The Three Swordsmen 1994

Siu Sam-Siu, Ming Kim, and Wang To stand at the center of a dangerous contest—the run-up to the title of the world’s greatest martial artist. The setting is a grand presentation where Wang To has already stepped away from the jiang hu after being branded the leader of the Godly Blades Troupe by the Emperor, leaving Siu Sam-Siu and Ming Kim to settle the crown in a scheduled duel at the start of the new year. The scene turns chaotic when a ploy unfolds: Butterfly, the younger sister of Madame Ku Choi Yi, who is married to Ming Kim’s older brother, pretends to be Ming to draw Siu in. Siu easily exposes the deception and defeats Butterfly, but trouble quickly follows as officers from the Godly Blades Troupe descend and accuse Siu of sneaking into the imperial palace, of stealing the Ngo-nan Sword and the Godly Jade Jar, and even of murdering the Empress in a bid to defeat Ming Kim. With the accusations piling up, Siu is forced to flee.

He escapes to Butterfly’s home, where he meets his former lover, Red Leaves, a woman who reveals she once framed him to play with his heartache. Yet the mastermind behind the frame is not Red but the King of Yin-tun, the exiled leader of the Ming-fa Sect who was thought defeated seven years earlier and imprisoned at Half Day Horizon. Yin-tun is now rallying followers who have poisoned Red to ensure Siu’s fall while he tries to heal her. Siu defeats Yin-tun’s followers, then carries Red to the Sword Storage Villa, a place tied to Tik Suen, whom Red is married to.

The following day, Wang leads the Godly Blades Troupe to arrest Siu, and Tik discovers that Red has left the villa and cannot be found. Siu, hiding in Butterfly’s home, is eventually confronted by Wang alone after Butterfly distracts the others. Siu hints that he was framed, but Wang remains convinced of his guilt, and the pursuit escalates into a skirmish interrupted when Tik reemerges demanding Red’s return. Wang ends Tik’s life, forcing Siu to flee again, this time to protect Butterfly from Ming-fa Sect followers.

Driven by the need to uncover the truth, Siu heads toward Half Day Horizon, where Ming Kim and her ally Ku Choi-yee are believed to be held if captured and where Yin-tun’s shadow still lingers. Butterfly chooses to accompany him as the Prince of Hau orders the arrest of Siu. At Half Day Horizon, Siu and Ming Kim cross paths with Choi-yee, and together they stumble upon something deeply suspicious underground. Their investigation leads them to the supposed corpse of the King of Yin-tun, a figure they learn had actually been plotting revenge against Ming Kim. As they close in on the truth, Yin-tun escapes just as the Prince of Hau and Wang arrive to arrest Siu. Ming Kim and Wang defend Siu’s innocence, but Hau presses on with the arrest, only for Yin-tun to return, unleash a fire, and force a fierce confrontation. Siu humbles Hau in combat and flees once again, while Hau vows to return in fifteen days to Ming Kim Villa for another capture attempt.

Meanwhile, Wang’s subordinates report that Red is recovering from the poison and reveal that the poison’s origin traces back to a foreign flower Yin-tun imported. After Ming Kim defeats Yin-tun, she eradicates the flower by destroying it and, shockingly, plants it in Ming Kim Villa for her sister-in-law, Choi-yee, who comes from a foreign land. Wang suspects a traitor within Ming Kim Villa is aiding the frame against Siu. Siu departs Ming Kim Villa, which raises suspicion from Ming Kim’s mother, Ming Kim’s mother, though he returns later with the Ming family’s sword manual that had been stolen by Hau.

Meanwhile, Butterfly announces her desire to marry Siu and gains approval for the union. On the night of the wedding, Red races in with a warning of danger. Yin-tun, disguised as Butterfly, injures Siu and Red and hides in Choi-yee’s room, only to be revealed as the mastermind behind the scheme. Yin-tun rebukes Choi-yee for not killing Ming Kim, even as Choi-yee uses Yin-tun’s fear to seize a hostage and then kills Yin-tun herself. Butterfly overhears the confrontation, but Choi-yee captures Butterfly before the truth can emerge fully. Red dies from her injuries, handing Siu a piece of jade in her final breath.

When Hau arrives with Wang and the Prince to arrest Siu, Wang proposes a duel to determine his fate. Siu passes Red’s jade to Wang, a clue toward uncovering the culprit, and the three-way confrontation intensifies as Siu pretends to strike down Wang to provoke a response from Choi-yee. In a devastating moment, the stolen Jade Jar and Yin-tun’s body are discovered in Choi-yee’s room, which forces Siu and Ming to duel to uncover Butterfly’s location. Choi-yee reveals herself to be the mastermind, delivering a bitter revelation about her plans only to the Prince—and to the winner. In a final, chilling turn, Choi-yee hurls her own child into the air, prompting Ming to draw his sword. She uses the moment to kill herself, declaring that she did everything to make Siu fail and seize the title of world’s greatest martial artist.

On the day of the anticipated duel, Ming deliberately injures himself with Wang’s help to ensure a fair fight against a still-wounded Siu. The Prince, craving more spectacle, pushes Wang to reveal Butterfly’s location, turning the contest into a three-way affair. Wang quietly orchestrates the distraction to reveal Butterfly’s hiding place—hidden in a coffin suspended above the arena. Wang then signals his retirement from the jiang hu, while Ming concedes the duel to Siu and proclaims him the world’s greatest martial artist. Yet Siu remains indifferent to the honor, relieved that Butterfly remains safe, and the narrative closes on a note of quiet triumph rather than triumphal vanity.