This series is loosely based on one of the three famous Chinese traditional novels, Story of the Water Margin (Shui Hu Juen). The other two would be The Romance of Three Kingdoms and Journey To the West. Set during the Sung Dynasty, this novel intends to talk about the main character (Sung Kong)'s heroic deeds with his buddies Chiu Hoi, Mo Chung, Yeung Chi, Yuen Siu 7, and with their super clique called "Leung San Bat."

The reason I said the term loosely is that although the series is taken after the novel, its emphasis is something else. It is mostly about Sung Kong and his personal life - yes, that includes the juicy (or not) stuff, romance - and how he became the leader of Leung San Bat. It doesn't extend any further than that, therefore, the series cannot be expected to contain all the 'oooh~ exciting!' type of actions that the justice-guarding thieves would perform to save the poor. Not like it can be done in only 20 episodes anyway, hmm.

A fact of inevitability - when there's a good dude, there has to be a baddie also. In this series, the bad guy is fantastically portrayed by Jimmy, as a sleazy libertine Cheung Mun Yuen. 'Fantastically' doesn't necessarily mean his acting, it's just the way his character was set up to sprinkle some spice in this mediocre series. Jimmy has played many bad characters in other series but this one is my favorite loser of all.

Sung Kong - Savio Tsang Wai Kuen
His job is arresting criminals in his village. He is known as the 'savior' among the villagers because he always helps the ones in need. One night, he dreams about him being an important figure, and he receives a message from a goddess that his time to save the people will come. He is close friends with Chiu Hoi and Fa Ying.

Cheung Mun Yuen - Jimmy Au Sui Wai
He appears in the Sung household with a will from his dead brother who was a good friend of Sung Kong. Sung Kong agrees to take care of Cheung Mun Yuen on behalf of his friend. He sends Mun Yuen to his friend Chiu Hoi to learn business from him and help him out. But Mun Yuen is a conniving and lazy character who likes to gamble and play with girls.

Chiu Hoi - Lam Seung Mo
A virtuous man with intelligence and kung fu skills. Unlike his friend Sung Kong who is completely righteous, he knows how to work his away around in sticky situations that might involve cheating if necessary. He accepts his position as the leader of Leung San Bat temporarily.

Fa Yuk Lin - Karen (Lily) Chung Shuk Wai
Fa Ying's younger sister, a renowned doctor who likes to help people. On an occasion of saving the villagers by cleaning their diseased public well, she meets Sung Kong and falls in love with him, only to find out that he has a wife. Constantly being harrassed by Cheung Mun Yuen.

Sung Kong's wife - Betty Mak Chui Han
Despite how much Sung Kong loves and takes care of her, she is unable to conceive. Sadly enough, Mun Yuen knows her from his past and how she used to be a prostitute. He threatens her that if she doesn't give him money, he will tell everyone about her past. Afraid to let her husband know of her shameful past, she keeps on giving him money to shut his mouth.

Yeung Chi - Yeung Tak Si
He is a governor with high pride, but his family honor was shattered when one of the treasures he was transporting was stolen by the mountain thieves. An ambitious guy that only looks into succeeding and highly dislikes Sung Kong and his friends.

Tang Choi Yee - Eugine Lau Mei Kuen
That very thief that stole Yeung Chi's treasure. She admires him deeply though. She is afraid that Yeung Chi would ignore her if he finds out who she is, but helps him whenever needed. She is betrothed to this loser named Ho To who HATES Yeung Chi.

Lam Chung - Lai Han Chi
A dignified former general that had to escape because of all the corruption going on in the government. He then resides in Leung San Bat until he decides that he doesn't like the leader, so he helps Chiu Hoi to take over.

Yuen Siu 7 - Lai Yiu Cheung
A very cute side character ^^ who has a crush on Fa Yuk Lin. He is close to Sung Kong also.

Mo Chung - Lau Ka Fai
Portrayed as a 'true' guy, he was labeled as a sinner because he killed his evil sister-in-law. Later joins Leung San Bat as he realizes that he has nowhere in this world to turn to - makes great friends with Sung Kong since both characters are so damn righteous.

Yim Po Sik - Chor Ka Po
After Sung Kong's wife dies, she sets him up so she gets to marry him. But she has an affair going on with Mun Yuen (that dog!).

Anita Yuen Ying Yee making a cameo appearance as a goddess.

Sung Kong is close friends with Fa Ying, a skilled archer and Chiu Hoi, a witty businessman. His life seems pretty peaceful with a loving wife. One day, his dead friend's younger brother Cheung Mun Yuen comes into his household. Sung Kong sends him to Chiu Hoi to learn business but Mun Yuen gets caught when he tries to stealthily learn Chiu Hoi's kung fu. Chiu Hoi warns Sung Kong that Mun Yuen is up to no good.

Indeed, Mun Yuen continuously blackmails Sung Kong's wife about her past. At the same time, he repeatedly hits on Fa Ying's younger sister, Fa Yuk Lin, but fails. Yuk Lin on the other hand is a renowned doctor that likes Sung Kong but can't do anything because he is already married. She kindly looks after his wife that can't conceive. A while later, Mun Yuen accidentally kills Sung Kong's wife while trying to rape her.

After she dies, a new refugee named Yim Po Sik and her mother set in the village. They set Sung Kong up so it'd look as if he slept with her, so he has to marry Po Sik. Sung Kong of course hates her and would never visit her while he's working - behind his back, Mun Yuen seduces her and becomes her paramour. By accident, Sung Kong kills Po Sik by pushing her off stairs (.. what's with all these men killing women 'accidentally' in this series..).

Because of this, Sung Kong goes to jail. But his loyal friends Chiu Hoi, Yuen Siu 7 and the thugs rescue him - now that Sung Kong is a sinner, he has no place to go to. Hence he entrusts himself to Leung San Bat, a group that Chiu Hoi took over with the help of Lam Chong. Sung Kong becomes the leader and with 35 other people, he gets rid of Mun Yuen who has turned very evil. (Mun Yuen was possessed by a bad constellation that escaped from heaven before his life).

Hmm. About Yeung Chi & Tang Choi Yee. Sometime in the beginning of the series, Yeung Chi is labeled as a sinner because he killed a man. So a guy named Ho To (the loser that Choi Yee is betrothed to) is responsible for transferring Yeung Chi to a slavery place but when they get there, the corrupted governor starts favoring Yeung Chi which upsets Ho To. When the governor delegates to Yeung Chi an order to deliver some goods to another city, Chiu Hoi and his gang steal them because they belong to the poor originally. Because of this Yeung Chi is held responsible and when he tries to go after Chiu Hoi, Sung Kong blocks him, which is why Yeung Chi comes hate Sung Kong VERY MUCH.

Yeung Chi, since he is so bull-headed, never admits that he likes and needs Choi Yee until he loses her. All she ever did was sacrifice everything she had for him... poor girl. Later on, he makes up with Sung Kong and helps in killing Mun Yuen. BTW, Yeung Chi in this series is a decendant of the 5th son of the Yeung's (from Yang's Saga) and Mok Gwai Ying. Puhahaha. The picture on the left is Leung San Bat right before they go on a quest to kill Cheung Mun Yuen. From left to right - Lam Chong, Chiu Hoi, Sung Kong, and Yeung Chi.

An untold story about Mo Chung. This is not in the series but is mentioned briefly and this happens in the actual novel. Mo Chung had a brother that was not very attractive and wanted. A lady named Golden Lotus married him but she had affairs with other men. She once even tried to seduce Mo Chung. She ended up stealthily murdering her husband, and when Mo Chung found out, he killed her. This is why he is permanently labeled as a sinner. In the series, Sung Kong highly respects Mo Chung because of his virtues and they become good friends. Mo Chung becomes a monk but later participates in killing Cheung Mun Yuen.

Shall I reveal what happens between Fa Yuk Lin & Sung Kong? Shall I not? I shall not. It ruins the already bad ending with even worse ending. ^_~ (<--this is my wink).

About Jimmy in this series...

Jimmy is such a comic relief in this series. He's a pervert, a conman, an ultimate evil towards the end. His character in this series is very similar to the one in The Buddhist Palm Strikes Back but more 'upgraded' version.