★ Another suspenseful masterpiece by Song Ying, the leading figure of Chinese social mystery fiction, following his acclaimed work "Apricot's Revenge"!
★ His novel "Apricot's Revenge" was selected for the "Best Mystery & Thriller of 2016" list by the prestigious US Library Journal. Song Ying remains the only Chinese author to date to be included on this list! The US Kirkus Reviews praised it as "a new type of novel with Chinese characteristics"!
★ A national treasure theft at the Shu Princely Mansion ruins—sparked by a hit-and-run accident—draws renowned journalist Nie Feng back into action as he once again joins forces with the police to uncover the secrets behind a series of eerie events.
★ English translation samples available.

This gripping tale begins with a brutal hit-and-run crash that leads directly to the theft of a priceless national treasure—The Golden Gecko—from the archaeological site of the Shu Princely Mansion. The two cases, occurring simultaneously, intertwine in bizarre and baffling ways, culminating in a shocking, twist-filled conclusion.
Everything—the hidden machinations and fateful entanglements—began on the Dragon Boat Festival. On the evening of the fifth day of the fifth lunar month, a severe traffic accident occurred on a rural road outside Guancheng. The driver, Tong Xiaobin, fled the scene but later turned himself in. Nie Feng, reporter for Western Sunlight, stepped in to assist the police in their investigation. He soon discovered that at the exact same moment as the crash in Guancheng,The Golden Gecko, a nationally significant artifact unearthed at the Shu Princely Mansion site in City S, had been stolen.
The two incidents, seemingly unrelated yet mysteriously linked, plunged investigators into confusion. According to suspect Hu Kai, that night he had driven archaeologist Yang Yunliang to Yinhe Villa in the back hills of Qingcheng Mountain. Yang entered the villa carrying a mysterious cardboard box—and vanished without a trace. Sensing something deeply unsettling about the villa, Hu Kai hastily fled by car. Since then, Yang has disappeared, and the Shu Princely Mansion’s treasure has gone missing. Although both Hu Kai and Yang Yunliang are prime suspects, the evidence remains riddled with contradictions. The enigmatic Yinhe Villa now falls squarely under police scrutiny. What follows is a cascade of chilling, inexplicable events—each more horrifying than the last—plunging everyone involved into a fog of uncertainty…

Song Ying

A National Class-A Writer in China and a pivotal pioneer of Chinese social mystery fiction, he is respected for the rigorousness of his craft and his profound insight into society and history.
He is the author of six full-length novels, including "Apricot's Revenge" "The White Giant Tower" and "The White Fog" ,his works have won numerous national awards.
His representative work "Apricot's Revenge",is widely recognized as "China's first social mystery novel". Its international achievements are particularly notable: the English edition was published by the globally renowned St. Martin's Press and was selected for the Library Journal's "Best Mystery & Thriller of 2016" list. Song Ying is the first and, to date, the only Chinese author to receive this international honor, which fully demonstrates the transcendent narrative power and literary value of his work across cultures and borders.

Prologue
Chapter 1: Sudden Catastrophe
Chapter 2: The Eyewitness
Chapter 3: Initial D
Chapter 4: To Kill a Mockingbird
Chapter 5: The Golden Gecko
Chapter 6: Searching for the Black Audi A6L
Chapter 7: Yinhe Villa
Chapter 8: The Shu Princely Mansion Ruins
Chapter 9: Dual Terrors
Chapter 10: Corpse in the Mountains
Chapter 11: The Golden Gecko
Chapter 12: Lust for Power
Epilogue