Little Sister Teng has married Liu Ah-han, a onetime guardsman for the Japanese who now leads the resistance against the colonial government and its corrupt local collaborators. Liu is arrested, jailed and tortured for his efforts. Left to raise her family on her own, Little Sister Teng eventually puts aside her sorrow and seeks solace in Buddhism.
燈妹「隘勇」出身的丈夫劉阿漢，一再領導民眾，對抗土豪劣紳勾結殖民官廳的掠奪而入獄、拘禁、遭受刑求；一肩挑起持家重擔的燈妹，苦過淚盡後，只能尋求佛理的解脫。