JIAN CHU

Jian Chu began life as an orphan with no past and no future. 

Orphaned as an infant, no one will adopt Jian or his best friend, Longwei Tang, as they are marked as dark and unlucky.  But then a wealthy man named Feng Huo claims to want two boys to carry on his family name and to run his import/export business.  But Feng is not at all what he seems.  In fact, Feng actually is a Sorceror practicing Black Chinese Magic and he believes the two boys have the aptitude to learn the ancient, dark arts.

Both Jian and Longwei live a life of practical slavery in Feng's house while he forces them to participate in dark rites.  In the end, to escape their captivity, Jian plans an escape for both of them, but Longwei believes that unless Feng is dead that they will never be free of him.  Jian tells Longwei that killing someone, even someone as loathsome as Feng, is wrong and will set them down the path that Feng walked. Longwei claims to agree with him, but then he goes ahead with the killing, draining Feng's strength to use as his own.  Jian escapes on his own.  This is the start of their separate paths.

Jian joins the police force while Longwei works his way up the criminal underworld. Both men are incredibly successful at their chosen paths.  Jian is one of the youngest detectives to join the Organized Crime and Triad Bureau. He manages to decimate several Triads, which, ironically, creates a power vacuum, which allows Longwei to set up his own Triad, the Heian Mofa.

Jian is contacted by Freya Brand, a federal prosecutor out of San Francisco, who is dealing with the Heian Mofa, Longwei's Triad, which has quickly become a transnational crime organization.  He learns of her death when her son, Freyr, a beautiful, moody firebrand comes to see him in Hong Kong.  Though he warns Freyr off , he has a feeling the young man won’t do what he’s told.  

Unfortunately, he's right.