The events unfold on the cruiser "Svetlana", one of the Russian ships that participated in the fighting of the Russo-Japanese war. The cruiser is attacked. After the fire is over, the crew decides to flood the ship so that it does not get to the enemy. Only five sailors can survive. They arrive on Korean land and are sent to the Russian territory, on the way they face various dangers.

A Russian investigator and a Buryat policeman are investigating the murder of a truth-seeking huntsman in the Baikal taiga.