In the early years of the Kaihuang era, amid the bustling life of Daxing City, a three-hundred-year vigil unfolds. Wen Yi, an immortal who survived the Upheaval of Yongjia and witnessed dynasties rise and fall, was once a General Who Guards the North in the Eastern Jin. Now he is an ordinary tavernkeeper at the Wen Mao Wine Shop in Chongye Ward. Every day, he makes porridge for refugees, while secretly rescuing and restoring ancient books that survived the flames of war. With his own hands, he protects the spark of Chinese civilization, bearing three centuries of loneliness and devotion.
By chance, he meets Su Yuan’er, a kindhearted woman skilled in restoring ancient books. United by shared ideals, they set out together to protect their cultural heritage. Just as Wen Yi begins to think he might finally escape his loneliness, Li Lie, his former deputy general who vanished three hundred years ago, unexpectedly appears, gravely wounded. His arrival awakens memories of long-buried battles and the bonds of brotherhood. Then Pei Yunyao, the eldest daughter of the Pei family trading house, joins them, making their band of guardians stronger than ever.
Yet their quiet path of preservation is rife with danger. Yuwen Shu invokes imperial authority as he secretly seizes and burns rare books on a massive scale, seeking to control the legacy of civilization. The suspicions of the throne, the secrets of old comrades, and the shackles of time all close in on them. Using the tavern as their stronghold, their original convictions as armor, and their skills as weapons, Wen Yi, Li Lie, Su Yuan’er, and Pei Yunyao resist the powerful and struggle against the passage of time, giving everything they have to protect each precious volume and the roots and soul of Chinese civilization.
This is more than a legend about protecting cultural heritage. It is a tale of redemption, of loneliness and warmth, betrayal and devotion, time and the convictions that endure. Three hundred years of immortality are not a punishment, but a mission. The warmth of everyday life is not a burden, but the strength that makes perseverance possible.
