Chang'an, China, 754 AD (Tang Dynasty)

Li Bai looks over the city from a balcony, as the festival of flowers takes place, an annual event created by the Emperor. He remarks that the festival is pointless, as the winner will always be the Chancellor Yang Guozhong, whose wealth always ensures victory. He makes a short poem in honor of the Chancellor's beautiful concubine (quoting directly from the original “A Song of Pure Happiness” by Li Bai), before resigning himself to the fact that instead of becoming a knight of the realm he has ended up a court poet. Alongside him stands Li E, who comments on the many peonies below them, describing them as not only being of great value but also the symbol of nobility. He wonders how many families have been left broken and poor, for the value of a single peony. Li Bai questions why Li E came to the city, to which the latter states that he is there to pick flowers. Li E then raises his hood and disappears into the crowd below.

Li E makes his way through the crowd until he nears the final cart of flowers provided by the Chancellor. Using his Hidden Blade he dispatches one of the guards, before tossing him into the back of the cart. Li E then climbs into the cart himself, and coaxes each guard towards the cart, one by one stabbing them and pulling their bodies in amongst the flowers. He questions one guard if he knows why he has come for them. The guard admits that they had stolen the flowers from the village of Duling. Li E asks where their boss is, and he is revealed to be at the Palace. The guard begs mercy, but is struck down by the Hidden Blade. Li E takes a blood spattered peony, which was dirtied by his last victim, and carries it symbolically before him as he walks towards the Palace.

A number of guards on horseback arrive, and quickly disperse the crowd to make way for the procession of the province Governor – General An Lushan. As Li E continues through the people, he overhears chatter that the General is supposedly plotting a rebellion, or that equally such rumours were created by the jealous Chancellor who rivals the General for the Emperor's affection.

Within the Palace stands a man wearing an eye patch, the leader of Yang Guozhong’s flower pageant. A subordinate reports to him that all the flower carts have arrived, save strangely for the last one. The eye patched man states that it must simply be held up amidst the crowd, but that their procession for the Chancellor is still the most beautiful. He momentarily spots Li E amongst the masses, and suddenly feels like he is being watched. At that moment the Palace main gates begin to open, and a parade including dancers and elephants enters the street. One dancer blows peony petals at the crowd, but the petals change into butterflies, which then flutter up to the imperial balcony. There stands the beautiful imperial concubine Yang Guifei. The drums begin to sound, and it is announced that the winner of the festival is indeed Chancellor Yang Guozhong. The eye patched man is delighted. Musicians break into song, and an excerpt of “The Palace of Tchao-Yang” poem written by Li Bai is the chorus heard all around as the General enters the Palace to meet the Emperor, Xuanzong of Tang.

The Emperor bids the General to come and sit at his table, whereby the seated Chancellor admonishes the General for not kneeling before the Emperor. The General is told that he missed the festival, to which he responds that he was the star attraction of the day anyway. Yang Guozhong retorts that he would always make sure that only the best flowers were given to his Emperor, to which An Lushan argues that whilst the Chancellor was playing with flowers he was at the borders protecting the lands. In an attempt to calm the two ministers down, Gao Lishi – the court Eunuch, reminds them that all are vital to the success of the Empire. To further calm matters, the Emperor picks up a drum and requests that the General give him a dance, to which An Lushan dutifully agrees.



Outside of the palace, the eye patched man hears the party and is eager to join in the festivities. He questions one of Yang's servants as to when he can meet the Chancellor, and he is requested to show patience. He is also assured that those who help the Chancellor to win are usually rewarded in kind, and is asked to wait at the Pavilion of Fragrant Woods. Leaving the servant, he makes his way to the pavilion, where he finds Li E casually waiting for him, peony still in hand. The eye patched man asks who he is, to which Li E merely states that he is someone who wishes to see him dead. The thugs accompanying the eye patched man rush at Li E with knives drawn. As entrance to the festival necessitates most major weapons to be left behind, whilst still holding the peony behind his back, he uses Kung Fu to take down each of the enemies with ease. With all the guards defeated, the eye patched man attempts to run, but Li E gives chase and with the peony in his left hand he extends his hidden blade through it, stabbing down the man in his neck. Bloodied flower petals flow through the air as silence falls.

Inside the palace, a servant scurries his way to the side of the Chancellor, Yang Guozhong. He explains that several bodies have been found in the pavilion, and that they were recognised as the men that helped orchestrate his flower carts. The servant fears that an assassin may now be within the palace. The Chancellor dismisses the concern, stating that the men were merely thugs, and must have had enemies of their own. The servant promises that the guards cleared up the mess, and that no guests witnessed the carnage. The Chancellor requests that they discreetly investigate and try to locate the assassin.

The Emperor praises the General's dancing, and offers him rewards for his service. The General is pleased, but relays that he would dearly prefer to have horses for his men, and posthumous ranks applied to soldiers who had been slain under his command and also to the current ones depending on his leadership. The Emperor states that he has the utmost trust in the General for his control of the borders, and that he has his full support for whatever battles he engages in. The Emperor retires for the evening, and informs that the Chancellor will take care of the emoluments. The Chancellor smiles at the General, and immediately informs him that the banquet has now finished.

Outside, groups of guards continue their search for Li E, who has taken to the rooftops to avoid detection. He recalls a memory of overlooking a cliff face, where he was joined by a female member of the Hidden Ones, higher in rank than him with her hood prominently in place to hide her face. She tells him to hear the voices of the oppressed and those in despair, however small or weak they are, and to fight every injustice. She asks if he is ready, to which he replies aloud that he is – pulling him back from the memory and to his lonely palace rooftop reality. He performs a Leap of Faith, and artfully lands in a passing cart of flowers pulled by horses. He is shocked to discover another hiding in the cart already, a young man called Yan Jiming.

Hearing noise from the cart behind him, the driver calls out to check if everything is ok, to which Yan Jiming confirms that it is whilst a silent Li E holds the Hidden Blade to his throat. Jiming states aloud that he was doing Kung Fu practice, and hit the roof accidentally. The cart driver continues on, and Li E sits back and apologises, stating that he did not think that someone might be in it amongst the flowers. Jiming relaxes and says that the flowers were to be thrown away, so he decided to take some to the countryside for poor children to give them some joy. He asks if Li E is an assassin, at which point a guard calls out to stop the cart.

The guards demand that the occupant of the cart come out, but Jiming stays at the window and introduces himself as the son of the Governor of Changshan, Yan Gaoqing. The guards apologise, realising his lordly status, and the cart is permitted to continue. After they are a distance away, Jiming breathes out and admits he was scared to death, but was still an expert in lying. He asks if Li E is skilled in Kung Fu, and might be able to teach him. Li E merely acknowledges that Kung Fu is probably not suited for the young lord, but he will remember the help given to him this night. He confirms he is from Qinghe, and giving his name springs from the cart and out into the night.

Taking to the rooftops, Li E runs across them and is spotted by a drunk Li Bai wandering in the street alone below him. Li Bai decides to give chase to Li E, calling out to him to try and get his attention. He cheers him on, saying that he is free, and that he should never stop running else anyone will catch him, but if he runs fast enough he may yet reach the moon. Failing to keep up, Li Bai collapses to the street, and recites a new poem (an excerpt from the original poem “The Brave”) in honor of the inspiring assassin who disappears from sight.

Back at the palace, General An Lushan discreetly meets with Gao Lishi outside. He mentions that he knows that the Chancellor wants him dead, to which Lishi reassures him that he is protected by becoming a dignitary now. The General states that the real motivation for his visit to the Palace is that he wants to be leader of the Golden Turtles, a secretive order that reigns over the imperial court. Lishi urges patience, and tells him that the Chancellor is still the best placed to hold that position. The General advises that he has his own informants in the court and through them he has heard rumors stating that he will never be considered for Chancellor, and thus will never take command of the Golden Turtles. Not wishing to beg for power, he promises to return with his own version of the Golden Turtles and when he does, between him and Yang Guozhong only one will come out of it alive. As the General turns to leave, Lishi asks if he is planning a rebellion, to which the General replies that he is merely being a loyal soldier and ridding the pests that surround his Emperor.


Correspondence, 754 AD

A letter is addressed to Li Bai. The author gives his name as Abe No Nakamaro, and gives warm greetings to his friend Li Bai. He talks of the legends of the Buddha, and how people used to refer to him as a precursor. When the Buddha passed from this world, his body left behind some multi-coloured and seemingly unbreakable pearls called “Sarira” or “Relics of the Buddha”. Coveted as valuable relics of power, they shifted possession through time and those that survived at the time of writing of the letter had been transported away in secret and held at the Temple Of The Prolonged Light at the city of Yangzhou, under the watchful eye of Master Jianzhen. Fearing the growing power of the Golden Turtles, specifically if the relics should fall into the wrong hands, an expedition was launched by the Master and Abe to move the relics to Japan for their safety. The expedition took four ships from China, yet the boat carrying Abe was destroyed in a violent storm. He washes up on a shore, but remains unsure whether it is China or Japan. Expressing hope that the other ships are safe, Abe concludes the letter.


Final Thoughts - Analysis

It was certainly nice to see a traditional styled assassin with their hood, and I thought it was a wonderful homage to the fan favourites that have come before. The political battle that engulfed the period is clearly evident here, and I thought the characters and their relationships were handled very well. I'm already eager to learn more about Li E's Mentor, who makes a brief flashback appearance, and I am hoping she crosses paths with Li again in the next volume. In the manhua it looks from her blades that she might actually be Persian, and that would mean that the Hidden Ones are gradually making their way and spreading their influence into the East, as the centuries pass by from their initial formation by Amunet and Bayek in Ancient Egypt. Although it is still a few hundred years prior to the forming of the Assassin Brotherhood, it is heart warming to see that the tenets remain firmly in place even at this juncture.



As your standard Isu advocate, I was pleased that this volume concludes with a promise of some First Civilization content to come. The Buddha being a member of the precursor race is certainly a gutsy interpretation, and I am curious to see exactly what these pearls are capable of that necessitates their hiding. I suspect one might be in the Emperor's possession already, which might explain the transmuting of leaves to butterflies witnessed in the story. The next volume promises a great deal, and it may even ultimately end up with a journey to Japan which is something I would be excited to see.

As a final observation, I would like to see Ubisoft make a greater effort to try and globalise their transmedia. There was a time that the comics and novels would release in multiple markets simultaneously. In the case of this particular volume, it looks like it will be well over a calendar year since its initial release before an English version comes to market. Unfortunately I think these kind of delays ultimately hamper the releases, as any kind of promotion tends to be dampened and hype levels fall with such long periods to wait between languages. Personally I would prefer to wait longer and let the product release in all markets at once to get all the fans engaged. A small criticism, but with consideration to how the transmedia used to be handled, it is also a valid one.