Cinder Stain

You should never meet someone dazzling when you’re young. More than four years later, Qiao Ruoxi still couldn’t forget the boy who used to climb walls with her to pick loquats.

Song Cilie was the kind of son-in-law the old-timers in the military all approved of. He was no exception. He shed his usual swagger and showed Qiao Ruoxi his gentle, sunny side. Before going abroad undercover, he cheerfully told her that he had something to give her.

When he left, all that came back was a small, square box and an unconfirmed report of his death. But Qiao Ruoxi had always been stubborn to a fault. She refused to accept such a dismissive answer, changed her name, and followed Song Cilie’s footsteps to M Country. She wanted the truth.

Abroad, she went by Qiao Jiucian. Even before joining the military, she hadn’t exactly been a good person. Now, with the air of a street tough, she managed to take down quite a few hideouts. Two years passed without much to show for it. After spending some time in a small town, she finally got a break.

Shen Hanyu also worked odd jobs at the little restaurant she frequented. She often noticed him, but never expected that a dagger would later put them at odds.

“Give it back.” A storm gathered in Shen Hanyu’s eyes, hidden beneath his usual cold expression. He looked ready to erupt at any moment. “Don’t make me say it twice.”

The dagger had belonged to his adoptive father.

Qiao Jiucian gave a scornful little laugh, but in the next second, the people around him drew their guns. The men she’d assumed were ordinary thugs now wore vicious expressions. She realized something was wrong.

Crime might run rampant in M Country, but guns weren’t supposed to be this common. Just who was Shen Hanyu?