Spring Mountain, Far from Home

The main story is about an established couple solving mysteries while showing off their love and making everyone around them jealous. The prequel is a bittersweet, sweet story about them falling in love as teenagers.

When he was fourteen, Xie Baicheng, born into a prestigious and upright martial arts family, first met Tan Xuan.

When he was eighteen, Xie Baicheng ran away from home and went to the capital, Hengdu, to seek refuge with Tan Xuan.

Now twenty-eight, Xie Baicheng and Tan Xuan, who is regarded as a lackey of the imperial court, have entered their tenth year of living together. Despite the gossip behind their backs, their life together is peaceful and fulfilling.

But a young woman who arrives in the middle of the night, a massacre that leaves a whole family dead and is riddled with suspicious details, a long-buried story from the martial world, and shadowy figures that seem as though they should not exist... all make this "tenth year" a little less peaceful.

As they investigate, they find one strange mystery after another. Forces from all sides seem to be watching from the shadows. Just when they think one wave has passed, another rises...

All Xie Baicheng wants is to spend his life in peace with the person he loves.

But the person he loves also bears a heavy responsibility to uphold what is right.

How can they avoid letting each other down?

When danger comes, can the couple stand united and overcome anything?

When the spring mountains are lush and green, can they still walk home hand in hand?

A free-spirited, doting husband who spoils his beloved × a gentle, steadfast beauty

They dote on each other. They really do.

----Prequel Blurb----

Xie Baicheng was born into a prestigious martial arts family in Yuezhou and grew up adored by everyone. At fourteen, by a twist of fate, he met an exceptional young man from the capital, Hengdu: Tan Xuan.

They started out fighting, but after spending more and more time together, they somehow became good friends, or at least Xie Baicheng thought they were.

But when this "good friend" suddenly disappeared from his life, why was Xie Baicheng so angry and so dejected?

And when this "good friend" reappeared after a long absence, why was he so happy, yet unable to stop himself from losing his temper with him?

When he and Tan Xuan set out together to roam the martial world, he was so happy, so carefree. Then he finally realized that the other man did not seem to think of him as a good friend, but as... the one he loved?!

The biggest problem was that he gradually realized he felt the same way...

Tan Xuan said to him, "Come to Hengdu. I'll wait for you."

He thought, all right.

I will go, even if it means defying my parents, even if mountains and rivers stand between us. I will go, no matter what.

That journey would be the start of a lifetime spent walking hand in hand.

*The prequel is told mainly from the shou's perspective. You can start with the prequel, too. The shou appears in Chapter 6 of the prequel.

Reading Notes:

1. One-on-one romance. The main couple only ever have eyes for each other, and the ending is happy. Though the story is written mainly from the gong's perspective, a substantial portion is also told from the shou's perspective, so it is not limited to a single viewpoint.

2. The novel is divided into two volumes. The main story in Volume One takes place ten years after the couple got together; this is the present-day story. Volume Two is the prequel, about the couple meeting and falling in love as teenagers.

3. The two protagonists are ordinary people with fairly strong martial arts skills. They cannot control the clouds with a wave of their hand or turn the world upside down, and they will not build some great empire.

4. Although this is described as a wuxia novel, martial arts are not a major part of it, which is a little unfortunate... At its heart, this is a big sugary treat, so don't overthink the plot...

Theme: No matter how treacherous the road ahead, darkness can never obscure the light. No matter how difficult reality may be, the person who loves you will always accompany you on your journey.