In the chaos of the Republic of China, Li Shichang, the second son of the Li family, was born with a wolf’s nature and exceptional martial skills. He hated his father for forcing him into marriage and binding him to a life he never wanted. On his wedding day, he saw his wife talking with his brother-in-law beneath a tree. Misunderstanding what he saw, he fired two shots. Three people died, and his father was so enraged that he dropped dead. Li Shichang abandoned his family and took to the mountains, becoming a fearsome bandit.
With twin pistols in hand, he fought his way out of the Ten-Thousand Great Mountains and carved out a domain of his own. Gravely wounded on a rainy night, he was saved at the cost of her own life by Su Wanqing, a woman from an embroidered tower, who then gave herself to him. Shen Fengjiao, a renowned sharpshooter with twin pistols, came to join him. They fought side by side, and in time they fell in love. His legal wife was consumed by jealousy, while a stand-in took advantage of the situation. She was unfaithful and conspired with his enemies to open the stronghold gates. That night, the mountain fortress ran red with blood. Shen Fengjiao died in his arms, and his eight-year-old son watched his father kill his mother before fleeing into the mountains in hatred.
His family destroyed, he hid deep in the mountains with the remnants of his band for three years. Later, when he encountered the People’s Liberation Army, he laid down his gun and joined the Communist Party. He led his brothers to fight the Japanese, spending the rest of his life atoning for the sins of his past.
Years later, he became a war hero. He secretly returned to his village to visit his elder brother, went to the mass graves to pay respects to those who had died unjustly, and watched his son from afar outside the hospital. His son, Nian’an, the boy who had lost his mother at eight, made it into medical school, became a renowned surgeon in the provincial capital, and brought home a wonderful girlfriend.
A bandit father spent his life killing; a doctor son spent his life saving lives. This is the story of a ruthless bandit who made a hero of himself, a three-decade saga of hatred, redemption, father and son, family, and country, forged in blood and fire.
