The art in this is so, so good. I mean, SO GOOD.

The small family of Xinyue, Qiliu, and their mother Ren Niang travel along the great Silk Road as aweto seekers. The aweto is a plant that has near-magical healing properties, and grows on slumbering earth deities called chadolos that bless the earth around them, allowing villages to farm and thrive. I was a little shocked to see that this meant this small family are viewed as people who terrorize these small villages, as essentially they ruin their land; it was all to easy to fall into step with enjoying seeing them mid-seeking, learning who they are and what they're doing.

On one such aweto trip, Xinyue finds a baby chadolo that latches onto him and he ends up taking care of. Unfortunately, the best hunters of the village they just ruined are after them for their thievery and after the baby chadolo in hopes to let the baby earth deity restore their land.

While the story could be a little confusing at first, once I untangled it and got a grasp on the world and what was going on, it was magical. The story itself is a little lacking, but I think that some of the oomph is lost in translation. However, it's more than made up for by the art, which is in turns lush and dreamlike, and brings Miyazaki's work to mind. Watercolor art can often feel static for me, but I think Nie Jun gets around that by creating some very dynamic action sequences.

This is very much a first volume setting up the greater story at large, and I'm invested. I hope there is more coming, and I hope it's translated soon. I'd love to continue this story when I can.

I received an ARC of this for review from NetGalley.