for Ah Wu, it is Su-lu, a Turk warrior who often battled with Ah Wu and stole his ear. The fact that the Blood Dragon is not one specific form shows the variety of evil that exists within the human realm. Furthermore, the Blood Dragon also shows us what humans will do to protect ourselves. At the start. Chen goes to great lengths to save herself from being punished by the Blood Dragon. This evil and suffering is thwarted through two major pathways. First is the destroying the Blood Dragon’s physical being by Li Bo using The Dragon Pool Sword. Secondly, we see Chen overcome her fear of the Blood Dragon; she falls in love with Li Bo and vanquishes her fear of the Blood Dragon. In doing so, their past is forgotten and they are able to flow along, following the Dao now freed from their