Notes on Spirit Planting: The Making of Qinghe

An orphan girl named Qinghe finds a strange, warm seed in a ruined temple. When she plants it, a sprout entwined with golden runes grows from the soil. An old physician tells her it is the ancient spirit plant Heart-Questioning Lotus, which must be nourished with essence blood and tempered through the cultivation of one's state of mind. Carrying a bamboo basket, she heads into the mountains. When she waters it with morning dew, its leaves reflect glimpses of the future; when she recites scripture with a sincere heart, its roots send out tendrils that can commune with spirits. A boy from her village named Aye secretly brings her walnuts from the mountains. When he sees her crouching by the medicinal garden, talking to the seedling, his eyes shine brighter than the morning mist. When the lotus opens its ninth layer of petals, Qinghe discovers that the seed was once the remnant soul of a celestial tree, and that she has been tending not only a spirit plant, but also the sealed soul of a divine envoy. As the lotus fragrance drifts across the valley, the kindness and perseverance planted in years of hardship are nurturing an ordinary girl's life into a flourishing grove.