Prologue

The elders always say that when people die, they don't just cease to exist! There is a world similar to the human realm, a place where the dead reside. Departed souls wait there to be reborn, to cycle through reincarnation. That is why the oldest elder in our village often muttered, "Life is the beginning of death; yet death is not the end of life! The cycle turns and returns!" According to my observations, it seems that the less one fears death, the longer one lives; several generations younger than this elder have already passed on! Yet he still appears in the village today, greeting his neighbors or telling nearly forgotten stories to the children gathered at his knees.

The place where humans live is called the human realm, also known as the Yang realm. When people die, their souls—referred to as "ghosts"—inhabit a place called the Underworld, also known as the Yin realm.

Before the Three Lives Stone, one verifies their three lives, Upon the Bridge of Helplessness, one sighs at their helplessness, In the waters of Yellow Springs, one cleanses their karmic sins, On the Reincarnation Platform, one experiences the cycle of rebirth.

Humans come into this world through ten months of gestation, forming a body of flesh and blood, followed by a long period of learning to develop consciousness, growing from infants into adults. After a hundred years, they weaken and age, then return to the Underworld to continue the cycle of reincarnation.

After death, one must recall every experience of their life before the Three Lives Stone, then drink the soup brewed by Lady Meng on the Bridge of Helplessness to forget the past. Crossing the Bridge of Helplessness over the Yellow Springs washes away their consciousness, leaving them a soul as pure and blank as a sheet of paper. Then, ghost messengers use the water of the Yellow Springs to cleanse each soul of their karmic sins from life, and finally, they step onto the Reincarnation Platform to be reborn.

Some say that Lady Meng's soup is brewed from the water of the Yellow Springs and the flowers and leaves of the Other Shore Flower. But one must know that the Other Shore Flower's petals and leaves never meet; collecting them alone takes a thousand years. That soup contains not only the power of oblivion but also the joy of the flowers and leaves finally meeting.

As for the Yellow Springs, it is the most unique existence in the Underworld; it would not be an exaggeration to say it is the foundation of the Underworld itself. It divides the Yin and Yang realms, nurtures the Underworld, provides a resting place for the souls of the dead, and prevents the human realm from being disturbed by Yin evils. Lady Meng's soup can make people forget, and the Yellow Springs water can purify karmic sins, but where do these forgotten and purified experiences, goodness, evil, wisdom, knowledge, and perceptions go? This is a question many have been pursuing for billions of years.

Everyone knows that water cleanses the body and washes away dirt; that dirt is visibly removed from the body. But what of the perceptions, experiences, knowledge, emotions, goodness, and evil within the soul? They are forgotten, purified, and then where do they go? As long as something has existed, there must be traces of its existence. The rules of this world do not allow for "absolutes."

Want to know?

They are all in the deepest part of the Yellow Springs, gathering there for centuries, millennia, tens of thousands of years, and eons!

Time is truly a marvelous existence. Its wonder lies in its ability to make stubborn stones nod, give consciousness to inanimate objects, cause the stars to rotate, make the earth's dragons and snakes rise and fall, and turn oceans into mulberry fields.

And time also allowed those things in the depths of the Yellow Springs to nurture a lotus flower with three blossoms on a single stem!

Three lotus flowers, three colors: black, white, and a small, crystal-clear Crystal Lotus.

The Black Lotus gathered all the darkness—the evil karma, sins, baleful energy, sorrow, evil thoughts, and resentment purified by the Yellow Springs water; the White Lotus was the opposite, condensing all that is good. And the Crystal Lotus, which was only half the size of the black and white ones, was formed from the chaotic fragments of forgotten perceptions and knowledge from the Yellow Springs. It had no memories, no sense of good or evil, no worldly experience; it was a pure condensation of knowledge—chaotic knowledge, like a massive, unorganized library.

Time witnessed the countless reincarnations of all things, the alternation of the sun, moon, and stars, and the shifting of the world as seas dried and mountains rose, as mountains collapsed and waters flooded; in short, everything was changing. And one day, the lotus flowers in the depths of the Yellow Springs quietly began to change.

First, the White Lotus gained consciousness, observing the other two lotuses on the same stem for who knows how long. Then, as a parting gift, it gave "hope" to the Crystal Lotus and "love" to the Black Lotus. Finally, it broke free from the stem, turned into a wisp of white, clear energy, and vanished into the Yellow Springs.

Who knows how much time passed before the Black Lotus and the Crystal Lotus gained consciousness in succession. The Black Lotus also wanted to leave, giving the Crystal Lotus "desire" and "emotion" as parting gifts. This made the already conscious Crystal Lotus very happy. It thought the Black Lotus was kinder to it than the White Lotus, because the White Lotus had only given one gift, while the Black Lotus had given two. Because they were on the same stem, the Black Lotus could easily perceive the Crystal Lotus's thoughts; it gave the Crystal Lotus a speechless glance, then turned into a wisp of black smoke and vanished into the Yellow Springs.

The departure of the Black Lotus and the White Lotus did not leave much of an impression on the Crystal Lotus. As it slowly began to experience the "seven emotions and six desires," it felt lonely. To make itself feel better, it opened the White Lotus's gift.

The Crystal Lotus eventually came to the same conclusion as the others: it wanted to leave the Yellow Springs. It moved its body, which hadn't grown much larger, dragging its heavy stem, wandering aimlessly through the Yellow Springs, hoping to find a way out.