Based on the real-life Duan Heyu, emperor of The Dali Kingdom (1108-1147), who, in order to prevent his country from being ruined by internal and external troubles, goes to Western Xia to find the double lute, one of the eight great totems

Set against the backdrop of the Chinese Civil War, the film tells the story of a secret agent named Lin Xi. Lin Xi, a covert operative working for the Communist side, is tasked with rescuing a fellow spy codenamed "Green Snake" who has been captured by the enemy. His mission is to help "Green Snake" deliver crucial defense plans of Jinzhou city to the People's Liberation Army outside the city, thereby supporting the assault on Jinzhou.

When a door closes, they say another one opens in its place. Yu Nana (Nan Sheng) is a graduate student who has been pursuing her doctorate in psychology for the past eight years. While all of her college friends have secured jobs or married, Nana has been studying hard and preparing for her thesis. All her hard work seems to have been wasted when her thesis fails again and she is denied her Ph.D., plunging Nana into despair. The next day, Nana receives a strange email from Sasai Eisuke (Terada Takuya), a Japanese businessman. Wanting to escape from her failures, Nana takes the stranger up on his unusual offer and sets off for a trip to Japan that will change her life.