The Return to Jin: A Life of Transformation

In the year of Jianxing 4, the state of Bingzhou was lost, and Liu Kun died. In the year of Yongchang 1, Chang'an was destroyed, and the Former Zhao dynasty came to an end. In the year of Jianwu 1, the warrior Shen Wenyang was killed. These events marked the beginning of a new era, as one generation's grudges were buried in the earth. Twenty years later, a young warrior with a reputation for his swordsmanship was tasked with escorting two princes of the Tabgach dynasty back to their homeland. As they journeyed along the Jinxi Road, he was recognized by a stranger who asked, "You are the descendant of whom?" The warrior was unaware of his true identity, living only to follow orders and survive in a world of chaos. Yet, there were those who remembered him. The Buddhist master, Fotu Cheng, sat in a temple in the city of Ye, speaking with a middle-aged monk. "The path of a hundred transformations is difficult," he said. The monk then took a young girl with him on a journey from Ye to Jinxi, through the mountain passes and into the lands of Daibei. The girl asked her master, "When will we descend from the mountain?" The monk replied, "We will descend when the time is right." The story concludes in the city of Jingdu, where a young man named Liu Qiu held a newborn baby, asking the Buddhist master to name him. The master looked at the child for a long time, then said, "Let's call him Yu, meaning abundant and prosperous." The baby's cry carried far on the wind, and no one knew that the child was named by a warrior who had once been a wanderer, known as a hundred transformations, and who had eventually returned to the land of Jin.