Orphan and small-town servant Piao is unexpectedly invited to work at the Royal Court. Some months later, he returns to his village mortally wounded and, before he dies, sends his friend Xin off to a dangerous village, where Xin has a shocking encounter.

Xin discovers Ying Zheng, the young King of Qin, who's fleeing his half-brother's uprising. But when Piao's killer arrives to murder Ying Zheng, Xin, who's learned that Piao died serving as Zheng's stand-in, must decide which to help and which to kill.

Xin and Zheng, the King, entrust their escape to young Diao, who knows a secret way out of Heibei Village. Xin still blames Zheng for Piao's death, and even as this simmering conflict boils over, a new and deadly pursuer takes up the chase.