Ling Shuangyan, captain of the Lin Yuan Criminal Investigation Squad, bears the scars of an unsolved mass murder from years ago. She was away at boarding school at the time and narrowly escaped, while her family fell to the blades of drug traffickers silencing their witnesses. The only thing left at the scene was a tiny, unfamiliar symbol. For years, she has thrown herself into criminal investigations, determined to find the killer who vanished that night.
Forensic pathologist Su Qingyuan has spent years working with corpses and the truth. She has a keen eye and is just as skilled in hand-to-hand combat. When she transfers to the Lin Yuan squad, she partners with Ling Shuangyan to unravel murder after murder hidden in the city’s shadows.
Cases keep piling up: a series of medical-aesthetics mysteries, an unidentified body in an apartment, and a scarred man who keeps appearing in the shadows. Scattered clues slowly come together. The shadow of Ling Shuangyan’s old case, buried deep in her heart, quietly entwines with the string of murders unfolding now. An invisible mole lurks inside the police station, and every investigation feels like stepping into a trap laid by their opponent.
Through nights spent investigating side by side, tense crime-scene examinations, quiet moments alone in the office after dark, and rare chances to relax after a case is closed, a restrained yet tender intimacy grows between them. Amid bloodshed and lies, they have each other’s backs and serve as each other’s way out.
Meanwhile, the deputy captain and the women on the technical team are a pair of bickering frenemies. As they pursue leads, they repeatedly find themselves in danger, and the tension between them gradually builds.
One case after another is brought to a close, while brief stretches of ordinary, homely life ease their exhaustion. As the investigation deepens, the truth about the drug traffickers and undercover agents behind the mass murder slowly comes to light.
The abyss lies deep, and crime flourishes.
They cross a land steeped in guilt, and at last await the coming frost.
Theme: They face deep-seated crimes with all their sharpness, and find each other amid the sweeping frost.
