When he was a young man, Li Jing–like so many others–sought immortality.

He did not find it.

Instead, he found love. His wife Yin and their two sons became both his world and his reason for living in it. He treasured each moment as precious, mortal though he remained, and for many years he found it to be enough. He loved his family, loved the life he had built for himself and them.

This, he thought, was the key to true happiness.

When his oldest, Jinzha, left on his own quest for immortality, Li Jing was sure that he would eventually come to the same conclusion he had. The boy was wise beyond his years; surely he would realize that immortality was a child’s dream and a man’s nightmare, beautiful yet impossible to achieve.

To say he was shocked when Jinzha came back with an immortal master, Wenshu Guangfa Tianzun, was a gross understatement.

Even more shocking was when Muzha announced that he, too, would seek the secret to eternal life. He was encouraged by his brother’s success, but although he had a kind heart and sound mind, Li Jing feared for his second son’s safety. He was surely too soft for such a quest.

Li Jing almost asked if it was a mistake when the Bodhisattva Guanyin herself told him that Muzha had been chosen as one of her disciples.

Thus, both of Li Jing’s sons achieved what he had not. And he was proud of them for it, well and truly, congratulating them as a father should.

But time does not always heal, and as the years continued to pass and Li Jing aged while his sons did not, bitterness began to fester in his heart.

Why had they been able to find immortality when he had not?. Why had they been granted that impossible gift?. Why them and not him?. Must a father truly give everything for his sons?...