At a lavish banquet, Empress Dowager Cixi, Wong Wai-Fan, orders security chief Liu Jing Tian, Walter Tso Tat-Wah, to capture the five thieves who stole 2 million taels from the Royal Treasury. In response, the task falls to chief constable Leng Tian-Ying, Chen Kuan-Tai, to assemble a small squad of his best men and recover the gold within ten days, dead or alive. Leng accepts, but the mission tests his leadership when his own brother Cun Yi, Bai Jing-Xue, refuses to join, worn down by Leng’s merciless “take-no-prisoners” approach to justice.
The hunt drives the team to a watermill, where Leng’s relentless interrogation leads to the death of the miller in front of his family, revealing only a fragment of the treasure. Their pursuit intensifies in the shadows of an abandoned temple, where they are ambushed by two bandits in the night. One of Leng’s own men, Peng Lai, Ai Fei, who had wandered off to aid starving Han Chinese villagers, is captured and staked alive, forcing Leng to execute his comrade to end the suffering. The chase then spills to the seaside, where the two bandits are cornered again. A formidable assassin, Fan Jin-Peng, Jason Pai Piao, is revealed as a hired danger, and although Leng defeats him, the confrontation leaves Leng wounded and Ma Zhong, Gam Biu, dead.
Soon after, the constables are ambushed by Fang Feng-Jia, Ku Feng, and the remaining bandits. In a dramatic turn, Leng’s brother Cun Yi unexpectedly returns, enabling Leng to survive by the skin of his teeth as they ride to Fang’s residence. There, Fang’s blind daughter, Xiao Lan, Yau Chui-Ling, tends to Leng’s wounds and awakens tensions that both men pretend to bury in front of her.
As they part ways from Fang’s home, Fang is wounded but still escapes to his hideout. Leng and Fang collide again, and they are suddenly attacked by a mysterious cadre that does not belong to Fang’s gang. Fang, dying from his wounds, reveals a shocking truth: Lord Liu had orchestrated the theft and had sent troops to pursue their every move to erase all evidence. He offers to sacrifice his life to let Leng slip away, but only if Leng will look after Fang’s blind daughter.
Leng survives the brutal trial and learns that Cun Yi has fallen to Lord Liu’s forces. Grief-stricken and betrayed, Leng dedicates himself to avenging his brother by hunting down the mastermind behind the betrayal. He finally confronts Lord Liu and kills him, but a treacherous trap seals Leng’s fate as well. In the aftermath, Fang’s daughter waits in vain for either her father or Leng to return, left alone with the shadow of the crime and the memory of those who paid the price for a gold heist that spiraled beyond control.
