A clever Shaw Brothers wuxia comedy about a young antihero (Tony Leung Siu Hung) getting himself and his friend (Max Mok) into all kinds of trouble and ultimate defeating the "Heavenly Demon" (Chen Kuan Tai). Lightning fast action, pleasant humor, great acting and a helpful modern-day narrator makes this an unusually enjoyable Shaw Brothers production.

Raised to be a righteous martial artist, Yuan kicks off the story proper by finding a cave containing a skeleton, a treasure map, and a manual teaching him the Golden Snake style. Obeying a request hidden in the manual to give a portion of the treasure to the Golden Snake's old girlfriend, Yuan begins to seek the woman out - on the way solving the riddle of the Golden Snake, and how he came to his end.

Loyal gang member Iron Panther takes the heat for his boss after a dustup with their rivals, only to end up betrayed in this vintage kung fu yarn.