Synopsis：During the Republican period, in a mountain village in southern China, the mute's younger sister, who had been dependent on him since childhood, was given away. Thus, a lingering sense of guilt toward his sister accompanied the mute as he grew up. When the beautiful village girl Xiaohua was abducted by three bandits intending to sell her into a brothel, the villagers recoiled in the face of the formidable enemies and gleaming blades, with no one daring to stand up for the weak woman. At this moment, the mute, who had been wandering to survive, trailed the three bandits all the way, bringing love and hope to the lamb-like Xiaohua. The mute's feelings for Xiaohua are complex and intertwined—a transference of guilt toward his sister, a chivalrous impulse to rescue a damsel in distress, and the budding passion of first love. The mute suffers greatly during the rescue, nearly losing his life. A single conviction drives him to persevere; a blaze of rage ignites the entire wilderness. In the end, the three evil bandits are defeated one by one by the mute. As a red sun rises at the edge of the silent wilderness, the villagers carry the severely injured mute through the forest.