Character Profiles
Li Si: 29 years old, one of the Four Great Detectives of the Great World Dynasty—the Ghost Detective. His case-solving style is bold and cunning, often perceiving the truth of cases from angles others cannot imagine. His personality is persistent and resolute.
Meng Rui: 28 years old, one of the Four Great Detectives of the Great World Dynasty—the Azure Edge Divine Detective. His face bears a hideous green birthmark. He hates evil like a vengeance. Behind his back hangs a blade called “Death God” that specifically cuts down all injustices under heaven. His only weakness is his younger sister who disappeared many years ago.
Lao Sitou: 60 or 70 years old—no one knows his exact age. Li Si’s close friend and the number one coroner of the Great World Dynasty. Due to early disappointments, his heart grew cold and gray. Year-round he keeps company with corpses. His motto is: “People lie, but corpses never deceive you.” His autopsy skills are exquisite, making him Li Si’s most capable assistant.
Shen Rou: 24 years old, Li Si’s first love. Later abducted by “Hei Ya”—the most mysterious and terrifying organization in the Great World Dynasty. For many years Li Si has been searching for her desperately, carrying guilt in his heart.
Bai Zhenzhu: 17 years old, Li Si’s close female confidante. Innocent and lively, daring to love and hate. She dreams of living in seclusion with Li Si, living a life in an earthly paradise. Clever as ice and snow, she can often help Li Si find the threads of clues in cases.
Xuan Yuanshan: 33 years old, one of the Four Great Detectives of the Great World Dynasty—the Iron Detective. His conduct in dealing with people and affairs is like an iron lump, meticulous to a fault. Using Li Si’s words to describe him: an extremely boring person. However, he acts with righteous integrity, not tolerating even a grain of sand in his eyes.
Yan Cheng: 50 years old, the Eagle Detective, chief of the Four Great Detectives of the Great World Dynasty. He keeps a low profile in his conduct and doesn’t show his edge, overseeing the Chief Detective Bureau of the six provinces of the Great World Dynasty.
“Hei Ya”: The most mysterious organization in the Great World Dynasty for a hundred years. It possesses terrifying assassins, a vast system, and its mysterious mastermind behind the scenes possesses the powerful strength and mysterious identity capable of shaking the very foundation of the Great World Dynasty.
In the 146th year of the Great World Dynasty, in the 32nd year of the Hongyun Era—Hongyun being the current Emperor Shi Dezong’s reign title—the Great World has experienced three political dynasties: the founding Imperial Ancestor Shi Taizu, Shi Hezong, and Shi Dezong. In the tenth year of Shi Hezong’s reign, the Great World experienced the Three Princes’ Rebellion that shook the foundation of the imperial dynasty. The rebellion lasted six years, and the three princes were ultimately exterminated, but it also damaged the Great World’s national fortune and strength. Since then, external threats and internal troubles have been endless.
After Shi Dezong ascended the throne, he vigorously implemented benevolent governance. The Great World showed signs of recovery, and the people gradually settled into their homes and occupations. In the sixteenth year of Shi Dezong’s reign, he fell gravely ill. After recovering, his body remained frail. He then prepared to establish his second son, Zhou Qiao, as crown prince, graciously enfeoffing Zhou Qiao’s maternal uncle Du Fanglang as the Crown Prince’s Grand Tutor, and graciously enfeoffing the former Crown Prince’s tutor Huang Liusheng as Grand Chancellor to assist Crown Prince Zhou Qiao.
By the 29th year of Hongyun, after the Great World’s territory had endured the collapse and chaos of the previous dynasty and been somewhat encroached upon by barbarian tribes from foreign dynasties, the national domain was divided into Six Provinces and One Wasteland. The Six Provinces are: Suzhou, Nanxian Province, Guiyun Province, Qingzhou, Youzhou, and Jinzhou. The One Wasteland refers to Tianhuang City, the fundamental seat of the imperial dynasty, also called the Holy City.
Shi Dezong has five sons:
The eldest son, Zhou Dao, was enfeoffed as Prince Ding and resides in Tianyuan Prefecture, Jinzhou.
The second son, Zhou Qiao, is the crown prince personally designated by Shi Dezong and resides in the Holy City, accompanying the Son of Heaven.
The third son, Zhou Zhu, was enfeoffed as Prince Pingdao and resides in Muyun Prefecture, Suzhou.
The fourth son died young.
The fifth son, Zhou Miao, was enfeoffed as Prince Kang and resides in Tiannan Prefecture, Qingzhou.
Currently, Shi Dezong’s health is gradually weakening, and Crown Prince Zhou Qiao is excessively weak, leading the other three princes to secretly covet the imperial throne. In the 146th year of the Great World Dynasty, beneath the seemingly calm surface of the dynasty, turbulent undercurrents surge.