The Great Song Coroner: The Vanishing Case

At the start of the story, Song Ci stands on a stone-paved road in Bianjing, brow furrowed and heart heavy. The early autumn sunlight filters through the treetops and falls on the ground. A hint of dampness hangs in the air, as if foretelling that something unusual is about to happen. Song Ci is renowned for his keen eye and cool reasoning, and can solve almost any case with ease. But he knows that some things cannot be judged by appearances alone. That morning, just after returning from the yamen, Song Ci receives an urgent letter. The paper has yellowed slightly, and traces of still-wet vermilion remain on the seal in the corner. The letter comes from a prominent family in Bianjing and contains clues to a bizarre disappearance. The missing person is no ordinary man, but the eldest son of the household, Chen Siyuan, a young gentleman of about twenty. He vanishes without a trace overnight, as if he had simply disappeared into thin air. Stranger still, a trail of blood is found outside the Chen family home, but no body is discovered. Song Ci knows this is no simple disappearance. It is quite possibly a carefully planned murder. Blood without a body must conceal a complicated secret. And those who have disappeared may not be gone for good. Perhaps, in some shadowy corner, they have left behind an even deeper mystery.