Lin'an Tiao Niang

By the Qiantang embankment, Su Shao, a trumpet creeper spirit, secretly pledged herself to Fang Xiwen, a poor scholar, beneath the moon. Then war broke out, and Fang Xiwen was forced to leave. He died far from home. Unwilling to let her soul fade away, Su Shao drew upon the essence of plants and trees to preserve her remnant spirit. She rushed to the Office of Reincarnation and begged to be reborn so she could find him, but her profound obsession disturbed the compass scripture, permanently throwing off the direction of her rebirth. For a hundred lifetimes, they were both born in Jiangnan, yet mountains and rivers kept them apart every time. Carrying all her memories, Su Shao traveled from life to life in search of him. Whenever she finally arrived, Fang Xiwen was either on the verge of death or already had a family. People called her mad, and her spirit continued to wear away through her endless pursuit.

After a hundred missed chances, Su Shao finally saw into her own heart and learned to distinguish obsession from true love. She made a pact with the soul guide who oversaw the compass, severing the karmic bonds that had entangled them for a hundred lifetimes. The price was losing all memories of the pain of reincarnation and shedding her demon form to reenter the human world as a mortal.

In this life, they were no longer born in different places. They met when they were young, with only a faint stir in their hearts and no memory of the past. They came to know and cherish each other, staying together into old age. Many years later, they walked hand in hand along the old Qiantang embankment. As they watched kites chase the setting sun, a half-remembered dream stirred in their hearts, though they could no longer recall a hundred lifetimes of longing. Their painful search across reincarnations finally ended when they let go of obsession and found a lifetime together in Jiangnan.

Theme: Obsession is not the same as deep love. True fulfillment does not mean reclaiming every lost chance, but seeing through illusion and letting go of a hundred lifetimes of suffering in order to pursue a life together with an unburdened heart. Deep love need not be trapped by the bonds of reincarnation. Love should not mean endless pursuit and self-destruction.