A Journey Through Heaven and Earth

Chinese dreamcore / a touch of Lovecraftian horror / nonhuman characters, but with narcissistic romance A short story, written in first person | Just 0.7 yuan for the complete story. Thank you for supporting the official edition. The abandoned city was like the roots of a giant tree. Cast out by everyone, Wei Xian came to live in a shrine beneath a mottled Buddha statue, its surroundings thick with cobwebs. Under a spell, he smashed the statue, and from that moment on, everything became uncanny. The things in the house were arranged differently from when he had left. The living water in the dry well flowed upward. Branches sprouted from dead trees. Little by little, little by little. He began to hear the sound of a flicking tongue. The broken walls throbbed. At night, something watched his spine. When Wei Xian could finally stand it no longer and tried to escape, the desolate houses suddenly drew together, the crooked streets climbed upward in sections, bones and blood surfaced amid the ruins, and a cold, slick serpent coiled around him. The abandoned city had come completely alive Ying Buhui was the city itself. The Buddha statue had been a chain to bind him, a stone cage. The shrine where Wei Xian lived stood in the city's heart. When he smashed the statue, the seal was broken and the ancient god emerged. Before its enormous vertical pupil, Wei Xian was licked all over by an icy, wet, soft serpent's tongue. You who revive me, feed my body; in the remnants of the ancient abyss, we shall sink together. Wei Xian was a strand of Ying Buhui's divine soul, scattered a thousand years ago and since awakened to consciousness. He had never been able to escape. Do you believe it? Unfortunately, what came before was neither a lie nor the truth. - Inspiration recorded on February 15, 2025, screenshot saved. My next narcissistic romance will be “Golden Wind and Jade Dew.” Here's the blurb. Please add it to your reading list~ Ancient soul in the modern era / fictional Republic of China / my take on steampunk Before his death, Shen Ji was the best assassin in Great Yan. When he opened his eyes again, car headlights dazzled him. A kind stranger shoved him out of the way. He stumbled to the roadside and glanced back, seeing paper lanterns beneath the eaves replaced by neon lights, and mechanical kites filling the sky. This was the Republic of Yunshu, in the eleventh year of the New Calendar. The Federation's airships had brought the old dynasty to an end. The last emperor died in prison, and the final great minister fled overseas. The loyalists grieved bitterly, while the reformers were stained with filth. The new nation was born amid condemnation, and Shen Ji awoke in Jinfu, the most prosperous city in the southwest. He should have been unknown, free to come and go alone, yet he was constantly pursued by assassins. Shen Ji wiped the blood from his blade and vaguely heard one of them curse “Yan Sheng.” That look? What look? Expressionless, Shen Ji slit the man's throat. * One wave of assassins followed another, and Shen Ji had had enough. He decided to get to the bottom of it. The day he followed the clues to the Chongling Trading Company, Shen Ji slipped in without a hitch. But just before entering [Dark Gold], he sensed something and dodged aside, turning his head to see someone blow on the barrel of a gun. In the long silence, amid the click of a trigger, Shen Ji and Meng Yansheng sprang into action at the same time, attacking the face that was identical to their own. * Cold and heartless reborn assassin bottom x smooth and socially adept young master of a trading company top Shen Ji x Meng Yansheng “This is an era of decay. This is an era of renewal.” “Shen Ji, this is our era.” Rough draft of the blurb written June 20, 2025, and archived. I'll refine it more later. Theme: Only I can remember me; only I can save me.