In 1905, revolutionist Sun Yat-Sen visits Hong Kong to discuss plans with Tongmenghui members to overthrow the Qing dynasty. But when they find out that assassins have been sent to kill him, they assemble a group of protectors to prevent any attacks.

Lin, a sea captain, returns from a 6 month journey when he is told that his 25-year-old son Lin Bo has been gunned down by the police. In his quest to understand what happened, he realizes he knew very little about his own son. He starts a journey back to Chongqin, a city he once lived. He will understand the impact of his paternal repeated absence on the life of his child.

During WWII, Taiwan was occupied by Japan. Hai Sheng, a young man from Taiwan, was deeply influenced by Japanese militarism. He enthusiastically joined the Japanese vanguard and went to the mainland China to participate in the war together with his foster-brother, Yamamoto Ichiro. However, when he witnessed the atrocities of the Japanese army killing Chinese civilians, he only wanted to escape back to his hometown. On the way back home, Hai Sheng met four girls including Ning Yu. Forced by desperation, Hai Sheng agreed to send them to the occupied Nanjing city. Along the way, Hai Sheng not only had to protect the four girls, but also avoided the pursuit of Yamamoto Ichiro, the captain of the vanguard team. In the end, among the four girls, only Sakurako (Ying Zi), who was of Japanese descent, survived. When Ying Zi also saw the true face of the Japanese soldiers, Hai Sheng decided to work hard to cover Ying Zi to break out of the Japanese army camp.