Childhood, upbringing, family background, social relations, traumatic experiences…... more>>

We keep reviewing and seeking out the motives of criminals, exploring the subtlest emotions driving them. It’s not to put ourselves in their shoes and sympathize, or even forgive them; it’s not to find some reasons to exculpate their crimes; it’s not to kneel down before the so-called “complexity of human nature”; nor to introspect social conflicts, much less to alienate ourselves into monsters.

We just want to have a fair trial – for ourselves and for those who still have hope for the world. <<less

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.... more>>

—— Dickens《A Tale of Two Cities》

I took my hatred and plot for revenge with me down the mire, to the depths of the abyss, and returned as a ghost of the past. I want to plant the seeds of the rotten truth, nourish their deadly thorns with fresh blood so that they grow and pierce through this civilization built on lies.

I reached the bottom of the abyss…only to find a shining star. <<less

“The first person to dig ziliujin fuel out of the ground could never have predicted that what they dug out was the beginning of a dog-eat-dog age.... more>>

Our entire life was but an ugly confidence game of greed; this is something everyone knows, but that they could not bring to light.

From where did this con begin? Maybe from atop the first clean white canvas sails of a foreign ship that sailed across the ocean, or from beneath the great wing of a Giant Kite as it rose unsteadily into the skies — or from a time even before that: as the spreading ziliujin, like an ink stain upon the earth, turned the great plains of the wild north into a sea of flames.

Or maybe it was when We… when I met Gu Yun in a world all covered in ice and snow.” <<less

Assassinate is a short story written by Priest, part of Machine Fantasy – A Dream of Steampunk (机械幻想 – 蒸汽朋克之梦), a steampunk anthology published in 2015.... more>>

Set in a fictional London, at the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, Edward Lander’s name was both renowned and hated by the empire, which needed his groundbreaking intelligence, and by the anti-science organizations who detested such unnatural progress. While the empire expended its effort in protecting him and the anti-science organizations set assassins after him, Edward Lander only wished for his unspeakable feelings to reach the object of his affection. <<less

A cultivation story about how a declining sect is restored by a narcissist, troublemaker, meanie, idiot, and wimpy kid.

“Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.” -Matthew 7:14... more>>

Guomen, 過門/过门, meaning marriage in Chinese. If explained literally, it means going past the gates/door-a reference to the Bible(see above).

“Through the Strait Gates”: to me, it’s the best way to explain it.

The gate’s narrow, the road small for them.

Their past and future interwoven into a tangled, messed up web.

Thirteen years of sour and bittersweet memories. And seven years in between that washed out everything they had like water, leaving only stark, plain, throbbing dullness. <<less

A tale about the former leader of a special organization that served under royalty, now leaving his past life behind and unintentionally getting involved with... more>> the martial world. <<less

The Special Investigations Unit is a covert organisation that no-one in the city knows about, dedicated to investigating bizarre occurrences beyond the comprehension of the living.... more>>

The Chief Zhao Yunlan isn’t a simple guy either, being the inheritor of the Guardian Order, he has always been a righteous conformist, excelling between realms of the living and the dead.

While investigating a school su*cide case, Zhao is attracted to the calm and reserved Professor Shen Wei, but the Professor seems to be rather fickle towards him… <<less

In the year 2041, a miraculous instrument emerges, known to professional insiders as the Projector. ... more>>

It can link to a human’s thoughts, project the complex thoughts into a bizarre actual space. This space can be stable or unstable. All laws of physics are meaningless; all weird things can happen.

Accordingly, a whole new type of psychologist appears. Using the altered space, they put themselves into the thought projection space, going in depth into the origins of the patient’s illness amid dangers.

Accordingly…this is a cheerful adventure story. <<less

Twenty years earlier, the ‘Blade of the South’ Li Zhi was condemned a bandit by imperial decree for establishing the 48 Strongholds of the Shu Mountains to shelter the destitute refugees of the world. ... more>>

Twenty years later, a young man going by the name of Xie Yun, carrying an ‘Anping Command’, barges into the 48 Strongholds by night. Sir Gan Tang receives the command and descends the mountain, henceforth setting into motion the gears of fate.

Zhou Fei, a descendant of the ‘Blade of the South’, is born and raised within the 48 Strongholds, but has yet to experience the martial world. She begins to stray from this straight road after she encounters Xie Yun.

However, the current martial arts world is embroiled in turbulence, those once carefree and worry-less youths are swept without warning into the midst of turmoil and unrest; and ‘that’ secret which has been buried for 20 years, is about to be uncovered…

“There will come a day–you will cross the tranquil and noiseless waters of the Inkwash River; you will depart from this haven sheltered by mountains; and you will find yourself under a vast and shrouded night sky. When you witness in succession the collapse of countless colossal mountains and the evaporation of fathomless seas into desert, you must always remember: your fate rests on the tip of your blade, and the tip of your blade must always point forward.”

“I pray that by the cold steel of your sword, you will be able to cut through the darkness of night for a glimpse of the day.” <<less

Waking up again in his seventh reincarnation, Prince Jing Beiyuan found himself back in time, when everything had yet to be set in motion. Having... more>> been given a second chance, Beiyuan has to survive court and decide whether it was finally time for him to let go of his feelings or not, all while trying to handle the youthful, innocent force of nature that had suddenly barged into his already complicated life. <<less

If I had a choice, I would only want to be a little insect in the mundane dust, born in confusion, dying in mediocrity, never seeing the light of day beneath the fog of Jinping City.... more>>

Better than taking this wrong road to heaven. <<less

In a world where strength is power and one’s worth is decided by birth, Chang An goes against the odds by learning the way of the saber.... more>>

He was born as a frail and sickly sub-beast, falling ill when exposed to even a little gust of wind, yet from a young age, he has always yearned to be strong like the beastman warriors. Everyone tells him that it’s impossible, and he himself nearly resigned to it as well. However, upon experiencing the death of a loved one, he learns that only by being strong can one be a master of their fate.

On the other hand, Hua Yi, the son of a Chief, is a beastman with silver marks. He is gifted with immense power and could rule over others if he so pleases. However, he finds himself to be different from the other beastmen. He has no desire to conquer, and inside he is softhearted. He would’ve liked to keep living a simple and carefree life, but after a betrayal from a family member, he is forced to grow up.

These two once innocent children are brought together by fate. Together, they navigate a cruel beastman world, and along the way, they learn more about life and themselves. <<less

In the current era, people are either normal or are with ‘special abilities’. Cases related to the latter are managed by the “National Anomaly Prevention and Control and Special Species Management Office”.... more>>

Qi Zheng Emperor Sheng Lingyuan was reawakened a thousand years later after he jumped off the fiery Red Lake.

Xuan Ji, a newly transferred staff to the Reparations Division of the Deviant Control Office, finds himself having to clean up the mess of a revived tyrannical monarch.

The two seemed to share something from the past, but unbeknownst to them, a big conspiracy is stirring right underneath their noses that could destroy the balance of the world. <<less

"When I was young, whenever I wrote essays, my last line was frequently 'I am determined to become someone useful to society.' On average, I made this resolve twenty to thirty times per school term. I was very thoughtless."... more>>

"Only when I grew up did I realise that to become someone who brought no harm to society was already the biggest accomplishment I would have in my life."

Due to working through the night and putting in overtime until his liver was going bust, the leader of the Martial Arts Alliance was in a bad mood. He refused to organise the yearly Martial Arts General Assembly.

The descendant of the previous Sect Leader of the Beggars' Sect was someone addicted to swiping the phone and online shopping; Tang Qian Yan who left no marks when stepping on snow produced a wretched shut-in with severe social anxiety disorder…

Like the water in the rivers flowing away, the state of the world became worse day by day. Only the followers of the demonic cults preserved their original aspirations. As ever, they shouted their slogans every day and worked hard to sell health supplements made by black market suppliers, carefully and seriously disturbing the public peace.

And, among the jianghu people mentioned above, whether they belonged to the righteous or the evil, not a single one of them could fight.

Kindness repaid with kindness, evil repaid with evil? White Horse Neighs in the Western Wind? Such things did not exist. Everyone still had to pay their credit card bills and house loans.

There were four ways to write "anise" in "anise beans," and five levels of "grief." <<less

The story of how a little weakling of a loser who can't do anything but eat, drink, and have fun, and who's been dumped on... more>> top of it, grows up into a crafty and conniving genuine man. <<less

Uncle Qu Yuan said: The whole world is turbid, but I alone am pure; the whole world is drunk, but I alone am awake.... more>>

Then he jumped into the river in grief and anger… <<less

A dog-blood cultivation story about a human and a yao(*) …. alright fine it’s yao gong x human shou, hypocritical shou vs paranoid gong.... more>>

(*) yao: a type of supernatural being that has evolved into a human form and consciousness is from plants, animals, or inanimate objects. Typically can shape-shift into their original form. <<less

A tale of an adventure between two people secretly in love with each other.... more>>

The story follows Chu Huan, a former secret service agent who was pursuing the ringleader of a drug trafficking group, “Big Ghost”, when he accidentally fell off a cliff. A series of bizarre adventures ensue. <<less

Youth Wei Qian, orphaned at thirteen or fourteen, struggles through life with a half-sister. He picks up a street child who shamelessly latches onto him and gives him the name Xiaoyuan.... more>>

Wei Qian dreams of rising above the crop. He is someone who values money over his own life. In the earlier part of his life, he battles against many obstacles, with his number one mission being to make a name for himself. Finally, when he achieves some success and thinks that he’s seeing the light of daybreak in life, Xiaoyuan suddenly goes crazy. <<less

Short story, no moral boundaries, proceed with caution.

Time travel from the past to the present. A fictional mainland setting. A story of reconciliation and reunion after separation—picking up the pieces and starting... more>> anew. <<less

This is a detective story filled with all kinds of people—from those with abnormal behavior to the mentally unstable—with numerous absurd cases with handsome men and beautiful women interwoven in them.... more>>

A series of missing children, corpses down the drain, a mu*derer who died and was revived, an obsessive serial bomber who targets public buses, the bloody words on the walls belonging to a family all mu*dered……. <<less

Okay then, this is actually a dark fic combining the tropes of mafia stories, modern rebirths, old cucumbers pretending to be young, younger tops, and more… (I can almost see the lightning… trembles)... more>>

Ahem, but since I’m not your stereotypical author, our bottom is also not your stereotypical bottom, and our rebirth…

It’s also not your stereotypical rebirth. We’ll only get into the rebirth part after the first volume finishes at around 40K words.

Staring at the sky mournfully, I wonder if everyone can stay until then…

Finally, a slow-burn as per usual. <<less