The Impostor Circus

This is a bizarre and fantastical world where gods coexist with humans, the uncanny and corruption abound, and fate is woven together with life.

Li Ke died once. When he opened his eyes again, he had become the young master of a circus.

His father, Li Wen, never loses his temper, yet makes Li Ke feel as if even breathing is difficult. When the maid Dai Shu smiles, it looks like a clown's mask splitting open. The butler can pluck off his ears and press them to the wall to listen to the opera. And locked in the stable is the "little brother" who should have fallen to his death.

In the study, Li Wen slides a dark red dagger toward him. "When you were eleven, you kept pestering me for this."

Li Ke doesn't remember. Those aren't his memories, and this isn't his life.

All he can do is smile and call him "Father," then push the dagger off until tomorrow, betting that he'll survive until his coming-of-age ceremony.

But no one in this house believes in gods. They believe only in the gods behind their own backs.

Behind Li Wen is silent wisdom.

In the butler's ears are the whispers of a false evil god.

And Li Ke himself is a remnant soul that even the true gods cannot recognize.

In fourteen days, the new city lord's welcoming ceremony will be held.

The spotlights come on, and the entire circus takes its places.

Some play fathers, some play clowns, and some play young masters.

Only Li Ke knows: there are no spectators in the audience. They're all things that want to eat him.