Taoist priestess Yu Hsuan-chi longs for the earthy experience that a woman like her can't have. While putting in an appearance with society's elite, she carries on a passionate affair with an itinerant swordsman named Tsui Po-hou and they seem like a perfect match. Hsuan-chi develops a reputation as an amoral libertine. After Po-hou returns, she learns that a woman is pregnant but she refuses to reveal the name of the father. Hsuan-chi's reaction ultimately results in tragedy.