Nine Abysses

One person withdrew to the countryside, looking up to see a green sparrow carrying a flower, with tea, wine, and the beauty of the seasons in her arms. One person served in the halls of government, riding out with spear in hand across ten thousand miles of yellow sand, commanding a million troops. They drank their horses by the northern river and plucked flowers at the southern pavilion. Each had a legend of their own. One person, sickly and frail, wore an old black robe and was gentle in manner. When she awoke from her dream, the rivers and mountains were there for her. One person, fiercely loyal, wore bloodstained clothes, her sword's cry shaking the land. Through a murky and turbulent world, she walked alone. To meeting again, and to trials without end. May proud bones endure forever. Master and disciple, brother and sister, comrades-in-arms, ruler and subject. Love, family, friendship. Innocence, madness, deep affection, gratitude and vengeance, hatred, obsession, dreams... Call it the human heart or fate, as you will. Remember: in this vast world of mortal passions, every person is different. Do not let your journey through this life be in vain. -----------------------------------------QUOTES------------------------------------------ [Confidants] "If that bastard dies, I'll have no one to fight with anymore... Being the best under heaven is so lonely and boring..." Xiang Tianlan suddenly looked up at Qin Nian. Half drunk, half awake, half smiling, half humming, her curved eyes were plainly filled with the sorrow of spring tides rising in the river. I imagine you are now an immortal in the heavens, as elegant as ever. I raise my cup to invite you, hoping to share a drunken evening with you once more. [Siblings] "What secret is hidden here?" "It's not a secret. It's something the whole world knows." "There's no shortage of interesting things in this world. Snow and ice melt into mountain springs that flow in place of rivers and seas. Volcanoes spew lava and bring about rebirth. The sun rises and sets, the stars wheel overhead. We look down upon the world, and the cycle repeats, yet no two moments are the same. The misty rains of Jiangnan, the deserts of the northern frontier, the perilous roads of Bashu, the poisonous insects of the southern border, the raging waves of the Eastern Sea. A Nian, the world is full of beautiful mountains and rivers, with so many sights to see. Your brother will take you to see them all." As the carriage rolled through the mortal world, Qin Nian looked into his eyes and suddenly felt she had everything. His brows were peaks breaking through blue clouds; his eyes were autumn waves crossing a painted boat. The vast world of mortal passions, all the lands under heaven, could not compare to his face. She was not in this turbulent world of mortal life. She was in his world: the wind and mist combed her hair, distant mountains traced her brows, green willows fashioned her clothes, and red flowers dotted her cheeks. He held up a lotus as an umbrella, raised his hand to summon the rain, and with one smile spoke a thousand love poems. When he opened his mouth, all he said was one tender word: "A Nian." I'm afraid of you leaving, too. How could I bear the thought of us being separated by life and death... [Devotee] "My adoptive father said that a physician should be compassionate and save all living beings. I've practiced medicine for years, and all I've ever done is save people. I never assumed ill intent in others, and I couldn't understand why anyone would want to hurt someone. I never measured the human heart. I thought good and evil were clear-cut, divided by rules and laws. But because of you, I want to taste the ways of this mortal world, even if they are filthy and foul, even if they seep into my marrow and eat away at my flesh. I'm willing." This is a trial. Those who do not know what awaits them follow their hearts and walk on in plain shoes. Those who do know are trapped in a cage, desperate to turn back. Only the resolute, like unyielding stone, knowingly walk alone toward the abyss. [Loyal and Righteous] "What a glorious age, what a peaceful land. The Zhongli clan was loyal to the last, yet became a joke in the eyes of onlookers, while the royal nobility showed their outward refinement and inner envy. No matter how fiercely you give your heart, no matter how badly you're torn apart, you can never cut out all the parasites clinging to this world. Zhongli Yang, this world does not deserve someone as loyal and noble as you." "Feel the hundred or more scars on your body. Ask yourself honestly: was it worth it, for this suspicious and greedy tyrant, for those selfish people who pay lip service to virtue, for the human-faced demons who devour the people of this world?" It was worth it. To trade the wounds I've suffered for peace throughout the land, for its vast rivers and mountains, was more than worth it. [Gratitude and Vengeance] "I'll only know if I try. Otherwise, after living on the edge of a blade for so many years, how could I be content..." "I haven't even looked at that damned throne. I don't care about becoming emperor, either. I don't care what you want to do, what you want to gain, or what kind of person you are. I've lived all this time for you. Anyone in this world can betray me, except you!" [The Human Heart] "It's hard to know that the world is murky and still live with joy, to see wolves devouring one another and still hold on to sincerity, to go through life without being muddled, going against your conscience, or falling into ruin." The theater needs a script, so they'll quickly invent a legend. Whether it's true doesn't matter, as long as it's extraordinary. A failure needs to be covered up, so they'll quickly put an evil person on the chopping block. Whether they're truly evil doesn't matter, as long as someone takes the fall. The schemer who kills with a borrowed knife, the bystander who watches from across the river: this world is full of parasites that gnaw to the bone, and sooner or later they'll be torn to pieces. A petty villain is just a petty villain. Why dress it up as worldly wisdom? [Yang and Nian] "Whatever you want, even freedom, I've given you. Why would I begrudge you this one life?" When her opponent was her, she was willing to surrender without a fight. "I've been drunk with you on the battlefield, ridden bad horses with you, crossed mountains and rivers with you, and shared the nuptial cup with you. You have to believe me." "Zhongli Yang, is there anything you especially want to do? I mean, someday in the future, somewhere you'd like to stay and something you'd like to do." "There is. Stay with you for a lifetime. As for where, anywhere is fine." Theme: