Lianguchuan

The girl Jiuchuan studied under the old Qisou who coughed up blood. Between the blunt knife of the wind and the breath of the tree, she abided by the ancient rule: "Only cut three points and leave seven points." She used her heartbeat as a ruler to seal the tree with paint, believing that only when the tree is alive can people live. Until the old man pressed a dim lotus crystal seed into her palm and left his final instructions: "Take it north and don't go back to Chang'an." The road heading north is a road of inheritance and even more of a road of sacrifice. When the last warmth was extinguished in the kiln, Jiuchuan cut off his finger with a copper sickle, used his blood as ink, and wrote the seven-character "Ode to the Soul" on the rock bed. This is the most painful funeral ceremony in the North - using the warmth of one's body to overcome the cold of the deceased; using one's own body to forget in exchange for the peace of the deceased.