The Great Resurrection Mission

Origin: Legend has it that among the nine sons of the Dragon, the divine beast Pixiu has a male form, Bi, who governs reincarnation and the endless cycle of life. Its female form, Xie, can reverse time and bring the dead back to life. Even after death, Pixiu bones possess the power to revive the dead and bring life to all things. Unfortunately, Pixiu bones turn to ash when exposed to the wind, so they can only be obtained from a living beast.

This Life: Kang Lele was born into a family of musicians and had already reached the pinnacle of classical music by the age of twenty. A graceful, gifted young man, he nonetheless has a mouth that never stops spewing censored obscenities. He is also arrogant, brazen, and overflowing with swagger. Just as he makes his debut at Carnegie Hall, crowning the summit of his illustrious career, he receives the devastating news that Hai Xin, the girl he grew up with and loved since childhood, has died. Twenty years spent side by side earn her nothing but his cold, dismissive retort: "Idiot." Yet as he plays, lost in the music, his chest suddenly burns, and a mouthful of hot blood sprays without warning across the gilded stage. Abandoning the brilliant future within his grasp, he turns and sets off for home. But by then, Hai Xin is already a cold, stiff corpse.

Next Life: This story takes place in 2029, an age when mobile phones have evolved into spirits that accompany humanity like shadows. They are indispensable weapons on the thorn-strewn road the protagonist must travel to return from the dead.