Original subtitles

My children,

it's been 30 years.

We are at the final turning point.

It will all be settled soon.

Wang Pu.

GRAVE OF WANG PU, DECEASED SON

He hasn't been dead long.

I can preserve the body.

But can you wait?

Growing a face takes 100 days.

I cannot wait.

Seven days at most.

And you tell me now?

Did you bring me here just to waste my time?

The aim of growing a face

is to protect the puppet.

Since he's already dead,

Mr. Long,

just cut his face off for me.

Sometimes I wonder,

between you and Yan Fengshan,

who is the more terrifying one.

Before entering the palace,

Gu Yu left me a 100-man unit.

But Yan Fengshan's residence is crawling with shadow guards.

According to the plan,

we must slip in without a sound

and place the puppet inside.

For that, 100 men are far from enough.

I understand.

I will help.

Once you kill Yan Fengshan,

start living like a human again.

Desperate imagination

can bring the dead back to your side.

Don't you find that interesting?

Can't you see Wang Pu now?

A brilliant stratagem

indeed.

In the past 15 years,

I've run through countless possibilities.

Your order has reached the forces outside the city.

My message has been sent as well.

The regional commanders are waiting for the result.

Those old, calculating fence-sitters

will not act

until they see your head

or my corpse.

Impressive, White Hair.

You have long surpassed

your father.

Indeed.

The night my family was slaughtered,

I learned never to show mercy to an enemy.

The night before you killed him,

he intended to strike first.

He kept

repeating your name at home.

Yes, you rose in power,

but you were his first disciple.

He still believed

his own disciple

would not be so ruthless

as to deal him such a cruel blow.

After tonight,

there will be no more Yan Fengshan.

When tomorrow comes,

what will you live for?

What will I live for?

When I escaped back then,

I hid in the city for a long time.

Every day, I watched people walking through the streets,

busy, rushing.

And I wondered:

"Why do they hurry?"

"How is it they all have homes to return to?"

That was when I understood

there would be nothing left

for me to hope for.

Then tomorrow,

walk around Chang'an.

Sometimes,

the city has beautiful sights.

All right.

Finish it, White Hair.

No.

You must die slowly.

That hurts more.

Farewell,

General Fengshan.

General Fengshan ordered

that we slaughter Xiao Wuyang's army.

Good.

After surrounding them for so long, we can finally finish them off.

I received word.

A young man named Xie Huai'an says he is one step away

from killing Yan Fengshan.

He wants us to wait two more hours.

What we are doing will either crown a new emperor

or mark ourselves as traitors.

Two hours

is worth waiting.

Gentlemen,

time to decide.

Without Yan Fengshan, you lack the strength

to seize Chang'an on your own.

His Majesty is still alive, and so is Gu Yu.

Think carefully before choosing your side.

You all earned great merit under the founding emperor.

Why not leave a good name for your descendants?

His Majesty has granted me full authority.

I can promise you this:

if the four of you lay down your weapons,

the siege will be wiped clean,

and the matter of military command can be renegotiated.

Yan Fengshan is dead.

Huben shadow guards,

whether fleeing or hiding,

surrender, and live!

Yan Fengshan is dead.

Huben shadow guards,

whether fleeing or hiding,

surrender, and live!

Yan Fengshan is dead.

Huben shadow guards,

whether fleeing or hiding,

surrender, and live!

Yan Fengshan is dead.

Huben shadow guards,

whether fleeing or hiding,

surrender, and live!

Yan Fengshan is dead.

Huben shadow guards,

whether fleeing or hiding,

surrender, and live!

Yan Fengshan is dead.

Huben shadow guards,

whether fleeing or hiding,

surrender, and live!

IMPERIAL PHYSICIAN'S HALL

Stop worrying so much.

What if your senior brother guessed wrong?

Besides,

if that boy meant you harm, he'd have poisoned the snow-pear tonic.

You finished it, and nothing…

Mr. Xie Huai'an sent us to inform you

that Yan Fengshan is dead.

He's dead?

Are you sure?

Are you sure the body wasn't switched?

What about

Xie Huai'an?

Where is he?

Did he personally confirm the body?

Just a while ago,

Mr. Xie took Yan Fengshan's head out of the city to end the battle.

Didn't you hear that?

Yan Fengshan is dead!

I want to walk alone for a while.

Mr. Xie also instructed us to inform you of another matter.

It concerns Ye Zheng.

Greetings, Mr. Xie.

The armies of the four regional commanders have begun to withdraw.

Inside the city,

Gu Yu placed a 100-man Baiwenhu unit at my disposal.

I've sent people into the palace to clear out the Huben forces.

His Majesty is safe.

There is no need for worry.

Where is His Majesty now?

Please wait a few more days.

His Majesty

will return.

Your Majesty,

are these candles for him?

Many have already lit candles for General Fengshan.

I lit these for myself.

It is said that after death,

these lights help guide the soul

so it does not lose its way.

I was taken out of the mountains by Huben members

and raised by them.

I always knew they weren't my real family.

But without them,

I would've been eaten by beasts in the mountains long ago.

No one in this world cares about me.

After I die,

no one will light a candle for me.

I am ready.

I know everything

you just said.

I also know you were involved in my sister's death.

The Huben Army saved you,

but they also used you as a pawn.

They dragged you into their game

in that murder plot.

Then,

they made you stand before the world

as a fake emperor.

If it were me,

I would never let a child

bear that kind of guilt.

You have repaid

the Huben Army's kindness.

You don't need to die here.

But before the true emperor returns,

you must remain on the throne

to keep the realm steady.

When all of this is over,

I will find you a way to live.

Perhaps

I will find you a place where no one knows you

so you can live out your days in peace.

I, Xie Huai'an,

offer my respects to Your Majesty.

I am sorry.

I was wrong.

I am sorry.

I was wrong.

I am sorry.

I was wrong.

I am sorry.

I was wrong.

TAIQING PALACE

HOLD THE UNCARVED, KEEP THE TRUE

This painting of you

represents my wish for you.

I hope you can tend flowers,

keep a cat,

nap on the porch,

and live a peaceful life.

Keep it with you,

as if your family is still by your side.

You must keep living.

Your Majesty, all has been done according to your instructions.

Yan Fengshan is dead.

The Huben Army has scattered.

I knew we would soon see Your Majesty.

You were playing "Saying Goodbye," weren't you?

It is somewhat fitting for tonight.

That tune is nothing more than feigned sorrow.

The people here live in comfort.

They have never tasted true hardship.

Then play the "White Bone Ballad" instead.

Let Chang'an be filled with the sorrow of us Tiemo people.

Yes, Your Majesty.

KING OF TIEMO

I have been looking for you.

Had I known you were of Tiemo,

I would've given you some Bitter-After

when I bought it.

Chewing Bitter-After would draw suspicion.

I was trained as a shadow guard too.

Not a single Tiemo habit could remain with me.

The King wants to see you.

White Hair,

come with me.

Were you involved

in my father's death?

Your father showed me kindness.

I was not in Chang'an then.

But Tiemo was involved.

To Tiemo, Liu Ziwen

was someone who had to die.

If you wish to know how deeply we were involved,

ask the King

when you meet him.

The Tiemo people killed my father,

let Yan Fengshan rise,

and waited for him and Xiao Wuyang to tear each other apart.

You cleared the Huben guards outside Yan Fengshan's residence for me.

And you sent me a puppet that looked just like Wang Pu.

Now that Yan Fengshan is dead

and the regional commanders have withdrawn,

Chang'an

is at its weakest.

A well-laid plan indeed.

About 40 years ago,

there was a battle north of Chen Valley.

There was no righteous or evil side.

We wanted that piece of land,

so war broke out.

Back then, I was just a commoner,

and I was ordered to evacuate.

I stood by the river

and watched others wade across,

unable to bring myself to leave.

I was worried

that my sheep might not survive,

that the hawk I caught might fly away,

and that my house might be burned to the ground.

Someone crossing the river asked me,

"Why aren't you worried about your family?"

Yes.

My family should have been my greatest concern.

But…

they were already gone.

And they did not die in war.

Tiemo's winters are bitter cold.

Children born in winter rarely live

to see the snow melt.

My children

were born in winter.

We want our children to grow up safely.

We want the sick to have herbs for treatment.

We want our cattle and sheep to have steady grazing grounds.

We want people to stop killing each other over a scrap of dry food.

But

Tiemo's land is far too barren.

So

we had to take your land,

no matter the cost,

even if it meant lying in wait for 30 years

for the faintest chance.

Our land also has young children

and sick people.

If we give all our land to Tiemo,

how are we supposed to live?

How are we supposed to live?

You are right.

But

what does that have to do with me?

It has nothing to do with you.

Now that Yan Fengshan is dead,

I am no longer of use to you.

Mr. Long,

you have no reason to take me

to your king.

Xiao Wuyang is missing, isn't he?

When I went to see him,

he had already awakened,

but he told me not to say anything.

I did not understand then.

Now I do.

You were controlling the pace of his recovery

just to delay

when he would wake.

You are White Hair.

I cannot hide anything from you.

Your ambush failed

because your target was Xiao Wuyang, the King of Death.

You never stood a chance.

With you in our hands,

he will show himself sooner or later.

Let's search over there.

Come on.

Tiemo's winters are freezing cold.

Wolves come to steal livestock,

and herders must shoot them down.

Forced to walk into the boundless snowfields,

some never make it back.

The next year,

when winter ends and the snow melts,

a mother who has lost her child

finds a pile of white bones on the ground.

Those bones belong to the wolves and her son.

She makes a flute out of the wolves' bones,

and its mournful sound

echoes across Tiemo's land.

That is the "White Bone Ballad."

General Gu,

you may have heard the story,

but what you don't know

is that Tiemo shadow guards entered Chang'an

20 years ago.

They've long blended into the city,

living as ordinary people.

They learned Chang'an's culture,

weaving, and tailoring,

their skill no worse than the locals'.

Some even married people of Chang'an

and had children,

enjoying an ordinary, peaceful life.

But we had an agreement:

when the "White Bone Ballad" echoes over Chang'an,

that will be the moment they return to their true nature.

Young man,

it really is you.

Why are you out in such a panic in the middle of the night?

Did you provoke someone you shouldn't have,

and now they're after you?

The city is in chaos.

It's dangerous at night.

Why don't you come inside and sit for a bit?

INCENSES AND CANDLES

Young man, your hair…

Both times we met, you looked completely lost.

What happened tonight?

A thief broke into my home.

I came out to report it.

Chang'an grows more unsafe by the day.

Ill fortune clings to you.

Wash your face first. Here.

- Go on. Here. - Thank you.

Think nothing of it.

I feel for those who suffer.

Everyone in this world suffers.

Everyone suffers.

General Gu, do you know?

The wolves prey on our livestock,

yet we Tiemo people still take the wolf as our totem,

because the wolves taught us how to plunder.

We Tiemo people

don't deserve to live forever on cold, barren land.

So we must ride out and plunder.

We must seize fertile ground.

Not a patch of Chang'an's land

will you ever take.

Not a single resident of Chang'an

will submit to you.

Hasn't your army already been cut down by mine?

Aren't you already my spoils of war?

Chang'an is about to fall.

What else do you have to say?

Rest assured.

Chang'an will not fall.

Right now, I pity only my warhorse.

It carried me out of the city to fight

and carried me back to die.

You're bleeding out,

yet you still had that move hidden?

A pity

I'm a cripple.

You're from Tiemo.

Tell me

where your master is.

Fortunately, there are still those in Chang'an

you cannot defeat.