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Ten years ago, Xiao Lin was a favored young noble sent to gain military experience, and Gu Zhao was his sharpest blade.
In the Northern Army, Xiao Lin cut off strands of their hair with his own hands and tucked them into a sachet.
Their youthful love burned bright. His heart and eyes held only one person.
In return, he received the most heartbreaking betrayal of his life.
Ten years later, one was the ruler of Northern Qin, the other a prisoner of war at his feet.
The tent was in disarray. Gu Zhao was pinned to the ground and abused by more than a dozen men. His knuckles had gone white, yet he still clutched the sachet that should have been burned long ago.
Xiao Lin stormed in with his sword, splattering the tent with blood as he slaughtered the assailants. When he saw the sachet, he seized Gu Zhao by the throat in a rage.
Overwhelmed by fury, he snatched the sachet away and threw it into the flames, ignoring Gu Zhao's desperate pleas.
To force the truth out of Gu Zhao and crush the Northern Wind Army he relied on, Xiao Lin resorted to every cruel method he could think of.
The once-dazzling blade was tortured in his hands until it lay shattered and barely alive...
But he didn't know the truth:
Gu Zhao's betrayal all those years ago had been forced upon him by the control and secret orders of Xiao Lin's uncle. For the sake of the Xiao family's ambitions, and to clear Xiao Lin's path to the throne, Gu Zhao had willingly become the whetstone that sharpened his blade, infiltrating the enemy camp.
Ten years undercover, surviving one brush with death after another.
The contempt and abuse of his former comrades, the hatred of the person he loved, the constant danger of the enemy camp... He endured every bone-deep agony alone.
The one thing that had kept Gu Zhao crawling back from hell had always been Xiao Lin.
The truth and his innocence had never mattered.
During the battle that destroyed the Northern Wind Army, the gravely wounded Gu Zhao was taken hostage by an enemy general and held at the front lines.
Xiao Lin drew his bow and nocked an arrow, fixing his aim on the enemy. The instant the arrow left the string...
Whoosh! An even colder, more venomous arrow shot out from beside Xiao Lin first, piercing Gu Zhao straight through the chest.
Blood burst into bloom as his figure plunged into the bottomless abyss.
"Gu Zhao!!"
Xiao Lin's mind exploded. In that moment, all his hatred, scheming, and imperial dignity vanished.
His body moved before his reason could catch up, leaping after the falling figure.
When he awoke, everyone told him, "Gu Zhao is dead."
A hollow opened in Xiao Lin's chest, more corrosive than ten years of hatred.
The Northern Wind Army had been destroyed. Gu Zhao had lost all his backing and could never escape his grasp again... yet his uncle's men had shot him out of existence with a single arrow.
His helpless fury and soul-eating emptiness became a blade pointed at his uncle's lover's throat. "You destroyed what was mine... So I'll take the life of the one you hold dearest."
At the last moment, his uncle's eyes bulged as he roared:
"Gu Zhao isn't dead! He's still alive!"
[Content Warnings]
1. Primarily from the gong's point of view, with the gong receiving extreme devotion.
The shou's love for the gong is unconditional, without resentment, and unwavering until death. The shou always loves the gong, with no hatred between them.
2. The opening includes the shou being forced and abused, shown only afterward.
3. Both are sexually inexperienced before they part. The gong gets involved with someone else during the misunderstanding, but there is no emotional relationship.
4. High angst: betrayal, misunderstandings, physical and emotional torment, and life-or-death danger.
5. The truth will come to light, but what drives their reconciliation is the gong's emotional transformation and his struggle to overcome his hatred.
Theme: In the face of true love, misunderstandings mean nothing
