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Inspector "Tequila" Yuen is a tough Hong Kong cop whose investigative work is conducted under cover and deals mostly with illegally traded and trafficked guns. Tequila also plays clarinet in a local jazz bar. His relationship with his girlfriend is strained because of the long hours and dangerous nature of his work and his superintendent, Pang, thinks Tequila's methods are too risky.One night, Tequila and his partner go to a tea house to observe members of a Hong Kong gang dealing Chinese pistols. After a few minutes of surveillance, Tequila has another cop deliver tea to the gangsters' table. A bird cage is knocked from the table and samples of the Chinese pistols are revealed in the base. The gangsters begin a lengthy gun battle with the cops where several men on each side are mercilessly shot along with many innocent bystanders. Tequila himself battles holding two pistols. After dispatching several gangsters trying to escape the tea house, he finds his partner, who has trapped one of the gangsters in the kitchen. His partner has also been wounded in the exchange. Tequila pushes him away from the kitchen door and rushes in, barely avoiding heavy gunfire that kills his partner. He finally pins the man to the floor. He cold-bloodedly spits out his toothpick and shoots the man dead.Pang arrives on the scene and finds Tequila trying to comfort his dying partner. Pang launches a tirade at Tequila, condemning him for his recklessness, blaming him for his partner's death. He also berates Tequila for killing the man in the kitchen who was a highly-valued criminal informant working for Tequila's department.The next day a young man drives a sports car along a Hong Kong highway into the city. He stops at a local library, carefully using a handkerchief to avoid leaving fingerprints on the turnstile. He walks down a row of stacks and selects a large book, carrying it to a table where another man sits quietly reading. The reading man recognizes the other, calling him "Alan". After a few moments, Alan pulls a silenced pistol hidden in the book and shoots the man dead. The dead man's blood leaks all over the table and the book. Alan replaces the gun in the book after wiping his prints from it and places the book back on the shelf. The man's blood is left on the table in the shape of the book.Tequila investigates the murder scene and determines that the pattern of the blood must have been made by a large book. He skims the shelves and finds the book, the Complete Works of Shakespeare, and the pistol. Alan goes to the docks and boards his private sailboat. As he sits looking forlorn at having murdered another man, he makes a small origami crane and hangs it from the ceiling in his living room with several other cranes, each representing another kill.At his precinct, Tequila continues his investigation. The primary figures in the gun dealings around the city are the city's top crime family head, Mr Hoi, and an younger upstart, Johnny Wong, who is battling Hoi for control of the city. Alan turns out to be a cop under heavy cover trying to infiltrate Hoi's gang. Alan is quickly becoming burned out by the work, however Pang convinces him to see the case to its conclusion because the police are very close to finally busting Wong and Hoi. Alan in turn has been sending intel to Pang via code printed on greeting cards sent with flowers to Tequila's girlfriend Sally. Information concerning a highly secretive arms exchange involving Hoi comes through and Tequila plans to be there.At the meeting place, one of Hoi's warehouses, Tequila observes the incident, waiting to make his move. Suddenly, Johnny Wong's crew burst into the place, killing all of Hoi's henchmen. One of Wong's goons, Mad Dog, mercilessly shoots several men and waits for his boss to arrive. Wong appears and informs Hoi he'll be taking over his business dealings and territory. Alan is also at the meeting and reveals he's defected to Wong's gang. Hoi bids Alan to let his sons and closest lieutenants live, however Wong orders Alan to kill them as proof of his loyalty. Alan finally kills Hoi himself.At that moment, Tequila drops several smoke bombs into the warehouse and rappels down from the ceiling, firing on the gang members, provoking a fierce battle. He engages them all, forcing Wong to retreat. Tequila battles briefly with Mad Dog, finally throwing a grenade at him -- Mad Dog disappears in the blast. Searching for other surviving thugs, Tequila suddenly comes face-to-face with Alan, the two of them pointing their guns at each others heads. Tequila is the 1st to pull the trigger but the hammer falls on a spent cartridge. Alan smiles, lowers his gun and disappears into the smoke.Alan retreats to his boat and tends to a wound he received. Tequila returns to his precinct and begins to search for Alan in the crime database, working from a sketch of Alan's face. Pang becomes concerned, believing Tequila is getting too close to finding out the truth.Alan again returns to his boat after a brief meeting with Pang. A moment later, he's tackled by Tequila, who's tracked him down. Tequila seizes Alan's pistol and points it at him, demanding to know Alan's identity. Alan is reluctant to talk to Tequila but realizes that they can both bring down Wong if they work together. Just then an assassin tries to shoot Alan through a skylight -- he misses, only wounding Alan. He and Tequila join forces and kill the thugs, who are revealed to be some of Hoi's men, bent on revenge. Just as Alan kills the last thug, Wong's car arrives. Tequila jumps into the harbor to hid after Alan tells him he'll send him a paper crane to set up their next meeting. Wong finds the wounded Alan and rushes him to a hospital, telling him that he'll make him a high-ranking lieutenant in his crime family.
good versus evil, violence, cult, action, tragedy