Yunjin, a major southern trading port, was a place where Chinese and foreigners mingled. Pei Yan was the seventh young master of the Pei family, a forensic consultant who had returned from studying in Britain. His father considered the birthmark at his temple an ill omen. Shen Yan was a gossipmonger from the old town. The storytelling master who had raised him was murdered ten years ago, and Shen Yan made ends meet by running errands and gathering information. His smile was his way of staying alive. The two crossed paths at the scene of an embroiderer's severed-finger case. One pored over case files and examined the body; the other crouched at the mouth of an alley, questioning the living. Neither could stand the other.
But as the investigation went on, they found that neither could get anywhere without the other. Pei Yan couldn't enter the narrow lanes of the old town, while Shen Yan couldn't get his hands on the police station's case files. Forced to work together, they went from clashing at every turn to growing quietly in sync, each imperceptibly making room in his heart for the other. But the deeper they dug into the old case, the clearer it became: the people who had killed Pei Yan's mother and Shen Yan's master fifteen years ago were connected to the Pei family.
Six cases, six obsessions lurking behind layers of bloodshed. Severed fingers, sealed bones, disfigured faces, carved corpses, a burned-down building, and a return. Each case touched a scar the two dared not confront, and each pushed them deeper into the old mystery. Pei Yan was all bark and a soft heart. Once he fell for someone, he would say things like "I was going that way anyway" or "I need someone to run errands." Shen Yan smiled as he drew close, but when his heart stirred, he stepped back. He was afraid of reaching above his station, afraid of taking things seriously only to be abandoned again. They tested each other, had each other's backs, and faced a parting that seemed to mean death.
Then, at the end of a long night, they found each other again. There was no grand confession, only the unspoken understanding of "I'm not running anymore" and "I'll run errands." Pei Yan accepted both his birthmark and Shen Yan; Shen Yan took on both the shop and Pei Yan. Justice may come late, but those who seek the truth won't stop. Love may be frightening, but the one who is meant to return will always come back. The long night in Yunjin was over. Dawn had come.
Theme: Hold on to your true self in troubled times, and seek the truth in the dark. Appearance and identity cannot define a person. At the end of the long night, someone will be waiting for you with a lantern.
