Kwai Chang Caine, stricken by poisoned water, lies near death in the home of a former slave who fearfully harbors a secret so precious that it might well save the entire community from disaster.
Caine, in a reversal of roles, finds himself as the master with a 15-year-old boy as his disciple in which he must teach him that the act of revenge can lead to the death of the spirit.
Caine befriends a group of Hutterites who are God-fearing and simple people yet fear contamination from outsiders. They are involved in a dispute over a nearby waterhole with cattlemen who fear that their sheep may infect the water.
Caine finds a wealthy man hanging in the marsh that mysteriously disappears after he gets shot, and later finds that several people in town had reason to kill him.
Caine and blind preacher Serenity Johnson choose a path toward a confrontation with evil when they encounter a man possessed by the devil in his own dual nature.
Caine is involved in separate adventures in two interweaving story lines: he helps a mad mountain man save his dying wife, and -- in a flashback to China --- battles a warlord to win a concubine's heart.
Caine resolves his adventures with a mad mountain man, and -- in a flashback to China -- a marathon kung fu battle with a warlord to win a concubine's heart.
