Social crime fiction · Two male leads · Satisfying crime-solving · Urban suspense
On a rainy night by the Cang River, a string of murders begins again.
The victims are all "villains" who skirted the law yet remained beyond its reach. The only clue left at each scene is a neatly cut cross made from old newspaper. The killer calls himself the city's cleaner.
A year ago, former detective Lu Chen left the force after his partner was brutally killed and the truth was buried while he investigated the case. He became a private detective, but never let go of his obsession.
A year later, the cool-headed and rational captain of the criminal investigation squad, Shen Yizhen, is given the case in a moment of crisis. Under pressure from his superiors and a storm of public opinion, he vows to crack it.
One understands murder scenes and murderers, and is obsessively driven.
The other understands rules and evidence, and is calm and meticulous.
From locking horns to becoming partners who would risk their lives for each other, they dig deeper and deeper through the shadows of skyscrapers, the blind spots of surveillance cameras, and the darkest corners of human nature.
The victims' crimes, the killer's revenge, the silence within the system, the truth from years ago... It is all torn open, piece by piece.
This isn't simply a hunt for a killer.
It's the sharpest reasoning laid bare against the city's most respectable disguise.
Two formidable partners join forces to fight evil with the law and bring the case to a satisfying close.
The light will not be absent. It has simply taken two different paths to arrive together.
Theme: The law has boundaries, but justice has no blind spots.
Use reason to fight darkness, and order to put an end to vigilantism.
The city is protected not by revenge, but by the truth that never gives in.
