Xiang Liu and Xiao Yao’s Story and Romance

 liddi:

I think they were lured to the separate thread covering poems in chapter titles that H19279 created.

Either way, as someone in their thread mentioned, interpretations are subjective. As such, it is regrettable to see efforts to mock an interpretation that does not agree with their own, particularly if one is able to provide sufficient compelling evidence to support it. Not to mention that these analyses and interpretations were neither done on the main thread, nor encroaching into their individual threads. In an ideal world, we would be having mature, intelligent discussions or indulging in silliness without feeling the need to attack each other, even if we have differing opinions. 

Hi Liddi,

i don’t passby Jing-XY’s discussion. Thus i am not aware such things. Glad that they didn’t leave comments in the folder for poem. maybe some of them felft hurt because many poem in the last chapters of the book link to XL-CY instead of their beloved Fox. 

 Kokuto:

Okay.  So, wouldn't that mean that XL would know via the Love Bug, that she was aware, even though she was in a coma?

As @ Liddi corrected, it was XY’s spiritual consciousness. i don’t think XL could feel the communication at such deep subconsciousness. She could sense his actions meaning there is communication channel between his bug-her bug and her spiritual consciousness  

i summerized her 37 year healing process in this thread 

https://mydramalist.com/discussions/lost-you-forever/121043-about-long-lovesickness-yaoliu?page=3

@liddi @MySiFeng

Do you guys at least remember what that supposed epilogue was about? I am so curious. 

@kokuto

"I tend to take these sort of things with a big block of salt, but if it isn't sad, I doubt it's Tong Hua."

 I am the opposite, I usually am more inclined to belive that there's no fire without flame, but either way, I am still curious about that epilogue, even if it's fake. Whatever that can give me some closure will do.

First things first. Thank you very much @MySiFeng for pointing me to the original Weibo poster! Found screenshots of Tong Hua's interactions from 2013 while re-reading up the post about the supposed additional epilogue. At least these are confirmed to be Tong Hua's words. From her post, apparently her original plan was to write 4 stories in the Mountain and Sea Chronicles:

Once Promised -> [Novel 2] -> Lost You Forever -> [Novel 4]. 

The Guifang clan was supposed to be featured in the story written between Once Promised and Lost You Forever which also featured 冥王 the Ruler of the Underworld, but it was ultimately shelved.

13 Aug 2013

Q: 桐大，在长相思第二部中，为什么相柳帮小夭疗伤时说：“不要恨我。”求回复！！！！
Q: Teacher Tong, in Lost You Forever Vol 2, why did Xiang Liu say, "Don't hate me." when he was helping Xiao Yao to heal? Please answer!!!！

TH: 有两个原因，一个估计大家都猜到了，因为他让小夭的身体变得不再是纯粹的神族，另一个，请继续猜。（请原谅作者的寂寞总要设计一些小乐趣给自己的！）
TH: There are two reasons. The first I expect everyone to have guessed, which was because he turned Xiao Yao's body into one that was no longer a pure deity. As for the other, please continue to guess (please forgive the author's loneliness, who needs to always find something to amuse herself!)

**********************************************

Tong Hua's post on Weibo, 13 Oct (year unknown)

有人诧异说竟然中间还有一个故事？嗯，是有啊，一山二国三王族四世家，西陵在曾许诺里，赤水，涂山在长相思里，鬼方氏就要在这部里写啊！除了这个，二国也没写呢，不过那个应该要到最后一部了（长相思后的一部），这一部二国顶多有点影子。(突然有一种觉得封笔前能否写完的恐惧....)

但是，写了二十多万字后，觉得自己没有想清楚故事想要表达什么。我企图表达省和四主题，不是一个容易表达的主题，我的经历和思想够不上我的企图，决定搁置。

跳过冥王的故事，开始写《长相思》，写了一年多。

中间做了一个决定，父母年事已高，就算游必有方也到归家时，搬家回国定居。又生了个小病，做了个小手术，预计一两个周就应该好，最后我在床上躺了两个月。

一边躺着养伤，一边写。

感谢我的朋友，给我提了不少意见，我自己对这个故事的掌控是满意的。想要表达的主题也表达清楚了。

女主的悬着一直都是出于心理的缺失，而她心理和童年少年的成长息息相关，也就是现在心理学里常说的原生家庭。

Someone commented in surprise that there was a story in between [Once Promised and Lost You Forever]? Yes, there was. One mountain, two kingdoms, three royal families, four noble families. Xiling was featured in Once Promised; Chishui and Tushan in Lost You Forever; the Guifang clan was supposed to be featured in this story! Apart from this, the story of the two kingdoms have not been written, but that should be in the very last work (the one after Lost You Forever). In this story, there should only be glimpses of the two kingdoms. (I suddenly feel the panic of not being sure whether all the stories could be told before I finish writing...)

However, after writing over 200,000 words, I felt that I did not fully think through what the story was trying to express. I attempted to express the theme of life and death, which is not an easy theme to convey. My experiences and ideas were not enough for that attempt, so I decided to shelve it.

I skipped over the story of the Ruler of the Underworld, and started writing Lost You Forever, which took more than a year.

During that time, I made a decision. My parents were old, and even if I had been away, it was time to return home, so I moved back and settled in China. I also had a minor illness, and underwent a minor surgery which I expected to recover within one to two weeks, but ended up in bed for two months.

I wrote while I laid recuperating in bed.

I would like to thank my friends who gave me a lot of opinions. I am satisfied with my grasp of the story. The main themes I wanted to express were clearly conveyed too.

The female protagonist's choices had always stemmed from her psychological shortcomings, and her psychological state was closely related to her development during her childhood and youth, which is commonly referred to in psychology today, as "family of origin".

Now on to the rumoured 2nd epilogue. Note that there are commentators who said that all these were just fan fiction, so just take it all with a MASSIVE ladle of salt.

According to a Weibo user, there were rumours that there was a 2nd epilogue written by Tong Hua herself. There were two epilogues - the first was about Xiang Liu, the second about Xiao Yao.

In the (second) epilogue, Xiao Yao was said to be pregnant and gave birth to a son, whose character was like Xiang Bei (combination of Xiang Liu and Fangfeng Bei). He loved to lie on tree tops, and was exceedingly handsome. Although he was often despised for being half deity and half demon, both he and Xiao Yao did not care. The boy often helped the fishermen to drive schools of fish, and was exceedingly kind. Xiao Yao knew that the big-bellied doll was given by Xiang Liu, and she often took it out and stared at it in a daze. During these times, the boy would ask if she was missing him again.

Another commentator added that they heard Xiao Yao and her son lived on an island, and YaoJing never consummated their marriage in those two three hundred years.

It is also said that originally, the novel included Hong Jiang's fate, who was being pursued to the death on Cang Xuan's orders. In the end, cornered at Snow Mountain with no way out, Hong Jiang chose to die rather than surrender, killing himself by slamming himself against the mountain. With the obliteration of the Shen Nong army, the world was finally united.

There were also rumours that in the story, Xiao Yao had met Hong Jiang previously and held him in great esteem. Hong Jiang told Xiao Yao that she was the only friend Xiang Liu made in hundreds of years, but Hong Jiang never realised that she was a female.

There was also mention about Fangfeng Bei and the Guifang clan's relationship. It was said that before the final battle, Xiang Liu also went to the Guifang clan to settle his affairs. He left his cultivated demon core with the Guifang clan, which would be used to wake up Fangfeng Bei (presumably the real one). A comment elsewhere (can't find it during my re-read) added that Xiao Yao did meet the awakened Fangfeng Bei after that, but they never got to recognise each other because the Guifang clan had sealed all of Xiang Liu's memories. 

This part about leaving his demon core with the Guifang clan sounds a little plausible. When Xiang Liu died, his entire body disintegrated and there was nothing left but a black pool of poisonous blood. There are those who pointed out that there was no mention of his demon core. So it was possible that he could have entrusted his demon core to the Guifang clan. 

The novel itself hints at strong ties between Xiang Liu's Fangfeng Bei and the Guifang clan, with him using a token from the Guifang clan leader to convince the Jin Tian clan to forge Xiao Yao's bow for him. The Guifang clan was a mysterious clan who could traverse the wilderness without leaving any trace. They were the ones who presented Cang Xuan with an extravagant wedding gift of nine soul-restoring herb plants (which some say, hinted at the Xiang Liu's nine heads). In the play Cang Xuan had performed all over the Great Wilderness about the origins of the world, Gui Fang was portrayed as frail but cunning. We never knew the specifics of the ties Fangfeng Bei had with the Guifang clan. If the rumours were true, I suspect we could have had some hint to that in the shelved 2nd novel before Lost You Forever. Unfortunately, unless Tong Hua chooses to pick up where she left off, and give us the remaining two books, we will never know.

In any case, just remember. Massive ladle of salt. Massive ladle of salt. I won't put much stock in this unless I see it authenticated.

@Liddi,

I just finished reading a fantic which some similar detail like this. 

 H19279:

@Liddi,

I just finished reading a fantic which some similar detail like this. 

Cue truckload of salt. Do you see why I was not keen to share it here?

However, I think what I posted about Tong Hua's posts and comments above it is interesting and worth taking note.