nathsketch:
Xiaoyao all told Xiang Liu, Tu Shanjing, and Zhuan Xu about her experiences with snake demons and nine-tailed foxes.
Let summarize:
<Because Xiaoyao contracted a strange disease, she hid in the mountains without seeing anyone for more than 20 years. Thanks to the Queen Mother's strict supervision, her cultivation level is still good. Most ferocious birds and beasts are no match for her. In the mountains Life can be considered comfortable.
But no one talked to her, and she was very lonely. Later, she met a snake demon. The snake demon wanted to eat her and almost bit off one of her legs, but the snake demon could understand her words and responded to every one of her words. Every movement had a reaction. Xiaoyao knew that it was dangerous, but she still couldn't help it. She would run in front of it from time to time, making it go crazy. With the snake demon, life in the mountains would no longer be lonely. As time went by, the snake demon found her. She became more and more cunning and wanted to leave when she couldn't eat him. In order to keep the snake demon, she secretly ate the eggs it laid. Now they had a life-and-death feud. The snake demon refused to leave and chased after Xiaoyao. Want to kill her.
One day Xiaoyao met a man. He told Xiaoyao frankly that he was a monster, was seriously injured, and was looking for some healing herbs. He talked to Xiaoyao, and Xiaoyao talked to him. Xiaoyao was very wary at first. She would sit far away and talk to him, and then run away after saying a few words. But after a long time, Xiaoyao deliberately tested him several times, but he didn't reveal any intentions, so Xiaoyao talked to him a little more. He is not afraid of Xiaoyao's face changing, he even changes, and he changes when Xiaoyao changes. In front of him, Xiaoyao felt that she was neither a monster nor scary. Gradually, Xiaoyao believed him.
One night, he caught Xiaoyao and wanted to take Xiaoyao away. The snake demon who had always wanted to kill Xiaoyao got angry and came out to stop him, but he killed him. He took Xiaoyao to a place farther south, where the mountains were high and dangerous. In a secret cave, there was his lair. He built a cage and locked Xiaoyao up. He said that he was a nine-tailed fox demon. One of his tails was cut off a hundred years ago. His vitality was severely damaged and his cultivation level was greatly reduced. The nine-tailed fox did not kill Xiaoyao as soon as he caught her. He was blinded by hatred and greed. He raised Xiaoyao with all kinds of treasures and forced her to eat a lot of disgusting things. Xiaoyao had a special constitution. Raising her well for decades would be the best elixir. When he wanted to raise Xiaoyao fat, he would eat her and use her spiritual blood to restore his lost skills. Xiaoyao was raised and tortured by the nine-tailed fox for thirty years. In the beginning, Xiaoyao always wanted to escape, confront him, like scolding him and irritating him. Later, Xiaoyao didn't dare to provoke him anymore, so she remained silent and refused to cooperate, and tried to commit suicide, but failed several times. Later, Xiaoyao seemed to accept her fate and took pleasure in the misery, guessing what disgusting things the dead fox would catch for her to eat, and making bets with herself. Later, Xiaoyao hated him more and more, hated him crazily, and began to think of ways to collect materials and make poison. When the old fox eats her, she would eat it and poison him to death.
One night, the nine-tailed fox said that he could eat Xiaoyao in two full-moon nights. He got drunk singing sad songs and the cage was not completely locked. Xiaoyao had been studying how to escape for thirty years. , already able to open the lock, Xiaoyao ran out of the cage, secretly drugged his wine, then slipped back into the cage and locked herself. Jiuweihu didn't notice anything strange. The next day, Xiaoyao was afraid that he wouldn't drink, so he deliberately mentioned Uncle Jiu (Jiuweihu's best friend) in front of him. He beat Xiaoyao and started drinking again. That was Xiaoyao's first move. He collected materials bit by bit from the various weird things he fed himself, and it took him more than ten years to prepare the poison. He fell to the ground and transformed back into his original fox form. Xiaoyao got out of the cage. The nine-tailed fox opened its eyes and looked at Xiaoyao. Xiaoyao picked up the knife and started to chop off its tail one by one. After chopping each tail, she showed it to him. There was blood around his fox's mouth, but there was relief in his eyes that he was finally free, and he closed his eyes. Xiaoyao lit a fire and burned the entire cave.
For thirty years, he kept Xiaoyao in a cage, humiliated and tortured Xiaoyao, and also dispersed all the spiritual power that Xiaoyao had worked hard to cultivate in Yushan, leaving her almost a useless person, but the nine-tailed fox also taught her many things. There were only two of them in that mountain. When the nine-tailed fox was not going crazy, he taught Xiaoyao about the art of transformation. He understood Xiaoyao's fear and gave her a rare treasure, a mirror cast with the spirit of the oxen. Remember past events. He asked Xiaoyao to use a mirror to record her appearance, so that even if there was a deviation the next day, she could look at the mirror and change it back. Slowly, she learned to fix her appearance. When he occasionally takes Xiaoyao out, he will teach her how to identify plants, tell her about the various monsters he has killed, and tell her the weaknesses of various monsters. In the end, Xiaoyao killed him. His eight tails were cut off by Xiaoyao one by one, and the grudge between Xiaoyao and the nine-tailed fox was wiped out. Xiaoyao didn't hate him and even kept his tail. >
We can easily find that the snake demon corresponds to Xiang Liu , but the nine-tailed fox corresponds to Tushan Jing. In fact, there is a hidden assistant behind Tushan Jing, which is Zhuan Xu, so the nine-tailed fox is actually a metaphor. Tu Shanjing and Zhuan Xu were two people .
This story is the structural clue that runs through the entire book, hinting at Xiaoyao's growth line.
Its metaphor is actually very obvious, and most readers can understand it. However, many readers will find this metaphor very dark, so they do not study it in detail. Some people may think that I am over-interpreting it, but it is actually not dark. Just as Xiang Liu doesn't treat Xiao Yao like a snake demon and really wants to kill her, Tu Shanjing and Zhuan Xu don't treat Xiao Yao like a nine-tailed fox locking Xiao Yao in a cage. Waiting to be eaten. If "eat Xiaoyao" is replaced by "be with Xiaoyao", "kill Xiaoyao" is replaced by "love Xiaoyao", and "the snake demon and the nine-tailed fox do physical harm to Xiaoyao" are replaced by "love Xiaoyao" "Liu, Tu Shanjing and Zhuan Xu hurt Xiaoyao's soul", does everything make sense?
Emperor Jun once said, "The harm in this world is not only in the name of evil, but also a lot of harm in the name of love." This is what Tonghua wants to tell readers through the words of Emperor Jun.
Almost every sentence in this story has a counterpart in the plot of the entire book, so I’ll focus on a few here.
▼ Xiaoyao's "strange disease" is ostensibly about the beauty flower that her mother Aheng gave her, causing her to lose her true appearance. In fact, it is also about Xiaoyao's illness since childhood due to her mother's abandonment and her unknown life experience. The heartache caused to her caused her to lose her "real self".
▼ "The Queen Mother's strict supervision" and "Xiao Yao's good cultivation" actually correspond to the fact that Xiao Yao has been living in the wilderness for hundreds of years and has suffered all kinds of hardships. Under the severe test of fate, Xiao Yao gradually To become a strong person, all the hardships turned into her own strength, such as her cunning and shrewdness, her insight into human nature, and her transparency into many things... These are all she relies on. With her "cultivation" for survival , she is no match for ordinary difficulties ( "ferocious birds and beasts" ), and she can live comfortably in Qingshui Town.
▼ The "snake demon" is a metaphor for Xiang Liu. Although Xiang Liu bullies her in various ways, he is the only one who understands Xiao Yao and can truly understand and empathize with Xiao Yao's tragic experience. Only he remembers every word of Xiao Yao's words. Not only did I remember the words, but I also understood them with my heart and responded to everything. Therefore, Xiaoyao knew that Xiang Liu was opposite to her ( "dangerous" ), but she still couldn't help but provoke him and then fell in love with him, because Xiang Liu's company made her no longer lonely.
▼ "Snake egg" is a metaphor for Xiang Liu's natal essence and blood. Thirty-seven years under the sea, Xiang Liu gave his natal essence and blood to Xiaoyao . , Death follows." Xiao Yao was already dead. Xiang Liu saved his life, but also lost his life. After Xiang Liu was resurrected, he also saved Xiao Yao.
▼ "The nine-tailed fox was seriously injured and his vitality was severely damaged" corresponds to Tu Shanjing's destroyed will.
<Shiqi thought for a while and said slowly: "Since I was a child, I have always been the pride of heaven. There is a woman who has practiced dancing for ten years just to let me take a look at her. There is a famous man who traveled thousands of miles to Qingqiu to live there. Seven years, just to play a game of chess with me. Some people spent thousands of dollars to ask me for a painting, and some people called me a master. I once thought that was me. After that person detained me, he tortured me for two years. He insulted me every day and said that I was nothing. I didn’t bother to refute and kept enduring his torture in silence. He was so angry that he said he could prove it to me. He took me to places where I had been, and every time One day, he left me in a busy city with ragged clothes, unable to move my legs, unable to speak, and full of stench. People came and went, but as he said, no one wanted to look at me. Many times, I saw familiar people He crawled over and tried to get close to them, but they either threw some money to me and immediately ran away in disgust, or asked his servants to beat me away. He laughed and asked: "Did you see it? This is you!" Over the years, he took me to many places, and no one wanted to get close to me. I truly understood that, stripped of those gorgeous coats, I was nothing. He knew that I had been completely destroyed, and threw me into the river. He didn't kill me because he knew I was dead. ...But God made you appear">
Since then, Tu Shanjing has always felt that without those gorgeous coats, he was nothing. He had no dignity and no self-worth.
▼ "Xiao Yao is the best elixir" actually means that only with Xiao Yao can Tu Shanjing regain his dignity as a man and have a sense of worth. Only with Xiao Yao can he survive.
<"I know how horrible and ugly my body is, but you treat it like a treasure and take care of it delicately. After three years of torture and humiliation, I can't face my body, and I don't even dare to step out of the house. But. When I took a shower that day, your face turned red when you saw my body. At that moment, I felt truly alive. In your eyes, I am still a...man who can make you blush shyly.”>
This is the reason why Tu Shanjing must be with Xiao Yao. As long as he lives, he cannot live without Xiao Yao.
▼ "Use her spiritual blood to restore his lost skills." Family members, please recall what Xiang Liu used to revive Tu Shanjing? It's Xiaoyao's spiritual blood. Drain the blood from Xiaoyao's body. The nine-tailed fox once spent thirty years raising the spiritual blood and died without eating it. In the end, it was used by Tu Shanjing, the nine-tailed fox. (But I think the one who returned from the resurrection can no longer be regarded as Tu Shanjing, but Ye Shiqi, the person Xiang Liu gave Xiaoyao to depend on.)
▼ "Xiaoyao was very wary at first, but after a long time, Xiaoyao deliberately tested him several times, but he didn't reveal any intentions, so Xiaoyao talked to him a little more." Correspondence: When in Qingshui Town Xiaoyao tested Tu Shanjing many times, such as testing whether Tu Shanjing was willing to give up everything and take her to escape, such as testing whether Tu Shanjing was willing to risk offending Emperor Jun and let her escape alone. After Shan Jing really didn't have any intention and just treated her well, he couldn't happily cut off his attachment. In fact, did Tu Shanjing really have no intention? This was his intention to let Xiaoyao be with him to heal the wounds in his heart. (Speaking of this, I have to praise Tan Jianci, the actor who plays Xiang Liu in the drama version, for his understanding. He said in the interview, "My cousin and Tu Shanjing each have a selfish intention. Only Xiang Liu has no selfish intentions. Xiang Liu seems to be He has used a lot of tricks, but he is actually the most selfless to Xiaoyao." He is right. Xiang Liucai really has no intentions for Xiaoyao, does not ask to be with Xiaoyao, and does not even ask Xiaoyao to love him. , he just wants Xiaoyao to live well and fulfill Xiaoyao’s wish.)
▼ "He caught Xiaoyao and wanted to take Xiaoyao away." Both Tushanjing and Zhuanxu were involved here. Zhuanxu was the one who wanted to catch Xiaoyao, and Tushanjing was the one who took Xiaoyao to the south.
"He took Xiaoyao to a place farther south. The mountains there were high and dangerous. In a secret cave, there was his lair. He built a cage and locked Xiaoyao up." Correspondence: " More Isn't the place in the south the Five Gods Mountains of Gaoxin Kingdom located in the south of the wilderness? The "secret cave" is the "Dragon Bone Prison", and this "cage" was built for Xiaoyao by Zhuanxu and Tushanjing. Because of Zhuanxu, Xiaoyao, who yearned for freedom, had to be trapped by Wang Ji's identity. To help him fight for the throne, it was precisely because of Tu Shanjing's fifteen-year agreement and Tu Shanjing's constant surveillance and restraint of Xiao Yao that Xiao Yao's spirit was imprisoned.
"He put Xiaoyao in a cage, insulted and tortured Xiaoyao, and also dispersed all the spiritual power that Xiaoyao had worked hard to cultivate in Yushan, leaving her almost useless." Correspondence: "The torture of Xiaoyao by the nine-tailed fox " Correspondence What is more important is the mental torture Tu Shanjing inflicted on Xiaoyao. Tushanjing broke off the engagement and was unable to do so, which made Xiaoyao hopeful and disappointed again and again. Xiaoyao's later state was close to depression. "Dissipate all the spiritual power that Xiaoyao cultivated hard in Yushan and make her almost useless." Xiaoyao gradually lost her consciousness in the gentle cage of Tu Shanjing and Zhuanxu in the name of love, and lost her former role as Wen. The "cultivation" that Xiaoliu relied on for survival became no longer strong, and became more and more depraved and confused. He no longer had a free body and no consciousness of fighting for freedom.
<Zhuan Xu's expression was very bitter, "Xiao Yao, I regret it very much now. If I hadn't wanted to rely on Tu Shanjing's power so much, maybe I wouldn't have what I have today."
Xiaoyao walked up to him: "Have you forgotten? I saved him before you showed up."
"You didn't have feelings for him at that time. I not only gave him a chance, but also created opportunities for him to get closer to you step by step."
It is indeed because of Zhuan Xu that she and Jing have come to this day many times - if Zhuan Xu had not wanted to arrest her, she would not have asked Jing for help. Maybe one day she would change her appearance and disappear without a trace; if Zhuan Xu had not imprisoned them In the Dragon Bone Dungeon, Jing would not have had the opportunity to propose a fifteen-year agreement; if it weren't for Zhuan Xu needing Jing, she would not have decided to give up and go back to find Jing...>
As mentioned in the original text of this paragraph, Zhuan Xu and Tu Shanjing teamed up to lock Xiao Yao in a "cage". One trapped Xiao Yao's body, and the other trapped Xiao Yao's spirit.
▼ "Forcing her to eat a lot of disgusting things" corresponds to: Zhuan Xu's road to becoming emperor required the help of Tu Shanjing, Fenglong and many aristocratic families, so Xiaoyao had to deal with these people, although Zhuan Xu did not directly "force "She, Xiaoyao seems to be willing, but does Xiaoyao really like her? Does Xiaoyao really like to take advantage of others? Do you really like to socialize with those aristocratic families? It can even be said that Xiaoyao did a lot of things after she was restored to the throne, all for Zhuanxu. Xiaoyao's nature longed for freedom and unrestraint. Like Xiang Liu, she liked the "moon" and did not want "sixpence".
▼ "The nine-tailed fox also taught her a lot of things...she learned to fix her appearance." Correspondence: Tu Shanjing also helped Xiaoyao a lot, gave Xiaoyao a lot of warmth, and was cured to a certain extent. Although Xiaoyao's "strange disease" has not been cured - the nine-tailed fox did not restore Xiaoyao's true appearance, and Tushan Jing did not allow Xiaoyao to find her "real self".
▼ "At first, Xiaoyao always wanted to anger him... Later, she remained silent and uncooperative... She died several times without success... Later, Xiaoyao seemed to accept her fate. , enjoy the hardship..." This reflects the whole process of Xiaoyao's attitude towards Jing. "Later, Xiaoyao made poison and wanted to wait for him to eat her, then eat it and poison him to death." This corresponds to Xiaoyao poisoning Zhuanxu. This place is the same as "eating Xiaoyao" and "playing Xiaoyao". You can't interpret it based on the literal meaning. If you interpret it that way, the meaning will definitely be wrong.
In the beginning, Xiaoyao always wanted to make Tu Shanjing jealous and antagonize Tu Shanjing, but the more Jing tolerated her, the less she could get out of Jing's "cage" . Later, Xiaoyao couldn't bear to confront Tushan Jing, but she couldn't express her feelings. What did "uncooperative" mean? It meant that she was not so cooperative with Jing's purpose of "eating" her (see Xiaoyao's quote The marriage was postponed for forty-two years on the grounds of revising medical books). She died several times without success. Just like Xiaoyao believed that she could be freed by dying in the cage of the nine-tailed fox. When Xinyue killed Xiaoyao for the first time and Xiaoyao later committed suicide, she also felt that this was the only way to be freed, "Only What does this mean? Because only in this way will Xiang Liu appear! What kind of relief does Xiaoyao seek? Either she died or Xiang Liu took her away, but neither death nor Xiang Liu took her away, so it was "unsuccessful" .
"Xiao Yao herself took the poison and poisoned the nine-tailed fox to death ." This "poison to death" is not really "poison to death." Xiao Yao ostensibly poisoned Zhuan Xu, but it was herself who was poisoned to death. However, she poisoned Zhuan Xu to death. Was she really the one who died? What she poisoned was Zhuanxu's attempt to "eat" her.
▼ "The nine-tailed fox said that Xiaoyao can be eaten on the night of the full moon in two days." Correspondence: Jing and Xiaoyao's wedding date is the night of the full moon. Tu Shanjing died exactly twenty-two days before the wedding. Tu Shanhou had his tail cut off one by one, which happened to correspond to Xiao Yao's tail cut off of the nine-tailed fox.
How did the nine-tailed fox die? Because he thought about his best friend, he beat Xiaoyao and drank to death. How did Tu Shanjing die? For the sake of her close relatives, she broke Xiaoyao's heart again, and then she died stupidly. The nine-tailed fox torments Xiaoyao every time he goes crazy, and teaches Xiaoyao a lot of things when he is not crazy. This corresponds exactly to Tushan Jing, who hurts Xiaoyao every time he is stupid, and comforts Xiaoyao a lot when he is not stupid. .
It was on a full moon night that Xiao Yao poisoned Zhuan Xu. "Xiao Yao collected materials bit by bit from all kinds of weird things he fed to himself, and it took him more than ten years to prepare the poison." This is The sentence corresponds to the following original text:
<Huang Di was always wary of Xiaoyao's use of poison and took away all the medicinal materials in the medicine valley, but Xiaoyao was always a person who kept his lessons in mind and would never make the same mistake. Ever since the last time she fell from the wild goose and found no medicine available in a critical moment, Xiaoyao had carefully studied how to hide the medicine so as not to lose it. Earrings, bracelets, hair, and even a piece of clothing can be soaked in potion and processed. When needed, tear off the cloth and add water to make medicine... I spent so much time doing these things in the past, but I didn't want Zhuan Xu and Huang Di to let them go. No matter how much I worried about her, I never thought that one day, it would be used against them. >
▼ "The nine-tailed fox killed the snake demon" corresponds to the fact that after Zhuanxu ascended the throne of God, he killed Xiang Liu in order to exterminate the Shennong rebels. Zhuanxu ascended the throne of God with the help of Tu Shanjing.
▼In the end, just as Xiaoyao escaped from the cage of the nine-tailed fox, Xiaoyao also escaped from the "cage" of Zhuanxu and Tushanjing. When Xiaoyao discovered Zhuanxu's back thorn, she would rather stay in Yushan and become the Queen Mother than stay there. By Zhuan Xu's side, she took the initiative to walk out of the "cage" and break free from Zhuan Xu's captivity in the name of love. Tu Shan Jing, a nine-tailed fox, also died in Tu Shan Hou's hands, and went into seclusion with Xiao Yao. The person is Ye Shiqi who does not have the Nine Tails and does not have the identity of the Tushan clan.
▼ Let’s analyze the difference between “eating” and “killing”. Earlier I said that “eating Xiaoyao” is a metaphor for “being with Xiaoyao” and “killing Xiaoyao” is a metaphor for “loving Xiaoyao”.
The snake demon wanted to "eat" Xiaoyao at first, but later only wanted to "kill" Xiaoyao. Correspondingly: Xiang Liu wanted to be with Xiaoyao at first, but later only wanted to love Xiaoyao.
The nine-tailed fox did not kill Xiaoyao at the beginning, but wanted to wait until Xiaoyao was fat before eating him. Correspondingly: Zhuanxu and Tushanjing's purpose was not to love Xiaoyao, but to be with Xiaoyao.
Who ate Xiaoyao's spiritual blood in the end? It was eaten by Tu Shanjing, so Ye Shiqi and Xiao Yao were together after being resurrected by Tu Shanjing.
If we think more divergently, didn’t Xiang Liu “eat” Xiao Yao? They have been "eating" since Qingshui Town, and the last time they "eated" was when the two of them "broke up" in Hulu Lake. So, did Xiang Liu and Xiao Yao really never get together...? And when did Tu Shanjing really get together with Xiaoyao ("eat Xiaoyao")?
...
Everything can be traced back to the story Xiaoyao told about her and the snake demon and the nine-tailed fox. This is called "the gray thread of the grass snake, the veins run thousands of miles".
