What wondrous fate might unfold when the Book of Songs meets Journey to the West? What kind of earth-shaking bond could form between an obscure little wildflower and a mountain king with a volatile temper?
Jing E, the little wildflower from the Book of Songs, lives in the garden behind Banana Cave. Transformed by the essence of heaven and earth, she takes the form of a little girl. Though weak and ordinary, she has three hearts: a pale-yellow heart of tenderness, a blue-green heart of wisdom and ingenuity, and an elegant white heart of resilience and self-reliance.
Red Boy from Journey to the West is the only son of the demon scoundrel Bull Demon King and the rebellious Buddhist Rakshasi. With a terrible father and a cruel mother, he is lonely and timid, yet rebellious and violent. When passionate, he blazes like Samadhi True Fire; when cold, he is like a thousand-year-old iceberg. He travels between heaven and earth, stirring up turmoil in the Buddhist, Daoist, and demon realms.
Jing E and Red Boy grow up together, healing one another. Jing E grows flowers and herbs to help Red Boy cultivate, using her three hearts to warm, guide, and encourage him. From Banana Cave to Flaming Mountain, then to Fire Cloud Cave, from the demon path to the Buddhist path, they endure five hundred years of trials until the “troubled boy” finally achieves enlightenment. Jing E, too, grows into a flower goddess of her age.
