A Tale Beyond the Red Chamber: Upon the Three Lives Stone

On the Three-Life Stone, whose tear is owed to whom?

She was once a crimson pearl immortal herb growing by the banks of the Spirit River. When she was about to wither, a foolish stone watered her day after day with dew. The dew was stolen from the bottle of the Divine Ying Attendant, and he shared half of it with her. Later, when Divine Ying descended to the mortal world, the stone followed her, willingly becoming a piece of jade so it could accompany her through a lifetime among mortals.

He was the noble young master of the Jia family, born with jade in his mouth. She was an orphan who had lost both parents and lived under someone else’s roof. When they first met, he said, “I feel like I’ve seen this sister before.” She took him for a frivolous fool, never knowing that three hundred years earlier, this very foolish stone had saved her life with stolen nectar.

In this life, she repaid him with her tears. But would her final tear be one of joy, or would she die after weeping herself dry?

The sweetness of the nectar and the bitterness of repaying it with tears: the names carved on the Three-Life Stone have never grown faint.

This is a story about “finding you”: forgetting you three hundred times, and still finding you.