Drifting Away

In the winter of that year, the city of Xuecheng lay gripped by an unrelenting cold. Chief Detective Peng Zhaolin had seen his share of brutality over the years, but nothing prepared him for the horror he discovered in that ordinary apartment building. The dismembered remains spoke of a darkness he’d never encountered before. What haunted him most was the memory of passing the suspect, Deng Ligang, in the hallway—a chance encounter that would lead to a decade of sleepless nights and cold trails.

Deng Ligang and his associates preyed on vulnerable women working in nightclubs, leaving a trail of extortion, kidnapping, and mu*der across multiple provinces. Despite the major crimes unit’s relentless pursuit, the criminals seemed to vanish into thin air, their identities washed clean through underground channels. They melted into society, building quiet lives while their victims’ families waited for answers that never came.

Night after night, Peng Zhaolin’s dreams were filled with the faces of young women he’d failed to save. Their silent pleas for justice followed him through the years, until a single thread of information emerged from the past. Now, after all this time, Peng finds himself chasing shadows across China, determined to bring long-delayed justice to those who thought they’d escaped it.