In Northern China, a loosely organized group of high level civil servants has a grip on the extensive graft and corruption in the Nangang district. For years, the behind-the-scenes activities of this group, the so-called Nangang Benevolent Society, has been lucrative for its members, but they are now on the radar of a shadowy figure, an unseen figure referred to as The Magistrate. Now those same members are targets, some of them boldly kidnapped off the streets, then threatened, beaten, and worse.

Deputy Chief Inspector Lu Fei is called to the scene of a brutal murder - the body of a foreign gangster is found mutilated and burned beyond recognition. At the same time, someone is systematically attacking the illegal cyber-sex operations, disposing of the operators and quietly freeing sex trafficked teens from North Korea. Inspector Lu Fei must uncover the threads that connect these different events, with pressure from all sides that threatens to ruin his career and endanger his very life.