Young weaving master Fahng comes upon Hwagway, a mysterious child who wears the same tattoos as she does and whistles a bird language. Seeking to restore a pair of spirit turtle shells to the royal ancestral altar, they are drawn into the power struggle between the Duke of Morning Song and his half brother, Jōshwee. Hwagway tells Fahng that the musical instruments of Morning Song are not tuned according to the ancient tones, and the discord will bring bad luck if the army needs to march into battle against Jōshwee. But it will take a true set of pitch pipes to correct the tuning. On Mount Kunlun, which is suspended between earth and heaven at the western edge of the world, live the the phoenix pair that sings the true tones, and fairy bamboo that grows there can be cut to the right lengths to imitate their song. Fahng and Hwagway climb a starway to the Skyland of the Jade Emperor and embark on a quest to find The Pipes of Kunlun.

As with The Weaving Maiden’s Mystery, the story emerges from the history and legends of long ago China and is accented by translations of the earliest folk poetry. Also like that first book in The Sorceress of Morning Song series, the action is seen against the background of the exquisite silk gauze that Fahng and her sister weavers make to support themselves as independent women.