Echoes of Old Things: Keeper of Urban Secrets

[Urban Lovecraftian horror + antique restoration + keeper of secrets] + [72-hour contamination countdown] + [Chinese-style mysteries + puzzles of obsession]

Antique restorer Wu Xun can see the memories of the dead, but if he cannot unravel their obsessions within 72 hours, he will be assimilated.

During the plum rains in Yuzhou, Wu Xun pries open a Republic-era clock and sees the memory of its clockmaker being dragged away by gray mist. His left eye goes blind in an instant, black markings crawl across his fingertips, and an unfamiliar text message pops up with a warning: “Echo parasite detected. Assimilation in seven days.”

As an antique restorer, Wu Xun has inherited the ability to touch old objects and read the obsessive memories of their former owners. But this golden finger comes with a deadly price: if he cannot dispel the lingering echoes within 72 hours, he will be contaminated by the occult and become part of the object.

His mother's accidental death, the mysterious “Lost Sect,” the “Amnesia Calamity” from a century ago... every clue points to the old pocket watch against his chest. To save himself and uncover the truth, he has no choice but to team up with a hot-blooded police officer and a cool, elegant antique dealer, restoring one strange old object after another, each carrying madness and tenderness.

When the sect gathers three Olden-era relics and prepares to tear open the seal at Jiefangbei, Wu Xun grips the pocket watch in his hand. This time, what he must restore is the future of the entire city.