『A young man brimming with spirited vitality』
Xie Jinglan, courtesy name Poyun, is eighteen years old and the seventy-third generation direct descendant of the Xie clan of Longxi. Born on the night of Jingzhe, he was exiled to Lingnan with his father at seven, bearing an old scar at the end of his brow from a mountain tiger and frost and snow condensed deep in his eyes for half a lifetime. After returning to the capital, he won fame throughout Chang'an with a single painting, Drunken Knight, earning the nickname "Apricot Blossom Lad." He created the thirteen-move "Jinglan Style" swordplay and ranks among the new Five Peerless of the martial world as the "Central Apricot Blossom." His sword is named Xianchan, three inches shorter than an ordinary three-foot blade. His daily habits are strange: he checks whether the locust tree is still there when he rises, only drinks tea when the leaves float upright, feeds three stray cats like honored guests, and his study subtly follows the layout of the Nine Palaces and Eight Trigrams. His mother died young, his father passed of illness, and on his wrist hangs a silver chain with a mute bell, inscribed inside with the words "peace" carved by his father—knowing it cannot speak, he still presses it to his ear every night. In temperament he is cold outside but warm within, outwardly romantic and untamed, yet honestly holding onto that stubbornness of the seven-year-old who clung to the stone lion and refused to let go. His creed is "never betray your heart," and for everything else he can yield.
The most precious apricot blossom