Wild Dog of the Western Frontier

In the final years of the Daye era at the end of the Sui Dynasty, Emperor Yang's endless campaigns plunge the Central Plains into chaos, and the Hexi borderlands slip entirely out of control. Hu and Han live intermingled and fight without pause; ethnic groups slaughter one another over water, grain, and people. In a lawless age, only the blade lets a man stand. Wu You, a lone youth from Guazhou, was raised from childhood by the reclusive Daoist Wu Daoxuan and the eminent monk Longxiang, trained in both letters and arms, cold of heart, sharp of tongue but soft within, clear about debts and grudges. He carries a Sui hengdao and a broken short blade engraved with ancient Loulan script, has created his own Duan Loulan saber technique, and lives as a solitary mercenary—one job, one clean kill, no factions, no ties, seeking only to survive alone in a chaotic world. — Description from novelcodex.org