Tracing the River

At the border lies a stretch of deep mountains and interlocking ravines, known to the locals as the Shattered Ravine. Years ago, the Crow Organization made its lair here. The ravines collapsed, burying bones and swallowing every last trace of the truth.

The crimes hidden beneath the border ravines should have been buried forever in the rubble and barren earth of the Shattered Ravine after the crackdown years ago. No one could have imagined that the dying embers would catch the wind and drift all the way to South City.

Lin Yan, a seconded officer, joins the South City Criminal Investigation Unit.

He clocks in on time, leaves with his bag as soon as work is over, and spends most of his days thinking about pork ribs simmering in soup from the market. He seems like a laid-back man who just wants to earn his paycheck in peace. The whole team assumes he is a desk clerk who has never seen bloodshed.

Only the unit chief, Lu Zheng, has his doubts.

Lin Yan seems gentle and easygoing, yet stays almost chillingly composed when taking down bandits. He knows more about cross-border criminal networks than any police academy graduate. A darkness that will not lift weighs on his eyes, as if he carries an entire abyss on his back.

A string of body-dumping murders erupts. Both female victims have a bird tattoo unique to the Crow Organization on the backs of their necks. An old case resurfaces, and the border's long-dormant shadow falls over the city once more.

Lu Zheng presses him at every turn, tearing away at the shell Lin Yan has carefully built around himself. “Who are you, really? What happened to you in those mountains of the Shattered Ravine?”

Lin Yan lowers his eyes and gives a faint smile. A wound eight years old still lingers in his gaze. “Captain Lu, I'm just an ordinary man who wants to get off work on time and have some soup. Once you step into certain abysses, the mud you pick up will never wash off.”

The Shattered Ravine can collapse and bury bones, but it cannot bury vengeful ghosts.

An undercover agent who crawled back from a border inferno crosses paths with a sharp-edged criminal investigation chief. As one grisly case after another unfolds, the betrayals and sacrifices of years past are laid bare. Gunfire mingles with the warmth of everyday life, and tenderness lies beneath the blood.

They walk side by side into the endless night, not to free themselves from the darkness, but to keep more ordinary people from falling into the Shattered Ravine.

★

Please note: 1. This is a slow-burn crime investigation story, focusing on the two male leads testing and challenging each other as the cases unfold gradually.

2. It contains crime-scene descriptions and has a suspenseful, oppressive atmosphere. Please read with caution if that is not for you.

3. Please do not bring up this novel under other works. Comparisons intended to disparage other works are not welcome.

Theme: The Shattered Ravine can collapse and bury bones, but it cannot bury vengeful ghosts.

Theme: Evil may try to bury the bones and the truth, but someone will always shoulder the burden through the long night, tear open the abyss, and protect the light of the human world. The undercover agent bears the scars of the past, while the police officer holds fast to his duty. They learn to trust and support each other as they take on cross-border crime. This story does not turn its heroes into superhuman figures. It portrays ordinary people standing their ground and struggling in the darkness: scars may never fade, but no one has to remain trapped in the Shattered Ravine forever.