The Lantern Bearer

A single ancient bronze lamp, a lifetime of blood-deep vengeance. Shen Yan has roamed the jianghu for seven years, treading every desolate road, all to settle the old grudge that destroyed his entire family. He was already a wandering ghost—he should never have touched the warmth of the mortal world. Cold Jiangnan rain soaks the bluestone paving; deep in a long alley hides an old bookshop. Inside the window, a woman named Su Wan sits quietly with her scrolls, a small warm light that pierces straight through the heart he has kept frozen for years. Lu Yan, his former fellow disciple, shared with him that catastrophe of annihilation. The two escaped death together, yet chose two utterly different paths. Lu Yan urges him to let go of his obsession—revenge will only turn a man into a fiend; but the hatred in Shen Yan's blood and bone will not let him turn back halfway. The blade of vengeance lies ahead; tenderness lies behind. Carrying a lifelong fate of revenge, he brushes for a moment against the mortal world's smoke and fire. A slow-burn wuxia tale in the Gu Long style—no peerless martial arts, only the tug of human hearts, love and hate both hard to bear. The road ahead is thick with deadly traps; as vengeance draws near, should he take up the lamp and go to his revenge, or hold on to this rare mortal tenderness? — Description from novelcodex.orgFull novel: The Lantern Bearer — read the rest free on N​o⁠v​e⁠l​C⁠o​d⁠e​x⁠.​o⁠r​g⁠