The Mad Bodhisattva

A dark, dreamlike urban romance fairy tale with a distinctly Chinese flavor. Psychiatrist × heir to a century-old family The first time Bai Tingni saw Liang Jingfan was at the birthday banquet for Old Master Liang. In the bustling hall, he was poised and gentle, conducting himself with impeccable courtesy. He had the refinement and depth that only a distinguished old family could instill, yet there was also a hint of detachment about him, as though joy and sorrow could never touch him. And yet. That drunken night. Sinking incense drifted slowly from an intricately gilded and painted burner. The young head of the family sat in the shadows, his long, bony fingers rubbing the seam of his trousers. Through the thin haze of smoke, he threw back his head and panted, his sharply defined Adam's apple straining beneath pale, delicate skin. Bai Tingni froze on the spot. That elegant, composed, gentle man was now almost wrapped in the very embodiment of human desire, an overwhelming air of decadent beauty radiating from him. He turned his head toward her, desolation and anguish in his eyes. “Help… help… me.” In the third year of her marriage into the Liang family, whenever she thought back to that moment, she always wondered if things would have turned out differently had she simply walked away without looking back. One day, after she had asked Liang Jingfan for a divorce, Bai Tingni found a bottle of drugs in his coat pocket that could leave a person delirious. As a psychiatrist, she knew all too well what the drug was for. “Liang Jingfan, have you lost your mind?” The man stood in the shadows, his expression hidden. A moment later, he suddenly bent over, laughing until his whole body shook. He was far more than mad! From the moment he sold his soul for this marriage, he had already become a demon wearing human skin! * Liang Jingfan was born into a family as lofty as a palace in the clouds, but the “gods” above could not see the tiny, insignificant mortals below. They were simply too small. So that day, the bodhisattva enthroned high in the temple finally descended from her jade dais and golden seat. Winter at Liang Manor was unusually cold that year. He stood beneath the hanging flower gate, gazing through the swirling snow, unable to make out her retreating figure. [Reading Guide] The story begins in an era before social media took off, when traditional media still held sway. Some elements are fictionalized. All settings serve the story. Happy ending, both leads have only been with each other. Volume One: The Bodhisattva's Face (from their first meeting to marriage, complete) Volume Two: The Golden Cage (from marriage to divorce, complete) Volume Three: The Karmic Flame (the end of their freedom, complete) Bonus Volume: The Killing of Fate (generational inheritance, complete) Theme: Some of life's lessons can only be worked through on your own. Love cannot overcome every obstacle.