1.//
There were few pedestrians on Chun'an Street, and the place felt desolate. Yet Jing Ting bought an old-fashioned shop there and opened a tailor shop.
The name Jing Ting hung above the shop every day. Passersby would always take a look inside: a long-haired beauty bent over her work, gold and silver threads winding around her slender, pale fingers and fluttering with every movement. A strand of hair, carefully pinned up for convenience, would occasionally fall loose and sway as if moved by a breeze.
Every time they saw this, they would suddenly understand as they looked into the shop. Oh, so it's a tailor shop.
During the day, opera music played inside Jing Ting's shop. In her spare time, she brewed tea and listened to the falling blossoms.
The days passed in tranquil contentment.
At night, red and white candles appeared one after another behind Jing Ting.
In the flickering lamplight, she held and gently stroked her black cat. She opened her doors to guests from every direction.
The black beads and white bracelet on her wrists appeared and disappeared from view as she moved. The black cat seemed unusually spirited, too. Whenever a guest looked at it with prying eyes, it would arch its back and bare its fangs like a wild beast, as if warning them not to try anything.
At times like these, Jing Ting would always smile and pat its head before turning to the visitor. The silver bells on her earrings chimed.
No one would have guessed that the shop changed so completely at night: the long-haired beauty became a dreaded evil spirit, swallowing an entire skin while chatting away.
It was obviously just gossip, but Jing Ting couldn't be bothered to say much about it.
She would much rather as few people as possible knew the truth.
Being able to communicate with spirits could be a blessing. When it wasn't, the sea of misery was too vast for even the Eastern Sea to contain.
People only knew that whether it was a demon, a ghost, or some other strange creature, Jing Ting would help if they came to her with a request, as long as they could pay the price she named.
She never judged good or evil. She only followed her own heart.
But the long-haired beauty had a temper of her own. Sometimes she simply didn't like the look of someone, and there was nothing to be done about it.
If she didn't want something, she wouldn't even glance at it, no matter how much they offered.
As time went by, everyone in the business knew the score: that spirit-medium tailor on Chun'an Street looked young, but her temper was every bit as formidable as her abilities.
When Jing Ting heard this, she wasn't annoyed. She simply smiled, using an old-fashioned black sandalwood hairpin to twist her waist-length hair up at the back of her head. She bent down, picked up the black cat, and sat before the screen. In a gentle voice, she said, "If you've come to ask for my help, then you must learn to humble yourself and follow my rules."
If you needed her help, you had to follow Jing Ting's rules.
Her rules had been passed down in all sorts of ways over thousands of years. Everyone knew them by heart.
Indeed, there was an ancient saying in Nanlan:
If you are about to die with a towering grudge, or die wrongfully or for no reason, just make a wish at any tailor shop. Speak the words of your resentment and what you want in your heart. If the tailor hears you and thinks you deserve to be saved, she will come and name her price.
Once you agree to her terms, she will grant your wish, retrieve and repair the three souls and seven spirits torn apart by the Black and White Impermanence, and give you a happy life free from helplessness and resentment.
And Jing Ting was none other than the little tailor who had lived for thousands of years, mended souls, and wielded boundless magic, as the world said.
2.//
Someone once asked Jing Ting, "What is my heart?"
At the time, Jing Ting was young and confused. She smiled and said she didn't know.
Later, she lived in this world for thousands of years, watching flowers bloom and fall, unable to find release.
One day, at last given a chance to leave, she heard a voice call to her from afar: What is my heart?
The distant voice echoed through the valley and rang in her ears, like the question that had haunted her for a thousand years:
The eighteenth question: What is my heart?
She looked at the mountains, rivers, plants, and the bustle of human life. With compassion in her eyes, she lowered her gaze and answered:
"Compassion for all living beings: that is my heart."
Synopsis dated July 4, 2024
Premise: Have a clear conscience.
