It is after 9/11 but before Iraq. Shanghai has surpassed Hong Kong as Asia's most important city. Zhong Fong's Office of Special Investigations is a model of the New China's efficiency. Then Fong follows a disturbing lead which brings him to the rural backwaters of Anhui Province. There he is shocked to find blood trafficking and a massive outbreak of AIDS. Anhui Province is Fong's first step on the longest journey of his life-a journey that eventually brings him to the streets of Vancouver, Canada-the Golden Mountain. As Fong pursues the money behind the blood trafficking, his every step is noted by a pair of ancient eyes-eyes that belong to a man bent on revenging the death of an old love. The man is the Master of the Guild of Assassins. The old love was Loa Wei Fen who died at the hands of Zhong Fong, in a construction pit in the Pudong, nine long years ago.