I think TJC's take on the character is FFB response to XY's comment that he got the crappy end of his deal with the real FFB, when he had to spend all that time taking care of real FFB's sick mother. He disagreed and felt blessed to have had that experience. Even though it wasn't for XL himself, at least he got to experience a mother's love.Kokuto:
Love this.
also in the novel XL does not at all wear a mask, he just use his transformation skills , as shown in the boat sceneSymbolika1:
XL wears his white mask many times in the novel, including every time he encounters ZX. He does also transform a small number of times in the novel, but the boat scene is not in the novel.
One thing I quite like: even when he transforms AND wears a mask (in this case, the gambling den two-headed dog mask), XY still recognizes him.
---
It was almost dark and the street was filled with people rushing home to their families. In the busy throngs Xiao Yao didn’t even know why she noticed a very richly dressed man. She stared at the man but he didn’t even glance at her. They passed each other by and the man continued on his way. Xiao Yao stopped and turned back to look for him.
Miao Pu asked quizzically “What did my lady see?”
Xiao Yao stood there in a daze before rushing off after the man but with so many people on the street she couldn’t find him.
Miao Pu kept following and asking “What is my lady looking for?”
“I….I…..I don’t know.” Xiao Yao wasn’t trying to lie to Miao Pu, she really didn’t know.
...
As night fell the gambling den got busier as more and more people arrived. After sitting for who know’s how long, Xiao Yao saw the richly dressed man again. He was wearing the mask but Xiao Yao immediately recognized him.
Xiao Yao rushed after him through multiple rooms and corridors before she caught up to him. The man was standing next to a glass wall that the Li Jie tribe must have enchanted because on the other side was a constellation filled with shooting stars.
The man said with a smile “You chased me for so long, do you want something?:
Xiao Yao asked “You don’t know me?”
“Should I know you?”
Xiao Yao took off her mask.
The man stared before whistling “If I know you then I wouldn’t forget you! Sorry!” He turned to leave but Xiao Yao grabbed him “Xiang Liu! I know it’s you, stop pretending!”
The man wanted to shake Xiao Yao off but she was like a squid clinging onto him and refusing to let go. The man got annoyed “If you don’t let go then I’m going to stop being polite!”
“Go ahead! If I hurt then you’re not going to feel good either!”
The richly dressed man sighed and took off his mask before turning around. With the starry sky behind him his face gradually changed to reveal his true visage.
Xiao Yao stared at him before breaking into a beaming smile, the happiness lighting up her eyes.
TSJ is quite aware of who FFB is
In the novel, XY knows that TSJ had seen XL's face before so he would be aware that FFB and XL have the same face. In chapter 19 she wonders why he never asked about it. In chapter 33, TSJ confirms that he knows that FFB is XL.
---
Chapter 19:
Xiao Yao never concealed where she went and Jing knew she was spending a lot of time with Fang Feng Bei but he never said anything or asked anything.
Actually deep down inside, Xiao Yao wanted him to ask. But he likely thought he had no right to stop her so he didn’t ask. He never even mentioned that Fang Feng Bei looked just like Xiang Liu, not sure if he investigated and found nothing suspicious, or he didn’t think it mattered.
---
Edit: Which makes the instances where TSJ says that he knows FFB is more suitable for XY than him very interesting.
---
Chapter 22:
Jing said “No, I see you as more important than my life. Xiao Yao, you resented me for saying I wasn’t good enough for you yet I refused to let go. Actually, I know that you can go on just fine without me. I know that Fang Fang Bei is more suitable for you. But I can’t let you go, as long as I am alive then I can’t! I’m sorry, I’m sorry…..”
But the switch between FFB and XL in the same chapter is kind of what I'm talking about. They aren't as clearly separated as before.
Yep.
And it's kind illustrated in this part you posted, where FFB answers:
Finally Xiao Yao spoke first “Did you attend Jing and Yi Yang’s wedding?”
“I may be irresponsible but I still would manage to attend my little sister’s wedding to the Tu Shan clan leader.”
And then XL: says this later:
Xiang Liu suddenly said “I’m a killer for hire sometimes.”
Xiao Yao looked quizzically at him and he said slowly, “If you pay, I can kill Fang Feng Yi Yang and her child for you.”
If not attending the wedding would be irresponsible, for FFB, what would killing your "little sister and nephew" be? O_O
Obviously he's now XL, not Uncle FFB. ;)
Lol, yes it's quite the juxtaposition.
Dramadoggy2021:
I am confused…Xl white hair is dyed or the black hair is dyed?
When his hair is black, it's dyed.
How long has he been fbb? Guess his family really don’t care about him..illegitimate son ..comes back brings some crystals gold etc .take cares of mother until she dies and just be fbb when he isn’t running the army..lol only the demon deities can do that
He's been FFB for more than 400 years.
He was FFB first, and joined the Sheng Nong remnant army later.
FFB's mother cared about him. Everyone else in the FF family seems ambivalent about him.
---
Zhuan Xu handed a scroll to her “This contains all the background information on Fang Feng Bei.”
Xiao Yao was stunned for a moment before taking it. She spent the entire day poring over the background report.
The report started from the moment Fang Feng Bei was born.
Fang Feng Bei’s life was exactly that of a second son in a large family, living an ordinary life. He was good at learning the spiritual powers, but because his brother and sister were even better and they were born of the first wife, no matter how hard he worked his brother and sister were always more prominent. Because he was so bitter, he ended up with a gambling addiction.
Around four hundred and eighty years ago, the teenage Fang Feng Bei ran away from home to earn money to repay his gambling debts. He went to the North Pole to look for ice crystals. He was gone for almost fifty years, which wasn’t a very long time to be away from home for the Gods, but because he went to a place that was dangerous beyond comprehension, his family assumed he died there. Who could have expected he would suddenly return home with lots of ice crystals. One would call it returning in glory.
Xiao Yao felt those nearly fifty years were very suspicious. During that length of time missing, even if Fang Feng Bei returned changed people would assume he had endured great hardship in the North Pole and accept his growing up. But what made him accepted as the same guy was that he spent the next four years diligently taking care of his sick mother to the degree that was astounding, from feeding her every meal and medicine to sitting beside her every day. Even now four hundred years later, if people in the know were asked about Fang Feng Bei, they would still say very proudly “Bei is very filial.”
After his mom died shortly after he returned, in those four hundred years since he lived the perfect life of a rich family spare son and dissolute playboy. He wasn’t greatly used by the family and he also didn’t have a lot of money, but he was very easygoing and loved to spend money, so he would do all sorts of random things to earn his keep. He would disappear for chunks of time from months to even years, and his friends and family all got used to it.
Because Fang Feng Bei’s personality was very relaxed and didn’t like to fight for anything, his relationship with his brother Fang Feng Zheng and his sister Fang Feng Yi Yang was very cordial.
Xiao Yao sighed. If what she suspected was true, the real Fang Feng Bei died over four hundred years ago and no one knows the current one is fake. Because Xiang Liu had been living as Fang Feng Bei for over four hundred years, even if he was fake initially over time he was accepted as the real one – so the Fang Feng Bei everyone has known in his entire adult life has always been Xiang Liu.
But why? What was Xiang Liu trying to get out of it? Fang Feng family was prominent enough but he could have impersonated a son from an even more powerful family. Plus Fang Feng Bei was concubine born so he had no influence in the Fang Feng family. If Xiang Liu wanted anything, he would have chosen better.
Xiao Yao mulled it over for a long time but couldn’t figure out Xiang Liu’s reason for doing it. This was a pretense that wasn’t just for a year or two, he was already Fang Feng Bei before she was even born. Xiao Yao gave up trying to figure it out.
---
Fang Feng Bei said “Then I’ll keep teaching you.”
Xiao Yao stared at him slack jawed – Xiang Liu wanted to teach her archery? It was absurd.
Fang Feng Bei laughed “You scared? Where did the courage to go taunt a demon snake go?”
Xiao Yao also laughed. “Fine, I’ll learn from you.” She needed to learn and who taught her made no difference. Let it be Xiang Liu then!
Xiao Yao checked him out from top to bottom and used her finger to poke his arm. “Did you already die in the North Pole?”
Others would have no clue what she said but Fang Feng Bei casually replied “Yes.”
“Why pick him?”
“I didn’t pick him, he picked me. He was on the verge of death but could not die in peace because of his worry for his mother. So he chose to give me his entire life force and spiritual powers asking only that I be his substitute and take care of his mother. It’s rare to encounter a God who willingly lets a demon devour him, and his request wasn’t hard for me to do so I didn’t turn him down.”
Whether a God willingly was devoured made a huge difference. If a God wasn’t willing and was eaten by a demon, the demon would at most be like ingesting good medicine and could strengthen the body a bit. If a God was willing to be eaten, the demon could absorb all the spiritual power the God had trained hard to develop and the demon powers would multiply greatly.
Xiao Yao once waited bitterly for her mother to come back for her and understood the agony of waiting. She was a bit envious of Fang Feng Bei’s mother and she gently asked “When you got back, did you see the mother?”
Fang Feng Bei lowered his eyes “I saw her. She was very weak and alone and brokenhearted without anyone by her side. Because I brought back a lot of ice crystals, the Fang Feng family then moved her to a nicer residence and gave her a maid. I stayed with her for another four years before she died in peace and contentment.”
Xiao Yao sighed, Fang Feng Bei and Xiang Liu’s deal had a happy ending. But it was hard to imagine Xiang Liu would carefully take care of an old woman for four years. This was likely why no one doubted that he was Fang Feng Bei! Even someone as calculating as Zhuan Xu saw no reason to be suspicious of him.
Xiao Yao asked “You’ve fulfilled your promise so why continue to be Fang Feng Bei?”
Fang Feng Bei smiled coldly with scorn “To fulfill my promise I put on a show for four years. But in the four hundred years since, I’ve just been myself. Which one of your eyes saw me continuing to pretend to be Fang Feng Bei? Regardless of whether it’s Fang Feng Bei, or Xiang Liu, or Nine-lives, it’s just a name.”
He’s right! The adolescent Fang Feng Bei was vastly different than the adult Fang Feng Bei, but with so long passed everyone had long forgotten what Fang Feng Bei used to be like. Xiao Yao thought back and realized that Fang Feng Bei appeared different than Xiang Liu only on the surface, but the way he didn’t give a damn about anything and didn’t want for anything was the same attitude. The only difference was Xiang Liu appeared to be him when wearing battle armor and heading to war on the battlefield, while Fang Feng Bei was him who shed the armor and was enjoying exploring the world.
Fang Feng Bei mocked her “You’ve changed identities way more than me. Are all of them play-acting for you?”
Xiao Yao shook her head “No matter how I change, I am still me. Except I’m not as able to let things go like you are, and some things still matter to me.”
Xiao Yao stared at Xiang Liu and gingerly asked “Is this….your real face?”
“Who has the patience to wear a fake face for four hundred years. And every time I change I’ll need to worry about changing back wrong.”
“You look like Fang Feng Bei?”
“No, we don’t look alike. But when Fang Feng Bei ran away from home he was still an adolescent and his looks weren't fully matured. Plus he was injured in the North Pole and his face required a doctor to fix up after he got home.”
Xiao Yao suddenly felt her heart set down a burden and she smiled.
nathsketch:
The 47 Ronin comparison is spot on. The person who chooses to die for their principles often forget (not forget forget, but they don't seem to think it through) about those they leave behind, and the consequences of their deaths. I was talking to AH about this the other day, when it was mentioned by one of the characters in MJTY that this kind of death is a coward's move. Can't say I disagree.
Yes, now, that's how it is often viewed. But I wouldn't be surprised, in that society, if many of the family killed themselves also. This is a society where one person's actions could result in the entire family being executed. If they were lucky. If they were unlucky, they got tortured and / or sold into servitude. Not to mention, they probably weren't doing well, given they'd lost practically everything when they were made ronin.
But there's also a lot behind the popularity of 47 Ronin and tales like it, including propaganda and gender ideals.
In LYF, despite the setting, they seem to take the more modern view. The whole ball of trauma is set off by CX's mom committing suicide, with little regard for her son. And XL may feel it's the honorable choice, but he does makes sure his death will not affect his only survivor.
I never felt like XL died for honour. Gong Gong and the remnant army couldn't give up their principles. They swore to fight for Sheng Nong and to never surrender, but Sheng Nong doesn't exist anymore. They wanted to protect the people of Sheng Nong, but those people have moved on and aren't threatened by war anymore. The army's role and their cause are obsolete, but they weren't able to let go. They preferred to die as soldiers that stayed true to their cause and their vows than to surrender and live in defeat.
XL doesn't care about that for himself. As XY says, it's not his cause. But he does care about Gong Gong and his comrades. He'll help them for as long as he can, and when they all die he doesn't want to be the lone survivor. I've posted the excerpts a few times before, so I won't post them again.
XL may feel it's the honorable choice, but he does makes sure his death will not affect his only survivor.
It's such a balancing act. He wants to keep her company to alleviate her loneliness when others cannot. He wants to provide the things she lacked. And he wants to make sure that she is not haunted by his death.
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