A collection of short stories full of imaginative ideas, each brief and tightly written.
Fantasy, wuxia, light sci-fi, dreams, fairy tales, historical romance, apocalyptic tales, magic...
The Dream Exchange Shop
There is a shop that sells dreams. Those who come here sell their dreams and never buy them back, even as the asking price drops again and again.
Sword Intent, Demons, and Little Red Flowers
Da Wu takes on a job escorting a weak, feeble demon. Later, he discovers that it is the demon everyone in the jianghu wants dead. It seems to have a history with Young Master Zhang, one of the top ten on the jianghu rankings, and before it dies, it wants to savor sword intent once more...
The Mirror of Mortal Dust
A mirror of mortal dust belonging to the Old Man of the Moon accidentally falls into the underworld, stopping people who still have attachments to the world of the living. Meanwhile, the Old Man of the Moon's disciple must persuade Granny Meng to arrange a match for their next life...
The Deathly Kicks
She is pregnant and flees with her in-laws and husband.
The stillborn child inside her is as sensible as a well-behaved child and does nothing to hinder her escape. She even wonders if the baby deliberately made her this way.
To stay alive, she moves from one house to another to hide from the ghosts and monsters outside. Later, she discovers that the stillborn child moves along with the house, drawing nourishment from her body.
She wants to live, too.
If Only I Could Walk with You
In the forest, a long weather forecast graphic, like a tape measure, is reflected in the water. It shows the weather as far ahead as next month. At the front, dark clouds gather, while farther along, the icons change to partly cloudy.
An old man slowly moves the partly-cloudy icon forward, checking the degrees as he goes, seemingly updating the forecast.
That is his job for the day.
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