Original subtitles

THE NIGHT BEFORE

My death

will clear the path for Cen Pickles,

and the Tiemo King's life

will draw out the 3,000 Tiemo shadow guards.

This plan is nearing its end.

Fate will soon show its hand.

The realm's future will soon be decided.

TEA HOUSE

Move!

- Surround Hidden Soldier Alley! - Yes!

The people who moved into Hidden Soldier Alley

brought life back to it,

but today,

smoke and fire will return.

Will Mr. Xie Huai'an arrive on time?

Ye Zheng,

the Shen-hour plan

cannot afford a single misstep.

Therefore,

you must appear at the exact place I designated for you on time

and wait for me there.

This is the grandest stratagem of his life.

He will not be absent.

TEA HOUSE

Run!

Goodbye!

Get him!

I do not know what tomorrow holds.

But today, let us say our farewell properly.

If you do that, you will die.

Don't worry.

I promise

we will meet again.

Your task is crucial.

I believe

you can do it.

I won't die.

And you must not die either.

Everything today was arranged in advance,

including the pot mender

and the physician named Yi Zhihu.

What are you hiding that you cannot tell me outright?

Very well.

I will be honest.

Tomorrow, I will meet the King of Tiemo,

staking my life on this plan.

The pot mender

is linked to the units I've hidden in the city.

Tomorrow, at the Hour of Shen,

our clash with Tiemo will unfold inside the city.

And

what will happen to you?

When fireworks rise

at the Hour of Shen,

you and Yi Zhihu should come to the Tiemo King's residence for me.

As for the outcome, it rests in Heaven's hands.

Remember:

if you act before the hour of Shen,

you will alert them,

and the entire plan will collapse.

You must not die.

One man's life

is nothing beside the fate of Chang'an.

Besides,

Yi Zhihu's medical skills

match your master's.

Perhaps she will keep me alive.

Sir,

the two of them split in two directions.

We lost them both.

Had Genghui been here, we wouldn't have failed.

But did Xie Huai'an truly risk his life

just to draw Fang Genghui away and rescue Xiao Wenjing?

Stay back!

Xiao Wenjing,

you are not useless after all.

But don't forget that Xiao Wuyang is still in our hands.

He's in Yulong Ridge, isn't he?

Someone is already on the way to save him.

Kill Xiao Wuyang!

Break through!

Charge!

Kill Xiao Wuyang!

You won't be able to rescue Xiao Wuyang.

Even if we fail,

the Tiemo King will die in Hidden Soldier Alley.

At worst,

we trade one life for another.

Sir.

Report!

Sir,

Wuyang troops have entered the city

They've surrounded Hidden Soldier Alley.

Hidden Soldier Alley?

Is His Majesty still at his residence?

GLOWING MIST

TEA HOUSE

Zheng.

Has he returned?

He has.

This is the next move.

THE TIEMO KING WILL BE LOCKED IN BATTLE WITH YAN FENGSHAN.

We've fallen into Xie Huai'an's trap.

His Majesty has been taken by Cen Pickles.

Surround Hidden Soldier Alley!

DEFEND THE CAPITAL

Breaking into the granary will not be easy.

They made the first move.

The whole ward must have become a trap.

Xie Huai'an wants to force a decisive battle.

Hidden Soldier Alley is certainly a trap.

The guards at the Imperial Guard Station

may not be able to break through.

Notify every shadow guard in the city to don armor

- and converge on Hidden Soldier Alley. - Understood.

I know your concern.

To expose the shadow guards is to reveal our last hand.

But Genghui,

His Majesty cannot die.

If he falls,

even if our army takes Chang'an,

trouble will never end.

WINE HOUSE

WAREHOUSE

For years,

our 3,000 shadow guards have scouted every corner of Chang'an,

including Hidden Soldier Alley.

This spot has long been piled with clutter,

poorly guarded,

and forgotten.

From here, we can cut straight into the alley.

WINE HOUSE

Stay close. Move!

The formation inside Hidden Soldier Alley is already set.

The breach on the west side was left there on purpose.

It is the death gate laid for the Tiemo forces.

To save their king,

they will enter through it.

Once they're in,

they will never leave.

Among Tiemo forces,

only centurions and above carry the command arrows,

and a centurion

is hard to kill.

Ye Zheng, this is your task.

Gather the command arrows.

They will be of great use to us.

The Tiemo King is not in Hidden Soldier Alley.

The Wuyang Army's blockade

is only a performance to mislead the Tiemo people.

The command arrow

is their signal for reinforcements.

More shadow guards, armored and armed,

will break in from the west side of the alley

and walk straight into our trap.

Tiemo will commit all its strength

and have no cards left.

We will put everything to an end

in Hidden Soldier Alley.

Even if you kill me,

you still…

Are there more enemies?

All dead.

What is it?

By now,

inside the granary,

the victor has already been decided.

After all these years,

you are still trapped in that granary.

Today,

you will not walk out either.

I've always wanted to ask you something.

On that snowy night,

why did you spare him?

They say that on Mount Shiluoman

lives a rare toad,

hideously ugly.

‪A toad?

When it meets its own kind,

it is frightened by the other's ugliness

and exudes an oil in shock,

only to realize

it is just as ugly.

The tale exists.

That oil is said to be the world's only cure for regret.

I spared Yan Fengshan that night

because I thought of that toad.

In his eyes,

I seemed to see myself.

Finish it, White Hair.

No.

You must die slowly.

That hurts more.

A traitor like you

should have died long ago.

Speak.

Why did you rebel?

You never walked out

of the Liu Manor

after the night it fell 15 years ago.

I never walked out of the granary at Chen Valley, either.

I've always believed

that only by killing everyone

can I stay alive.

Aren't you the same?

Yes.

Only by killing my enemies

can I go on living.

In truth,

you and I share one enemy.

The one who drove me into that granary.

He took part in your father's murder.

On the night your family was massacred,

he stood in the shadows.

You remember him,

but you do not know him.

After I die,

he will come.

The Huben Army's top shadow guard

must have made preparations

for his death.

Somewhere in this house,

there must be a head wearing a face made to match yours.

Why did you return?

After that night,

I sat on the street for a long time.

The streets of Chang'an truly are a fine sight.

People came and went,

living their lives as usual.

No one spoke of Yan Fengshan's

rise or fall.

Tomorrow, at the Shen hour,

fight for Chang'an,

and you will finally walk out of that granary.

Your ending

is yours to choose.

Thank you for granting me this chance.

I am granting nothing.

You killed my family.

The Liu clan will never forgive you.

You carved this amulet

for Liu Li back then.

Now that the realm is in peril,

I use it

to buy your life

and return it to Chang'an.

White Hair,

I owe you nothing now,

and I owe Chang'an nothing.

WINE HOUSE

Even if we cannot save His Majesty,

even if I die here today,

there are still 200,000 Tiemo troops in your lands.

In half a day's time,

they will reach Chang'an.

When they arrive,

the city will run with blood.

You think

Xie Huai'an did not foresee that?

The Baiwenhu Army fell so easily because that was Gu Yu's stratagem.

By not fighting to the death,

they preserved most of their forces.

For this, Xie Huai'an devised his master plan.

As the Tiemo army marched south,

Xie Huai'an's messenger

met with the four regional commanders.

If they refused to help break the siege of Chang'an,

the Baiwenhu Army

would immediately take Xie Huai'an's order and attack them.

The choice between perishing together

and standing united against Tiemo

should be

easy to make, shouldn't it?

By now,

your Tiemo army should already be under attack from all sides.

Impossible.

How so?

I see.

The military reports you received did not say any of this,

did they?

Xie Huai'an and the Huben Army have reconciled.

That force, skilled in disguise and infiltration, was his by right.

They merely did what they excelled at

and slipped into your intelligence network.

So for the past three days, every report you received

was exactly what we wanted you to see.

By the way,

the battle in Hidden Soldier Alley was also a ruse,

meant to draw out every shadow guard you had

in the city.

And one more thing.

The Tiemo King

was never here.

By now,

he should already be dead somewhere else.

Accept defeat.

You wanted an alliance with me, didn't you?

Then sign this treaty

and withdraw your troops.

Otherwise,

two generations of Tiemo's strength,

every man fit to ride into battle,

will die.

None will be able to return home.

THE EMPEROR PAYS RESPECTS TO THE KING OF TIEMO.

ENVOY WUYIN CHONG PROPOSES A CEASEFIRE AND RESTORATION.

A NEW PACT IS FORGED TO BRING PEACE.

GRAIN STORE, NO OPEN FLAMES

White Hair?

Yan Fengshan died for you.

And Cen Pickles risked everything for you.

You truly are something.

They did not risk their lives for me.

They only wished to protect the grain and flour of Chang'an.

You asked me what I lived for.

I live

for that same grain and flour.

Since it's over the grain and flour,

you and I are enemies.

If you die here,

no one will know.

I spent years planning

before returning to Chang'an

to destroy the entire Huben Army,

yet I failed to realize

I was one of them.

My father

raised the Huben Army for Chang'an.

Every member is a shadow guard.

So many died without leaving their names behind.

That is the price of protection.

For a Huben guard, killing the enemy

is the highest merit.

You think

you can win?

The shadow guards you hid in the city

all believe you are trapped in the granary of Hidden Soldier Alley.

The remnants of the Baiwenhu Army

and the forces of the four regional commanders

have already united.

The entire heartland of the empire

has become a trap for your Tiemo army.

Do you think

you can win?

As long as I live,

the victor is not yet decided.

White Hair,

you

dragged yourself here on sheer will alone.

How do you plan to kill me?

Can hands meant for writing and pouring tea

even lift a sword?

Can the words

protect Chang'an kill me?

No.

But another phrase can.

Fifteen years ago, at the Grand Academy,

when you taught us to make funnel timers,

you said six words.

SERVICE AND DUTY, HONEST EFFORT, INNER DISCIPLINE

REVERE THE MASTER, UPHOLD THE WAY

CONTEMPLATION

The room is full of flour dust.

Settle the dust, to prevent fire.

Remember?

- Yes, sir. - Yes, sir.

With a broken body,

I will kill the King of Tiemo.

Today,

I win!

DICHEN TEAHOUSE, TEA

After tomorrow,

I hope Chang'an

can still know such peace.

But you will be gone then.

The plan is set.

Whether I am here or not

won't matter.

This is

the life I chose.

Heaven casts a mournful frost

People drift like wind-tossed weed

Bones return to the plain

As the plain withers and blooms each year

TEA HOUSE

Where is he?

Where is Huai'an?

XIE HUAI'AN

LIU ZHI

THROUGH LIFE’S STORMS,

COURAGE CARRIES US TO BLOOM.

THANK YOU FOR WATCHING.