Buddha Beads vs. Mortal Desires

Buddha Beads vs. Mortal Desires Plot:

Qing Chen, a young monk in a thousand-year-old temple, guards both a "Buddha's Shadow Plum" that blooms only at midnight and his master's last wish: "Never break the precepts." Until Su Wan, a female painter, arrives with an unfinished ancient painting—depicting him as a general in a past life, bidding farewell to Su Wan, who was an assassin. Su Wan says if she doesn't finish the painting before the plum's bloom fades, she'll vanish. Qing Chen tries to keep his distance, but every time Su Wan picks up her brush, the Buddha beads on his wrist burn and crack, flooding him with past memories: battlefield blood, the warmth of Su Wan dying in his arms, the pain of his master sealing his memories… When the last bead shatters, the plum suddenly blooms all over the mountain. Staring at the painting where they hold hands, Qing Chen finally understands—"Crushing desires" never meant suppressing his heartbeat, but daring to face the unextinguished fire hidden beneath the beads.