Lu Yao, a military doctor and field operations specialist, dies from a betrayal by a trusted teammate and transmigrates into the body of a young woman with the same name in the Eastern Xin Kingdom. The original Lu Yao was a street performer who, after her father's death, was purchased by Song Hongyi, a widowed soldier raising three children. Following Song Hongyi's death in battle, his mother, Old Madam Song, seized his military compensation money, abused the children, and eventually cast both Lu Yao and the kids out into the wilderness. Transmigrating into this desperate situation, Lu Yao finds herself in a dark forest surrounded by a pack of wolves. She discovers she has brought her modern military laboratory with her into a spatial dimension, allowing her to mentally summon weapons and supplies. Using surgical scalpels from her lab, she efficiently eliminates the wolf pack and stores the carcasses for future use.
Lu Yao returns to the dilapidated shelter where the three children—Song Zixuan, Song Ziyang, and the toddler Song Ziyu—are hiding. She finds Old Madam Song attempting to sell the children to slave traders. Lu Yao intervenes, breaking the old woman's finger and stuffing a shoe in her mouth to silence her curses. Just then, news arrives that northern barbarians are attacking the village. The refugees, including Lu Yao and the children, flee into the forest. The children are initially terrified of Lu Yao due to the original owner's abuse, but she gradually earns their trust by providing food from her spatial storage, treating their wounds, and offering protection. She secretly feeds them steamed buns and milk, hiding these modern provisions from the starving refugee column.
During a rest stop, Old Madam Song confronts the village chief, causing a scene and offending the leadership. Lu Yao uses the opportunity to publicly sever all ties with the Song family. She demands her husband's compensation money, which Old Madam Song had stolen. Through negotiation and the threat of continued association, Lu Yao secures five taels of silver and a written agreement dissolving her marriage and family ties. She then leads the children away from the hostile relatives.
Soon after, a group of fifty barbarian warriors catches up to the refugees. Recognizing the danger to the slow-moving column, Lu Yao takes command of a patrol team. She sets up an ambush using vines, itching powder, and rolling boulders from a hillside. The trap decimates the barbarian force, killing over forty enemies without a single casualty among the villagers. Lu Yao then executes the surviving prisoners, teaching the villagers that mercy is a luxury they cannot afford in these times. Her display of combat skill and leadership earns her the respect and fear of the entire refugee group. As the journey continues, Lu Yao uses her medical knowledge to identify medicinal herbs, teaching her young charges while maintaining a protective distance from the other villagers. The story follows her efforts to survive the harsh refugee journey, raise the three children, and navigate the political and physical dangers of this new world.
