During 1930s, in Beiping, the Japanese forces were eager to make a move, and the anti-Japanese activities had already started.

A young swordsman named LI Tianran returned from the US. In order to revenge for the bloody murder of the entire family of his master five years ago, he dived into the Hutongs of this ancient capital and looked for the culprit who was responsible. With his investigation going deeper, Japanese spies, pro-Japanese advocates, wealthy old households, gangsters, social butterflies, foreign journalists…various people representing different interests surfaced and interacted in these complicated situations.

Though the life of ordinary people went on as usual, a storm was brewing deep at the heart of this country. Until the gunshot at the Lugou Bridge, everything took a turn and would never be the same….

Jiang Wen's latest epic movie Hidden Man is adapted from this novel.