The Monster Gentlemen (Sweet Stories with Nonhumans)

[The Fog of Strong Salt] Ryan, the bartender in town, wore his usual elegant smile. Wen Qian thought she glimpsed his bright red tongue splitting like a snake.

[The Roland Ballad] Archaeologist Lu Qin was trapped in a collapsed cemetery in Europe, when a corpse that had slumbered underground opened its eyes amid the gold ornaments.

[The Ruined Ancient City] No one can survive in a city without coordinates. Shen Songmian wandered into it, and the city watched her.

[Containment Unit 9] The researcher had to promise the entity in Containment Unit 9 that she wouldn't send it to have her eyeball sliced up, even though she'd already done so.

[...]

Blurb published on 2022.12.02

Theme: Respecting the legitimacy of nonhuman existence