In 1140, the tenth year of the Shaoxing era, the Jin broke their peace treaty and launched a massive invasion southward. Jin cavalry raided Shucheng County on the Huainan West Route. Seventeen-year-old Shen Ji escaped disaster while away from home, but when he returned, he found his mother had thrown herself down a well and his grandmother and aunt had been cut down. In a single night, he went from being an apothecary's apprentice to an orphan with no home.
Shen Ji fled with his uncle Shen Yaozi, one of the few lucky survivors, to Lu'an City, only to find the Jin had already set up camp outside the walls. They surrounded the city without attacking, waiting for reinforcements. Zhou Tong, the county commandant of Lu'an, resolved to defend the city to the death. Seeking vengeance for his family, Shen Ji volunteered to leave the city and lure the enemy out. Thus began a revenge plot against overwhelming odds.
But Shen Ji soon discovered that the Jin soldiers outside the city were not his only concern. In these troubled times, government troops, bandits, martial arts factions, and anti-Jin rebel forces all had their own agendas. Some took advantage of the chaos, some seized the chance to rebel, and some secretly colluded with the enemy. The blunt knife in his hand could not kill many, but it could carve open a world he had never seen before.
