In the autumn of 1943, Japanese invaders were ravaging the Taihang Mountains. Japanese Lieutenant Masao Yamada forced the shadow puppet troupe of Xuanzhang Village to perform on stage in an attempt to use folk artists to explore the mountainous areas and set up defenses. The one-eyed leader Guan Laozhan possesses the unique skill of holding seven fortunes by one person. In a desperate situation, he created his own shadow puppet secret language, using movements, singing, and changes in lights and shadows to hide military intelligence.
Chunni, who has been disguising herself as a man since she was a child, has learned the secret technique of hidden voice communication, and the mute orphan Bald has the unique skill of using two hands and two shadows. The theater troupe used the stage as a battlefield and cooperated with the guerrillas led by Battalion Commander Zhao. They used opera to spread intelligence, defeat enemy raids, destroy Japanese bunkers and logistics strongholds, and repeatedly inflict heavy losses on invading Japanese invaders.
The Japanese army was obsessed with shadow puppetry and frantically deciphered the troupe's secret language. Villager Erkui was forced to become a traitor. After leaking the secret, he suddenly woke up and sacrificed his life to atone for his sins. The Japanese invaders became angry and ransacked the village with blood, destroying most of the theater troupe's actors and actresses. Unfortunately, Guan Laozhan was captured and imprisoned in a dungeon, and the theater troupe fell into the darkest and desperate situation.
Chunni was ordered to shoulder the heavy responsibility when she was in danger, and planned a killing plan with the guerrillas. She used the ultimate drama in the canyon as bait to set up a series of explosives to kill her. In the final battle, everyone cooperated tacitly, and Tuer used his unique skills to confuse the enemy, ignite the fuse, and completely annihilate Yamada's Japanese squadron. A shadow puppet song resounds throughout Taihang, engraved with the tragic story of folk craftsmen protecting their art with their bodies and protecting their country with their lives.
