The Broken Bow Reflects the Star River

The setting sun was as red as blood, staining the vast mountain forests of the western frontier.

Five-year-old Lin Zhixia curled up in a crevice among the rocks beneath a cliff, her tiny hands tightly clutching half a bloodstained barley cake. Her knuckles had turned white from the force. From atop the cliff came the cold shouts of Spirit Hall deacons, mixed with the sharp crack of hooves crushing dead branches. Every sound hammered against her taut heart like a heavy mallet.

"Search! Search carefully! That little girl can't have gone far! Spirit Hall has ordered that every remnant of the Lin Family must be wiped out!"

The harsh wind swept the stench of blood into the crevice. Lin Zhixia abruptly covered her mouth, forcibly swallowing back the sob rising in her throat. The scene from three days ago tore through her memories once more—her father, Lin Jingyuan, spreading his arms covered in star patterns as the Star River Shattering Bow floating behind him bloomed with brilliant yet despairing light. Silver arrows streaked across the night sky like meteors, but they had ultimately failed to stop Spirit Hall's blazing black-flamed sword.

"Zhi Xia, run! Run toward Sacred Soul Village!" When her mother's bloodstained hand pushed her into the secret passage, the grief and resolve in her eyes branded themselves into Lin Zhixia's mind like red-hot iron. Hidden in the darkness of the passage, she had heard her father's bowstring snap, her mother's scream, and the cold laughter of the man dressed in Spirit Hall red. She remembered his face. His narrow eyes were filled with cruelty, and the Spirit Hall emblem hanging at his waist gleamed coldly in the firelight—he was a Law Enforcement Elder personally appointed by Spirit Hall, and the murderer who had killed her parents with his own hands.

Only after the hoofbeats gradually faded did Lin Zhixia dare loosen her grip. The barley cake in her palm had long been soaked through with cold sweat. Carefully, she poked her head out. The weeds atop the cliff had been trampled into a mess, while dark-red bloodstains left on the ground glimmered with an eerie sheen beneath the sunset. Gritting her teeth, she crawled from the crevice. Her tiny body was wrapped in coarse clothes coated with dust, and jagged stones had cut bloody marks across her ankles, but she felt no pain at all.

She did not know where Sacred Soul Village was. She only remembered her father saying that it was a small village near the border of Fasno Province, with a blacksmith shop where she might find shelter. She ran along faint paths through the mountains. When hungry, she nibbled at the barley cake in her arms; when thirsty, she scooped up stream water to drink. The forest was especially cold at night. Curled beneath the roots of a large tree, she listened to wolf howls echoing through the valleys and could only clutch the Bronze Arrowhead her father had left behind—the companion arrowhead of the Star River Shattering Bow, and the Lin Family's sole remaining memento.

After running for two full days, Lin Zhixia's steps grew heavier and heavier. The barley cake had long since been gone, her lips were dry and cracked, and waves of darkness began clouding her vision. Just as she could no longer hold on and stumbled into a patch of bushes, steady footsteps sounded in the distance.

She suddenly raised her head and saw a tall man walking down the path with an anvil from a blacksmith shop slung over his shoulder. He wore a coarse shirt bleached pale from washing, revealing sturdy muscles on his bare arms. A faint scar crossed his face, but his gaze was unexpectedly gentle. Behind him followed a boy about her age. The boy wore a blue short-sleeved shirt, with black hair and black eyes. He held a freshly snapped willow branch in his hand and looked around curiously.

They were Tang Hao and Tang San.

Tang Hao had originally brought Tang San into the mountains to familiarize him with the area and gather some firewood for the village elders. He had not expected to find such a wounded little girl by the roadside. He stopped, his gaze falling on Lin Zhixia's dust-covered face. When he saw the fear and stubbornness in her eyes, so mismatched with her age, his brow furrowed slightly.

"Whose child are you? Why are you out here alone?" Tang Hao's voice was low, carrying a trace of barely perceptible concern.

Lin Zhixia's entire body stiffened. Instinctively, she shrank back and clutched the Bronze Arrowhead in her arms. She remembered her parents' warning: never trust strangers easily, especially while fleeing Spirit Hall's pursuit. Yet although the man before her looked rough, there was no malice in his eyes. The boy behind him was watching her with clear eyes, without the slightest hostility.

"I... I'm Lin Zhixia." Her voice was hoarse and dry, thick with tears. "My... my parents... they were killed by bad people..."

At the words "my parents," she could no longer hold back. Tears rolled down like beads from a broken string. Seeing this, Tang San hurried forward and held out the willow branch in his hand. "Don't cry. I'm Tang San. My father is Tang Hao, and we're from Sacred Soul Village. If you have nowhere to go, you can come back with us."

As Tang Hao watched Lin Zhixia sob until she could barely breathe, a complicated emotion flashed through his eyes. He had lived for many years and seen too many families destroyed by Spirit Hall. The hatred in this little girl's eyes was so much like his own when he was young. He crouched down and made his tone as gentle as possible. "Child, were the bad people you mentioned dressed in red, with Spirit Hall emblems on them?"

Lin Zhixia abruptly looked up and nodded through her tears. "Yes! There were so many of them, and there was a man with narrow eyes. He used a black sword... to kill my parents..." Her voice trembled with agitation. Her small hands clenched tightly, her nails nearly digging into her palms.

Tang Hao's eyes instantly turned cold, and the hand gripping the anvil tightened unconsciously. A Spirit Hall Law Enforcement Elder, a black-flamed sword—he almost immediately knew who it was. That man was one of the Martial Soul Emperor's most capable hounds, with the blood of countless soul masters on his hands. After a moment of silence, he looked at the frail yet resilient little girl before him and slowly said, "Child, come back to Sacred Soul Village with us. There, at least for now, you'll be safe."

Lin Zhixia looked into Tang Hao's gentle eyes, then at the willow branch Tang San was offering her. The guard around her heart gradually loosened. She knew she could not keep running aimlessly like this. Sacred Soul Village might truly be her only destination. She sniffed, wiped away her tears with her dust-covered sleeve, and gently nodded.

Tang San immediately smiled and reached out to pull her up. Lin Zhixia hesitated for a moment, but then placed her little hand in Tang San's warm palm. His hand was not much larger than hers, yet it was strong as he slowly helped her to her feet.

Tang Hao hoisted the anvil onto his shoulder and walked ahead, occasionally looking back at the two children. The afterglow of sunset fell over them, stretching their shadows long. Walking beside Tang San, Lin Zhixia looked down the path leading to Sacred Soul Village and silently swore: one day, she would awaken a martial soul of her own like her father had, take up the Star River Shattering Bow, avenge her parents, and make Spirit Hall pay the price it deserved.

Sacred Soul Village could already be vaguely seen in the distance. Wisps of cooking smoke rose through the twilight, carrying an air of quiet peace. Lin Zhixia tightly clutched the Bronze Arrowhead in her arms and felt the warmth in Tang San's palm. For the first time since losing her parents, she felt a faint glimmer of hope. She knew that from the moment she stepped into Sacred Soul Village, her life would begin a new chapter, and her own legend had only just begun.