The Guanyin Clay

A'yao was born cursed—snake eyes that see the dead, the twisted, and the things that wear human skin. In a world where ancient famine drove people to devour each other, Nuwa's disciple left behind the Six Sects: three to guide the living through corpses and bones, three to divine fate through paper effigies and stitched flesh. But the secrets are incomplete, and those born with serpent eyes bring only ruin to their families. A'yao sees what others cannot—paper brides grinning in the darkness, earth-born monsters stealing human faces, and a man who reeks of death. A man whose scent matches her…