What does it matter if a thousand years have passed?
As the world turns, he takes someone else's hand and flees through a venue where the dead have risen. He gives her his protective talisman and holds back the pursuers with his sword, buying her time to find the way out. They share the kind of understanding that lets them entrust their lives to each other.
When he comes as promised, he brings her a bouquet backstage at the theater. The evening dew still glitters on the leaves. In those few seconds when they smile at each other, is he wishing her a successful performance, or thinking of the faint ring-like mark beside Lady Linghu's ear, the one that visits his dreams night after night?
In the early hours of the morning, he jerks awake from a nightmare, drenched in sweat. He can't tell what he wants to hear from the dream: a farewell letter, a five-character poem, or the words, "My dear brother, take care."
A dream of the Tang Dynasty from a thousand years ago slowly comes into focus, rising to the surface
The feelings in his memories engulf him.
In the Age of Declining Dharma, Li Cheng welcomes visitors with incense burning, using the notes passed down by his master to ward off evil and drive out ghosts.
To escape the karmic burden he was born with, and keep his life hidden between the worlds of yin and yang, he must not enter society or grow too close to anyone. Even when leaving behind a note for a future encounter, he must conceal his real name.
He belongs to the Xuandu lineage, and his Daoist name is Changying.
His master said that the character Cheng in his name carried enough weight to pin down his soul, and must never be spoken lightly in front of others.
He didn't understand what he was hiding from. He only knew to obey his master's warning. For twenty-nine years, he lived a life in the Daoist sect without friends or family, like a shadow.
Until one day, on the 44th floor of the Tian Building, he saved a girl named Han Yun'er. Chains of talisman fire bound the ghost. The copper coin he had worn around his neck all these years suddenly grew hot, then shattered with a bang, bursting apart in his palm.
At that moment, he understood: no matter how you try to conceal it, you can never escape karmic ties, the illusions and grievances of love.
Theme: Break free from bitterness and darkness, and welcome a new life.
