H19279:

It is not really terrifying gaze. It is a kind of agorantly scary/cold look that pay attention and regard to none, nothing could influence his soul. Chi You only looked at Ah Heng with love, longing and tenderness. 

Chi You recued Xiao Yao when she was kidnaped by the Nine Tailed Fox. At that time, he still thought that XY was Shao Hao's daughter. Thus, he probably did not give her a warm look

I knew she had seen him before, but I couldn't remember how times or the circumstances.  But I thought I remembered XY seeing how her mother and him reacted to each other.

Ah, well, Chi You would definitely have mixed feelings for XY at that time then.  Partly because she was Ah Heng's daughter ... and yet not knowing she was also his daughter.  ouch.

 Kokuto:
Ah, well, Chi You would definitely have mixed feelings for XY at that time then.  Partly because she was Ah Heng's daughter ... and yet not knowing she was also his daughter.  ouch.

He was not in good mood. 

Yu Wang (the last king of Sheng-Nong) had been killed by Huang Di, he just recovered from serious injury. He returned from Bei Ming and saw Ah Heng's family with Shao Hao and XY. 

It was the occasion when Yun Xang (great Princess of Sheng -nong) got wedding ceremony with Qing Yang (in absence) in Xuan Yuan. He escorted Yun Xang and Sheng nong delegation. Then XY was kidnapped. Yi Peng wanted to force Ah Heng to reveal XY's real father. She had no choice but begged Chi You to search for XY. In the same event, Chi You cut off one tail of that Fox and gave it to XY.  

 H19279:
Lao Mu was thinking the same thing. He was in multiple battles before and forget Nine Lives Xiang Liu, he’s never even run into army officials ranked several ranks above him before.

He felt reassured and reminded Xiao Liu to be careful and not go where not needed and if no spiritual plants are found then to come back and they can think of another way.

What does "forget Nine Lives Xiang Liu," mean?  Is Lao Mu saying, 'other than XL'?  I took it to mean that Lao Mu HAD run into XL.

I took this section to mean that yes, they, or Lao Mu specifically, were concerned about running into the Resistance Army and XL in particular.  But apparently XY convinced and 'reassured him' that it wouldn't happen.

Checking the Koala translation for clarification on what Lao Mu was saying, I found this tidbit from Koala. 

"... Tong Hua had hinted at the end of Once Promised the OTP for her sequel story dealing with XY."

Is this true?  Were there hints at the end of Once Promised?

 Kokuto:

What does "forget Nine Lives Xiang Liu," mean?  Is Lao Mu saying, 'other than XL'?  I took it to mean that Lao Mu HAD run into XL.

I took this section to mean that yes, they, or Lao Mu specifically, were concerned about running into the Resistance Army and XL in particular.  But apparently XY convinced and 'reassured him' that it wouldn't happen.

That is the Kaola translation. 

Below is the google translation: 

老木想着的确是这个理,他打了半辈子的仗,别说九命相柳,比九命再低好几级的军官也没见过。他放下心来,叮嘱小六一切小心,能去的地方就去,不许进入的地方千万不要进。如果挖不到灵草,回来后再想办法

Lao Mu thought that this was indeed the case. He had been fighting for half his life, and not to mention Nine-lives Xiangliu, he had never seen an officer several levels lower than Nine-lives Xiangliu. He felt relieved and told Xiao Liu to be careful, go wherever he could, and never enter places that were not allowed. If you can't dig the spirit grass, return then think of another way. 

My understanding is he had never seen an officer several levels lower than XL, thus it was almost no chance to encounter XL.

EDIT: I found some contradict in the story. So Lao Mu used to fight for Xuan Yuan for many years. I guess when he was in Xuan Yuan army, XL was also in Sheng-Nong Army. And in the epilogue it is said that XL always wore white outfit and fought at the front to draw attention of the enemy. So, his soldiers had higher chance to survise. Thus, there must be rumor or story about the fact that he used to wear white outfit. If Lao Muc had never encountered him, he probably anticipated very small, unimportant battle with Sheng-nong army. However, it was strange that he did not know and mention this particular XL's habbit 

 AH :
Lyrics of the Shengnong soldiers':

Thank you for sharing this, as well as the original poem by Tao Yuanming. I don't remember whether it was shared on the thread, but I translated it for my daughter when she was reading the novel, and it was pretty much similar to what you had:

This body is entrusted to the rivers and mountains, Life and death is insignificant.

Once the breath is gone, the soul will dissipate.

Gains and losses are no longer known, How is one aware of right and wrong?

After thousands of years have passed, Who is aware of the honour or disgrace?

The word "生" can mean "give birth to", or "life".  In the context of 生死, it always means life and death.


Thank you too for the excerpts that gave us clues as to the characters' mindsets with regards to life and death. I would like to point out a discrepancy in the translation in Chapter 35:

 AH :
Xiang Liu laughed and pointed at his head. “I’ve lost count, but they are all here.”

The actual text says this, which meant that he kept them in his heart, and more than just his memories of them, what kept him on that tragic inevitable path to death was the bonds of comradeship and affection that he had for them:

“不仅仅是为了义父,还有并肩作战、同生共死的袍泽,我们一起喝酒,一起打仗,一起收殓战友的尸骨……”相柳看向案上的灵位,“几百年来,你能想到我究竟亲手焚化过多少袍泽的尸体吗?”

小夭无法想象,可她能理解相柳的意思,就像四舅舅,明明能逃生,明明深爱四舅娘和玱玹,却选择了和袍泽一起赴死。这世间,有些情义,纵然舍弃生命,也不能放弃。

相柳微笑着,指了指自己的心口:“我也数不清了,但他们全在这里。”

"Not just because of Adoptive Father. There are also all those brothers in arms I fought alongside with, shared life and death with. We drank together, went to battle together, collected our fallen comrades' bodies together...." Xiang Liu looked over at the altar on the table. "Over the past hundreds of years, can you imagine how many of my fellow brothers in arms I have had to personally cremate?"

Xiao Yao could not imagine but she understood what Xiang Liu meant. Similarly, Fourth Uncle clearly could have survived, clearly loved Fourth Aunt and Cang Xuan deeply, yet chose to die along with his fellow soldiers. In this world, there were some ties of comradeship that could never be abandoned even if it meant sacrificing one's life for it.

Xiang Liu smiled and pointed to his own heart. "Even I have lost count, but they are all in here."

-- Vol 3 Ch2  (Chapter 35)


 H19279:
She was only certain about his identity until she saw his look which reminded her of Chi You (the famous devil in the wideness). 

Thank you for this new perspective. I never tied her memories of the famous demon renowned all over the Great Wilderness to Chi Chen - rather I always thought it was an incident from her childhood where she was at risk from that demon at the time.  Now I really need to go and look up that section in Once Promised, to see how that scene played out, for her to have found the look in Xiang Liu's eyes similar to Chi Chen. Do you remember which chapter it is in Once Promised?

 liddi:
Now I really need to go and look up that section in Once Promised, to see how that scene played out, for her to have found the look in Xiang Liu's eyes similar to Chi Chen. Do you remember which chapter it is in Once Promised?

you can checked Vol 2 chapter 10 and Vol 2 chapter 12. However, the story was written from A Heng's view, thus it is not clear when XY captured his devil look. 

I just took a quick look at those chapters and found that Chi You was actually much more violent to Ah Heng than XL to WXL or XY 

 liddi:
During the creative process, do you work out in advance the ending of each character?
I normally do not write an outline for my stories, which means I myself actually have no idea how the character would end. As I write, it's sometimes based on my own deeper understanding of the characters or like being pushed. Or perhaps sometimes it's the character who guides you slowly towards the end of his fate. So it is not deliberate, but a natural progression. 

Thanks Liddi for these excerpts into TH creative process. Looking at her process, I can see how the characters development may have evolved over the course of her writing. This approach also can perhaps can create loopholes and contradictories in characterization and story, as proven by the 516 discussion on this thread. hehe.

 liddi:
With S2 around the corner, I wonder how everyone coped after reading the novel or watching the drama and how long it took?

I am still semi mourning....as XL as a character have climbed to the top of my all time fav. antihero among Hua Cheng, Alucard etc. And also beating out a few of my childhood fav. wuxia antiheros from the 90's.  I am slowly picking up other dramas, but everything brings me back to him. Sending healing vibes to your daughter....I haven't been able to get my daughter to read or watch LYF, but from the snips I've shown her, she is not a big fan of XY, and she thinks XL wasted his time falling in love with her. My sassy teenager doesn't like girls like XY...she says XY is a pick-me girl. Haha.

 liddi:
Coming out from the supermarket, the wind was strong and the sun was bright. Through the car window, I saw that the blue skies were really blue and the white clouds were really white. I thought of Nine Lives (a character in a story), all dressed in white, living nine lives in the mortal realm, a demon who should have been so unfettered and free but instead trapped himself with responsibility. I always love to use the snow to describe him. Just as I was feeling sad, it suddenly started snowing, and the snowflakes hit against the car window. I was shocked! The sun was clearly still shining brightly. My husband said, "Sunny and snowing! It's a rare occurrence!"

-- 桐华tonghua @ Weibo, 26 Feb 2012

Tong Hua seems like a hopeless romantic. Haha. I love it. I can see how something like this can manifest and solidify her contentment in writing XL's ending the way she did. Had I witnessed such a rate occasion after killing off my favorite character, I'd still feel like it was meant to be, a beautiful bittersweet meeting and parting.

 H19279:
He had been fighting for half his life, and not to mention Nine-lives Xiangliu, he had never seen an officer several levels lower than Nine-lives Xiangliu.

Okay, this translation is still unclear.  

'... not to mention XL' , still sounds like 'except for XL, Lao Mu had never seen even lower level officers.'

Or is he saying:

'he'd never seen lower level officers, much less a general like XL'


 H19279:
My understanding is he had never seen an officer several levels lower than XL, thus it was almost no chance to encounter XL.

But everything we've seen of XL in LYF, he's fighting alone.  He doesn't travel or fight surrounded by high ranking officers -- which most generals did.  Someone in the Xiyan army wouldn't have to encounter a bunch of officers to encounter XL -- just as the guards of the provision that XL stole, encountered him alone.

Had he been on a battlefield, they also would have noticed XL because of his white outfit, which purposefully drew fire away from his men.



 H19279:
He felt relieved and told Xiao Liu to be careful, go wherever he could, and never enter places that were not allowed.

Ah, here's another clue that XY knew she could encounter XL, or Hong Jiang.  In the drama, we saw a marker that presumably declared this as Resistance Army territory.  It's where she left Jing to wait.  So, XY ignored Lao Mu's words, and went some where she wasn't allowed, i.e. someplace she knew was tresspassing and upped her chances of encountering XL.

 nathsketch:
But I have my issues with Tong Hua as a screenwriter. Let's see.

I share the same sentiment. There are two different writing style, and in a rare occasions, you can have novelist excel at scriptwriting. I think what doesn't really work in C-drama is that some editing is not planned ahead, and are done in the moment, with many editing revisions to meet censorship. This, obviously, hinders the original intent of any script. Imagine, you initially wrote a scene that requires multiple cuts, but the perspective that is presented doesn't pass censorship. You will have to opt for a half-ass cut to make someone happy. Maybe after season 2, I will read the leaked script and critique it. Lmao. I've read some really good scripts and I have a lot opinions. In screenwriting classes, they say to just read a lot of scripts and then watch the film, in order to see how the script is executed. Perhaps, this is where I will nerd out later when I finish mourning XL.

 nathsketch:
How about living and honoring your fallen brothers in a different way?

I think this may comes down the collective mindset that runs in Asian culture. Instead of surviving alone and living your life to the fullest to honor your fallen fellows, it is more honorable to fall with them. 

 nathsketch:
I don't love the character for his tragedy, I love him for what he accomplished in life and what he could have continued to accomplish if he was given a chance to live.

I also see XL death as a waste for DaHuang, and at most a huge loss for XY.

 nathsketch:
I wonder sometimes... was it his character arc that made him so searingly unforgettable in our hearts? Would we have loved him so much if he was given an ending that was far less tragic?

I fell in love with XL for his resilience and fighting spirit and how he still loved living-but mostly, how he really inspired XY to grow. So even if he survived the war, he would still be unforgettable. I had wanted XY to leave her comfort zone. 

Maybe I am old fashion, but I really was hoping the "love conquers all" to manifest for LYF. When Huangdi said that XY was able to break free for the cycle of trauma, I was very sad and upset, because XY technically didn't. She just ran away and pushed her problems on to Jing to burden for her. To truly break free would to stand on her own feet, and save her heart, and show the men in her life that there's more to life than moral obligations. She spent her life pampered and taught by the men in her life, how will it look like for her to teach the men in her life?

 Kokuto:
But everything we've seen of XL in LYF, he's fighting alone.  He doesn't travel or fight surrounded by high ranking officers -- which most generals did.  Someone in the Xiyan army wouldn't have to encounter a bunch of officers to encounter XL -- just as the guards of the provision that XL stole, encountered him alone.

I think this is just a matter of budget-it's easier to write a fight scene of a few men, then to write and orchestrate a small battle. As you can see, when compared to the novel confrontation of CX and XL, it's very magical. They fought in the sky with riding on winged horses. While the drama, they fought on ground with a few foot soldiers.  LOL. LYF spent all there money on the cast and had nothing left for extras. haha...they barely had enough the CGI.

 nathsketch:
Fully agree with all of this. We are going through something with my grandpa and, needless to say, it's not going to be pretty :(

Sending virtual hugs to you Nath. I am dealing this with my dad. He relatively young but he is very unhealthy so he has aged significantly. 

 plor20:
I think this is just a matter of budget-it's easier to write a fight scene of a few men, then to write and orchestrate a small battle. As you can see, when compared to the novel confrontation of CX and XL, it's very magical. They fought in the sky with riding on winged horses. While the drama, they fought on ground with a few foot soldiers. LOL. LYF spent all there money on the cast and had nothing left for extras. haha...they barely had enough the CGI.

Yes, when I read it here, I was stunned.  So, I'm sure the budget had something to do with it, but there were more than that fight in the drama.  You can compare how XL and CX handle things.  CX always has his guards and men whom he orders to do things.  XL does things by himself, and rarely do we see him using his men to do anything.

 plor20:

Sending virtual hugs to you Nath. I am dealing this with my dad. He relatively young but he is very unhealthy so he has aged significantly. 

I'm sorry to hear this and at a young age.  It is a difficult thing to face.