A Gentleman's Revenge

The Dajing Empire, which has lasted for more than four hundred and twenty years, seems to be still in its prosperous times, but in fact it is intertwined with internal and external troubles. The old emperor has been ill for a long time and has been absent from the court. The imperial power has fallen to the side. The clan kings are constantly fighting for their heirs. The aristocratic families have annexed the land, and the people have been displaced. The wave of Western industry swept across. Steam engines and iron ships impacted the old system. Great powers were all around to encroach on the territory, and the empire was on the verge of collapse. The court was divided into the reformists and the royalists, who were in conflict with each other. Only Lord Protector Ren Jingguo acted as a check and balance as the "imperial framer", maintained the government through moderate reforms, and became the only pillar in troubled times. On New Year's Eve, Ren Jingguo was attacked by his confidant Fu Tingshan, who colluded with the leader of the dead soldiers Nie Ying, the powerful Lu Zhenhuan, and Duan Qingcang to launch a coup. The entire family of the Duke's palace was massacred, but the prince Ren Youxia managed to escape. On the verge of death, Ren Youxia was rescued by Wei Wu, the assassin of the mysterious organization "No Elephant Guard". He hid in the darkness for seven years and was tempered into a cold-blooded blade. He covered his face with a mask and became a frightening killer in the shadows. Seven years of war, the world is divided into two parts. The reformers established the Yan State in the north of the Yangtze River and implemented the New Deal of Industrialization; the royalists defended the south of the Yangtze River and continued the Jing State, maintaining peace and order and attracting foreign powers. In the past, the country was unified, but now it exists in name only. After seven years of dormancy, Ren Youxia finally stepped out of the darkness. Carrying a blood feud, he stepped into the troubled times when the north and the south were divided alone, targeting the four enemies who participated in the annihilation of the family. The prosperity is gone, the mountains and rivers are shattered, and only cold blades and deep hatred remain under the mask. The Avengers who have returned from hell will set off a storm of reckoning sweeping the world in the apocalypse where wars are rife. They will use their blood to repay the blood debt of seven years and cut through the long night of troubled times with their sharp blades.