In the 1920s, the country is in turmoil and society is thrown into chaos. In this extraordinary period of history, the rural countryside becomes the setting for many stirring legends. On the border between Shanxi and Shaanxi, the pure-hearted Xu Fengzhi (played by Chen Shu) falls in love with Liu Tianci (played by Sun Qiang), a teacher at the village school. But just as the wedding approaches, Liu's parents break off the engagement. It turns out that Fengzhi's father, Xu Xiaopu (played by Wu Liansheng), is a tomb robber who makes his living desecrating ancestral graves, a trade said to shorten one's life. He once boasted that his daughter was the legendary Tieli Hua, a woman able to sense the location of treasure-filled tombs. That boast led to a lifetime of hardship for her.
