Return to the Realm of Truth
In the tenth year of the Resonance Era, Qi Diao Yanfei began to have some strange dreams.
In her dream, she saw herself and Tashi Phuntsok strolling across a grassland that felt both familiar and unfamiliar. The geraniums there never faded, the redwoods reached the sky, and three suns of different colors hung simultaneously in the sky. Strangest of all, they felt both young and old in the dream, as if they were in every stage of their lives simultaneously.
"Pingcuo, I have been dreaming about the same place recently." One morning, she told her husband about these dreams.
Tashi Phuntsok's expression grew pensive. "I had a similar dream. In it, it seemed as if we were living in all time and space simultaneously."
This strange synchronicity caught their attention. After searching the resonance network, they learned of an astonishing phenomenon: some highly evolved beings in the awakening wave began to experience "time-space fusion"—their consciousness could simultaneously perceive their existence on all timelines.
"This is part of evolution," a consciousness scientist from the Andromeda Galaxy explained online. "When consciousness expands enough, it can transcend the limitations of linear time."
However, one full-moon night, Qi Diao Yanfei's dreams became remarkably real. That night, she dreamed she was simultaneously standing in front of a small house beneath a redwood tree, on the streets of Chang'an, on the lotus platform of a future Buddhist kingdom, and beside the Yaochi Lake in the secret realm of mountains and seas... Every time and space they had ever visited overlapped in her dream.
When she woke up, she found herself not in bed, but standing under the redwood tree outside the cabin. Even more shocking was that Tashi Phuntsok also appeared beside her at the same time, with the same confusion in his eyes.
"This is not a dream." Tashi Phuntsok touched the tree trunk lightly, feeling the rough texture of reality. "We are really here."
Subsequent investigations revealed an even more incredible truth: their cabin and the redwood tree were becoming the intersection of time and space. Scenes from different times and spaces appeared around them like mirages, sometimes a Tang Dynasty palace, sometimes a futuristic city, and sometimes a fairyland.
This phenomenon quickly caught the attention of the Free Will Alliance, and expeditions from various civilizations discovered that the universe's first naturally occurring "spacetime node"—a special region connecting all timelines—was forming here.
"This is the vision foreseen when the Primordial Light sacrificed itself." The Sea of Memory concluded after analyzing ancient data. "When the universe is truly free, time and space will no longer flow linearly, but will form a multidimensional network. Your location is the first node of this network."
As the time and space nodes stabilized, visitors began to arrive from all eras. One day, they unexpectedly received their younger selves—Qidiao Yanfei, who was still the messenger of death, and Tashi Pingcuo, who had just become the guardian.
"Where is this..." The young Qi Diao Yanfei looked around vigilantly.
The elderly Qi Diao Yanfei smiled and said, "This is your future, and it is also your present."
This meeting across time lasted a whole day. The younger ones listened to the older ones' stories, from initial shock to ultimate understanding. As the sun set, the younger Tashi Phuntsok softly asked his older self:
"After going through so much, have you ever regretted it?"
The elder Tashi Phuntsok and Qidiao Yanfei exchanged a smile and replied, "Every choice we make has made us who we are today. What is there to regret?"
The young Qi Diao Yan Fei seemed to understand something: "So, I will not let down the Tathagata and I will not let you down..."
"Not by giving up, but by tolerance." The older Qi Diao Yanfei continued this sentence.
When they returned to their own time and space as young people, they left behind a special gift - a small mirror that could reflect a person's appearance in all timelines.
Qi Diao Yanfei saw a shocking scene in the mirror: she was the lonely mourner, the wise soul ferryman, the brave time traveler, the loving mother... She was smiling in the mirror, as if saying: You are complete at every stage.
The existence of these time-space nodes quickly created new problems. Visitors from different eras brought their own perspectives and issues, sometimes leading to conflicts. Even more problematic, some visitors from the past attempted to alter history, while those from the future sought to acquire certain technologies.
Faced with these challenges, Qidiao Yanfei and Tashi Phuntsok developed a new approach. Rather than trying to control access to time and space, they guided visitors to understand that every moment has its own unique value, and that changing the past or the future would deprive the present of its preciousness.
One day, a special visitor arrived—a fragment of the consciousness of the Origin Eye. After the Observer relinquished control, it had lost most of its power and was now just a weak consciousness.
"I come seeking... understanding." The Eye of the Origin's voice was no longer commanding, but now filled with confusion. "I have witnessed the beauty that freedom brings, but I still cannot fully understand it. Why is uncontrolled creation more perfect than a carefully designed experiment?"
Qi Diao Yanfei did not answer directly, but took it to visit the scenes around the time and space node: children from different eras were playing together, artists from different civilizations were collaborating on creation, and even the conflicting parties could find the possibility of reconciliation here.
“Look at these lives,” she whispered. “They follow no predetermined program, yet they create a harmony that even the most ingenious design cannot replicate. Because true beauty comes from infinite possibilities, not perfect control.”
The Eye of Origin remained silent for a long time. When it spoke again, its tone was filled with unprecedented humility: "I think... I am beginning to understand."
In the days that followed, the Eye of Origin remained at the node of time and space, acting as a learner rather than a controller. It observed the free creation of life, recorded the beauty of unrestrainedness, and gradually understood the true meaning of freedom.
This process had an unexpected effect. With the transformation of the Primordial Eye, the last traces of control in the universe completely disappeared. Even the smallest physical constants became more flexible, as if the universe itself was celebrating its final liberation.
However, the biggest change occurred in Qi Diao Yan Fei and Tashi Pingcuo themselves. As the time and space nodes stabilized, they began to truly experience the existence of all timelines at the same time.
In the morning, they might be young lovers, chasing and playing on the prairie; at noon, they might be middle-aged partners, teaching visitors the ways of wisdom; in the evening, they might be elderly couples, reminiscing about the past under the redwood trees. All these states exist simultaneously, yet in harmony.
“This is the state of returning to one’s true self,” Tashi Phuntsok said one day after experiencing himself at all ages simultaneously. “It’s not about returning to the starting point, but about embracing all possibilities.”
Qi Diao Yanfei nodded: "It's like a river on the grassland, with no upstream or downstream, it just exists in its entirety."
This state gave them a whole new understanding of love. Love was no longer a commitment within linear time, but a choice among all possibilities. Amidst the infinite space and time, they still chose each other, a bond more precious than any vow.
In the twentieth year of the Resonance Era, Dava returned to the Node of Time and Space. He was no longer a young traveler, but a shrewd Resonance Coordinator. With him came various forms of life—representatives of the civilizations he had aided over the past twenty years.
"Father, Mother," Dawa hugged them, "I have returned to celebrate your Pearl Wedding."
Qi Diao Yanfei then realized that thirty years had passed since their wedding that spanned time and space. In the node of time and space, the concept of time had become blurred.
The celebrations lasted a full month. Visitors from across time and space and civilizations gathered beneath the redwood trees, sharing stories of love and freedom. Most touchingly, many of the lives they had helped came to express their gratitude: descendants of Khampa families, monks from future Buddhist kingdoms, spirits from the secret realms of mountains and seas, scholars from the Xingchen Academy...
At the climax of the celebration, all the visitors created a miracle together: they used their respective abilities to weave a holographic image covering the entire grassland, showing the love story of Qidiao Yanfei and Tashi Pingcuo in all time and space.
From their first encounter to their final companionship, from the ordinary grasslands to the magical otherworld, every moment was vividly recreated in the video. When the video played to the part where they made their eternal vows before the Mirror of Balance, the audience resonated with blessings.
After the celebration, Dawa said goodbye again. This time, Qi Diao Yanfei did not shed tears, but smiled as she bid farewell to her son.
"Do you understand?" Tashi Pingcuo asked softly.
She nodded. "Love is not about possession, but about fulfillment. Just as we fulfilled each other and the freedom of the universe, we must now fulfill our son's path."
The space-time node continued to develop, eventually becoming the universe's famous "Holy Land of Wisdom." Seekers from all ages came to learn the way of balance, and Qi Diao Yanfei and Tashi Phuntsok were always there, existing simultaneously in the forms of all ages, teaching the true meaning of life.
One day, Qi Diao Yanfei discovered a new text on the last page of "The Biography of Tsangyang Gyatso's Poems":
“I don’t seek transcendence or envy of immortality, I just want to be real every day.
All time and space are one, but love remains eternal and unchanging."
She knew that this was a blessing from the universe itself.
In the state of returning to nature, they finally understood the complete balance: not through control, but through release; not through attachment, but through letting go; not through the pursuit of eternity, but through cherishing every moment.
Love is the bridge that connects all time and space, the bright light that illuminates all possibilities, and the ultimate state of returning to nature.
Under the starry sky, two figures - young and old at the same time, ordinary and extraordinary at the same time - hugged each other tightly, becoming the most beautiful paradox in the universe: finite infinity and momentary eternity.
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