Playing Ep 01

Summary:

During the era of the Ming Dynasty, a powerful Lord maintained a group of lethal professional assassins, employed to eliminate his adversaries. One particularly prominent rival, another Lord, proved to be a persistent adversary, prompting the first Lord to dispatch his elite group known as the "Twelve Animals Killers" to annihilate this rival's lineage. The family in question, however, were renowned for their martial prowess, leading to the failure of this assassination squad.

In a desperate bid to achieve his aim, the ruthless Lord sent forth his deadliest assassin, the eponymous "Man Killer," an individual who faced a unique challenge: he had to complete his mission under the shroud of darkness, as the light of day restored his conscience, a consequence of a tortuous curse or affliction.

On the fateful night when the "Man Killer" arrived at his target's residence, the family's best warrior, the designated heir and son, was conspicuously absent—summoned to a crucial assembly, leaving his relatives defenseless. The resulting carnage was devastating, with the family falling to the merciless blade of the assassin. Yet, as he struck down the son's wife, the first glimmers of dawn crept over the horizon, awakening the assassin's moral clarity and revulsion at the atrocity he had committed.

Horrified by the monstrous acts he had perpetrated, the assassin underwent a profound transformation, renouncing his allegiance to his malevolent master and resolving to seek redemption by opposing him. This act of defiance, however, meant that the assassin himself became a target, as his former employer was now determined to silence him permanently.