During the Song Dynasty two groups of thriving tea-makers are introduced--a bellicose male Black Tea Tribe and a peace-loving female Black Tea Tribe. The two groups had kept to themselves merrily producing black tea until a male Japanese apprentice from the female side provokes the members of the other group by taunting them about the quality of their tea. In response, the male tea tribe massacres the female tribe and destroys its tea plantations.In present day Japan, Yagi, a descendent of the Japanese apprentice, closes down his tea shop after his wife's death, which he believes was caused by a curse invoked by his forefather. Anxious to help her father get back on his feet, Yagi's teenage daughter Mikiko sets out on a journey to Taiwan to find a descendent of the male tribe after she learns that the only way to break the curse is to beat him in a tea-making competition. Meanwhile, in Taipei, Yang is the ruthless kingpin of an underground tea market and a descendent of the male tea tribe who schemes against Ruhua, a descendent of a member of the female tea tribe who miraculously escaped the massacre. Yagi follows his daughter to Taipei to protect her.