The Crane's Blade. Chronicles of the Ministry of Punishments

A NOVEL FOR FANS OF «BLESSINGS OF THE IMMORTALS» AND «THE FOUNDER OF THE DARK PATH» BY MO XIAN TONG XIU.
A SUI DYNASTY DETECTIVE STORY WHERE MARTIAL ARTS INTERTWINE WITH PALACE INTRIGUES AND INVESTIGATIONS IN THE CAPITAL OF ANCIENT CHINA.

Yun Shenli is appointed as the new head of the Bureau of Punishments, entrusted with uncovering the state’s most terrible crimes in the Great Xia. But the celebration in his honor turns into tragedy: at the inn «White Crane», one of the guests suddenly dies. The body bears bloody marks forming the silhouettes of butterflies—the telltale trace of a rare poison belonging to the Midnight Knights.

The Order, long feared in the capital and with long-standing scores to settle with the Bureau of Punishments, seems to throw Shenli a direct challenge—and the new head accepts it, beginning the investigation.

Yao Lin, the owner of «White Crane», immediately seems suspicious to him and quickly turns into both the main lead and a personal adversary. Shenli uncovers a whole chain of crimes and grows closer and closer to the Midnight Knights… and every time, the investigation brings him back to Yao Lin—the only key to the Order’s secrets.