My name is Ethan Hu. Born in Queens, New York, I spent my formative years on the bustling streets of Brooklyn, immersed in the strange and captivating conversations with my father. Our family was once the last surviving descendants of Huaxia's "Through the Mountains" lineage. The only remnants of our family heritage are my grandfather's compass, my father's bronze fish talisman, and the tattered "Fragment of the Shaking Dragon Sutra", which have been passed down through generations as our most precious "family heirlooms".
During my childhood, my father would often light a stick of sandalwood incense in the dead of night. With a hoarse voice, he would recount the long - forgotten past, spinning tales of wriggling bones hidden within the hanging coffins of Western Hunan, and a mysterious bronze box beneath the ancient Yellow River Road that would emit a woman's mournful whimper on full moon nights...
"The real secrets lie buried deep under the loess of Huaxia," my father would say, his eyes filled with a profound melancholy I couldn't fathom at the time. "And someone has to pay the debts our lineage owes."
Now that I'm all grown up, I feel a strong urge to document the stories of my father and grandfather. I want my family to experience these various strange and wonderful tales, and pass them down through the generations, so that everyone can appreciate the rich mystery and allure of Huaxia.