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Related Novels (1)
Related Chapters (2)
The Litany of Teeth
Words: 2976 · Source Novel:: The Hunger Below
Liang’s investigation reveals that the victims were all outcasts who vanished after joining a secret society called the Devouring Maw. Survivors whisper of a doctrine that preaches salvation through consumption, transforming hunger into a sacred act. He interrogates an elderly soothsayer who recites passages from Qi Zhouhua’s suppressed manuscript, interpreting them as prophecies of a world where the only sin is starvation. A second massacre leaves an entire family butchered in their hut; the meat has been carefully carved away. Liang realizes the cult is not hiding—it is the entire slum’s coping mechanism. His mind fractures as he begins to sympathize with the logic of eating to survive, feeling the abyss staring back.
The Rat King's Invitation
Words: 2847 · Source Novel:: The Hunger Below
In 1768, junior magistrate Liang is dispatched to the Pestilence Quarter of Hangzhou after dismembered bodies are found in a canal. The slum is a lawless warren of starving refugees, and his authority is mocked. He discovers the corpses bear sigils carved in their flesh—ancient, twisted characters from a banned text linked to the executed traitor Qi Zhouhua. A mute beggar leads him to a subterranean temple made of scavenged wood and human bones, where he catches a fleeting glimpse of a pale, robed figure. Compelled by a mix of duty and morbid curiosity, Liang vows to penetrate this hidden world, unaware that his own sanity has already been marked.