The Other Shore [Crime Investigation]

[Private Detective x Undercover Homicide Detective]

After graduating from high school, Xia Xun planned a cruise trip, hoping to make a few wild, unforgettable memories with her girlfriend. But murder, kidnapping, explosions, and a sinking ship followed one after another. The trip became a final farewell, and her first love became a lost love she could only remember.

Xia Xun never recovered. She became a private detective, barely living like a human being.

Getting beaten up while investigating cases was routine. A broken leg or a stab wound was nothing. Nearly dying was fine, as long as she lived. It was as if Xia Xun’s life had ended the moment she watched the explosion and the ship sink.

Until, twelve years later, she helped the police with an investigation.

She met the new captain of the homicide squad.

At last, it felt as if time, long frozen in place, had started moving again.

-

Xu Jinyao had loved Xia Xun since childhood, and she loved her until the day she died.

They were neighbors, classmates, friends, and lovers.

After the college entrance exam, swept up in a belated fit of youthful rebellion, she boarded a cruise ship named the Other Shore. She never imagined that what awaited her was a fate worse than death.

The day Xia Xun untied the ropes and escaped alone, Xu Jinyao plunged into the depths in the explosion.

Years later, they meet again.

She is the captain of a homicide squad who has solved case after case: Xu Jinyao, whose first life ended aboard the Other Shore, and whose second life has been devoted to revenge and starting over.

She wants Xia Xun to pay for what happened back then. She wants her to kneel before her, weeping and begging for forgiveness. She wants Xia Xun to know what it means to wish she were dead, and to push her into hell at the very moment she is happiest.

She wants Xia Xun to suffer just as she once did.

But strangely enough,

when she sees Xia Xun take a knife for her, willingly become a hostage, and risk her life to keep her safe, she still feels her heart ache.

Reading Notes:

1) Updated daily at 7:30 p.m.

2) Dual timelines: past and present. Happy ending.

3) The story mainly follows the two female leads as they investigate cases together, while their romance develops slowly. :) Hope you’ll give it a read! Love you all, heart!

Blurb for the currently updating novel "The Yin Detective"

While conducting research at sea, folklore professor Tu Zhao unexpectedly becomes the sole witness to a murder. She falls overboard while fleeing her pursuers, and when she wakes, she can no longer remember what the killer looked like.

As the only survivor aboard a ghost ship, Tu Zhao becomes a media sensation. Reporters and fans crowd around her school and home. One obsessed fan even climbs in through a window and hides under her bed.

Tu Zhao: Call for backup! We need backup!!

On the night she agrees to assist with the police investigation, a young woman appears at her door and drives away all the unwelcome visitors.

Then she barges into Tu Zhao’s home, moves into her house, sleeps in her bed, and uses her shower gel, all while claiming, “This is called close protection.”

Before long, the woman assigned to protect her has seen countless ghosts and screamed herself hoarse.

Tu Zhao tugs at her own crumpled hem. “Officer Shen, which one of us is supposed to be protecting the other?”

-

After reviewing the case files eight hundred times, homicide detective Shen Yanzhen remains convinced that Tu Zhao is the murderer.

Her superior asks why.

She answers, “My mom says pretty people are the biggest liars.”

Her superior: “Get out of my office.”

Shen Yanzhen racks her brains but still can’t find any evidence. So when Tu Zhao requests protection, she steps forward and says, “There’s no one more qualified than me.”

Her superior is concerned. “There’s also no detective more cowardly than you.”

To find evidence that Tu Zhao committed the crime and prove her hunch right, Shen Yanzhen sticks close to her almost every minute of the day.

She even wakes Tu Zhao whenever she has to get up in the middle of the night.

“Come with me,” she says, as if it’s the most reasonable thing in the world.

“A police officer afraid of ghosts?” Tu Zhao grumbles.

After investigating a series of cases together and repeatedly coming close to death, Shen Yanzhen comes around to Tu Zhao’s way of thinking.

“You’re right. People are scarier than ghosts.” Then she changes the subject. “Tu Zhao, are you human or a ghost?”

For once, Tu Zhao falls silent instead of making a joke.

Because at that moment, even reading lips is a struggle for her.

-

A month before she expects to die, Tu Zhao makes herself a long bucket list. Each time she completes something, she secretly crosses it off.

1. Steal back the motorcycle keys.

2. Party hard with everyone for three days and nights.

3. Try the colorful fruit tart and sweet pudding boat.

4. Go to an amusement park with Shen Yanzhen.

…

98. Celebrate Shen Yanzhen’s birthday with her.

99. Convince Shen Yanzhen that the curse has been lifted.

Theme: As long as you’re alive, there’s hope.