“All living beings are forged from obsession, devouring and sustaining one another. Only delusion is eternal.”
The Eroding Sea churns, and obsession becomes bone. For three hundred years, Lu Zhan, a porcelain spirit, has guarded the tangerine-peel tea fields at the Lantern Remnant Inn, waiting for a merfolk who can help her repay her “debt of freedom.” Xiao Ran, irritable and quick to cry, falls from the sky, and the curse mark on her wrist resonates with the blood pattern on Lu Zhan’s chest. It turns out their fates have been tangled together ever since a bloody kiln sacrifice.
In the serpent tombs of the Northern Border, the unhinged Serpent King Chong Ming seeks revenge for his sister, but tricks the pure-yang young Daoist A Zhuo into his scheme. She hates him to the bone, yet whenever the curse that compels her to kill her master takes hold, he shields her beneath his serpent tail. Love and vengeance intertwine. Which of them is the other’s ruin?
When the century-old Devouring Calamity of the Eroding Sea arrives ahead of schedule, the ghost-market lamp oil of the Blood Rakshasa, the hypocritical Daoist robes of Xuan Xiaozi, the puppet master’s threads that manipulate fate… all the deluded gather at the Last Lantern Platform. To quell the apocalypse, three source lamps must be lit: porcelain marrow, a merfolk pearl, and a serpent crown. Once they burn out, the parting will be forever.
“Madam, I’ll pay you back for the tea… in my next life.”
“Little Daoist, close your eyes. I’m taking you home.”
This is an Eastern fantasy about obsession, sacrifice, and redemption. If you’re willing to let pain become your lantern, then come to this realm of bone and obsession and see how they burn delusion into daylight.
