The Avenger, a brooding swordsman armed with a blade marked "Assassin of 1000 Armies" claims he is waiting for a long-missing friend, at an outpost in northwestern China's Sun Valley. The Avenger suffers from an intense fear of blood, being the only survivor of the massacre of his clan. The sight of blood drives him into a murderous rage. Winter is coming, so the local horse trader Black Bull and most of the valley's men prepare to lead a herd to market, leaving Black Bull's girlfriend, a feisty innkeeper, behind.