In the seventh year of Xuanhe, Song Jiang and Li Kui die after drinking poisoned wine in Chuzhou, while Wu Yong and Hua Rong hang themselves at Liao'erwa. The flames of the Liangshan brotherhood seem to have burned out, leaving only ashes scattered across the ground. Yet the surviving heroes, whether they have entered the clergy, retreated to the countryside, or wandered the jianghu, cannot escape the ties of their past. The imperial court sends ruthless officials to hunt down the remnants of Liangshan and stamp them out for good. The scattered forces of Fang La seek to recruit the heroes and resume their campaign against the Song. Local tyrants use the “suppression of Liangshan” as an excuse to prey on the people, plunging them into misery once more.
Amid the morning bells and evening drums at Liuhe Temple, Wu Song still dreams of the tiger on Jingyang Ridge and the blades flashing at Mandarin Duck Tower. Yan Qing lives in seclusion in the Jiangnan waterways with Li Shishi, but an accident exposes them, and Gao Qiu's henchmen come after them. Ruan Xiaoqi returns to fishing at Shijie Village, only to find officials imposing harsh fishing taxes and his former comrades repeatedly bullied. Li Jun drills a navy on Taihu Lake and secretly contacts his old comrades, hoping to find a refuge far from the strife of the Song. When the imperial court turns its blades on Ruan Xiaoqi, when a secret letter from Fang La's remnants reaches Wu Song, and when Yan Qing must draw his sword to protect Li Shishi, the scattered “embers” are kindled once more. For protection, revenge, or the people, they carve out a path unlike any they have taken before, caught between the jianghu and the imperial court, and give the spirit of Liangshan a new destiny.
