Plot
In the mid-17th century, the Manchus take over the sovereignty of China and establish the Qing Dynasty. While nationalistic sentiments start brewing within the jianghu (martial artists' community), the Qing government immediately imposes a ban forbidding the common people from practising martial arts. The warlord Fire-Wind sees the new law as an opportunity for himself to make a fortune and he offers to help the government execute the new rule. Greedy, cruel and immoral, Fire-Wind ravages northwest China with his army, killing thousands of fighters as well as innocent civilians. His next goal is to attack Martial Village, which houses a large number of martial artists.
Fu Qingzhu, a retired executioner who served the government in the previous Ming Dynasty, feels an urge to stop Fire-Wind's brutality, and he sets forth to save Martial Village. He brings with him two young villagers, Han Zhibang and Wu Yuanying, to Mount Heaven to seek help from Master Shadow-Glow, a reclusive swordsman and sword-forger. Shadow-Glow allows his four students (Chu Zhaonan, Yang Yuncong, Xin Longzi and Mulang) to accompany the trio on their quest. He also gives each of them a special sword he forged, and the seven of them title themselves "Seven Swords". The Seven Swords return to Martial Village in the nick of time and succeed in driving away Fire-Wind's soldiers. In order to buy time for the villagers to prepare for an evacuation, the Seven Swords advance to Fire-Wind's base and cause chaos. During the raid, Chu Zhaonan encounters Fire-Wind's Korean slave girl, Green Pearl, and brings her along as they make their escape.
As the party makes its exodus, strange things start happening along the way. Their food and water supplies are mysteriously poisoned, and their trail is marked by signs leading the enemy to them. The Seven Swords realise that there is a spy among them and understand that they must eliminate him/her before Fire-Wind catches up. Green Pearl immediately becomes a suspect because she does not speak their language. The situation is further complicated by a romantic affair between Chu Zhaonan and Green Pearl. Once, Green Pearl leads Chu into a trap unintentionally and manages to escape despite suffering serious injuries. Chu is captured by Fire-Wind, and Green Pearl manages to convey the message to the other swordsmen before she dies.
The other six swordsmen travel to Fire-Wind's base and engage him in a fierce battle to rescue Chu Zhaonan. During the Swords' absence, the spy, Qiu Dongluo, reveals his identity and begins killing the unsuspecting villagers systematically. He is discovered by the village chief's daughter, Liu Yufang, and eventually killed by her. However, Liu is traumatised by the experience and turns hysterical. Meanwhile, the Seven Swords defeat and slay Fire-Wind, forcing his army to retreat temporarily. The swordsmen return to the hideout, only to find that all the villagers have been killed, except for Liu Yufang and the children. Han Zhibang calms Liu down and decides to stay behind and protect the survivors. The Seven Swords realise that the only way to save the jianghu is to persuade the emperor to withdraw the Martial Arts Ban. Liu tells Han that she can take care of the survivors and Han rides away to join his comrades as they travel towards the capital city.
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Famous quotes containing the word plot:
“Morality for the novelist is expressed not so much in the choice of subject matter as in the plot of the narrative, which is perhaps why in our morally bewildered time novelists have often been timid about plot.”
—Jane Rule (b. 1931)
“We have defined a story as a narrative of events arranged in their time-sequence. A plot is also a narrative of events, the emphasis falling on causality. “The king died and then the queen died” is a story. “The king died, and then the queen died of grief” is a plot. The time sequence is preserved, but the sense of causality overshadows it.”
—E.M. (Edward Morgan)
“After I discovered the real life of mothers bore little resemblance to the plot outlined in most of the books and articles I’d read, I started relying on the expert advice of other mothers—especially those with sons a few years older than mine. This great body of knowledge is essentially an oral history, because anyone engaged in motherhood on a daily basis has no time to write an advice book about it.”
—Mary Kay Blakely (20th century)