Burning Incense

When Qi Wu was seven, she met Si Huaiyan for the first time.

The Buddhist hall was filled with the scent of sandalwood. He was copying sutras before the Buddha when he looked up and said, "I want to kill someone."

When Qi Wu was fifteen, she met Si Huaiyan for the second time.

Her family had been destroyed, and his maternal grandmother had taken her in at Chen Garden. In the rain, he wore a gentle smile, but his eyes were full of malice and menace. He asked her, enunciating each word, "Do you understand?"

After many twists and turns, Qi Wu eventually left Chen Garden and disappeared into the crowd.

When they met again, the boy he had once been had shed his innocence. His eyes held nothing but a cool, mocking smile. "Do you still recognize me?"

Everyone believed that Si Huaiyan had spent years devoted to Buddhism, and was gentle and kind to others. Only Qi Wu knew that beneath his Buddha-like mask, his soul was still dark and vicious.

Rather than sheltering her beneath his wings for the rest of her life, it was better to teach her to fly into the wind, to give her the strength to weather storms and go anywhere she wanted.

Five-year age gap between the leads, reunion after a long separation, happy ending, romance-focused, slow burn, personal growth

Theme: The best kind of love helps you grow