I:
Jiang Cha first met Tang Wusi during a spring outing.
The spring breeze was warm and gentle. She led a group of elementary school students up a hill, when she suddenly spotted a lone grave deep in the valley. A figure in black robes stood motionless atop the grave.
Tall and gaunt, like some kind of slender shadowy specter.
The students burst into tears on the spot. She hurried to comfort them, and when she looked up again, the shadowy figure had vanished.
Jiang Cha thought it had been a hallucination.
Jiang Cha saw Tang Wusi for the second time at a chaotic intersection.
The sun blazed overhead, and horns blared without pause. The young man strode over, his knuckles well-defined as he tapped on her window. His eyes held a flirtatious smile, and his voice was low and gentle.
He was so handsome that she immediately forgave him for scraping her car.
Jiang Cha thought it was a chance encounter with a handsome stranger.
Jiang Cha saw Tang Wusi for the third time at a murder scene.
The room was drenched in red, sirens grew louder in the distance, and a corpse lay on the floor. Jiang Cha gripped the blade tightly, trembling all over.
Her only accomplice crouched by the pool of blood and looked up with keen interest. "Teacher Jiang, how are you feeling?"
Jiang Cha was so dizzy she couldn't answer.
At last, she understood that this man named Tang Wusi was neither a hallucination nor a chance encounter with a handsome stranger.
His arrival would change her life.
II.
The character for "wu" has a horizontal stroke above for heaven and one below for earth, with a person wielding a ritual implement between them to connect heaven and earth and hear the ghosts and gods.
Jiang Cha is the one who wields the implement, while Tang Wusi is the implement in her hands. He died a hundred years ago, and returned to the world for her sake.
The shaman and the implement complement and rely on each other, yet also stand in opposition and balance, because after all
A tool that isn't handled properly can [turn on its master].
Theme: Break free of the cage and find yourself
