China coastline, 1528 AD (Ming Dynasty)

China coastline, Reuters

A small skiff boat sits atop the water, where Dai Yu island had stood years before. Upon the boat are Shao Jun, A-Qian, and a young ten year old boy called Xiao “Bai” Gui – who refers to A-Qian as his “Aunt Qian”. The boy apparently can sense the precursor site below them, but whilst they are searching for the sunken island, a warning flare is fired from a nearby ship. The skiff crew immediately start to raise their sail, and A-Qian recognises the ship as that of her brother's Tiexin. Evidently the ship is being fired upon by a Navy vessel, as it gives chase to Tiexin's pirate crew.

Tiexin had intended to capture the skiff's crew as hostages and collateral protection to prevent the Navy firing upon them further. Tiexin was therefore surprised to see the skiff set sail and move towards them. Looking out, he recognises A-Qian and Shao Jun, but the skiff moves on past them to the following Navy ship. Jun calls out to the soldiers, stating that she wants to see Captain Hu immediately. She is taken to his quarters, but is surprised to find that this Captain Hu Ruzhen is in fact the son of the Hu that she knew. He in turn surprises her by knowing that she was the “imperial concubine”. He states that he is prepared to let the pirate ship go, if they should return a small iron box that they stole.

Shao Jun re-boards the skiff and sails over to Tiexin's ship whilst a temporary cease fire holds. She asks Tiexin about the box, as the Navy ship pulls alongside. He reluctantly agrees to meet Captain Hu, handing over the box in exchange for the pirates' freedom. However, the Captain also demands the pirates leave the Chinese coasts in exile. The two men agree to a duel to settle this demand, yet Hu manages to best Tiexin. The pirate and his crew promptly leave the area, leaving Shao Jun shocked to recognise the fighting technique of Hu matches that used by Zhang Yong. With the dispute now settled, she returns to the skiff and they sail away from the Navy vessel as well.


Baoding region, China - 1528 AD (Ming Dynasty)

Modern Day Baoding, Trip.com

Captain Hu Ruzhen and two of his men travel the road by horse and cart, getting caught in the mud due to rain. The Captain stands at the rear with a wooden board, attempting to cover their tracks as they move onwards. They meet two further men at the entrance to some woods, where the captain mentions that they are being tracked whilst on their way to Datong prefecture. As the cart presses on into the woods, the two men keeping guard spot the tracker, a man known as Tang Yingde wearing a straw hat and coat. They attempt to attack the man, but he evidently vanishes. Fearing he is a vengeful spirit, the two men run into the woodland.

At a nearby blacksmith, Bai Gui watches the Blacksmith fashion blades with skill and precision. A-Qian finds him there, and tells him that his mother is waiting for him. In a nearby building, Shao Jun waits and receives reports from two new assassin recruits, Tang Yingde and Zhuo Mingke. She hears that Captain Hu is heading to Datong, but that they ultimately lost his trail along the way. She is concerned that the Captain somehow has links to the Eight Tigers, given his knowledge of a martial art known by Zhang Yong.
Jun elects to play a game of Go with Gui, to further his intellectual prowess to keep him integral to the Society of the

River Tang, China, Concepto

Mind, which she now runs in Wang Yangming's absence. The two had become close since Shao Jun had adopted him as a son, with Gui now referring to her affectionately as “mother”. A-Qian returns with food, and the three eat. Jun reveals that they are all to leave for Datong to follow the trail of Captain Hu.

The next morning, the three of them sit upon a cart with Tang Yingde and Zhuo Mingke also aboard. They follow the River Tang, crossing the Great Wall on their way to Datong. After a long day of travel, they stop at the city of Lingqiu for the night. After speaking with the townsfolk, they hear that a small cart had passed through there recently, leading Jun's team to believe they were on the right track. They set off again the following morning, but quickly are set upon by a group of bandits who were attacking a merchant cart. Jun's team easily defeats them, killing them all save one man – who they hold for questioning. He reveals that most of the bandits had been killed by a cart two days before, with its occupants armed with military guns under the command of a Captain Hu. The merchant of the attacked cart is Luo Hongxian, an old friend of Tang Yingde. Hoping to survive in numbers, the group carries on to Datong together, arriving there late the following evening.


Datong, China - 1528 AD (Ming Dynasty)
Tang Yingde attends the palace of the local prince, where he meets the governor Yang Yiqing. He presents the Jade pendant of Wang

Datong Temples, China. Wikipedia

Yangming, stating that his master wishes to meet with the governor. A short time after, Shao Jun appears and introduces herself. Explaining her mission, the governor agrees for her group to stay in his residence whilst they investigate the city.

After a few days of searching, the governor changes his mind, and requests the group no longer look into Zhang Yong, as he does not believe he could have been behind Wang Yangming's death as they were such close friends. Jun tells Tang and Zhuo to continue searching for Captain Hu, but to do so discreetly.

The next morning, Shao Jun is visited by Xu Pengju, apprentice to Yang Yiqing, a martial artist and advisor to the Emperor. Jun had met him two years prior whilst working with Wang Yangming, and the two greet each other warmly. Jun is pleased to hear that the governor had mentioned to Xu that he had no issue with Jun exploring wider Mongolia, which was present beyond the city borders. She mentions her adopted son Bai Gui to Xu, and that she would be keen for him to train with Xu. He in turn requests a rematch of their previous duel with batons two years prior, which they replace with paint brushes. Jun again emerges the victor.


Zhuma Fortress, Mongolian border, China - 1528 AD (Ming Dynasty)

A Datong fortress, modern day. Chinaxiantour.com

Jun and her group travel the next day to Zhuma Fortress, a military encampment that was now primarily a trading market between the various nearby regions. Jun and A-Qian walk amongst the crowds, observing disputes between buyers and sellers. Unbeknownst to them, Captain Hu is also among the throng of people. He walks with his second-in-command, Zhou Chong, who suggests the Captain that he believes they are being followed. The two look around carefully, but are unable to spot anyone suspicious.

At the other end of the market, a horse barrels towards the marketplace, its rider evidently having lost control. Jun leaps to the side of the horse before clambering aboard, and using her martial art techniques to slow the horse by trapping veins in its neck. The rider, a mongol woman called Meng Gen, is very thankful towards Jun for the rescue, desiring to know her name. Pretending to be a man, Jun gives her name as “Mr Wang”. At this moment, the Mongol Prince Altan arrives on the scene with a teenage boy aide called Ma Fang. The latter is admonished by the Prince for allowing his sister to ride such a powerful horse in the first place, before offering Jun his gratitude as well by way of sheepskins and horses. Jun insists reward is not necessary, and turns to walk away. Meng Gen instructs Ma Feng to escort “Mr Wang”, whilst she speaks with her brother. Jun, A-Qian and Ma therefore walk away together, talking in mandarin. Ma reveals he is actually Chinese, and not Mongol. They enter the yurt that the group is staying in to rest together.

Tang Yingde returns and reports to Shao Jun that he actually had sighted Captain Hu in the marketplace, but had lost sight of him as he seemingly was heading back towards China. At this point Princess Meng Gen arrives with the promised gift of twenty horses for “Mr Wang” from the Prince for her previous rescue. She invites “Mr Wang” to a banquet the following evening, to which Jun reluctantly agrees to attend. After Meng leaves, Jun instructs the others to gift the horses to Yang Yiqing as they had no use for them. Tang Yingde looks at the invitation, and notes it has very particular calligraphy, which he recognises as the work of He Jiuliang. Jun recognises the name as a eunuch of the imperial palace, an apprentice to Zhang Yong. Realising that the Mongol royalty is now somehow involved with the Eight Tigers, Jun acknowledges that it makes sense that Captain Hu was also operating in the vicinity.

Modern Day Lake Dai, Wikipedia

The next morning, Jun and the group set out to meet the Mongols at their encampment at the nearby Lake Dai. Whilst the group is taken for refreshments at a separate tent, Jun greets the Princess and is lead to the largest tent – that of Gün Bilig, leader and older brother to Prince Altan. A full banquet is underway, and sure enough He Jiuliang is in attendance. After a few hours, he gets up to leave, with Altan quickly in tow. Jun goes to follow, but finds the princess following her every move. Feigning drunkenness to get away from her, Jun eventually manages to escape back to the tent with her friends. She uses her rope dart to clamber to the the top of the tent, and from a distance uses Eagle Vision to see and hear the conversation between the He Jiuliang and the Prince Altan. They speak of transferring prisoners to Elesi, and the creation of yujing – the strange zombie like creatures that Jun had faced two years before. Exhausted by the strain of focus, Jun collapses off the tent but is caught by A-Qian. Jun tells the group of what she heard, and they conclude that the most obvious place to be hiding a secret operation would likely be in the quicksands to the east, on the borders of the Mongol desert.

Meanwhile, back at the Governor's residence in Datong, Xu Pengdu teaches Bai Gui some literature as requested by Shao Jun. Realising it is beyond the boy's impressive intellect, Xu instead elects to teach him how to ride a horse. Once outside, the Governor introduces Xu to Tang Yingde, the latter of which suggests a duel to compare their martial techniques. The two take to a small arena, traditional for mounted duels, and don the appropriate competition equipment before clambering onto horses. The battle concludes in a draw, with both landing a blow on each other.

Out amidst the steppe mountains, Shao Jun and her group follows the cart of He Jiuliang at a distance. Realising that vegetation cover would reduce as they approached the desert, Jun elects to don her Assassin cloak, and ventures on alone, telling the team that if she lights a flare, to return to Zhuma Fortress without her. As darkness falls, she notices that the cart appears to be moving in a circle around the lake, before finally coming to rest along its banks. Jun hides, as the cartographer makes a signal with a lit candle, with a signal coming in response from the middle of a boat on the lake. The boat had no rowers, but its single occupant slowly brought the boat towards the cart – it was Zhang Yong.

Zhang calls out to Shao Jun, guessing that she was laying in wait. With no response, he summons two black mastiff dogs, that had apparently been laid down upon the boat. Sure enough he sets them upon Jun, who quickly pick up her scent. Launched into combat, Jun notices the dogs do not seem to notice taking damage and are extremely aggressive. They also have a green glow to their eyes, much like the zombie yuxiao she had faced before. Realising the dogs were struggling to defeat her, Zhang summons two more dogs, these who had been below the boat and propelling it along, seemingly no longer requiring breath, they too head out after the young Assassin. Noting she was outnumbered, Jun fires her rope dart into the cart, and swings onto one of the horses to make her retreat. Zhang stands in front of her, summoning two more dogs out of the water. He swings at Jun's horse, but she deflects with her dagger, staggering him backwards as she swiftly rides away.

As she rides into the darkness, she quickly loses the hounds following her. However, a giant vulture dives at the head of the horse, knocking it to the ground and Jun off to a rolling landing. Sure enough, the same green glowing eyes could be seen on the vulture, proving this was yet another of Zhang's crazed experiments. Realising that her friends could be in grave danger with so many deranged beasts around, she quickly lights and fires a flare. The vulture takes to the air as the six dogs catch up and circle Jun. Zhang Yong then calmly approaches, and blows a whistle, signalling them to attack. Jun fights bravely, but is quickly overwhelmed. At this moment, a spear flies through the air taking down a dog. Zhuo Mingke and A-Qian ride towards Jun on their horses, apparently ignoring her request and coming to her rescue instead.

A Mongolian Yurt, originalyurts.com

A-Qian brings her horse, and rushes in to lift Jun towards it, whilst the dogs focus on Zhuo who fights with his spear on the ground. As they approach the horse, Jun pulls her sword from the saddle just in time to deflect a strike from Zhang Yong. Frustrated, he slices through the horse's neck, removing that source of escape. With only one remaining horse, he heads towards that next, but finds A-Qian blocking him, with her twin blades readied. The injured Jun manages to make it to the horse, and makes her escape at A-Qian's insistence. Zhang blows the whistle again, and the vulture swoops on A-Qian, clawing her head. A moment later it is felled by the thrown spear of Zhuo. With no weapon to hand, he is quickly overwhelmed by the dogs. Frustrated with Jun escaping him, he swiftly slices at A-Qian before she finally falls to his superior skill.

Jun rides to the Mongol camp, and finds the tent of Ma Fang. Jun falls unconscious from her wounds, but Ma secretly carries Jun to the tent of the Princess Meng Gen, who instructs him to cover the tracks to hide the destination of “Mr Wang”. The princess tends to Jun's wounds, and prepares a soup to feed her. The truth of Jun's gender is revealed, and Meng finally recognises her as a woman.

The next morning, Bai Gui walks with Zhu Tiangxian around the local palace in Datong. The two children had befriended in studies, the latter being the son of Prince Zhu Chongyao. As servants clean a pavilion, an old chest is carried out by servants. Zhu orders it opened, and finds a journal inside written by General Guo Deng, a renowned inventor who had died many years before. Realising this is a prized artifact, Zhu takes it to present to his father, who is found heavily drinking at a party with friends including Luo Hongxian. They realise that the journal is titled “The Diagram of the Device of the Gods”. Xu Pengju and Tang Yingde, who are also in the room, jump to their feet at hearing this. The Prince passes the three books to each of them to study. Tang Yingde notes a section in his book that mentions a specific pagoda in the palace. According to the text, it hides a hidden chamber below it.

After recovering for a time, Meng Gen manages to disguise Shao Jun, and secretly helps her escape the Mongol camp. The two women return to Zhuma Fortress, and part ways on sad terms. Shortly after, the assistant Ma Fang calls out to Jun, warning her that he had heard that He Jiuliang had left the camp and headed south, and was waiting to trap Jun along the border road.


Datong, China - 1528 AD (Ming Dynasty)
In reality though, He Jiuliang's cart had been seized at Zhuma Fortress, where a planted weapon had been found amongst his animal skins. The guards thus arrested him, and threw him into a cart headed for Datong. Upon arrival he is unbound and sees Governor Yang Yiqing before him, with Shao Jun alongside him. He Jiuliang is declared a prisoner, and thrown into a cell for questioning. Yang explains that once he gains a confession of Jiuliang's involvement in prisoner trafficking, he would need to report it to the nearest government official – Xie Qian in Beijing. Jun offers to travel to speak to him in his stead. Before she leaves, she asks to see Bai Gui, who she is informed is busy investigating a hidden chamber below a pagoda.

A Datong Pagoda today, chinadiscovery.com

She heads to the apparent dig site, where she reunites with Bai Gui, and also greets Luo Hongxian, Tang Yingde, and Xu Pengju. She requests Bai and Tang return with her to their quarters, where she reveals the tragic fate of Zhuo Mingke and A-Qian.

After a few days, a written confession is made by He Jiuliang, as he succumbs to the pain of torture. Jun takes the confession by horse, and immediately rides out towards Beijing, a three-day ride. Part way into her journey, she stops one evening to rest her horse at Zijing Pass, finding a small building with a single man sat against a table just off the road. Using Eagle Vision, she sees thirty men waiting in ambush for her. The man inside calls out to her, and she recognises him as none other than Captain Hu. She enters the small hut to find him painting calligraphy on a rough table. The two discuss poetry, as Hu places his poem on the wall for all to read. Finally, they discuss the visions of their former masters, as doubt creeps in Hu's mind of Zhang Yong's intentions. He leaves Jun to the safety of the hut, and leaves with his men.

Back in Datong, Tang Yingde struggles with grief for his lost friends, and decides to practice his spear skills in the dead of night. Looking up, he sees a great shadow on the horizon. He runs to Bai Gui's room, and tells him to run to find Yang Yiqing as Zhang Yong was approaching.

Above the city, a giant air balloon floats in the darkness. Zhang Yong looks over the city, and lowers a rope ladder to descend to the streets below. He walks to the Kui Xing Pagoda, where his spies had informed him that He Jiuliang was being held prisoner. The door is heavily reinforced, therefore he jumps to the first floor windows. As he does so, a thrown spear narrowly misses him. Tang Yingde leaps up and starts attacking Zhang with his martial arts. Realising Zhang was the murderer of his friends, he fights enraged, with Zhang struggling to hold him back. The latter blows a whistle, and two “men” start to climb down from the balloon to his aid. Tang retrieves his spear, and plunges it into one of the yujing, surprised to find them not flinching in pain. Realising these are the zombie creatures that Jun had spoke of, he manages to wrestle the spear loose as Zhang jumps to the floor above. He tries to follow, but another yujing grabs him by the ankle. Tang slices through its wrist, forcing it to fall to the ground. A few moments later it stands again and resumes climbing up the pagoda. A soldier named Niu leaps through a window, and comes to Tang's aid against the yujing. Realising he has a chance to reach Zhang, Tang takes the opportunity to leap higher up after him.

Niu escapes to the ground, and the yujing follow after him. Thinking he can draw them away, he starts to run, but they manage to catch him and begin to choke him. Just as he fears his life will leave him, Xu Pengju rides past on horse back, smashing the yujing down to the ground with his spear. Niu makes his escape, as Xu engages the two yujing on horseback. As he thrusts the first enemy with his spear, it is as if he connected with a wall, and is thrown to the ground. The other yujing smashes the ribs of the horse, taking that down and out of the battle as well. As Xu lies on the ground, another horse rides into the battle with a spear thrown into the back of one of the yujing. It was the governor, Yang Yiqing. After a brief fight, the governor realises it is a lost cause, and pulls Xu to his horse to make their escape.

At the top of the pagoda, Zhang Yong blows his whistle again, as he battles against Tang Yingde. He calls out for He Jiuliang, who he believes to be hidden behind a trap door. At this moment, Yang Yiqing and Xu Pengju enter the room from the stairwell, leaving Zhang outnumbered. He swiftly avoids their attacks and makes his way down to the main entrance, lowering the wooden bar preventing the door’s opening. Sure enough, the two yujing enter the pagoda to assist their master. As the governor holds them off, he instructs Xu and Tang to take He Jiuliang to safety. As they retrieve him from a nearby trap door, Zhang attempts to swing his sword to dispatch He Jiuliang, but instead finds Tang's shoulder, who in response manages to counter riposte and wound Zhang. Xu and Tang then rush outside with the calligrapher Jiuliang, as a large group of soldiers amass outside. Upon sighting the Governor's army, Zhang quickly moves to close and bar the entrance once more, leaving just him, his yujing, and the governor inside. A few moments later, the top floor of the pagoda explodes. The governor, evidently aware of his fate, had lit the gunpowder that resided there. With the whole pagoda aflame, no-one was able to enter.

A few days later, Shao Jun returns to Datong. She had arrived at Beijing and delivered the confession to Xie Qian, who in turn had spoken with the Emperor. A warrant had then been issued for Zhang Yong's arrest. However, she now stood before the burnt pagoda, and was hearing about the sad death of Governor Yang Yiqing. The bodies of the yujing had also been recovered from the pagoda, but Zhang Yong had apparently escaped. Xu Pengju had taken over the Governor's duties for the short term, and had been the one to bring Jun up to speed. She in turn went to meet with the injured Tang Yingde, before reuniting with Bai Gui. The latter is pleased to see his mother, and tells of how they have discovered designs of advanced chariots, which could be altered to carry cannons. Luo Hongxian had committed to creating a few of these chariots, to test out the designs.

The Mongol Steppes, China border, 1528 AD (Ming Dynasty)

The Mongolian Steppes, toursmongolia.com

Several days later, Prince Altan emerges from his tent at dawn. He is lost in thought, as he reflects on the army that Zhang Yong has been building, which at this point stands at around 100 yujing – most of which from prisoners trafficked from the Prince. An eagle leaves a message for the Prince, with a written sentence from Zhang Yong telling him to prepare for the next day. He sends his assistant Buhe to gather the horses and all his men. A short time after, his twin sister Meng Gen rides up to Altan. She explains that he should not trust Zhang Yong, and attempts to persuade him against attacking the Chinese.

Zhuma Fortress, Mongolian border, China - 1528 AD (Ming Dynasty)
General Tao Shen stands upon the wall of the fortress, and meets Shao Jun, Xu Pengju, Tang Yingde and Bai Gui. As darkness falls, a man on a horse comes to the city gates, and Jun leaps down with the aid of her rope dart to meet them. It is Ma Feng, who informs her that the Mongol Princess Meng Gen had managed to deter Prince Altan from attacking Zhuma Fortress. In the days beforehand, the construction of the advanced chariots had been completed, with the General providing enough men to operate twelve of these chariots. With these forces now ready to attack the hideout of Zhang Yong, Jun elects to lead the battle from the hot air balloon abandoned by Zhang Yong. She climbs into its basket, and ascends before heading over Lake Dai.

Meanwhile at the southern edge of Lake Dai, was the constructed fortress for Zhang Yong, housing his 100 yujing. He had learned the techniques to create the zombie creatures by studying the Precursor Box in his possession, which had taught him techniques in alchemy and acupuncture to achieve the yujing result. As he looks outside, he sees a number of chariots approaching, armed with cannons. The yujing near him is suddenly hit by cannon fire, and smashes to pieces around him. He sets to work summoning as many of his yujing as he can, first releasing twenty of his dogs towards the chariots.

The Great Wall, National Geographic

Inside the chariots, Bai Gui had apparently snuck aboard, as Tang Yingde and Xu Pengju help fight off the yujing. Jun's balloon arrives and with two large bombs aboard, she lights the fuses, and drops them upon the roof of Zhang's base. Hearing the explosion inside, Zhang Yong runs for safety as the heavy stone roof collapses, burying the remainder of his yujing army and all of his experiments. Frustrated at this setback, he blows a whistle and three of his yujing eagles begin to attack the balloon as he makes his escape. Losing height rapidly, Jun elects to leap from the basket, using her cloak to glide and safely land atop a nearby sand dune.

As the moon rises, Zhang Yong stands upon a portion of the Great Wall, and sees Shao Jun make her graceful landing. She spots him and makes her way towards him. They draw swords and battle viciously, both in the battle of their lives. A gust of wind picks up

Zhang Yong, AC Wiki

sand, and both take an unsighted strike at each other. Jun emerges with a wounded shoulder, but she had managed to take out both of Zhang's eyes. The duel at an end, she asks where he has left the Precursor Box. He refuses to answer, nor yield to her, and instead blows a whistle to summon his demonic eagles. They utterly savage his body, killing him in seconds.

Jun returns to the chariot forces, to find them successfully victorious over the remaining yujing. She is pleased to see her friends survived, but also surprised to find Bai Gui among them. They try to search for the Precursor Box among the ruins, but are unable to locate it. With the yujing and Zhang Yong defeated, they can at least enjoy their victory as the dawn sun rises.