a post-cyberpunk xianxia epic
4 MONTHS AGO. Somehow, Lin’ai knew. Something in his bones told him this evening at the market would be a test—that more than anything he should keep his head down, eyes straight ahead. Something in his stomach dug a pit that he filled with molten confidence, liquid and brassy in his acid vat guts, always […]
The morning was still dim when Tian Xiaoxu rose. He had little time or desire for breakfast—not when it was such a momentous day for his young brother. The crown prince dressed quickly, as plainly as he could to spite the elegance of his wardrobe, and rushed to rouse his sibling. “Come on, Yuhui,” he […]
Jin’s bedroom sat above his workshop, but a little more in line with the original house. It was a drafty thing, window screens full of patchy holes filled with kite paper and wanted posters. A few panes of rippling glass remained, but most of them had fallen out and the Hua family lived a meager […]
“AH—” Li cried out as soon as the scalpel bit into the flesh of his back, into the meat so close to the nervecenter of his spine. “F-FUCK—” It was worse when the inlayer dug in, when the extraction process replaced the incising. The dire importance of stillness kept in the way he held his […]
“Yes, you,” the old woman confirmed. “Come here.” Hua Ruizhi stepped up onto a short riser to lean over the counter displaying her bizarrely sorted collection of florals before she pointed at a stool. For all the strange objects stacked and clustered around the entrance of the shop, the interior smelled overwhelmingly of flowers rather […]
Leaning against a low scrap-metal outcropping in a salvaged wall, Jin gestured to the knee-high padded bench-table in the middle of the room—a makeshift setup somewhere between examination table, drinking lounge, and bed. “Strip and sit. Lemme see what you got.” He paused. “…Sir.” With a nod, the noble began to remove his clothes, fingers […]
Fanxing’s northern end was held by the bend of a river which streamed down from the mountains beyond the city’s outer limits, rushing waters always dotted with specks of light like pearls. The river’s edges diligently sought new land to swallow and spread, erosion kept at bay by hand stacked stone walls all along the […]