Every once in a while, I stumble upon a gem, nestled within the swamp of subpar heterosexual romances that dominate the Chinese web novel universe. These gems are so far and few, but thankfully 寻郎 is one such novel. The transmigration trope has been done to death, but this novel offers an interesting take on it, what with the intervention of a multiverse matchmaking bureaucracy. Our female lead doesn't have a golden finger and is useless at life in a pugilistic world. She would have died, literally, on various occasions, if not for the male lead's assistance. And she does indeed die a few times...
The story contains mysteries within mysteries: Where's the dude she's meant to find? Why are people dying? What're the larger conspiracies she's being dragged into, both in the modern and pugilistic worlds? The two mains are a great crime-solving duo; they are both smart, shameless, sometimes childish and they unapologetically OWN IT. The male lead is everything I look for in an ML: he's capable, decisive, emotionally intelligent, knows his feelings and acts on them quickly, and 痴心一片. Best of all, he's not just a plain ol' goody two shoes; I cackled when he mentioned drugging his fellow pugilists just to get the sole merit of capturing a notorious bandit leader. I also love the female lead: she's logical and intelligent, sentimental and persistent. This was a healthy relationship; their banter is hilarious, they have great communication and balance one another out so well.
Overall the plot is well paced and cogent, and the side characters are generally well fleshed out. At the end, all loose ends of the story tied up really well. Definitely one of the best Chinese transmigration novels I've read.