Jingwu Chen Zhen (2008)

Chen Zhen was apparently shot to death after he killed Huo Yuanjia's murderers in Shanghai, as seen in the ending of Huo Yuanjia (2008). In this series, set in the early Republican era, Chen Zhen actually survived and had fled to Beiping (Beijing) with Huo Yuanjia's orphaned son, Huo Dongjue. He changes his name to "Cheng Zhi'en" and works as a servant in a martial arts school run by the Fang family. At the same time, he dedicates himself to raising Huo Dongjue while keeping a low profile to stay out of trouble and avoid being recognised. He starts a romantic relationship with Fang Zhixin, one of the Fang siblings. Chen Zhen is drawn into a rivalry between the Fang family and a Japanese dojo. Although he is reluctant to get involved in other things apart from looking after Huo Dongjue, he still helps the Fangs drive away the dojo's fighters on a few occasions in disguise as a masked man dressed in black. His true identity is eventually exposed and he is forced to go into hiding because he is still wanted by the authorities for what he did in Shanghai. Initially, Chen Zhen is only concerned about raising Huo Dongjue and reviving the Jingwu School, Huo Yuanjia's legacy. However, over time, he begins to understand that he has a better purpose in life — to defend China from the aggressive Empire of Japan. He participates in missions to disrupt the Japanese's plans for invasion until the Marco Polo Bridge Incident in 1937 which marks the beginning of the Second Sino-Japanese War. On the night before the Japanese invaded Beiping, Chen Zhen rallies his allies to destroy the Japanese's secret base in the dojo. He sacrifices himself in the battle and becomes a martyr.