War and chaos plagued China in the early years of the Republic era. Two master swindlers, "Ghost Face" and "Stone Buddha" are sworn enemies drawn together in a daring plot to steal a trainload of gold that the Japanese conspirators used to fund Chinese warlord Admiral Wang. But the duo are not the only people coveting the mammoth treasure - on their way to the remote northwestern desert town where the gold is headed, they encounter a host of people, each with their own agenda but all trying to outwit one another with their schemes and schemes-within-schemes.