Conan, on a mission from Narim-Bey, his commanding officer in Aghrapur, is smuggled into Wan Tegri by a shepherd. The sky above the city is covered in a reddish, harmless flame, and Conan's job is to assess if Wan Tengri is worth King Yildiz's efforts to conquer. Upon his arrival in he city, Conan steals a purse from a passerby, and is surprised that the magical flame wind whispers to him to halt. The wind also tells the guards where Conan is, and soon he is chased by several soldiers. He shakes them and heads to Tsien Hui to cash in the gems he has stolen. Unfortunately, the purse belonged to a wizard, who magically teleports the gems away and replaces them with a viper. Frustrated, Conan kills the viper just as the soldiers find him once again. He escapes into Tsien Hui's harem chamber a