The Mystery of the Blood Curse
For the next three days, Qi Diao Yanfei devoted herself to the diagnosis and treatment of Dorje Jianzan's illness.
She carefully examined the patriarch's symptoms: pale complexion, rapid breathing, fatigue after even the slightest activity, and occasional bleeding from the gums. These were typical manifestations of anemia, but much more serious than ordinary anemia.
"All the men in our family are like this," Dorje Gyaltsen said, lying weakly on the couch. "When they're young, they're just like ordinary people, but once they reach around thirty-five, they start to weaken, as if their lives are being consumed at an accelerated pace."
Qi Diao Yanfei gently pressed his sternum, and Dorje Jianzan immediately frowned in pain.
"Does it hurt here?" she asked.
The patriarch nodded: "It feels like pain in the bones."
Qi Diao Yanfei was lost in thought. She recalled a corpse she had handled years ago. The person had come from an isolated valley and had symptoms very similar to Dorje Gyaltsen's. During the autopsy, she discovered that the person's bone marrow was an unusual color, jelly-like instead of the normal red.
"I need to see your family's medical history records," she said to Dorje Gyaltsen.
In the Khampa family's scripture hall, Qi Diao Yanfei flipped through family archives written in Tibetan on parchment. These records date back more than a hundred years, detailing the birth, aging, illness, and death of every generation of the clan.
A striking pattern emerged: for five consecutive generations, all male members died between the ages of 35 and 40 with identical symptoms, while female members were completely unaffected, passing the disease on to their sons while leaving their daughters unaffected.
"It's like some kind of curse that only applies to men." Jiacuo stood at the door of the scripture hall and spoke in a low voice.
Qi Diao Yanfei looked up at him and said, "This isn't a curse, it's a genetic disease. It's only passed down from mother to son."
She pointed to the family tree on the parchment scroll and said, "Look, all the sick men have mothers from the Khampa family. And the healthy men have mothers from other ethnic groups."
Gyatso walked closer to take a closer look, his face gradually turning pale: "Then I..."
“You are Dorje Gyaltsen’s son. If your mother is also from the Khampa family, then you are likely to suffer from the same disease.”
Gyatso sat down dejectedly: "My mother... is my father's cousin."
Qi Diao Yanfei was silent for a moment. Inbreeding often increases the likelihood of genetic diseases, which explains why the illnesses of the Khampa family became more severe with each generation.
"Is there any way to treat it?" There was a hint of hope in Jiacuo's voice.
Qi Diao Yanfei shook her head slightly. "I've never cured this disease. But in my experience, liver supplements and red dates may help."
"Liver? Red dates?" Gyatso asked doubtfully.
"On the grasslands, there's a saying: 'Like cures like.' People with anemia will see improvement from eating foods rich in blood. Liver is rich in iron, and red dates replenish blood and qi," she explained. "But this only alleviates symptoms, not cures them."
Gyatso's eyes dimmed. "So, my father and I are destined to die young?"
Qi Diao Yanfei did not answer, but silence itself was the answer.
That night, Qi Diao Yanfei prepared a prescription in her tent. She ground red dates, angelica root, and rehmannia root into powder, preparing it for Dorje Jianzan to take the next day.
The tent curtain was gently lifted, and a thin figure flashed in. It was a boy about ten years old, looking at her curiously with big eyes.
"You're not afraid of me?" Qi Diao Yanfei was a little surprised. Children were usually the ones who were most afraid of her.
The boy shook his head: "Brother Jiacuo said that you might be able to cure uncle's illness."
Qi Diao Yanfei recognized that this was the son of Dorje Gyaltsen's younger brother, named Tsering.
"You're also a boy from the Khampa family," she whispered. "Aren't you worried that you'll get sick in the future?"
Tsering lowered his head and kicked the straw mat under his feet: "Ama said this is our fate and we must accept it bravely."
Fate. The word brought a pang of pain to Qidiao Yanfei's heart. She thought of Tashi Phuntsok, and the "fate" that had forced them to separate.
"Destiny is not unchangeable." She didn't know whether she was saying this to Tsering or to herself.
Tsering looked up at her, hope flickering in his eyes. "Really?"
Qi Diao Yanfei didn't answer. Instead, she took out a small cloth bag from her bag and handed it to Tsering: "Give these red dates to your mother and ask her to boil water for you and all the boys in the family to drink every day."
Tsering took the cloth bag, nodded vigorously, and then jumped away.
Silence returned to the tent. Qi Diao Yanfei took out the portrait and examined it carefully under the oil lamp. The woman in the painting had bright eyes and a faint smile on her lips. That was how Tashi Phuntsok saw her, a completely different person from the despairing messenger she was now.
"If you are still alive, why don't you come to see me?" she asked softly the person in the painting, and also asked the mysterious man who left the portrait.
Suddenly, there was a sound of hurried footsteps outside the tent, and Gyatso's voice rang out from outside the door: "Mourner, please come and see my father!"
Qi Diao Yanfei immediately put away the portrait, picked up the medicine box and followed Jiacuo to the golden tent.
Dorje Gyaltsen's condition deteriorated rapidly. His face turned pale as paper, his breathing was so weak that it was almost imperceptible, cold sweat oozed from his forehead, and his lips turned purple.
"He was fine just now, but suddenly..." Jiacuo's voice trembled with fear.
Qi Diao Yanfei checked Dorje Jianzan's pupils and pulse, his face solemn: "Internal bleeding. His spleen may have ruptured."
"What should we do?" Gyatso asked anxiously.
Qi Diao Yanfei was silent for a moment, then took out a set of silver needles from the medicine box. "I can only stop the bleeding temporarily and relieve his pain. But he doesn't have much time left."
Jiacuo staggered back and leaned against the tent pillar, his face pale.
Qi Diao Yanfei skillfully inserted acupuncture needles into Dorje Jianzan's acupuncture points. As the silver needles penetrated, the patriarch's breathing became slightly more stable, and he slowly opened his eyes.
"Mercy maker..." Dorje Jianzan called weakly.
Qi Diao Yanfei leaned closer: "I'm here."
"That young man... left something behind..." Dorje Jianzan breathed weakly, "In the secret compartment under my pillow... He said that only you can understand..."
Qi Diao Yanfei immediately groped under the pillow and found a hidden compartment. After opening it, she found a roll of paper wrapped in oilcloth.
Unfolding the oilcloth, she gasped—it was a detailed diagram of human anatomy, depicting bones, muscles, and internal organs, with various annotations in Tibetan and Chinese characters beside it. And in the lower right corner of the diagram, there was that familiar handwriting:
“Only by knowing death can we know life. — To my Yan Fei”
Qi Diao Yanfei's hands began to tremble. The accuracy of this anatomical diagram far exceeded the medical knowledge of the time, and the phrase "Only by understanding death can we understand life" was exactly what she had said to Tashi Phuntsok back then.
They had just met at the time, and he asked her why she chose to become a sky burial master. She replied, "Only by understanding death can we understand life. Only by understanding the truth of death can we appreciate the preciousness of life."
"Father!" Jiacuo's exclamation brought Qi Diao Yanfei back from his memories.
Dorje Gyaltsen's breathing became rapid again and his eyes began to blur.
"Mercier..." He tightly grasped Qi Diao Yan Fei's hand, "Please... hold a sky burial for me..."
Qi Diao Yan Fei nodded: "I promise you."
A relieved smile appeared on Dorje Gyaltsen's face, and then he slowly closed his eyes.
A deathly silence fell within the tent. Gyatso knelt beside his father's bed, his shoulders trembling slightly. The tribesmen outside the tent seemed to sense something, and the low sound of chanting gradually rose, filling the camp like a tide.
Qi Diao Yanfei stood quietly for a moment, then began to cleanse Dorje Gyaltsen, change his clothes, and prepare for the sky burial ceremony. This was her duty and her respect for the deceased.
While sorting through Dorje Gyaltsen's belongings, she found a sealed letter in the patriarch's pocket. The envelope read:
"To the messenger Qi Diao Yan Fei, personally."
She opened the envelope and unfolded the letter. The contents of the letter made her hold her breath:
"Yan Fei,
If you are reading this letter, it means that I have passed away and you have arrived as promised.
That young man—I think you know who I'm talking about—came to my tent three years ago and told me that you would definitely come, and that your arrival might bring a glimmer of hope to our family.
He said he was searching for a way to break the cycle of life and death. He mentioned a plant called the "Flower of Rebirth," which was said to grow on the tops of snow-capped mountains and beside holy lakes. It bloomed once every thousand years and could purify the blood and cure chronic diseases.
He said this flower might be able to save our family.
I don't know if he found that flower, or where he is now. But he asked me to tell you: 'That month, I shook all the prayer wheels, not for salvation, but just to touch your fingertips. Now, I circumambulate the mountains, rivers, and pagodas, not for the next life, but just to meet you again.'
May the Buddha bless you to find him, and may you find a way to heal our family.
Dorje Gyaltsen's last work
Qi Diao Yanfei held the letter tightly in her hand, with a complex light flashing in her eyes.
The flower of rebirth. Breaking the cycle of life and death. These all sound like the stuff of myth and legend, but if it were Tashi Phuntsok...
She recalled that after his death, when she had sky-buried his body, she had indeed seen a new kind of white flower nearby, its petals as transparent as crystal, almost indistinguishable against the snow. She was so lost in grief at the time that she hadn't paid much attention.
Could that be the flower of rebirth?
The next morning, the sky burial ceremony was held at the Kham family’s sky burial platform.
Qi Diao Yanfei is dressed in formal sky burial master attire, with a mask embroidered with mysterious totems on her face, holding a vajra and a sky burial knife, and chanting scriptures in the swirling smoke of mulberry trees.
Dorje Gyaltsen's body was placed in the center of the sky burial platform. The tribesmen sat around it from a distance, chanting sutras in low voices. Gyatso stood in the front, his face solemn.
When Qi Diao Yanfei began to prepare the remains, she paid special attention to the condition of Dorje Jianzan's bone marrow. As she had suspected, the bone marrow had an abnormal color and a jelly-like texture.
This confirmed her diagnosis: it was a genetic disease that affects the blood production function of the bone marrow.
During the sky burial, Qi Diao Yanfei noticed that Jiacuo's eyes never left the movements of her hands. There was not only sadness in his eyes, but also a kind of determination.
After the ceremony, the tribesmen returned to the camp one after another. Qi Diao Yanfei was cleaning her tools when Jiacuo came over.
"I've decided to go to the snowy mountains with you," he said bluntly.
Qi Diao Yanfei looked up at him: "Why?"
"Two reasons." Gyatso's expression was serious. "First, if that young man has truly found a cure for our family's illness, I must know. Second..."
He paused, his voice low, "I dreamed of my father. He said that young man needed help."
Qi Diao Yanfei quietly gazed at the young man who had just lost his father. His eyes were firm, completely different from the impulsive and reckless heir a few days ago.
"The snowy mountains are very dangerous," she said.
"I know." Gyatso nodded, "but I'm familiar with that road. Every year I lead my people to the holy lake for pilgrimage."
Qi Diao Yanfei thought for a moment, and finally nodded in agreement: "We will set off tomorrow."
That night, Qi Diao Yanfei packed her belongings in her tent. She carefully put away Dorje Jianzan's letter and kept the portrait and the anatomical diagram close to her.
The meticulous annotations on the anatomical diagrams made her wonder: Where did Tashi Phuntsok learn this knowledge? As a reincarnated lama child, he received a Buddhist education, not a medical one. Moreover, such precise knowledge of human anatomy was rarely mastered in this era.
unless...
A bold guess formed in her mind: unless the person who left the clues was not the Tashi Phuntsok she knew, but a "him" from another world, another time and space.
The thought made her shudder.
A slight noise outside the tent interrupted her thoughts. Qi Diao Yanfei stood up alertly and moved quietly to the tent entrance.
"It's me, Tsering." The little boy's voice came from outside.
Qi Diao Yanfei lifted the curtain and saw Tsering standing in the moonlight holding a small package.
"Here you go." Tsering handed over the package. "Ama said it's for food on the road."
Qi Diao Yanfei took the package and felt the warmth of the food inside. This ordinary care made her feel a little uncomfortable. For many years, people had only feared and rejected her, never such a kind gesture.
"Thank you," she said softly.
Tsering shook his head, he pulled out a small amulet from his pocket and put it in her hand: "This is for you. May you return safely."
It was a small prayer wheel woven with wool, rough but full of sincerity.
Qi Diao Yanfei held the amulet tightly, feeling a long-lost warmth flowing through her heart.
Tsering turned and ran away, but stopped a few steps away and turned back to ask, "Mourner, can you really find a way to cure us?"
In the moonlight, the little boy's eyes were bright and full of hope.
Qi Diao Yanfei was silent for a moment, then nodded gently: "I will do my best."
This promise was not only made to Tsering, but also to herself.
At dawn the next day, Qi Diao Yanfei and Jiacuo set out on the road to the snow-capped mountains.
Gyatso prepared two strong horses and plenty of supplies. He had obviously traveled a lot and was very familiar with survival in the wild.
"It normally takes seven days to get from the camp to the holy lake." Gyatso pointed to the outline of the snow-capped mountains in the distance, "but if we speed up, we can get there in five days."
Qi Diao Yanfei nodded and mounted her horse. She glanced back at the Khampa camp one last time before turning her horse around and heading north with Jiacuo.
The grassland receded behind them, and the terrain ahead began to become rugged. The towering snow-capped mountains loomed in the morning mist, like a portal to another world.
On the way, Jiacuo told Qi Diao Yanfei more details about the mysterious young man.
“He stayed here for a week, and he spent most of his time looking through our family medical records,” Gyatso recalled. “He also drew a lot of diagrams, like the anatomical diagram you see here.”
"Did he tell me where he came from?" asked Qi Diao Yanfei.
Gyatso shook his head. "No. But he seems unfamiliar with modern times—no, he seems unfamiliar with some things of that time. One time, I took out our family's heirloom sword, and he actually asked what metal it was made of, as if he had never seen steel before."
Qi Diao Yanfei seemed lost in thought. This detail further confirmed her suspicions.
"He was particularly interested in the holy lake and asked many questions about the legends surrounding it," Gyatso continued. "He said that in one legend, the water of the holy lake can reflect a person's past and present lives."
Qi Diao Yanfei knew the legend. In Tibetan Buddhism, the sacred Lake Namtso is considered the incarnation of the Buddha Mother, and the lake water has magical powers that can predict the future and reflect destiny.
"So you believe he's going to look for the flower of rebirth?" she asked.
Gyatso's expression grew serious. "I don't know. But I believe he is connected to my father's dream."
"Your father's dream?"
Gyatso nodded. "My father began having the same dream a week before he died. He dreamed of a young man standing on the summit of a snowy mountain, holding a glowing flower. The young man said to him, 'Wait for the messenger of mourning to arrive, and all will be clear.'"
Qi Diao Yanfei silently controlled the horse, but her heart was in turmoil. The coincidence of all this was too bizarre, as if an invisible hand was manipulating their fate behind the scenes.
On the third day, they entered a dense redwood forest. The trees here were tall and straight, their canopies blocking out the sun, and the forest was filled with a mysterious atmosphere.
"This is the sacred forest." Gyatso lowered his voice. "Legend has it that if you make a wish here, the redwood god will hear it."
Qi Diao Yanfei looked up at the towering ancient trees and suddenly felt a strange sense of familiarity. It was as if she had been here long ago.
Deep in the woods, they found an abandoned cabin. It looked like no one had lived in it for years, with a partially collapsed roof and weeds growing in front of the door.
Instinctively, Qi Diao Yanfei dismounted and walked towards the wooden house. As he opened the door, a stale smell hit him in the face.
The room was simply furnished with a wooden bed, a table, and a chair. On the table stood a dusty oil lamp.
And in the drawer of the desk, she found a notebook.
When she opened the first page of her notebook, her breath suddenly stopped. It was written by Tashi Phuntsok, and it contained a shocking passage:
“I came into this world, but I don’t know when or where I am.
Everyone says I've been dead for eight years, but to me, that avalanche was just yesterday.
Yanfei, my Yanfei, if you are still alive, if you can see these words, please know:
I have let go of the world, but I have never let go of you.
Now I travel around mountains, rivers and pagodas, not for my next life, but just to meet you again.
——Your Tashi Phuntsok"
The date on the note was surprisingly three months ago.
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