The once great Tang Dynasty is now in decline. Numerous rebel groups have formed, the largest of which is the House of Flying Daggers, based in Feng Tian county. The Flying Daggers steal from the rich and give to the poor, gaining the support of the locals.
The local deputies have managed to kill the leader of the Flying Daggers, but the rebel group only becomes stronger, due to a mysterious new leader. Jin and Leo, two police captains, are ordered to kill the new leader within ten days.
In order to accomplish this, they arrest Mei, a blind dancer who is suspected of being the daughter of the old leader. While Mei is incarcerated, Jin and Leo decide to play a trick on her
Jin will pretend to be a lone warrior called Wind, and break her out of prison. This will gain her trust, and hopefully, Jin will be lead to the headquarters of Flying Daggers. The plan works, but Mei and Jin begin to fall in love on the way.
We eventually find out that Mei was only pretending to be blind, and has known who Jin was all along, and that Leo was working for the House of Flying Daggers as an undercover agent. He had hopes of winning Mei's affection by helping to destroy the government from within. Leo is upset that his many years of working undercover have not succeeded in winning Mei's heart, but Jin's three days have. The emotions of the three spill into battle, leading to tragedy.