You are the last corpse retriever on the banks of the Yellow River, bound by your family’s rule: “Never retrieve these three kinds of bodies.” But every ancient corpse you haul up thaws a forgotten myth from the dawn of time in your ears. You retrieve a corpse in blue robes, and the truth behind Gonggong’s rageful collision with Mount Buzhou resurfaces in your mind. You dredge up a bronze coffin, and the secrets of Shennong tasting the hundred herbs surge into your heart. A special agency asks you to serve as an adviser. Watching the largest shadow on the riverbed, on the verge of awakening, you say softly, “This time, the one we’re retrieving is the Celestial Emperor.”
