Villainous Hero

Cruel tyrant Taxian\-jun killed his way to the throne and now reigns as the first ever emperor of the mortal realm. Yet somehow, he is unsatisfied. Left cold and bereft, abandoned by all he held dear, he takes his own life...only to be reborn anew. Awakening in the body of his younger self\-\-Mo Ran, a disciple of the cultivation sect Sisheng Peak\-\-he discovers the chance to relive his life. This time, he vows to attain the gratification that once eluded him: all who defied him will fall, and never again will they treat him like a dog. His greatest fury is reserved for Chu Wanning, the coldly beautiful and aloofly catlike cultivation teacher who betrayed and thwarted Mo Ran time and again in their last life. Yet as Mo Ran shamelessly pursues his own goals in this life he thought lost, he begins to wonder if there might be more to his teacher\-\-and his own feelings\-\-than he ever realized.

Wei Wuxian è il temibile Patriarca di Yiling, considerato il fondatore delle tecniche demoniache di coltivazione, una combinazione di studi taoisti e arti mistiche che consente di ottenere facoltà soprannaturali. Governa eserciti di cadaveri e semina il terrore con il suo Generale fantasma Wen Ning e il potentissimo Sigillo Oscuro della Tigre. Quando finalmente muore durante il Grande Assalto al colle dei Sepolcri, la notizia è accolta con gioia dal mondo dei cultori. Tredici anni dopo, Wei Wuxian si risveglia nel corpo di un giovane che sacrifica l'anima per farlo rinascere nel proprio corpo e affidargli la sua vendetta. Questa seconda vita, però, non libera Wei Wuxian dal fardello di quella precedente, e anzi lo costringerà a fare i conti con le conseguenze delle scelte intraprese. Al suo fianco c'è Lan Wangji, cultore sopraffino dalla reputazione inattaccabile, con il quale tenterà di fare luce sui segreti intricati che riemergono dalle ombre del loro passato. E al quale si troverà unito da un legame tanto inaspettato quanto indomabile.

HAUNTED BY SIN Following the trail of a dismembered corpse, Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji arrive at the gates of Yi City: an old, abandoned town shrouded in mist and restless spirits. A fiendish foe awaits them in the shadows, heralding a tale of heartbreak and tragedy. When the mysterious corpse’s identity is finally revealed, the hunt for its killer plunges Wei Wuxian back into the depths of the cultivation world's politics, where he must keep his enemies close and Lan Wangji even closer.

Shoot Down the Sun The bloody war against the Wen Clan once led Wei Wuxian to seek power in demonic cultivation, and the dark acts he committed drove a wedge between him and Lan Wangji. Now, those old sins come back to haunt him as his reincarnated identity is revealed to the cultivation world. But even as the other clans call for Wei Wuxian’s death, Lan Wangji stands by him, making Wei Wuxian realize what he took for disapproval in the past might have been a much deeper emotion.

The longer Mo Ran spends in his life reborn, the less he understands the man he once was, to say nothing of the teacher he so hated. As emperor of the mortal realm, Mo Ran loathed Chu Wanning with all his being, but the Chu Wanning of this life has sacrificed himself for his student’s sake time and again. Nevertheless, with the day of Chu Wanning’s greatest betrayal on the horizon, Mo Ran clings to his hatred and his hopes: he must not let the past repeat itself. Yet strange new tragedies continue to unfold, and Mo Ran finds himself working alongside Chu Wanning to hunt down the mysterious culprit—a cruel mastermind who may know more about Mo Ran than even he remembers.

THE LONELY ROAD TO HELL As Mo Ran accompanies Chu Wanning in pursuit of the mastermind behind the mysterious incidents plaguing his life reborn, Mo Ran finds his hatred for his teacher beginning to waver. Yet all too soon, disaster strikes the opening of the Heavenly Rift, a tear in the fabric of the world that would set hell's most terrible demons loose upon humanity. Despite all he has seen since rebirth, Mo Ran is unprepared to face the greatest tragedy of his past life\-\-the calamity that turned him against his teacher forever and set him on the lonely path to a bloodstained throne. If Mo Ran is to avoid this bitter fate, he must make a new choice and break with the past. But while the tragedy of this life may unfold differently, the sacrifices will be no less great.

ABSENCE MAKES THE HEART BURN HOTTER Chu Wanning has slumbered for five years since Mo Ran rescued his soul from the underworld. He wakes to find the world changed—and the greatest change of all is to his disciple Mo Ran. Now grown up, Mo Ran is nothing like the callow youth he remembers, and Chu Wanning finds himself drawn to his disciple with a force he never anticipated. Meanwhile, Mo Ran has at last set aside the misunderstandings of two lifetimes. When his hatred for his teacher falls away, he finds the feelings beneath are not respect between master and disciple, but fiery passion. Yet even as the two wrestle with their own hearts, Mo Ran begins to realize that this world is diverging from the past life he remembers in strange new ways.

WHERE THERE'S SMOKE As the day of Nangong Si and Song Qiutong’s wedding draws near, a scandalous rumor circulates among the guests at Rufeng Sect. The gossip implicates not only the bride and groom, but also Nangong Si’s childhood companion and Song Qiutong’s savior: the young hero, Ye Wangxi. When the wedding festivities are interrupted by a mysterious man claiming to know even more explosive secrets, Mo Ran and Chu Wanning are thrown together in the ensuing chaos. But the more time he spends at Chu Wanning’s side, the more torturous it is for Mo Ran to suppress his feelings of fierce attraction and deep tenderness. Could love finally tame the beast that was the cruel tyrant Taxian\-jun?

CALM BEFORE THE STORM After two lifetimes of misunderstandings, Mo Ran and Chu Wanning have at last opened their hearts to one another. Mo Ran is determined to treat Chu Wanning with all the devotion his teacher deserves, but Chu Wanning has his doubts: has Mo Ran truly turned his attention from his first love, the beautiful Shi Mei, so easily? Yet the pair must put aside the bloom of new love all too soon. When a crucial clue about Xu Shuanglin’s whereabouts comes to light, the foremost powers of the cultivation realm set out to confront him. But the more devious moves their opponent makes, the greater Mo Ran’s suspicion grows that behind Xu Shuanglin lurks another player—a true mastermind who holds all the pieces.

I have only one goal in life: Become a detective. It’s there, just out of reach, so close I can taste it. When I find out the Vitale family is about to be investigated again, I do what I do best. Jump in head first. There’s just one problem; Enzo Vitale. The man is red hot danger, every word a dare from his lips. And I never was one to turn away from a challenge… But when things get rough, lies reign and deceit is around every corner. I find myself drawn to the one man I should be running from. The criminal whose hands are bathed in blood. Am I falling for the enemy?