The first months after the October Revolution. A small Red Army detachment stops at the Aksai farmstead, thereby causing discord in the family. Old Aksai treats his daughter-in-law Dinseme and her little brother Abido like slaves. But the Red Army soldiers treat them very differently. For the first time, a sense of dignity awakens in their souls. Meanwhile, Dynseme's husband, Gylik, together with another White Guard soldier from Ataman Semenov's gang, learns that the Red Army detachment is about to continue on its way and prepares a plan to destroy it.

A Russian investigator and a Buryat policeman are investigating the murder of a truth-seeking huntsman in the Baikal taiga.