In 1995, the year before the comprehensive gun ban policy was implemented, the tranquility of Mangya Town was shattered. A notorious bandit leader, who had hidden a massive treasure, broke out of prison. Forty-three ruthless outlaws gathered from all directions, joining their leader, Beishan, in blockading Mangya by force. The entire town was plunged into a desperate crisis—cut off from fuel and communication! The bandits wanted both money and lives. Gunfire erupted across Mangya as a massive sandstorm loomed on the horizon. Facing impossible odds—one gun against eighty-eight—the gang also turned on each other in a brutal "dog-eat-dog" power struggle. Surrounded by enemies, with sandstorms blotting out the sun and death hanging by a thread—how can they turn the tide?
Set in the Republican era, the film tells the story of Tong Xiaoliu, a frivolous xiangsheng (crosstalk) apprentice who resolves to save Dalian from an arranged marriage. His rescue mission is fraught with danger—Xiaoliu uses his wits to outmaneuver those in power and nearly succeeds, but accidentally falls through a time-space rift, leaving him struggling to find a way back. Meanwhile, a long-planned murder conspiracy unfolds, and Dalian’s hidden secrets are about to be revealed. "Tan Qingshui River" from original film title references a well-known Chinese folk tale.
During the Republican era, a group of frustrated people from the movie industry is invited in a luxurious mansion to make a movie out of a gruesome case that has recently rattled the city of Shanghai, in the hopes that it would turn into a huge sensation and make them famous. However, they never expected that the murderer would be in their midst and that the truth behind the case would be far more bizarre than their fictional movie plot.
A group of people that disappear after a mysterious light falls upon the city, leaving the survivors to try and unravel the mystery.
Set in 1920s Shanghai, Ma Zouri and Xiang Feitian establish a notorious beauty pageant called the Flowers Competition. All of the city's elite attend the gala event, but when Wanyan Ying unexpectedly wins, it sets into motion a series of tragic events that change their destinies.