a post-cyberpunk xianxia epic
With his knees in the dirt, stray strands of rust-colored sunbleached hair falling into his face from where it escaped his braid, Lin leaned down to kiss his royal lover. He’d drug Yuhui across the ground with his whirlwind hello, scraped him through the mountain woods with his violent I missed you so, but now, […]
The path from the cultivator dormitories down toward Luanshi’s inner gates was quiet. The morning rendered the compound in reality’s details instead of the dreamy phosphorescence of Jiling’s swarm. Still, their surroundings were beautiful. Nature reclaimed every old world surface: ivy on rebar, morning glory blooming on pitted slabs of cement. As they walked, Jiling […]
“I can’t believe I won.” Yuhui’s excitement from the sparring match was electric, tracing his muscles and running rampant through his bones. He looked down to his open palms suspended before him, eyed his fingers like they were not the chaos-wrapped digits that he was born with, like they were a competent man’s hands rather […]
PRESENT DAY. The mist was heavy on Yunji the following morning, hanging like a milky specter over the jagged landscape. Craggy precipices too shallow for anything but birds were the only sight to break through from afar; the morning blanket rested plushly atop the heads of wind and elevation molded evergreens that thrived on weaving […]
4 MONTHS AGO. When Loquat’s eyes began recording Yuhui, he was sitting on the edge of his bed, back turned to the bird, skin fully exposed. His shoulders were shaking and his breath was ragged, softly gasping, hairline choked. His hands were busy with something in his lap. After a few moments, he took a […]
4 MONTHS AGO. Three days after their parting, Prince Tian Yuhui arrived at the Fengs’ House of Infinite Dawn. Normally, when he traveled outside of Skyline Manor’s walls, he had somewhat of a convoy with him—a handful of royal guards present to protect both him and those he would encounter from his unpredictable chaos, as […]
4 MONTHS AGO. Lin opened his eyes; he took his first breath like he was waking from the dead, given life by an errant sunbeam tickling the glinting tracers inlaid upon his cheek. He felt as though he’d barely slept. He was in and out of consciousness the whole night through; he was in and […]
4 MONTHS AGO. Lin’ai’s speech may have slurred but his eyes were steady, trained on the royal poised above him. “What are we gonna do now? “I don’t know.” The prince shrugged a shoulder. “Are you going to remember this in the daylight or are you a forgetful drinker?” “I’ll remember,” Lin’ai said as he […]
4 MONTHS AGO. It was midnight when a rapping fell upon Yuhui’s door. Just outside of the middle Tian’s quarters was a rather frazzled Tian Xiaoxu holding up a drunken stranger, red cheeked and dour, sun bleached braid hanging over his shoulder. The city was alive, loudly celebrating some arena victory or another with the […]
4 MONTHS AGO. It seemed that Yuhui’s heart was a constant stutter. Whenever he was around Lin’ai, it felt like that muscle was going to jump out of his chest, was going to break his ribs with the force of his affection. He laid back upon his pauper’s clothes spread out in an open meadow, […]