The film opens a bit slowly, about 4-5 minutes is spent just showing three characters hiking their way to the temple. Once they get there, the action picks up a little. Their leader, Esquire Wen, is ostensibly there to advise and witness the succession of the Abbott at the Three Treasures Temple, but his real motive is to steal an ancient scroll.

This isn't some kung-fu manual teaching some lost secret style, as is often the case in most movies, but rather a Buddhist sutra.

The tension rises as more people arrive at the temple, including the local governor who harbors a greedy desire for the scroll himself. Moreover, two of the lead candidates to succeed the old abbot have ambitious or corrupt desires that reveal their hypocrisy when it comes to Buddhist teaching.

The story is very well told, the suspense building masterfully, and there are several surprise twists in the story, which are satisfyingly appropriate, which I won't reveal here.

None the less, I reluctantly didn't give the film a higher rating because I thought the action was a little weak. There are relatively few fight scenes, and in almost all of these cases the characters are merely trying their hardest to evade or jump away from a pursuer or pursuers. Therefore, almost no one attempts to stand his ground to seriously duel with his opponent. I thought there were some lost opportunities to throw in a couple of great fight scenes, but perhaps that was never the director's intent.

If you like a taut drama full of intrigue, this film can be quite entertaining, but don't expect an array of intense combat sequences.