Soul Crossing Master
As spring goes and autumn comes, Qi Diao Yanfei has lived in the cabin in the redwood forest for a whole year.
During that year, her fame spread like the wind across the grasslands, reaching every corner of the plateau. People no longer feared her, but instead came from far and wide, seeking her help and guidance.
She is no longer the dreaded "bringer of sorrow", but is respected as the "soul ferryman" - a wise person who helps the living and the dead to part peacefully and guides the souls to a safe transition.
That morning, just as Qi Diao Yanfei finished her morning prayers, she heard the sound of hurried horse hooves outside her door. A middle-aged shepherd with a weathered face jumped off his horse and knocked anxiously on her door.
"Soul Master, please save my daughter!" The shepherd practically knelt at her door. "She has a strange disease, and all the doctors are helpless."
Qi Diao Yanfei helped the shepherd to his feet and asked calmly, "Tell me slowly, what happened?"
"My name is Doji, and I'm from the Baima family in the west," the herder panted. "My daughter, Baima Zhuoga, started having strange dreams three months ago. She dreamed of a woman in white waving at her by the holy lake. Since then, she has become increasingly weaker and now can't get out of bed. She talks nonsense all day, saying she wants to go to the holy lake to meet the woman."
Qi Diao Yanfei frowned slightly. These symptoms didn't sound like a common illness.
"Take me to see it." She simply packed her luggage and set off with Doji.
The Baima family's camp was located in an open river valley. When Qi Diao Yanfei walked into Baima Zhuoga's tent, she immediately felt an unusual chill.
The girl lying on the carpet was about fifteen or sixteen years old, her face as pale as paper, her eyes sunken, her lips chapped. Around her wrists were tied a white woolen rope with several strangely shaped stones strung on it.
"She made that up herself," Doji explained, "and said it was a token from the woman in her dream."
Qi Diao Yanfei gently held the girl's hand and felt a piercing chill. Even stranger, when she touched the girl, the book "Poetry Biography of Tsangyang Gyatso" she was carrying suddenly emitted a faint blue light.
"You all go out for a moment," she said to the others in the tent, "and leave me alone with her for a moment."
After everyone left, Qi Diao Yanfei took out the Poetry Book and placed it on the girl's chest. The book's blue light became more pronounced, as if it were fighting against some unseen force.
"Tell me, what does the woman in your dream look like?" she asked softly.
Baima Zhuoga slowly opened her eyes, her voice weak but clear: "She... is very beautiful, wearing a white Tibetan robe, with hair down to her waist. She is standing on the north shore of the holy lake, the place where the legendary node of time and space is located."
Qi Diao Yanfei's heart moved: "What else did she say?"
"She said...she's been waiting for someone for a very, very long time." A trace of fear flashed in the girl's eyes. "She said I looked like the person she was waiting for, and she wanted me to stay with her."
Qi Diao Yanfei gently flipped through the poetry biography, found a poem by Tsangyang Gyatso, and recited it softly:
"It's best not to meet each other, so that we won't fall in love.
The second best thing is not to know each other, so that you won’t miss each other.
…”
As she recited, the chill in the tent gradually dissipated, and Baima Zhuoga's breathing became steadier.
"This is..." The girl looked at her in confusion.
"This is Tsangyang Gyatso's 'Ten Commandments,'" Qi Diao Yanfei explained. "It's about the wisdom of love and letting go."
She continued to recite, and when she read "Once we have met, we have known each other. How is meeting worse than not meeting? I wish I could say goodbye to you, so that we wouldn't miss each other throughout life and death", a cold wind suddenly blew in the tent, and the blue light of the poem became stronger.
"No!" A sharp female voice rang out in the tent, "Don't chase me away!"
Qi Diao Yanfei calmly closed the poem and said to the empty tent, "Show yourself, lost soul. Tell me your story."
The outline of a woman in white gradually condensed in the air. She was indeed as beautiful as Baima Zhuoga had described, but her eyes were filled with obsession and pain.
"I'm Mei Duo," the woman said quietly, "A hundred years ago, I fell in love with someone I shouldn't have—the reincarnated spirit child at the time. We agreed to meet at the Holy Lake and elope to a distant land. But that night he broke his promise. I waited by the lake all night and eventually jumped into the water and committed suicide."
Qi Diao Yanfei was shocked. This story was so similar to her own experience.
"Is your soul trapped by the holy lake, unable to enter reincarnation?" she asked.
Mei Duo nodded, tears streaming down her face. "I won't give up! I'm going to wait for him and ask him why he betrayed me!"
"It's been a hundred years," Qi Diao Yanfei said softly, "Perhaps he had his own reasons. Just like my Tashi Phuntsok, he didn't let me down, but chose a greater responsibility."
Meadow looked at her in shock: "You...you too?"
Qi Diao Yanfei nodded and told the story of himself and Tashi Pingcuo, and his ultimate choice to become the guardian of time and space.
"Clinging to the pain of the past will only keep you stuck in the same place forever." She finally said, "Letting go is not giving up on love, but allowing love to continue in another form."
Mei Duo was silent for a long time, and the obsession in her eyes gradually dissipated: "You are right. A hundred years of waiting is enough."
She turned to Baima Zhuoga and said apologetically, "I'm sorry, child. I shouldn't have tried to take you away. It's just that you look too much like the person I'm waiting for."
The figure of the woman in white began to become transparent, but a smile appeared on her face for the first time in a hundred years: "I will continue my journey. Thank you, Soul Ferryman."
With these words, she vanished into thin air. The chill in the tent dissipated completely, replaced by a warm calm.
Baima Zhuoga's face flushed at a speed visible to the naked eye. She sat up and looked at her hands in surprise: "I... I feel much better!"
Dorje, who was outside the tent, heard the noise and rushed in. Seeing his daughter recover, he was so moved that tears welled up in his eyes: "Soul Master, you saved my daughter! How can I repay you?"
Qi Diao Yanfei shook her head: "No repayment is needed. Helping lost souls find their home is the best reward for me."
After this incident, Qi Diao Yanfei's reputation as a "soul ferryman" became even more famous. People not only asked her to preside over sky burial ceremonies, but also to help solve various difficult problems related to the soul.
She always responds to requests, using her wisdom and the special book "Poems of Tsangyang Gyatso" to help one soul after another trapped in obsession.
A month later, a special visitor came to her redwood cabin - it was Gyatso.
"Soul Ferryman," he jokingly bowed, "I bring greetings from the Khampa family, and a humble request."
Qi Diao Yanfei smiled and invited him into the house: "What's the unwelcome request?"
Gyatso's expression grew serious. "It's about Tsering. He...he's starting to show symptoms of the blood curse."
Qi Diao Yanfei's heart sank. "How is that possible? Didn't Tashi Phuntsok say the curse had been lifted?"
"We thought so at first," Gyatso sighed, "but a month ago, Tsering suddenly started having nosebleeds and fatigue. I consulted the best doctors, and they all said it was the early symptoms of a blood curse."
"Take me to see him." Qi Diao Yanfei stood up immediately.
Back at the Khampa camp, Qi Diao Yanfei met Tsering. The boy had grown considerably taller than a year ago, but his complexion was indeed a little pale, with faint shadows under his eyes.
"Soul ferryman!" Tsering was still very excited to see her, but his voice was obviously weak.
Qi Diao Yanfei examined him in detail, feeling increasingly depressed. This was indeed an early symptom of the blood curse, but it was much milder than Dorje Jianzan's condition back then.
"Why did the curse recur?" she asked herself in confusion.
That night, she came to the holy lake outside the camp alone and called out to Tashi Phuntsok into the lake.
Ripples appeared on the lake surface, and his reflection slowly emerged.
"Yanfei," he called gently, "I sense your confusion."
"The Khampa family's blood curse has resurfaced," she said anxiously. "Tsering is showing early symptoms. Why is this? Could it be that the mirror spirit hasn't been completely eliminated?"
Tashi Phuntsok's reflection shook his head. "The mirror spirit has indeed been destroyed, but the Khampa family's affliction wasn't entirely caused by a curse. It was a hereditary blood disorder that the mirror spirit merely exploited and exacerbated."
"So even if the curse is lifted, the disease itself will still be there?"
"Yes," he confirmed, "but there's no need to worry. The power of the Flower of Rebirth is enough to control the disease, allowing the sufferer to live a normal life. Tsering's symptoms are mild, and with prompt treatment they won't worsen."
Qi Diao Yanfei breathed a sigh of relief, but then another question came to her mind: "But there is only one flower of rebirth, and I have already used it to heal Nuobu."
Tashi Phuntsok's reflection smiled. "The flower of rebirth has completed its mission—it has sown its seeds in the land of the Khampa family. Tomorrow, take Tsering to the southern shore of the Holy Lake. There you will find the flower of new life."
The next morning, Qi Diao Yanfei brought Tsering and Gyatso to the southern shore of the Holy Lake. Surprisingly, the previously barren lakeshore was now covered in a sea of blue flowers—the very flowers of rebirth, though smaller and fainter in color.
"These flowers..." Jiacuo squatted down in surprise and touched the petals lightly.
"They are the offspring of the Flower of Rebirth," Qi Diao Yanfei explained. "They may not have the same powerful healing power as the mother plant, but they are enough to control the symptoms of the blood curse."
They collected enough flowers and returned to camp to make a potion. After Tsering took it, his symptoms improved rapidly.
"These flowers need to be taken regularly," Qidiao Yanfei said to Jiacuo, "but they will grow naturally. As long as the place where they grow is well protected, the Khampa family will no longer be threatened by the blood curse."
After the problem was solved, Qi Diao Yanfei prepared to return to the redwood forest. But Tsering grabbed her clothes and said:
"Soul Ferryman, can I learn from you? I want to be someone who can help others like you."
Qi Diao Yanfei looked at the boy's determined eyes in surprise, thought for a moment and nodded: "If your parents agree, you can come to my cabin anytime."
To her surprise, after the news spread, more than a dozen young people from the Khampa clan expressed their desire to learn from her. Not only the Khampa clan, but also many people from surrounding tribes came to her, hoping to become her disciples.
After careful consideration, Qi Diao Yanfei decided to establish a small school in the redwood forest to pass on her knowledge and wisdom as a sky burial master and soul ferryman.
"We not only need to learn how to deal with the dead, but also understand the true meaning of life and death," she told the students in the first class. "Death is not the end, but a part of life. Our responsibility is to help the living and the dead say goodbye peacefully and guide troubled souls to find their home."
Her teachings blend Tibetan Buddhist perspectives on life and death, the practical skills of a sky burial practitioner, and the knowledge she gained from Tashi Phuntsok about time, space, and energy.
Students learn not only anatomy and funeral rites, but also how to communicate with spirits and soothe troubled hearts with poetry and music.
The Biography of Tsangyang Gyatso's Poems became one of their important textbooks. Qi Diao Yanfei discovered that Tsangyang Gyatso's poems possessed a special power that could penetrate the boundaries of life and death, conveying comfort and wisdom.
“Poetry is the language of the heart,” she taught her students. “Poetry can reach the depths of the soul when words fail.”
A year later, the first batch of students completed their studies and returned to their respective tribes, becoming respected "soul ferrymen." They spread Qi Diao Yan Fei's teachings to further places, helping more people face life and death calmly.
Qi Diao Yanfei's hut was expanded into a small courtyard, including classrooms, dormitories and a small scripture hall. This place became a special institution of learning, and people called it "Redwood Soul-Transferring Academy".
On a special full-moon night, Qi Diao Yanfei sat alone under the redwoods, talking to Tashi Phuntsok's reflection in the lake about her recent situation:
"Today, I sent off the second batch of graduates. They come from all corners of the grasslands and will bring the wisdom of soul-crossing back to their hometowns."
"Sometimes I wonder, if we hadn't separated back then, would we still be able to find this meaning in life?"
"You chose to protect time and space, and I chose to guide souls and educate people. Perhaps this is our respective paths of cultivation."
Tashi Phuntsok in the lake smiled and nodded, his eyes full of satisfaction.
"I used to think that losing you was the greatest pain in my life," she continued softly, "Now I understand that pain was like a seed that, nurtured by time, blossomed into the flower of compassion and wisdom."
She opened the biography of Tsangyang Gyatso’s poems, which had accompanied her for many years, and wrote on the blank space on the last page:
"I will not let down the Tathagata, I will not let you down—we both fulfilled this vow in the end.
You guard the balance of time and space, and I guide lost souls.
Love never disappears, it just takes different forms and continues to nourish the world."
Closing the book, she looked up at the starry sky. The night breeze caressed her cheeks, bringing the fragrance of distant flowers.
At that moment, she deeply felt that Tashi Phuntsok was indeed everywhere - in the wind, in the flowers, and in every heart seeking peace.
The bells of the Redwood Soul Crossing Temple rang, signaling the beginning of a new day. Qi Diao Yanfei knew that her mission would continue until her last moment.
Because true love never ends with separation, it only continues to transform and continue in various forms.
Everything in the world is you, and I will always feel your presence in all of this.
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