Xiang Liu and Xiao Yao’s Story and Romance

@HeadInTheClouds

Do you know who was the fans' ideal casting for XL?

I saw some sources discussed about Yang Yang

 liddi:

Yes! All the screenshots are from the PV and teaser, which were what drew me to the game.  The voiceovers in the PV itself are lacklustre. Unfortunately, the illustrations in-game are not particularly interesting, and the scenes we see in the PV are only narrated, not illustrated. This reminds me a lot of how much I looked forward to seeing the historical scenes in LMLMV, only to be told that those scenes were only in the MV, and not in the drama itself. Gah.

Oh no!

 liddi:

It was particularly amusing to see Wen Xiao Liu (looking in no conceivable way like a man) in Xiang Liu's oh-so-opulent tent after being caught. Clearly in this incarnation, our Nine-headed Demon must have found a massive pot of gold.

LOL! I can't even picture XL having an opulent tent. It feels too at odds with his preferences and personality.

 liddi:

But as you can see from the above incarnations of Xiao Yao, even if they had used their version of Xiao Liu in this scene, you really won't have been able to tell the difference either, because she is still dressed as a girl!

You're right! ^^

 liddi:

Clearly, they take artistic license and aesthetics very seriously. Having an arrow sticking out of his chest probably didn't look half as cool as just a blood stain.

Lol, true. 

 liddi:

Based on the PV, it should be a continuation from the scene in Image 4, so this is towards the end of Ch46 when she fell unconscious after losing so much blood,  except there is no Left Ear and Xiang Liu was the one who held her. This appears closer to the same scene in the leaked script, where Xiang Liu healed her wounds and held her in his arms in grief.

And XL decided to bring his white clam shell with him to the lake?

 liddi:

No no. Jing's fox ears are perpetually there in-game, no matter what scene he is in. His hair is actually blue. It looks silver here due to the lighting which they used to depict the fire around them. In no way does he resemble Xiang Liu, even in the game.

I'm glad they didn't decide to make his hair silver. But giving him blue hair and giving Feng Long reddish hair reminds me of reverse-harem animes where they make it easier to keep track of the different guys by giving each of them a different hair colour. Like Saiunkoku Monogatari.

It also makes me think that they might have tried to coordinate the hair colours with each of their power roots / specialities. 

• XL has white hair and wears white. His powers are rooted in water (snow/ice specialization).
• CX has black hair and his robes are primarily black with gold and red accents. He becomes the Black Emperor and his powers are rooted in wood / earth. 
• Feng Long has reddish hair and his robes are primarily blue with white, gold and red accents. His powers are dually rooted in fire and water. 
• TSJ has blue hair and white ears and his attire is a mix of blue and white. His powers are rooted in water (mist specialization). 

 liddi:

And yes. They couldn't be bothered to give us Fangfeng Bei, so he still looked exactly like Xiang Liu when he was supposed to be Fangfeng Bei. And the dense Xiao Yao couldn't even tell the difference. Go figure.

Wow, big change. 

 liddi:

There is a funny interaction with Xiang Liu outside of the main story where Xiao Yao asked him how he kept his clothes so pristine - whether he used his powers to keep them clean. The answer he gave was that he would personally wash them every day LOL. I wish he would share what detergent he uses, to be able to wash away the dirt so effectively.

Every day?? I know he's diligent, especially when he's with the military, but that's too much!

In the novel I assumed his cleanliness was tied to his powers, since the only times he looked even a hair less perfectly kept than usual was when he'd been injured, as far as I can recall.

I'm scanning through some episodes looking for Beloved Ru Shuo's first appearance, and Episode 13 had Jing and XY at an inn running away from CX.  Jing stops in the middle of a drink and says he can sense they've been surrounded and there are two high powered deities.  Fast forward to the Dragonbone Prison scene.  Jing is making his pitch for the 15 Year Promise ... and it's intercut with XL showing up in Haolin to rescue XY. 

Soooooo, do you think Jing could sense XL and him punching through the guards with his spirit power?  Is that why he asked and then pressed for her to keep her heart free of other men.  Now that this thought has popped into my head, I'm remembering other times where Jing clearly felt XL was around.

In Drama,When Xiaoyao and Fox are together, there will be some clips of Xiangliu from time to time.

For example, during the 15 year agreement, the camera shot directly from Xiaoyao to Xiang Liu's journey to the Five Gods Mountains. Another example is the scene where Mu Xiyuan sings about staying together forever, and then there is the scene where XL fights alone in a bloody battle.

On the other hand, Xiaoyao and Xiangliu had never met a fox when they were together.

 Kokuto:

I'm scanning through some episodes looking for Beloved Ru Shuo's first appearance, and Episode 13 had Jing and XY at an inn running away from CX.  Jing stops in the middle of a drink and says he can sense they've been surrounded and there are two high powered deities.  Fast forward to the Dragonbone Prison scene.  Jing is making his pitch for the 15 Year Promise ... and it's intercut with XL showing up in Haolin to rescue XY. 

Soooooo, do you think Jing could sense XL and him punching through the guards with his spirit power?  Is that why he asked and then pressed for her to keep her heart free of other men.  Now that this thought has popped into my head, I'm remembering other times where Jing clearly felt XL was around.

Personally, I felt like the drama creators chose to cut to the image of XL arriving at the ocean just beyond Five Gods Mountain at that moment to illustrate that he was someone who might enter WXL's heart if she didn't guard it against him (and someone who, at least in the novel, had already established himself there, as evidenced by the Lovers Bug transfer in the previous chapter). 

I don't think the intent was to imply that TSJ sensed XL's arrival at Five Gods Mountain, or that he asked WXL for the 15 year promise because he sensed XL's arrival.

As plor20 mentioned, we can infer that XL was able to hide his power when he wanted to, which is how he was able to remain undetected as FFB for so many hundreds of years. When he approached Five Gods Mountain in chapter 8, he would not have wanted to alert anyone to his presence when he arrived. So presumably he would have masked his powers and concealed his presence. 

Chapter 7 also specifically addressed XL's ability to approach Five Gods Mountain undetected. Even with his high powers, he was not able to approach Five Gods Mountain by air if he wanted to remain undetected. But he could get to Five Gods Mountain and remain undetected if he approached from the ocean. 

The only reason the Gaoxing soldiers ended up chasing XL and WXL in chapter 7 was that the bug summoning could not be done under concealment and alerted the guards to their presence. If they had just gone to Five Gods Mountain and waited in the ocean like XL did in chapter 8 (when he came to offer to rescue WXL), then presumably they would have remained undetected. 

If TSJ had been able to sense XL's presence in chapter 8, then CX and the Five Gods Mountain guards should have been able to sense his presence too. But no one seemed to be aware of his presence until they actually saw him, with the exception of WXL. In the case of WXL, she felt him calling to her through the bug connection after she and TSJ were escorted out of the prison. Presumably XL arrived earlier but waited until she was out of the prison to call to her. 

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Chapter 7:

Xiang Liu summoned Furball and vaulted on “Get up here!” Xiao Liu was ecstatic and climbed on the back of the condor. Furball took them South and after flying for a night and some hours they were close to Gao Xing’s Five Gods Mountain.

Xiang Liu knew the security was tight at Five Gods Mountain. Even with his power it was still impossible to remain undetected. He gave up riding Furball and dived into the ocean with Xiao Liu.

The ocean was like Xiang Liu’s home and he swam like a shark rocketing straight ahead through the waves. Xiao Liu tried to keep up but couldn’t. Xiang Liu swam back. “At your speed we can’t get there even in three days and three nights.” Xiao Liu grumbled, “Even if I’m the best swimmer I’m still a land lubber. You were a nine-headed demon born in the ocean, how can I compare to you.”

Xiang Liu said, “This is where the Grand Emperor lives so we can only reach it via the ocean to remain undetected.”

“I know.”

...

Xiao Liu’s expression grew dark and he said to Xiang Liu, “I have a bad feeling about this. This bug is sooooo strange. It’s not as simple as I thought it was.”

But then Xiao Liu didn’t feel anything weird in his body so asked Xiang Liu, “How do you feel?”

Xiang Liu was very calm and looked upward. “I feel like we need to run away now.” The bug summoning could not be done under concealment so it had alerted the guards in Five Gods Mountain. Xiang Liu grabbed Xiao Liu and sank into the ocean and started swimming away from Five Gods Mountain.

All the fish in the ocean came to help and created a maze to block and distract the Gao Xing soldiers and lead them astray. 

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Plus TSJ was very hestitant when he asked for the promise. WXL waited patiently for him to get up the courage to ask. And then he only mentioned WXL guarding her heart against others when WXL asked him how she should wait for him.

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Chapter 8:

Shi Qi was so happy. “I knew you would understand and support me. Jing Ye and them cannot understand why I don’t want revenge.”

Xiao Liu said, “I’m different than you. You are kind, I am practical.”

Shi Qi said in a low voice, “You are being practical for my own good.”

Xiao Liu huffed but said nothing.

Shi Qi’s breathing was erratic and his heartbeat was also fast. Xiao Liu knew what he wanted to say but was embarrassed to say. So she didn’t rush and instead nestled like a cat on his shoulder waiting patiently.

“Xiao Liu….I……I know I am engaged and have no right to say this to you…..and I never dared to….but…….I will call off the engagement, I will call off the engagement! You wait for me for twenty years….no…..no, fifteen years. You give Tu Shan Jing fifteen years, and after fifteen years I’ll give you back a Ye Shi Qi.”

Xiao Liu asked, “How do you want me to wait?”

“You…..you won’t let another man……into your heart.”

Xiao Liu was silent.

In the darkness, Shi Qi couldn’t see Xiao Liu’s expression and he was so nervous he forgot to breathe.

Xiao Liu suddenly burst out laughing and Shi Qi didn’t know if her laughter was mocking him for daring or….

Xiao Liu said, “You, you really don’t know me at all. My heart is cold and there is a hard shell encasing it. Forget fifteen years, likely in fifty years there won’t be a man who goes inside.”

Shi Qi asked, “So you’re agreeing? Let’s make a palm promise.”

Xiao Liu lazily raised her palm and Shi Qi felt where it was and then solemnly pressed his palm on hers. After they joined palms, he didn’t release and instead tightly held her hand. “Xiao Liu, I’m, I’m so happy.” His voice was quivering as his heart soared.

...

Darkness like death, silence like death, the most infamous jail cell in the vast wilderness made any prisoner seek death, but to Shi Qi and Xiao Liu, as they talked they didn’t even feel like time was passing. Shi Qi was so grateful that Zhuan Xu locked him up in the same cell as Xiao Liu, and only here did he have the courage to reveal his greatest wish. He even wished now to never leave, he was willing to spend an entire lifetime here with Xiao Liu. When the footsteps of the jailer sounded, Shi Qi felt like it was much too short.

The jailers politely welcomed them out with a changed attitude, and even brought a stretcher to carry Xiao Liu gently. Shi Qi didn’t want them to touch Xiao Liu so picked her up and carried her out of the jail cell. It was midday outside and the sun was so bright it hurt Xiao Liu’s eyes and she quickly closed it.

Xiao Liu heard Zhuan Xu ask Shi Qi, “How do you want me to treat you here? Ye Shi Qi or…?”

Shi Qi’s answer was direct. “Ye Shi Qi.”

Zhuan Xu said, “Follow me.”

Xiao Liu opened her eyes and they were walking along the edge of the cliff. To the right was the vast ocean, waves and waves were pounding the black rocks. Xiao Liu suddenly felt her heart sense, she sensed someone was calling her. She said to Shi Qi, “To the edge of the ocean.”

Shi Qi carried Xiao Liu down stone steps, through the forest, to the edge of the ocean. Standing on the cliff, Zhuan Xu didn’t stop them and instead silently followed behind.

Another set of waves rolled towards the cliff and as the blue waves rose higher and higher, at the top a white shadow rode the waves towards Xiao Liu. The white shadow stood steady on top of the wave, white robe and white hair, wearing a mask. He stood in the middle of the waves like a white lily, pure and untouched, extraordinary and beautiful.

All the servants rushed forward but Zhuan Xu stared in bemusement and asked “Xiang Liu, you want to kill me that much that you chased me all the way to Five Gods Mountain?”

Xiang Liu laughed. “This time I’m not here for you, Prince.” He looked at Xiao Liu. “You got your legs broken? What did you do that sent all the Gao Xing soldiers running around like headless chickens?”

Xiao Liu suddenly remembered that Xiang Liu had the bug in him so when her leg was broken, he must have felt it. 

@HeadInTheCloud

"There is a slight difference between willing and want to. I may be willing to do something - i.e I'm not opposed to it or find the idea totally repulsive, but that is far from "I want to do it". Did you see @plor20 and @solarlunaesclipse posts on the word willing?"

I don't believe I read their posts, but I totally agree that there is a difference between willing and want to. I have this bad habit of reading something and once an idea comes into my head I stop reading the post and I start posting. Probably I am repeting a lot of stuff that you guys already said, so I'll definetely need to go back and check. 

 Kokuto:

I didn't think Jing could sense specific people, but could figure it out by context and sensing deities and their power level.

Hmmm.  I didn't realize that... though, do you mean memories of Jing?  Cause they did meet several times, when Jing was stalking them.

Oh no, Jing is indeed a skilled stalker, but that's not what I mean, you could say camera language, when Xy and Jing are in the dragon bone prison and Jing asks for a 15 year promise and asks Xy not to allow other people to enter her heart, there the camera turns to XL . Likewise, when Mu Xiyuan sings about staying together forever, the camera returns to XL who is fighting himself.