The Great Unity Record of Sitting in Oblivion

[A cosmic-horror serial novel, offering you a different take on history]

The prologue, chapters 1–12, can be skipped.

Was Liu Xiu able to summon meteorites because he was descended from the Essence of Flame? Was the Ming dynasty’s ban on maritime trade at the end of the dynasty actually because the Deep Ones came ashore? Could the year 1920 bring the possibility of humanity’s history being swallowed whole?

Another day with nothing to show for it. The fish have grown legs and run out of the sea onto land. I should learn to make traps and catch fish on dry ground.

A believer dressed like a fisherman said this.

Lu Qiao was bewildered, grinding the sticky sand beneath his feet.

He rose onto his toes. The line ahead was still long, winding toward an unknowable distance.

The Way… cannot be seen or named… It is called the Great One!

A rumbling voice came from the gray mist at the front of the line, broken and intermittent, now clear, now indistinct. Everyone fell silent, their faces feverish as they listened devoutly.

A rustling sound came from nearby. A fish leaped onto the shore, waving two heads. It crawled along the ground for a while, then gradually stood upright, transformed into a person, and joined the line.

Cast off your limbs! Abandon your senses!… Become one with the Great Thoroughfare. This is called sitting in oblivion!

The rumbling voice drew closer, close enough now that every word could be heard clearly.

One by one, the people in the line began entering the church before them.

It was stifling… I pushed aside the white curtain in the room. Beneath my fingers was something strangely elastic, as though I were touching a sac filled with air.

Beneath that membrane, gas flowed gently, expanding and contracting as if with each breath.

The rumbling voice kept droning on, and the crowd embraced one another. Warm red sprayed through the air, kissing everyone.

Beside the rusted blade, they danced with joyful steps.