Ashes of Time

On the day of his brother's marriage, Ouyang Feng leaves White Camel Mountain and settles near a desert village, offering his skills as a killer to passing martial artists. The inn becomes a crossroads for visitors and the first step in his wandering life. This marks the start of his long, dangerous path.

Huang Yaoshi, a close friend, stops by the inn every year to drink with Ouyang before heading for White Camel Mountain. On one visit he brings a jar of memory-erasing wine, which Ouyang refuses to drink. Huang drinks from it himself, and Ouyang suspects the cup is tied to a woman, then Huang leaves the next day.

Murong Yang, prince of the former Yan kingdom, asks Ouyang to kill Huang Yaoshi, accusing him of reneging on a drunken promise to marry Murong Yin. The request drags Ouyang into a tangled web of love, loyalty, and vengeance. He weighs the commission while the fragile balance of relationships begins to tilt.

Murong Yin visits Ouyang and begs him to kill Murong Yang, claiming her brother has become possessive and won't let her marry Huang. Ouyang soon deduces that Murong Yang and Murong Yin are the same person, a twist that exposes a distorted identity at the heart of the conflict.

Over the years, Ouyang's psyche slips further into darkness and he reappears as Dugu Qiubai, an invincible swordsman. The transformation marks a stark departure from his former self and propels him into legend. The man once pulling strings in the inn becomes a solitary, formidable force.

The Blind Swordsman, once a friend of Huang, visits the inn as his eyesight fails. He hopes to go home to Peach Blossom but takes up guarding the village to earn money for his journey. Facing hundreds of bandits alone, he is eventually overwhelmed and killed.

A girl from the village offers her mule and a basket of eggs to Ouyang, seeking vengeance for her brother's death at the hands of soldiers. Ouyang declines the offer, and the girl remains by the inn, waiting for him to change his mind. Her quiet presence adds a thread of human motive to the violence around the inn.

Hong Qi, a down-and-out martial artist, takes up the offered trade with the village, killing soldiers for an egg but losing one finger in the process. After recovering, he leaves the inn with his wife and later becomes the famed Northern Beggar. His ascent mirrors the shifting tides of martial fortunes around the inn.

Ouyang learns that his sister-in-law, whom he never properly moved on from, died of illness two years earlier. Before her death she asked Huang Yaoshi to bring Ouyang the jar of memory-erasing wine. This backstory links the memory jar to his past and the loss that haunts him.

Ouyang ultimately decides to drink the wine, an act that triggers a fatal reckoning. He burns down the inn, returns to White Camel Mountain, and establishes himself as the Western Venom. The memory-erasing wine seals his fate and reshapes the rest of his life.