The Desolate Moon Continent took its name from its moon, which was utterly unlike those of other continents. The moon hanging in its sky was immense and desolate, five or six times the size of the moons elsewhere, and appeared all the clearer and brighter...
On every clear night, the peaks visible on the moon stood out with such clarity and desolation. Its undulating mountain ranges, ravines of varying depths, and crisscrossing tracks were etched deep into the heart of every mortal on this continent, like the marks of passing years trodden into the bluestone slabs spanning the streams back home.
The year's end was a cherished festival in the heart of every mortal born and raised on the Desolate Moon Continent, a time of reunion and warmth, yet also of solemn grandeur.
It fell in the middle of the twelfth month each year, on the day when the moon was fullest. Beneath the full moon, people sang and danced, brought out the finest Demon Beasts they had hunted that year, and raised cups of the best wine their families had treasured, celebrating either with the whole city or with their entire family.
Under the pure moonlight, they would not go home until they were drunk, pointing at the heavens and sweeping their hands over the earth as they spoke of lofty ambitions.
Talented scholars drank and composed poems, giving free rein to their youthful spirits, while beauties played pass-the-flower to the beat of a drum beneath the moon, exchanging affection through their eyes.
By then, the sky had grown dim, and an enormous full moon had appeared overhead. Li Yan sat on the platform, gazing at the distant mountains already veiled in a bluish haze. His eyes wandered into the distance, as though seeking to cross countless miles