Prologue

Peaks gathered like a flock, waves roared like anger, Tongguan Pass lay between mountains and rivers. Gazing at the Western Capital, my heart hesitated. What sorrow for the paths trod by Qin and Han, where palaces grand and vast have turned to dust. When prosperous, the people suffer; when ruined, the people suffer. (Zhang Yanghao - Ballad of the Slope: Nostalgia for Tongguan)

Eight colossal stone pillars encircled the magnificent Wa Palace.

Countless stalactites, large and small, hung upside down from the massive black rock dome. Several highly venomous hunter spiders scurried nimbly between them, their sickly green eyes filled with a bloodthirsty madness as they gazed down upon the vast Wa Valley below.

"Peaks gathered like a flock, waves roared like anger..."

"What sorrow for the paths trod by Qin and Han..."

"When winning, Gold Coin doesn't suffer..."

"When losing, Gold Coin suffers greatly..."

Tightening the tattered, wind-battered rags he wore, Gold Coin, a rat-headed, skeletal figure no taller than four feet, muttered to himself. He suddenly longed for his comfortable and warm ancestral leather armor.

Glancing up at the 'Void Sun' in the center of the black dome, which was gradually dimming, the surrounding light rapidly faded. Listening to the hoarse roars of the hunter spiders, Gold Coin shivered. He quickly scrambled down a narrow, winding path carved into the rock face, heading towards the nearest abandoned mine outside the Wa Valley.

After running several hundred meters, Gold Coin grudgingly glanced back at a stone house on the edge of the Wa Valley below.

That was the only tavern in the Wa Valley. Just a quarter of an hour ago, Gold Coin had been inside, enjoying the meticulous care of the barmaids like a true lord. Now, he was no different from a beggar.

"I should really chop off these two hands..." he muttered fiercely as he ran, "My Gold Coin, my money... my ancestral leather armor... Damn it, they must have cheated when they were rolling the dice..."

"Why can't I control these hands of mine?"

Gold Coin trudged forward dejectedly. The road ahead suddenly opened up, and gusts of hot wind assailed him. Red light flickered in the distance on the stone walls. Faintly, the sound of 'ding-ding' hammering drifted on the hot wind.

Gold Coin stopped abruptly. He turned around and made a vulgar gesture towards the Wa Valley. Gritting his teeth, he screamed, "Lord Gold Coin will return! You wait... Lord Gold Coin will definitely return! He will win back all your Gold Coins!"

The ground shook violently, accompanied by a low rumble. Four yellowish-brown stone steles, several meters high, rose from the ground with a 'rumble,' encircling Gold Coin precisely in the center. Yellow light swirled around the steles, and immense pressure suddenly bore down on Gold Coin's thin, four-foot-tall body.

Gold Coin let out a strange cry. He shrank his body abruptly, and large clouds of black smoke spewed from around him as he curled into a ball and burrowed towards the ground.

Under the immense pressure, movements that Gold Coin usually completed in a snap of his fingers slowed down several times.

A large hand suddenly shot out from behind a stone stele, grabbing Gold Coin by the shoulder.

A ball of red light erupted from the hand, and fiery energy surged outwards, scattering the black smoke without a trace. Gold Coin, limp all over, was yanked into the air by the hand.

A burly man, over ten feet tall, emerged from behind the stone stele. He dangled Gold Coin, shaking him vigorously, and his voice boomed like thunder, "The best informant in Wa Valley... Gold Coin?"

Gold Coin looked up, a fawning smile revealing a set of sharp, white teeth. "My lord... you must have the wrong person! Who is Gold Coin? I've lived in Wa Valley my whole life... I swear on my father's head, I've never heard that name before!"

With a 'clatter,' a large handful of Gold Coins was suddenly scattered on the ground.

Gold Coin's pupils suddenly narrowed. He looked up sharply, his face now one of fearless bravado. "My lord, that's right, I am Gold Coin! Are... are these Gold Coins for me?"

The man's voice became unusually low and heavy. "Find Wu Tie and Wu Taiping, and I'll give you ten times, a hundred times the Gold Coins!"

He paused, then grumbled with immense gravity, "Bring him back alive, or bring back his body... No matter what, find him!"

Gold Coin's smile froze instantly.