diff --git a/apps/emqx_durable_storage/src/emqx_ds_storage_layer.erl b/apps/emqx_durable_storage/src/emqx_ds_storage_layer.erl
index 68e2f4597..e93780ba2 100644
--- a/apps/emqx_durable_storage/src/emqx_ds_storage_layer.erl
+++ b/apps/emqx_durable_storage/src/emqx_ds_storage_layer.erl
@@ -80,6 +80,10 @@
 -define(stream_v2(GENERATION, INNER), [GENERATION | INNER]).
 -define(delete_stream(GENERATION, INNER), [GENERATION | INNER]).
 
+%% Wrappers for the storage events:
+-define(storage_event(GEN_ID, PAYLOAD), #{0 := 3333, 1 := GEN_ID, 2 := PAYLOAD}).
+-define(mk_storage_event(GEN_ID, PAYLOAD), #{0 => 3333, 1 => GEN_ID, 2 => PAYLOAD}).
+
 %%================================================================================
 %% Type declarations
 %%================================================================================
@@ -848,10 +852,6 @@ new_generation(ShardId, DB, Schema0, Since) ->
 next_generation_id(GenId) ->
     GenId + 1.
 
--spec prev_generation_id(gen_id()) -> gen_id().
-prev_generation_id(GenId) when GenId > 0 ->
-    GenId - 1.
-
 %% @doc Commit current state of the server to both rocksdb and the persistent term
 -spec commit_metadata(server_state()) -> ok.
 commit_metadata(#s{shard_id = ShardId, schema = Schema, shard = Runtime, db = DB}) ->
@@ -947,27 +947,23 @@ handle_accept_snapshot(ShardId) ->
     Dir = db_dir(ShardId),
     emqx_ds_storage_snapshot:new_writer(Dir).
 
-%% FIXME: currently this interface is a hack to handle safe cutoff
-%% timestamp in LTS. It has many shortcomings (can lead to infinite
-%% loops if the CBM is not careful; events from one generation may be
-%% sent to the next one, etc.) and the API is not well thought out in
-%% general.
-%%
-%% The mechanism of storage layer events should be refined later.
--spec handle_event(shard_id(), emqx_ds:time(), CustomEvent | tick) -> {gen_id(), [CustomEvent]}.
-handle_event(Shard, Time, Event) ->
-    case generation_at(Shard, Time) of
-        {_GenId, #{module := Mod, data := GenData}} ->
-            ?tp(emqx_ds_storage_layer_event, #{mod => Mod, time => Time, event => Event}),
+-spec handle_event(shard_id(), emqx_ds:time(), Event) -> [Event].
+handle_event(Shard, Time, ?storage_event(GenId, Event)) ->
+    case generation_get(Shard, GenId) of
+        not_found ->
+            [];
+        #{module := Mod, data := GenData} ->
             case erlang:function_exported(Mod, handle_event, 4) of
                 true ->
-                    Mod:handle_event(Shard, GenData, Time, Event);
+                    NewEvents = Mod:handle_event(Shard, GenData, Time, Event),
+                    [?mk_storage_event(GenId, E) || E <- NewEvents];
                 false ->
                     []
-            end;
-        _ ->
-            []
-    end.
+            end
+    end;
+handle_event(Shard, Time, Event) ->
+    GenId = generation_current(Shard),
+    handle_event(Shard, Time, ?mk_storage_event(GenId, Event)).
 
 %%--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 %% Schema access
@@ -1001,24 +997,6 @@ generations_since(Shard, Since) ->
         Schema
     ).
 
--spec generation_at(shard_id(), emqx_ds:time()) -> {gen_id(), generation()}.
-generation_at(Shard, Time) ->
-    Schema = #{current_generation := Current} = get_schema_runtime(Shard),
-    generation_at(Time, Current, Schema).
-
-generation_at(Time, GenId, Schema) ->
-    case Schema of
-        #{?GEN_KEY(GenId) := Gen} ->
-            case Gen of
-                #{since := Since} when Time < Since andalso GenId > 0 ->
-                    generation_at(Time, prev_generation_id(GenId), Schema);
-                _ ->
-                    {GenId, Gen}
-            end;
-        _ ->
-            not_found
-    end.
-
 -define(PERSISTENT_TERM(SHARD), {emqx_ds_storage_layer, SHARD}).
 
 -spec get_schema_runtime(shard_id()) -> shard().