Tang Yijie, the Construction Committee Director, falls off from the rooftop and dies in a demolition riot. Yang Jiadong, a young police officer starts his investigation and finds that Tang’s death is tied up with another case several years ago. Soon he is framed and suspended from duty, but he never gives up. The film unfolds how individuals and families make fortune in the past 30 years since the reform in China began.
During the Late Tang Dynasty, a manor is invaded by a demon cat and a sense of unrest befalls the capital of Changan. A poet is charged with investigating the case and meets up with a monk. The two work together and pull apart the thread of clues to reveal a history of truths leading to the events.
After his mother flees the family home, a son turns to thieving in order to support his father, an abusive sort who is addicted to gambling.
When three friends open a hot pot restaurant in a former bomb shelter, they discover it’s linked by a single wall to the bank vault next door. While deciding to take the easy money or go to the police, they find out one of the bank’s employees is a former classmate and look to enlist her in deciding their future.
A lowly brothel maid captures the attention of Shanghai triad leaders, pulling her into a brutal war where she learns to rise above the odds in order to survive.