In the seventh year of Yuanzheng, Qingqiu County suffered locust plagues and heavy rains that destroyed all crops. With taxes due in three days, the Liu family faced starvation. Liu Zheng, the father, suggested drowning his two-year-old daughter Xiaoya to reduce the burden, but his wife refused. Their seventeen-year-old son Liu Ke, hearing this, knelt and begged to become a Blade Catcher—a feared profession that exempted the family from taxes and provided monthly supplies. Despite his father's furious opposition, Liu Ke was determined to save his sister and grandmother. The next morning, he left home with only twenty copper coins, a pair of shoes his mother made overnight, and some flatbread. His father secretly watched from a hill but did not stop him.Liu Ke traveled on foot, catching fish to eat and sleeping in an abandoned house where he had a nightmare about a woman in white. After sixteen days, he reached Heming Prefecture. There, he located the Blade Catcher Hall and declared his intent to join. The officials were astonished—it had been two years since anyone volunteered—and immediately accepted him. He was assigned a room and met Lü Kui, a fellow Blade Catcher. Liu Ke was stunned by the abundant food and comfortable lodging, realizing the benefits came with hidden dangers.The next morning, Liu Ke met his master, Yu Kongming, an experienced Blade Catcher. Yu Kongming told him about the Blade Catcher organization: sixteen gates across the imperial state, a higher Blade Catcher Supervision in Kyoto, and an absolute rule against selling demon objects. After a brief test, Yu Kongming deemed Liu Ke's combat skills poor and urged him to train harder. On the following day before dawn, Yu Kongming woke Liu Ke for his first mission. They took a carriage to a quiet, eerie town where the residents fled at their sight. Yu Kongming warned Liu Ke to trust no one but him. They ate noodles at a stall; Yu Kongming tested them with drops from his gourd. Suddenly, they heard strange sounds and rushed to a courtyard. There, they saw a girl and a woman who transformed into black mist and then into a large demon with spiked tentacles. Yu Kongming used a charm and an Ice Spirit Pearl to block the demon's flames, then ordered Liu Ke to strike. Liu Ke charged forward with his long sword, and the excerpt ends as the battle unfolds. Liu Ke's journey from a desperate farm boy to a Blade Catcher risking his life against demons forms the core of this story, with his ultimate goal being to support his family and survive the perils of his new calling.
