两江总督之子张歩青押解人犯，途中遇袭受到劫持，成为贼人殷中玉用来交换狱中老大的人质，歩青之妹"金燕子"前来营救兄长。金燕子虽身手不凡，却无谋略机智，几次为终日饮酒卖傻的"醉侠"点化相救。醉侠和金燕子以交换人质为计，共谋营救歩青，面对贼党匪人之际，伪善的法师了空中途介入，在隐姓埋名的醉侠与了空法师之间，一场有关于掌门接班人选以及权力信物青竹杖的争战同时展开。

A Young official, Zhang Buqing, is sent on a mission to guard prisoners. He is ambushed and kidnapped by a bunch of bandits, who demands to exchange him with their imprisoned leader. Zhang's sister, Golden Swallow (played by Zheng Pei Pei in her first feature film starring role), make attempts to rescue her brother. She is good at Kung Fu, but is inexperienced to fight with bandits. She is rescued several times by Drunken Cat (Yue Hua), a highly skilled monk in disguise. Drunken Cat has a feud with his superior. They have been fighting for the green bamboo stick, an object symbolized the leadership of the monastery. Drunken Cat and Golden Swallow plan to rescue Buqing by exchanging the hostage of a captured bandit, leading to a final showdown between good and evil. Produced by Shaw Brothers, this is the very first Wuxia film to be directed by King Hu, and is now regarded as one of the best Wuxia films in the Shaw Classics library.