A worldly outsider [shadow puppeteer] X A dust-bound soul yearning to transcend the mundane [wanderer]
The old master in the capital, the finest performer of shadow lanterns, has died. With no one to carry on his craft, his exquisite paper figures have vanished without a trace.
The storyteller lowered his clapper and shook his head with a sigh, lamenting only that it was a shame.
*
The living have greed, anger, and delusion. The souls of the dead are no different.
In the firelight, a pair of dark eyes opened. He Mingjiu carried his master's final wishes, slung his shadow puppet case over his back, and set off alone on a road with no destination.
The myriad faces of the world were no more than paper figures, and human life beneath heaven was as brief as dawn dew.
He had heard that love was the most wounding thing in the world. He had seen people go from the heights of joy to unbearable grief, yet remained unmoved.
He Mingjiu could not understand why his master had been so consumed by it.
"My heart is clear and empty. I cannot enter the world."
Jiang Feifeng was a blade that could never see the light of day. Whether the world was at peace or not, his name meant nothing to it.
The sword was too heavy, and so was his soul. They weighed on him until he could barely breathe.
Trapped in nightmares, he wanted only to escape. Yet the shadow behind him reminded him at every moment that he could not.
He drank beneath the moon.
"My heart is lonely and sullied. I cannot escape the mundane."
*
They had thought their meeting a chance encounter. Together, they witnessed snowstorms in the desert, red silk burning to ash, and blades clashing in a life-and-death struggle, their blood still running hot. Only then did they realize their story was worthy of song and tears.
[You are the story itself, the one who holds the brush.
You are the mountain standing firm and the river flowing on, the one my heart longs to follow beyond the mundane.]
Theme: Two souls, one unable to enter the world and one yearning to transcend it, save each other
