In Beijing, Li Hui Yan is a perpetually broke but sharp-witted police detective who lives in a modest traditional neighbourhood with his teenage son. He is forever trying to borrow money from his co-workers. Meanwhile, Zhou You is a funeral parlour worker troubled by his past, who is occasionally contacted by the police for cadaver removal to the morgue. One fateful day, he is called out to pick up a body and discovers the police has been duped by a fake death certificate – the dead man had actually been a murder victim. Li Hui Yan becomes curious and interrogates Zhou You, noticing that the latter is an extraordinary talented detective by his own right. When one of his son’s school girl friends is kidnapped by two masked assailants, Li Hui Yan investigation leads him to a small icy town in the north. Zhou You’s father is murdered under violent circumstances at the same time. The murderers’ trail bring Zhou You back to his father’s mysterious home town, the exact same town…