On a stormy, snowbound night, a desperate fight to the death over the “Heavenly Secrets Map” unfolds in a ruined temple. A ragged young man refuses to yield, swallowing poison to protect the map, before a mysterious figure quietly carries it away. Soon afterward, an old beggar is drawn into the affair by chance, revealing deeper secrets behind the map.
After a night watchman at the county office discovers a clue to the Heavenly Secrets Map, the county magistrate investigates and finds a connection to a mysterious stone stele in the barren mountains outside the city. But men in black sent by the manor's master work behind the scenes to obstruct him, and the conflict between the two sides escalates until a fierce battle erupts in the mountains. The magistrate is gravely wounded, and the Heavenly Secrets Map and fragments of the stele are stolen.
After surviving by sheer luck and recovering at an inn, the magistrate sets out for the capital, hoping to enlist the court's help in reclaiming the Heavenly Secrets Map. On the way, he discovers a new clue in a fragment of the stele, but is pursued by mysterious men in black. Can the magistrate escape danger as he evades them? Will he find the old man and reclaim the Heavenly Secrets Map, avenging his fallen brothers? What earth-shattering secret lies behind the map, and what upheavals will it unleash?
