Mystery and Detective Stories With Wildly Imaginative Plots 悬疑推理大脑洞
Translated by GPT-6 Luna
In this list
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1
The Xie Family's Short-Lived Son Has Lived to a Hundred 谢家的短命鬼长命百岁了
[Screen adaptation rights sold] The lid of a dead person's coffin won't lie flat because they had an unresolved longing in life. Given time, that longing turns into a demonic obsession, and unless it is resolved, their descendants will suffer. Yan Sanhe's job is to release the dead from their obsessions. One day, she gets hounded by Third Master Xie, who claims to have one. Yan Sanhe says she doesn't deal with the living. Third Master Xie replies, “Everyone says I won't live long. Just think of
147.7kReads9.6Score20.9kShelves
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The End of Ten Days 十日终焉
2024 Tomato Novel Annual Peak Rankings TOP 1 | 2024 China Online Literature Influence List | 2024 China Good Novel Award | Over 2 million copies sold (No harem, no formulaic tropes, no invincibility, no System, no mindless antics, no wish fulfillment. Read with caution if these bother you.) Just when I thought it was an ordinary day, I discovered I had been captured and taken to the End. Just when I thought I could escape by continually taking part in death games, people began awakening supernat
1.8MReads9.9Score227.2kShelves
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Bureau of Legend Management 传说管理局
(No harem, no formulaic plot, no invincibility, no System, no brainless decisions, and no wish fulfillment. Read with caution if any of that bothers you.) Du Yu dies an untimely death right at the beginning of the story. Hoping to secure a better spot in his next life, he takes a job with the Bureau of Legendary Tales. His job is to return to legends that have gone off course and put their plots back on track. He never expected that the first mission assigned to an ordinary mortal like him would
212.2kReads9.6Score29.5kShelves
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The Haunted House 诡舍
[Infinite-flow + Mild Horror + Survival + One Female Lead] A driverless bus carried a group of cursed people to a strange black lodge… Inside the lodge stood a door stained red with blood. At regular intervals, the cursed were forcibly dragged through the blood-red door and into terrifying worlds, where they had to complete horrifying events… After Ning Qiushui survived one bizarre and terrifying story after another inside the lodge, narrowly escaping death each time, he discovered that none of
750.3kReads9.6Score91.2kShelves
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The Psychological Anatomist 心理解剖者
[Signed for publication] Genius Forensic Doctor VS Tough-as-Nails Police Captain [Mystery + deduction + sweet romance + high-IQ crimes + serial murders + criminal profiling + suitable for the timid] Original title: The Psychological Anatomist Schizophrenia, antisocial personality disorder, high-IQ crimes... This is a world overrun by psychopaths. The Cat-Fetus Man case, the Couple Butchers, the Angel of Death... Twisted fantasies of evil always burst into reality alongside violence. A corpse is
106.3kReads9.5Score18.4kShelves
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Your Criminal Talent Is Off the Charts, Yet You Join the Homicide Squad 犯罪天赋拉满，你转头加入刑侦队
[Crime Investigation + Crime + Invincible + All-Rounder + Hardcore Detective] A killer capable of committing the perfect crime must also be a master detective. Su Ming should have become the perfect criminal, but instead he aced the entrance exam for the criminal investigation team and chose to stand on the front line of the fight against crime. He has pored over tens of thousands of case files and scrutinized hundreds of millions of cases. In his eyes, every crime is riddled with laughably obvi
98.1kReads9.1Score10kShelves
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7
Case Files of the Strange: A Twenty-Year Hunt for the Killer 诡案录之追凶二十年
(Five mind-bending cases ultimately connect through a single clue, keeping a criminal investigation captain on the hunt for twenty whole years.) In 1998, a young girl is raped, murdered, and decapitated in the woods of Yaojia Village, Meizhuang Town. As the police investigate, Ding Zhihua, chief of the city's criminal investigation brigade, discovers that the killer's motive is not so simple. They initially think they've caught the suspect, only to find that the real culprit is someone else. Tha
3.8kReads8.9Score420Shelves
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Infinite Escape: The Museum Curator Rules the Livestream 无限逃生：馆主飒爆直播间
[Infinite-flow + mostly imaginative horror + romance + ensemble cast] Lu Yu is a little-known actress who has spent three years in the entertainment industry. TV director: “What is this garbage acting? Get out of my production!” Variety show director: “You have no sense of variety-show humor. How could someone as mediocre as you think you can make it in entertainment?” Agent: “You’re good for nothing but your face.” But after Lu Yu becomes the owner of a game arcade and enters an escape game...
12.2kReads9.2Score1.5kShelves
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9
Return to the Old Home 故园归
[Mystery + Everyday Mysteries + Deduction + Ancient Setting + Espionage + Adventure + Serial Murders + Perfect Partners] Decapitation, curses, national treasures, imperial tombs, locked rooms, secret agents... A raging undercurrent on the road home. Two boys meet over a bizarre murder case. As they travel together, they repeatedly encounter strange cases: a bride decapitated on her wedding night, a legend of murders in the Eighteenth Level of Hell, a murder at a Chan monastery, a stolen national
726Reads9.3Score100Shelves
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Mysterious Revival: My Memories Bury Vengeful Ghosts 神秘复苏我的记忆埋葬着厉鬼
Warning: It gets more and more brain-bending as you read! Extremely high intelligence and logical reasoning as the characters solve paranormal mysteries! Don't read if you dislike mind games! Everyone gradually awakens to their powers or takes the abilities of ghosts! High intelligence + aesthetics of despair Scenarios: Dreams, zombies, myths and legends, Cthulhu, and more Difficulty: “Despair!” (No harem, no System, no invincible protagonist, no formulas, no power fantasy, no brainless characte
1.4kReads—Score137Shelves
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Crime-Solving Group Chat: From the Start, Hannibal Taught Me How to Find Bodies 破案群聊：开局汉尼拔教我找尸体
Shen Ting transmigrates to a parallel world, where he activates the Detective System and becomes the owner of a crime-solving chat group. Hacker Kiko, Tang Tan's Qin Feng, forensic examiner Qin Ming, White Night detective Guan Hongfeng, and even chef Hannibal and educator Jigsaw are all in the group. As long as he solves cases, the group can bring in more detectives and deranged killers. Shen Ting can also earn skill coins to redeem all kinds of crime-solving skills: Anthropometry! Criminal
34.4kReads8.7Score3kShelves
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Criminal Investigation: I Can See Crime Records 刑侦：我能看见犯罪记录
Cen Lian was a junior-college general education teacher who did just enough to get by, and always thought he would keep coasting through life. Then a cheat ability fell into his lap: every criminal revealed their crimes in front of him. Driven by a simple sense of justice, Cen Lian began matching wits with criminals, both smart and stupid. He became a specially appointed consultant and, alongside a group of like-minded partners, embarked on a career solving criminal cases.
49.2kReads9.2Score3.7kShelves
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The Spirit-Pattern Paradox 灵格悖论
Have you ever wondered what you would do if you woke from a dream to find yourself in a completely unfamiliar place? What untold stories lie behind the luxurious yet unfamiliar surroundings and all those strange faces? Conspiracies, lies, betrayal, political scheming, humanity, family, love, and friendship will tear your soul apart, piece by piece! In the midst of your desperate struggle, you will come to understand yourself anew, and even learn how the entire human world works!
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Surrender 自首
(Now streaming on iQIYI. Starring Xu Weizhou, Guo Junchen, and Xiao Yan. A criminal police captain, played by Xu Weizhou, teams up with a psychologist, played by Guo Junchen, to solve cases and capture the monsters of the human heart. Mystery + deduction + psychologist + episodic cases + serial murders + high-IQ crimes + revenge plots + strange tales and records + best partners + light horror + suitable for the faint-hearted) “I killed someone.” A girl turns herself in, claiming that she killed
19.7kReads9.4Score2.7kShelves
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Case Files, Delivered Fast 诡案速递
[Two male leads, no female lead, not a wish-fulfillment story] In a city gripped by turmoil, my partner and I run a little café. Every so often, we receive an express package with no return address. Inside is either a sheet of paper or some object. These seemingly pointless gestures turn out to be connected to a series of unsolved cases. Lost in the fog of suspicion and uncertainty, we try to use our wits to piece together what really happened.
2Reads8.1Score—Shelves
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Sunset Without End [Crime Investigation] 日落无涯【刑侦】
Original title: Sunset Without End [Criminal Investigation] Alternate title: Tracing the Clues Criminal investigation deputy captain Leng Yan vs. Shao Yu, a beautiful forensic doctor who always carries cilantro with her. [The characters, organizations, positions, and events in this story are fictional creations serving the plot. Please do not compare them with real life!] [Before reading, please be aware: this story is overflowing with sweetness and romance amid criminal investigations. If you’
5.9kReads9.0Score739Shelves
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On the Second Day of the Second Month, I Marry the Dragon King 二月初二，嫁龙王
Ever since I turned eighteen, I’ve had shameful erotic dreams every night. In them, I spend day and night entwined with a man dressed in black, with dark hair. My grandmother, the last shaman in the village, said I was the reincarnation of a deer spirit. In my previous life, I sealed an evil river dragon with a virgin’s blood; in this life, I was destined to live alone, and must never break my vow of chastity! On the second day of the second lunar month that year, as the dragon raised its head,
12.7kReads9.2Score1.5kShelves
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The Spirit Map Play 灵图戏
My name is Zhang Ming, and I’m an ordinary logistics manager. That was until one night shift, when I saw something I never should have: a supernatural monster in the real world! After awakening the Spirit Diagram Cards, I learned that the world had changed long ago! Dark matter had leaked out, ghosts and monsters were running rampant, and only card masters could fight them! While others spent money drawing cards, I unlocked top-tier legendary cards from the Three Kingdoms outright. The three Si
1Reads—Score—Shelves
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Nightcry Tower: Eleven Horror and Suspense Stories 夜哭楼：十一个恐怖悬疑故事
[Horror | Suspense | Mystery | Folklore | Short story collection] The green lamp, a ghost knocking at the door in the dead of night, the Golden Buddha, a female ghost... As everyone knows, what is truly terrifying isn't seeing a ghost, but the human heart! This collection brings together eleven horror and suspense stories by Han Shisan, originally published in well-known magazines across China. They'll send chills down your spine and turn even the fainthearted into brave souls!
650Reads9.3Score101Shelves
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I Work as a Bounty Hunter in the Ghost Realm 我在鬼界当赏金猎人
[Max-Level Ghost Tamer + Mystery-Solving + Love Triangle Showdown + Unraveling Mysteries] Hell is empty, and monsters and ghosts roam the mortal world! The uncanny has descended, and evil spirits run rampant. Countless mortals and ghost clans struggle to survive in this world. Though still young, Yun Fu has already risen to second place on the ghost-and-monster bounty list. Her name, “Zhe Mei,” resounds across both realms of the mortal world. At first, despite her naturally immense ghost power,
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Escape from the Cube World 逃离魔方世界
An otherworldly tale, a transmigration story, an imaginative adventure, a Backrooms story, and a fantasy epic, with an enormous setting and a sweeping world. The author promises to flesh out every detail and fill in every plot hole. The male lead is neither a self-sacrificing saint nor cold-blooded. He’s an ordinary person who can tell right from wrong and good from evil, but he’s also steadfast and strong-willed. His golden finger is hardly overpowered; in fact, for much of the early story, he
5Reads—Score—Shelves
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Going Out? 出门？
[Get out and take a walk. It's time to step outside. Maybe the world beyond the door is wider?] Death is the only way out. Resurrection is a deeper cage. They fall from the void into a prison, each bearing fragments of their own lives: the exhaustion and madness of being worked to the bone, shackles woven from money and morality, the self suffocating beneath marriage, the crushing weight of a perfect education, and repression hidden behind a gentle facade. The only remaining lighthouse points to
—Reads7.2Score—Shelves
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23
The Greatest Taboo Among the People 民间第一禁忌
They severed my tendons and buried me alive in a sealed coffin, but they didn’t know I was born with the fate of the King of Hell! [Folk horror, feng shui and talismans, incense offerings] Feng shui and fortune-telling, painted-skin demons and spirit summoning, walking in the shadows and corpse driving, corpse-raising spells and curses, yin tattoos and talismanic needles, puppets controlled by strings, red doors sealed with wax, Dogs digging graves on Burial Mound Ridge, ghosts feasting in the R
336.5kReads9.4Score29.8kShelves
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I'm an Assassin, Not a Detective 我是杀手，不是侦探
(No transmigration, no System.) Lu Yutang, a professional killer, never imagined that his wealthy landlady would turn out to be a police detective, living right across the hall from him. What a predicament. (Other works in this series are now available. Visit the author’s page.)
44.5kReads9.1Score5.1kShelves
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The Seven-Day Mystery: Countdown to Judgment 七日迷局：审判倒计时
[When death becomes a bargaining chip in solving a mystery, would you wager your life to uncover the truth?] When Lu Chen received the last message from his missing sister, the phone screen was flashing a blood-red countdown: 7:00:00. The moment he stepped into the isolated island’s ancient castle, the iron gate slammed shut. Static crackled from an old radio: “Welcome to the 307th trial. Find the killer, or everyone will be buried here.” In the sealed dining room, seven wax figures represented
3Reads—Score—Shelves
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The Clown Things 小丑东西们
[Battle Royale + Otherworld + Death Regression + Dark Story + Clown Literature + Extreme Revelry + Fun-Seeker] A clown originally meant someone who entertained an audience through slapstick and antics in a circus. These days, the word is used for "someone who embarrasses themselves in public," "someone who gets carried away with unrequited feelings," "someone who gets humiliated," "someone who gives everything to a crush and ends up with nothing," and "someone whose words and actions seem absurd
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27
City of Sinful Love 罪爱之城
He was a rich kid who grew up in the slums, with impressive martial arts skills and an untamed spirit. He was suddenly assigned to Songzhao City as captain of the criminal investigation squad. She was the team’s top student and tech geek, always drinking goji berry tea. She seemed quiet, but hid tremendous strength within. At the start of the new year, these two oddballs were forced to become partners. Together, they solved one bizarre case after another, going from clashing at every turn to spa
215Reads9.1Score—Shelves
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Blooming Amid Malice [Criminal Investigation] 于恶意中绽放【刑侦】
A jaded, easygoing, flirtatious intern, Ye Yi × a reserved, gentle, strategic elite detective, Ji Wang Mutual crushes, finding their way to each other. One-on-one romance, both devoted and strong, happy ending, alternate universe, with some original settings. . Ji Wang, captain of the city bureau’s criminal investigation team, has had his handsome photo on a matchmaking site for three years, but still hasn’t found a buyer. Ye Yi says, “Someone like him is either not interested in romance, or alr
14.9kReads9.2Score2.6kShelves
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Words Bloom Beneath the Seventh Month Moon in Nanzhou [Criminal Investigation] 言花七月下南州【刑侦】
On Yan Cen's first day at work, before she'd even officially checked in, she happened to give her new boss a thorough “investigation” while mistaking him for a stranger. She thought she'd been discreet inside the car, but she'd been spotted long ago and thoroughly investigated herself. Jiang Junzhou went for his usual morning run, only to find himself inexplicably under someone's scrutiny. When he looked into it, he discovered she was a “nepo hire” who'd been slipped into the department. It was
2.2kReads8.9Score315Shelves
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Hunting Killers in the Dark 暗夜逐凶
[Delicate, sickly beautiful forensic examiner vs. tough, handsome elite criminal investigator] On her first day at work, the beautiful forensic examiner earns a reputation for being a scammer after the captain of the criminal investigation team mistakenly issues her a ticket. The victims in a string of murders are all found with their hands joined in a strange prayer-like pose. A poor college student is dismembered into countless pieces, but when the body is put back together, the liver and kidn
846Reads8.9Score138Shelves
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The Underworld Detective 阴间神探
My new work is out! You can read it on Tomato Novel. I hope you'll enjoy it. Your support inspires me to write, and I'll do my best to tell every story well!
99.5kReads9.4Score12.3kShelves
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Queen of Wild Ideas 脑洞女王
A short mystery story centered on innovation and imagination. My mind comes up with all sorts of strange ideas every day, so I decided to write them down.
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Strange Case on a Rainy Night 雨夜奇案之诡异
Late at night, rain poured down in sheets. Detective Li Yue was leafing through an old detective novel in his study when the phone suddenly rang. Wang Ming, the captain of the criminal investigation squad at the municipal public security bureau, told him that a bizarre case had occurred and asked for his help. Li Yue agreed without hesitation and asked for the details. The victim was a young woman named Lin Ting, an office worker. When her body was found, she was holding a bouquet of flowers, an
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A Tangled Hunt for the Killer 追凶重重
Chasing Killers in the Dark is a mystery novel about two protagonists, police officer Li Feng and forensic pathologist Zhou Hao. They begin working together over a mysterious murder, and as their investigation deepens, they uncover a vast criminal network lurking behind the case.
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The Haunted School 灵异的学校
All kinds of strange things keep happening at school: ghost stories, the appearance of a female ghost, and a corpse that comes back to life after being immersed in formalin. Wang Yi, a boy with yin-yang eyes, and Maya, a beautiful girl skilled in magic, become paranormal detectives and join forces to uncover the secrets behind the school's terrifying events.
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The Suspect Who Knows Crime Inside Out 掌握犯罪的嫌疑人
There's something rotten in me. I tried desperately to hide it so I could fit into society, but one day someone discovered my secret. So I killed him. He became the last person to know my secret before it was exposed.
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Fierce Shadow 凶影
If you enjoy works like "Medical Examiner Qin Ming" and "The Knockout", this novel will keep you up all night. Every chapter is a shovel-full, and every shovel-full might uncover a corpse, or a truth you can't bring yourself to believe.
1Reads—Score—Shelves
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38
Horror Descends: The Ghost Gate 恐怖降临【鬼门】
Horror + supernatural + suspense + survival + infinite worlds + twists A world of horror descends, and countless Gates of the Dead suddenly appear. Those selected must enter the gates and make a desperate escape. Some gates are formed from horror novels. Some are formed from horror movies. Some are formed from tales of evil spirits. Some are formed from bizarre imaginings. Entering a Gate of the Dead means your life has started counting down. Who can make it out alive? “If you're curious abo
2kReads6.3Score125Shelves
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The Theatrical Detective 戏精侦探
A former detective with a knack for playing roles and a criminal psychologist who can read people's minds must unravel layer upon layer of conspiracies in a live-action puzzle game controlled by a mysterious billionaire, or become sacrifices in an even larger purge.
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The Realm of Sin 罪恶领域
A mutation crisis sweeps across the globe, triggered by virtual reality headsets developed by a gaming company. Awakening or mutation, protection or destruction: everything is revealed the moment someone puts on a headset. Domains of evil spawned by mutated monsters are steadily consuming the world. Can the awakened protagonists uncover the traitor, defeat the monsters, and uncover the truth amid threats from both within and without…
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41
The Identity of the Dead 亡者身份
Introduction “R.I.P. A Hao (1995-2025)” A pop-up notification. A 24-hour countdown. His bank card is frozen, his kidney donor match is canceled, and the criminal underworld offers 500,000 for him. He has one day to bring himself back to life. Or his mother will be buried alongside the truth.
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42
Living in America, I Start with a Chinese-Style Haunted House 人在老美，开局中式鬼屋
American Horror: Five people recklessly enter a haunted house, and none make it out alive; Chinese Horror: Five people recklessly enter a haunted house, and six people make it out; I’ll prove that all Americans are cowards!
646Reads—Score—Shelves
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This Daoist Master Became a Zombie? The Villain Fell to His Knees 道爷我成僵尸了？反派直接跪了
Believing in science is something my teachers taught me from a young age. When other people get drunk, they look for pretty women to sleep with. When my dad gets drunk, he looks for ghosts to sleep with. In high school, my drunk dad dragged me to sleep by someone else's grave, shouting the whole time that I should tuck him in with a blanket. The ghost couldn't stand the noise anymore. It crawled out of the grave and slapped me twice. From then on, I saw the unknown side of the world: vengeful sc
15Reads—Score—Shelves
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Setting the Trap 做局
A mastermind uses the martial world as a game board and people as pawns. Those drawn into the game are at their mercy. My grandfather was a Feng Shui master and a master schemer, yet he died after a charlatan set him up. My father was killed, my mother took her own life after being humiliated, and I ended up in prison. To avenge my family, I joined the Golden Sect and became a charlatan myself, rising to become a master strategist. I’ve set countless schemes in my life. Living schemes and deadly
20.4kReads9.1Score2.4kShelves
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Autopsy Report: Suspect Zero 尸检报告：零号嫌疑人
Qin Mo, chief forensic examiner at the Jingang Public Security Bureau, teams up with rookie forensic assistant Lin Wan. Through meticulous autopsies, they dismantle one seemingly airtight murder case after another, identify the overlooked prime suspect through the silent testimony of the dead, and uncover the truth behind concealed deaths.
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You’re Already Level 1000, but the Highest Level Outside Is 30 你都1000级了，外面最高30级
Yi Feng transmigrates to a world of cultivation. Unfortunately, he has no hope of becoming an immortal, so he can only remain a mortal and hopes to live a peaceful life. But he has no idea... The dog he took in became a mighty demon king after eating his food. The kitchen knife he casually forged became an unparalleled divine weapon, sparking a fierce scramble among countless powerful figures. The young disciple he took in became an Immortal King after practicing his cultivation technique, usher
30.2kReads9.0Score4.1kShelves
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Playing the Horror Lady in the Dungeon 在副本里当恐怖小姐
[Mutual Salvation] [1v1] [Both Pure] [Asexual Egg-Bearing] [Daddy-Type Crybaby] [Infinite Flow] [Adventure] [Daddy Rivalry] [Ensemble Cast] [Dark Humor] The young Ye Jiu enters an “escape instance” but doesn't run. Instead, she goes straight after Si Ye, the top-ranked terrifying boss… and dates him, marries him, and has a child with him. Two worlds, the System ascends to godhood, and the instances merge with reality. The macro world is the real world, while the micro worlds are the instance wor
45Reads7.6Score—Shelves
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The Haunting Realm Descends: I Transform into a Bloodthirsty Killer 诡境降临：我蜕变成嗜血杀人魔
[The Strange Realm Descends + Cthulhu + Villain Persona + Decisive and Ruthless] When an alternate dimension known as the “Strange Realm” tore through reality, humanity glimpsed a blood-soaked ladder of evolution through the lens of fear. This world, crumbling by the day, is the final grave for the trembling cowards, the fertile soil where ambitious schemers cultivate their twisted desires, the evolutionary feast where the awakened seek out opportunity, the endless abyss where reason and sanity
15Reads—Score—Shelves
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My Emotions Can Confer Godhood 我的情绪能封神
[Strong female lead + growth-focused + Cthulhu horror + ship any couple you like] I’m Xu Quan, the only BUG left after reality’s folds invaded. My System sounds the alarm every day, either because an S-rank obsession has formed or because the real world is collapsing. I’m so sick of it. All I want is to quietly collect my obsession encyclopedia. The head of the Stability Bureau can’t stand me? [Ding! Their permissions have been changed to “backyard husky.”] A green-tea rival shows up to stir up
12Reads—Score—Shelves
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Earthy Rose 土玫瑰
[Flirtatious, carefree, wild and irresistible heartthrob + melodrama + love rivals + wealthy families + intense push and pull] Chen Xiuzhu, twenty-three, with only a high school education. He can smoke and fight with the best of them, and selfishness and defiance are carved into his bones. He left home at fifteen and was kept by Shao Jin, a powerful figure in Shanghai, until he graduated high school. Tired of living like a canary in a cage, he fled to Hong Kong and Macao. During a mission, he di
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