Icchantika

Manduo Eqi x Yun Bizhou

During the Chongsheng era, the Yichanti faith spread into the Central Plains.

At a time of famine and disaster, snow fell in the fourth month, and not a blade of grass grew.

A rumor spread from who knew where: when the Wolf Lotus Lanterns were lit all along the border, the wolf god Yichanti would arrive and pardon all the suffering people of the world.

From the moment the rumor began, every household enshrined an image of Yichanti. The authorities called it an "evil Buddha" and declared that all believers were to be executed without exception.

In the thirteenth year of Chongsheng, at the coming-of-age ceremony for the Crown Prince of Southern Zhou,

the moment he stepped into the great hall, he saw countless blood-red lotus lanterns beneath the ancestral tablets on the altar.

The image of Yichanti that fell from the Crown Prince's sleeve, along with the stolen secret map of Southern Zhou's military defenses, was buried with the Crown Prince's death on that snowy, storm-lashed night.

...Until six years later.

The young heir, only six years old, discarded his Southern Zhou family name and fled north through bloodshed and chaos under the name "Bizhou."

After sacrificing his right arm to the wolf god, A Bi finally shed the identity of "heir of Southern Zhou."

From then on, he was no longer the beloved child of the Crown Prince and Crown Princess. He was a wild wolf missing his right leg, a sacrificial offering among the suffering, waiting for the wolf god Yichanti to save him.

On this desolate, man-eating ice field in the northern kingdom, he would make his way to the wolf god who stirred the whole world into turmoil, challenging the foreign ruler on the iron throne with his many afflictions, deep-seated hatred, and broken body.

...The wolf god, Manduo Eqi, chuckled and tapped his forehead.

"Winning your heart is much harder than winning all the lands of Jiuzhou, Zhouzhou."

Older, cruel foreign emperor gong x beautiful, strong, tragic, disabled, and unhinged shou

*Yichanti originally means "one who has desires," and is translated as someone who has severed all roots of goodness and can never attain Buddhahood. In this story, Yichanti is another name for the northern wolf god, but the narrative will give it deeper meaning.

① One-on-one, both virgins, happy ending. The gong is fifteen years older than the shou.

② Age-gap guardianship and growing up together. The shou is the one being raised. They're both strong, but they won't be evenly matched from the start.

③ A satisfying revenge story with plenty of melodrama, but overall, just a fun power fantasy.

④ My take on a blend of nomadic peoples and government systems. The map is entirely fictional.

⑤ Written for love, free to read.

Theme: Ideals shine brighter than gold