The day a flash flood swallowed his ancient tribe, A Yan died once beneath the rubble, then came back to life among the corpses and mud.
He does not age. His grievous wounds heal, but his pain never fades, and he cannot escape the torment of endless years.
From then on, he vanished into the human world, walking through the pages of history under countless assumed names.
He witnessed Shang Tang's campaign against Jie, standing in the blood-soaked fields of Muye. He experienced the Feast at Hong Gate and watched Liu Bang and Xiang Yu march toward destinies already written. He saw Emperor Wu of Han brandish his whip in Chang'an and watched the Yongjia Disaster drive people south from Luoyang. The night markets of Chang'an in the prosperous Tang dynasty, the raging waves at Yashan, the sunset over the Forbidden City, the spark aboard the red boat on Nanhu Lake: he was there for all of it.
The tide of history never changes because of one man, and not a single detail in the historical record is altered. But only he knows that the shadows of history conceal the secret of ancient anchor stones, and the mystery of strange beings just like him.
Countless old companions have turned to dust, while he alone walks through the ages, all the way to 2099.
When human civilization in the future faces an existential catastrophe, this immortal, who came from a primordial age and witnessed all of Chinese history, will finally uncover the ultimate truth behind the shackles of eternal life.
