Manchuria 1941: Caught sleeping with his Japanese major's mistress, Manchurian collaborator Tung Fei (Jackson Liu Hsiu-hsien) fatally shoots the man and flees for his life. Overcome by fatigue after hours of travel on horseback, Tung eventually awakens to find himself under the care of hunter Suen (Dick Wei) and his daughter, Ironic (Hsu).
China, 1915. A secret and unequal treaty that would increase Japan's dominance over China is about to be signed unwillingly but not before external forces jump in to make sure it never happens. Therefore both the US and a small band of thieves and orphans (among them Lau Sek-Ming and Alexander Lo Rei) are ordered by their foster father (Zhang Feng-Yi) to track it down in Shanghai. Feeling an unease in terms of their involvement in high politics all of a sudden, it becomes clear there's a traitor in the group...
The complicated story involves the military conquest of a peaceful island-nation by an evil despot and his sorcerer ally. His victory leaves the island's three heroic protectors dead, but, their young children are hidden away to grow to adulthood with different identities, unaware of their heritage, in hope that, in time, they might challenge and defeat the evil ruler. The charming Polly Kuan stars as one of these children who has been adopted by the conquerer himself, initially as an insult to the defeated hero, later as his protégé.
The place: Shanghai. The time: 1921. The Japanese aggression towards China is getting stronger each day. Enter Hsueh Ao-Lin, an agent of the government sent to uncover the Chinese traitors helping the enemy. Once inside, Hsueh must fight both the Japanese and his countrymen for his sake, and the future of China.
A fantastic martial artist and cat burglar puts his skills to use when he joins the Chinese resistance movement against the invading Japanese.
