Set in wartime Sichuan, the film follows young widow Xia Qiuyue, who receives news of her husband's death just as the Anti-Japanese War ends. As she rebuilds her life, two men enter her world: her mute brother-in-law Tusheng and A Long, a fellow soldier and her husband's close friend. Tensions rise as both men fall for her, while A Long is also loved by her sister-in-law, Xiaohua. Just as peace seems possible, war returns, and both men volunteer to fight, each willing to sacrifice himself for love and brotherhood.

It is the year of 2010, Xue Beijing, a 50-year-old director, is preparing to make a film about his youth and remarkable ages in late 60's.

Loosely based on The Tale of Darkness, a traditional song of mourning, the film follows Wang Zhun, a director in search of inspiration for his new script, as he embarks on an unpredictable trek across China’s remote Shennongjia mountains in Hubei province with an urbane producer, Ding Hongmei; a young actor named Bai; and his loyal photographer, Du Chun. The journey delivers a relentless series of unexpected physical hardships and subtle emotional ebbs and flows on the protagonists.