a post-cyberpunk xianxia epic
Deep in the body of the mountain, past hall after looming hall of nascent pearls, glowing cores lighting Luanshi’s sacred tunnels with the light of past lives, Hua Jin was slack-jawed. Awe struck the poor inlayer hard, lit his wonder with the ambience of a thousand artifacts. Each one was encased in a glassy iridescent […]
Alone again, Ren Li leaned back on his elbows, watching Jin pick through the Luanshi supplies laid out for his work. Were it not for the fondness coursing torrid through his very own veins, Li wouldn’t have believed he could ever be so impertinent—he was still, a silent invitation waiting either for the inlayer’s work […]
The Pai’ou Tracer Pavilion was a lavishly kept building aglow with electric lights. Filled with treasures and supplies donated predominantly by the Zhenxi clan’s secretive inlayers, there was an air of quiet luxury woven through the utilitarian space making it feel calm despite the suffering that transpired within its walls. Xueyu laid Ren Li out […]
Tian Xiaoxu was the first to dismount when they came upon the two leaders of Luanshi’s hallowed halls. Immediately, he was on his knees before Jiling, hands held before him in deep respect, begging the Lady of the Mountain’s favor and aid in their deep trouble scenario. “Lady Jiling of the nascent swarm, Master Xueyu […]
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 […]
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 […]
Ren Li rose with the silent song of the sun. By the time the heavy flecking of velvet night succumbed to the pastel crescendo of new morning, he was already taking tea; he was reviewing his schedule for the day; he was making notes based on anticipations and rendering clockwork from time not yet passed […]