The Warrior’s Way

A long time ago in a land far away, there lived a  warrior named Yang, who trained with the Sad Flute   clan since he was a kid to become the greatest  swordsman in history. He achieved this feat by   defeating the leader of the enemy clan and all his  warriors; however when he found the leader's baby   girl, he couldn't bring himself to kill her too.  Unfortunately this action made him an enemy of his   own clan, because no clan could truly win unless  every single member of the enemy clan was dead,   and that included the baby. With the Sad Flute  going after him and not being able to trust even   his own maid, Yang decides to burn down his house  and take a ship to the USA, where he would find   his old friend and former warrior Smiley to ask  for sanctuary for him and the baby. Sadly when   Yang makes it to the small town of Lode, there is  bad news waiting for him: Smiley died three years   ago. Meanwhile in Yang's old home, his master  Saddest Flute finds the ruins of Yang's house   and a note from the shipping company Yang hired.  Deciding to follow him to America, Saddest Flute   gathers a big group of his clan's warriors to come  with him. Back to Yang, the townspeople are wary   of him, especially the local drunk Ron, but circus  troupe member Eight Ball is nice and takes him to   Smiley's old laundry shop so Yang can stay there  with the baby if he wants. Later in the evening,   a woman named Lynne attacks Yang from behind with  a stick and he lets her hit him in order not to   reveal his real identity. Lynne apologizes before  explaining that she used to be friends with Smiley   and she thought Yang could've been a warrior enemy  of Smiley. Seeing as Yang is a friend of Smiley   too and needs help to start over, Lynne decides  to teach him how to do the laundry in order for   him to take over the shop. She has an idea of how  everything used to work because she used to help   Smiley in exchange for him teaching him how to  use a sword. Also, since Yang never got the baby's   name, Lynne decides to call her April. Yang cleans  the shop to get rid of years-old dust and the next   morning, he's open and ready for business. A  trio of teenagers tries to bully him when they   bring some clothes over, but luckily Eight Ball  shows up and scares them away before inviting Yang   and April for lunch at the circus. The troupe  is in the middle of building a Ferris Wheel,   hoping that will bring more tourists to their  little town. Yang notices Lynne is practicing   knife throwing and she's awful at it, which puts  her in a bad mood. Ron continues to complain about   Yang's presence in town, but the rest of the  troupe is fun to hang out with. In the evening,   Yang walks near Lynne's home and hears some music  for the first time in his life. Lynne hears him   outside and invites him in so they can listen to  the opera music together. This is the first thing   Yang learns to do as a normal person, and the  list just grows from there. The more days pass,   the more Yang enjoys his new life in town and the  simplest pleasures of life, like the joy of making   things clean, making friends and hanging out  with them, working as a group with the townsfolk,   playing games and feeling what it's like to  lose at something, finding peace in private   after a long day of work, watching the sunset, and  starting his own garden. This last one is Yang's   favorite because it allows him to bring life to  this world instead of ending it. One afternoon,   Yang notices Lynne visiting the cemetery and  asks Eight Ball about her past. Many years ago,   the town came under siege by a corrupt Colonel,  who wanted a girl to have some fun with and chose   teenage Lynne. He took her through the nearest  door for some privacy and they ended up in a   kitchen, which gave Lynne the chance to defend  herself by throwing a pan of boiling grease at   his face. Lynne run out of the building and the  Colonel shot her, so her parents together with   her sibling tried to come to pick up her body,  but the Colonel shot them too. Later, after   the Colonel was gone, when the townspeople were  moving the bodies to bury them, they discovered   that while the rest of the family was dead,  somehow Lynne had survived. Later in the evening,   Yang sees Lynne complaining about her own aim  while throwing little rocks around for fun.   Understanding where her inner anger comes from  now, Yang decides to help her and takes her to   the circus to teach her to aim. He explains her  problem isn't her arms but her focus, and Yang   blindfolds Lynne before making her throw knives at  him, successfully landing them all without hurting   him. Lynne thanks him by calling him Sad Flute,  revealing she's always known who he was because   of Smiley's stories. She also takes the chance to  ask why the clan is called that, and Yang explains   they're the Sad Flutes because when you cut the  throat, the last sound is a sad flute. Next,   Lynne asks him why he joined the clan in the  first place. Yang tells her about his father,   who worked in the field and died when a swordsman  killed him just to test his sword. Yang had been   angry at his father back then, and that's why  he decided he wanted to become stronger than   that. Noticing Yang is sad now, Lynne gifts him a  necklace that used to belong to her mother. This   reminds Yang of the only time in his life that he  received a present: he was just a kid in training,   and Saddest Flute gave him a cute little dog.  Afterward, Yang shows Lynne his single-edged   sword, which has been sealed to its scabbard  so he can't kill again and nobody will hear the   weeping of the souls he's taken. However he also  has a couple of twin short swords, and he uses   those to pick up Lynne's training where Smiley  left it, which Ron finds curious. Meanwhile,   Saddest Flute and the clan have taken over a ship  by force, killing the entire crew. The USA is a   big country but Saddest Flute isn't worried, he  knows he'll find Yang easily when he gives up and   grabs the sword again, they just need to listen.  Back in town, Yang's new life continues as normal,   dealing with the teenagers' pranks, cleaning the  locals' clothes, taking care of the flourishing   garden, training Lynne, and teaching April to  take her first steps. When Christmas comes,   the circus troupe throws a big party. Yang attends  but refuses to dance, and when Lynne asks him to   take her for a spin, they go back to training.  Lynne finally manages to come close enough to   put her sword on Yang's neck and she takes the  chance to kiss him, but Yang is too confused to   reciprocate. At that moment, the Colonel and his  men arrive in town, letting their horses stomp   all over Yang's garden. The Colonel is wearing  a mask now to cover the burns Lynne left him,   and he interrupts the Christmas party by bullying  the circus troupe. His men use the clown as target   practice, and when Ron tries to stop them, the  Colonel catches him with his whip around the neck   and makes one of his men drag him through the sand  while riding a horse. Then, the Colonel shoots the   clown in the foot before deciding he wants a girl  for the night. The townsfolk know Lynne will want   to take revenge and do something stupid, so they  tie her up in a cellar and Yang takes her swords.   However, she has a knife hidden in her boot, and  after the men leave, Lynne frees herself. While   Yang wonders if he should take out his sword,  the Colonel gathers the local women and chooses   one that turns out to be married. When the husband  tries to defend her, the Colonel shoots them both,   causing their daughters to come out from hiding  to cry for them and the Colonel ends up choosing   them instead. He has dinner while the girls  wash, but his meal is interrupted by Lynne,   who has dressed up as a dancer and pretends to  volunteer to be the Colonel's entertainment for   the night. The townsfolk discover Lynne has  escaped, and when Yang hears about this, he   decides it's time to break the seal of his sword.  Saddest Flute hears the seal being broken and the   wailing of Yang's sword, so now he knows in which  direction to guide his clansmen. Back to Lynne,   she tries to attack the Colonel with her knife by  surprise, but it turns out he's known who she is   since the beginning and is waiting for her with  his gun. With a shot at the ceiling, the Colonel   summons his men and makes them drag Lynne to the  bed so he can finally get what he wants from her,   but they're interrupted by the sudden arrival of  Yang through the window. He easily kills the other   men and is about to kill the Colonel too, but  Lynne stops him because she claims the Colonel   is hers. Deciding to use Lynne as a shield, the  Colonel grabs her and pushes her with him through   the window before running away as he rejoins the  rest of his men. Lynne follows him and uses her   newfound focus to throw her knife, effectively  killing the Colonel - or maybe not. When the   townsfolk come closer and take off the mask, it's  revealed the body belongs to a random guy that was   used as decoy, and the real Colonel got to escape  with his men. Yang goes to pick up his things and   April, intending to leave town before he's found  by Saddest Flute because he doesn't want them   to be in danger. However Eight Ball points out  they're already in danger because the Colonel will   come back for revenge with even more men. Yang  accepts to stay to help yet the townsfolks think   he won't be enough, but it doesn't worry Eight  Ball, because he points out they also have Ron.   It turns out Ron used to be an outlaw and when he  retired, Eight Ball buried all his weapons in the   cemetery, so now it's time to dig them out. While  Ron tests his aim and confirms is as good as it   used to be, Lynne talks to Yang. She's already  guessed that he'll leave when it's all over and   she wants him to consider taking her with him  and April when the time comes. With the weapons,   Ron finds his old cowboy clothes and takes them  to Yang for cleaning. While the rest of the town   uses the explosives to prepare traps, Ron and Yang  bond over their pasts. Ron always knew Yang was a   dangerous man because he could smell the blood,  and Yang confesses he's always known about Ron   too because of the same reason. The two of them  shake hands and Ron explains he quit his very   successful career as a thieving outlaw because  the rangers that were trying to catch him killed   his wife. Before dying, Ron's wife asked him  not to pick up a gun again, and he's stuck to   that promise since then. Today however it's an  emergency, and Eight Ball had told Ron his wife   would've understood. Ron advises Yang that if  he truly loves someone, he should stay away from   them not to bring them pain. Afterward, Yang gives  Lynne her swords back and reminds her of the best   places to stab a man for a quick death, making  her shiver with his gentle touch. The next day,   one of the teens hides with April in a cellar  while Yang waits at the town's entrance, and Ron   positions himself on the Ferris Wheel. When the  Colonel and his troops arrive, they ride ahead and   stomp all over the garden again, falling for the  dynamite the townsfolk had hidden there earlier.   The explosion kills a bunch of them and creates a  dust cloud that allows Yang to move unnoticed as   he kills more of the men. The Colonel orders  his men to move ahead and reach the circus,   where the carnival machines are suddenly  activated and create more explosions. Ron   begins shooting at them from atop the Ferris  Wheel, and when the Colonel's men begin climbing   the wheel to reach him, the circus troupe shows  up to shoot them off. While Yang continues to   move in the shadows to kill more men with his  sword, Ron uses as many bullets as possible   before sliding away on a cable. Once he reaches  safety, they make the Ferris Wheel explode,   taking everyone down. The circus troupe comes out  from their hiding spots, thinking they've won,   but the Colonel and some of his men are actually  still alive. Many of the performers are killed,   and when the Colonel's men are about to surround  them, the chase is interrupted by the sudden   apparition of Saddest Flute and his warriors.  A new fight starts between gun and sword users,   and Yang tells Lynne to run with April while he  joins the battle. Both sides keep losing men at   an alarming speed, especially because Yang kills  opponents on both sides. He runs after Lynne and   April to protect them since the Colonel's  attention is on them, but when they find   themselves surrounded, Lynne gives April to Eight  Ball for him to take her away while she helps   Yang. Once they've defeated the warriors around  them, Yang and Lynne go to find Eight Ball only   to discover the Colonel killed him and took April  away. The Colonel hides with April in a hotel   room, leaving a bunch of his men outside the door  for protection. After more Sad Flutes get killed   while trying to reach the baby, Yang shows up at  the hotel too and quickly kills all the bodyguards   before entering the room. With a quick movement  of his sword, Yang disarms the Colonel and gets   April back yet he doesn't kill him, leaving that  opportunity to Lynne, who shows up as well. Lynne   and the Colonel engage in a sword fight that  begins with the Colonel having the upper hand,   but soon Lynne turns it around and kills the  Colonel with great satisfaction. Afterward,   it's time for Yang to confront his old master, who  insists on the need to kill April because she'll   always be the enemy. Saddest Flute doesn't think  Yang has the guts to kill him in battle because   he's always been soft of heart: when he was a kid,  he had a lot of trouble killing the dog when his   master ordered him to, and even as an adult, he  couldn't even kill a baby. However, Yang will   do anything to protect his loved ones and doesn't  hesitate to kill his master, so Saddest Flute dies   expressing his pride. Now it's all over, it's time  for Yang to leave. Remembering Ron's advice, Yang   not only decides not to bring Lynne with him, but  he also leaves April with the circus troupe so she   can have a life away from danger. Months later,  Yang is living on a frozen land while selling   the fish he catches. Unfortunately, he's found by  an assassin here too, thus after killing the man,   Yang retrieves his sword and the necklace Lynne  had gifted him before burning down his latest   house, including another opera record he had  acquired. On his way out, he's found by more   Saddest Flutes, meaning there will always be some  fighting for him to do before finding a new home.