The girlfriend of a con-man is being held in a brothel and he must try to raise 200 tales of gold as a dowry. So he cheats a country simpleton out of his money then goes and loses it in the casino resulting in the country man feeling sorry for him. The two become friends and as they are both expert fighters start working as instructors for a local big boss but this causes real trouble.

The Crane Fighter is set just after the majority of the Shaolin monks have been outlawed and killed by the, I think, Ching Dynasty. A few have escaped, and live secretly among the common people. One old guy has a daughter that he has forbidden to learn kung fu, but she does so anyway, by watching some other monks in a nearby temple.