The protagonist, a nameless peasant girl, ekes out a living in a poor village suffering from famine toward the end of the Yuan dynasty. Her family, once much larger, now consists only of herself, her father, and her older brother, Zhu Chongba. One day, their father brings them to a fortune-teller, who prophesies that Zhu Chongba is destined for greatness; the girl, on the other hand, is fated for nothing.

Roving bandits beat the father to death and Zhu Chongba dies shortly after. The girl buries them but soon sees their ghosts. She takes on her brother’s identity in the hope of also acquiring his fate and travels to Wuhuang Monastery, where she is accepted as a novice.

The girl, now known as Zhu Chongba, settles into monastery life. Early on, she realizes she is different from other novices, not just in terms of gender and education, but also because she is determined to live. Food is her greatest motivator; unlike other novices, she will choose punishment for her errors instead of foregoing meals. Zhu encounters Prefect Fang, who is in charge of educating the novices. He is strict and traditional, and he dislikes her because she was accepted into the monastery by the Abbot, with whom he disagrees politically.