Xiang Liu and Xiao Yao’s Story and Romance

 liddi:

That was the first time Xiao Yao ever openly declared her feelings to Xiang Liu through the crystal globe, her mute appeal for him to come to her. It was also the first time she had ever taken the first step, she who had always been passive, waiting for those who claim to love her to give her their promise first. It must have taken so much courage from her to do so, which is why her 7 days waiting by the ocean for his response in vain was heartbreaking to watch, just as it was to see how much it cost Xiang Liu not to come to her. Then the standoff at Qingshui town, the devastation knowing he had killed off Fangfeng Bei - her last hope of him being willing to stay in the mortal realm, in her world. The 4 questions he would ask after that, and the unspoken answer he got from her refusal to answer that final question would at least accord him some modicum of comfort on the long, lonely path he has chosen to take for both of them.

You wrote this so beautifully! Yes, their love story is truly tragic. The novel did not have XL's perspective. I am looking forward to seeing TJC's portrayal in this part. 

 alex32322344434:

is it good?

Yes.

 H19279:

in my view, XY had recognized that FFB would eventually been gone from very long time ago, right after her engagement with FL.

Yes, they both knew time was running out for them. The poignancy of that scene at the door always hits me hard, and the way they could not bear to take their eyes off each other until the door slowly closed, tells us far more than any words they ever said, just how much that realisation pained them. It was also a telling scene in the way she spoke to Fangfeng Bei and Xiang Liu, almost as if they were two separate entities, but ultimately she accepted that they were one and the same, and she was losing the one whom she hoped, "preferred mortal fireworks", and even so, nothing could stop her devastation when the day finally came, and Fangfeng Bei was indeed gone from her life forever.

 H19279:

This was the pain that she mentioned in chapter 41.

I'm sorry - where does she mention the pain in Chapter 41? I know she freely admitted to Left Ear in Xiang Liu's presence that she missed Fangfeng Bei, and realised what that admission must mean for Xiang Liu, even if he refused to admit it, and she would pretend to write it off as wishful thinking. 

 liddi:

I'm sorry - where does she mention the pain in Chapter 41? I know she freely admitted to Left Ear in Xiang Liu's presence that she missed Fangfeng Bei, and realised what that admission must mean for Xiang Liu, even if he refused to admit it, and she would pretend to write it off as wishful thinking. 

Here is the part that she mentioned her pain to everyone:

Under the attentive gaze of all the doctors, Xiao Yao said: "I just started to get in touch with medical skills not to save people, but to kill people. I have killed far more people than I have saved. At that time, I never felt that the healer was worthy of respect, nor did I feel how precious the "Shennong Materia Medica" was, until one day, I suffered from pain, and I was discouraged about everything, and my grandfather, His Majesty the Yellow Emperor, led me into the house where the medical ancestor Emperor Yan once lived. In that room, there was half a box of Emperor Yan's codex. You must have all heard that Emperor Yan tried medicine and died of poisoning by tasting herbs, and those codexes recorded all the medications and physical reactions of Emperor Yan from the poison to his death. ” 

Yellow Emperor showed her Emperor Yan's note was first mentioned in chapter 31

Life on Xiao Yue Summit was very languid and lazy.

Zhuan Xu said Sheng Nong Mountain was the same as Five Gods Mountain but that wasn’t true. Five Gods Mountain had no memories but Sheng Nong Mountain, Zhi Yi, Zhe Province, it all had lots of memories in each place.

Xiao Yao didn’t know if she purposely didn’t want to face the past or really was lazy, but she didn’t want to go anywhere. When Zhuan Xu suggested she open a medical clinic like she did on Five Gods Mountain, Xiao Yao wasn’t interested.

Every day Xiao Yao woke up after noon and then flipped through her medical books. Only when making poisons did she perk up slightly.

The Yellow Emperor saw her so withdrawn and suggested “That boy from the Fang Feng family, his name is Fang Feng Bei, right? I see you guys get along well, how come he hasn’t come play with you these past few years? You can ask him to hang out together.”

It was better the Yellow Emperor not mention that because afterwards Xiao Yao got even more uninterested even in making poisons. She spent every day sitting in a daze in the corridor.

One day the Yellow Emperor summoned Xiao Yao and took her into a wooden hut. It was sparsely decorated with only a jade box on the pallet that caught the eye. The Yellow Emperor said “This was the residence of the former Flame Emperor.”

She showed her sorrow to CX about losing Jing, she felft that CX and she could change their relationship after Xing Yue became queen consort (between chapter 29 and 30). However, that is just sadness that she could expose when she had no more pressure from flighting for CX. Since worry for CX's safe was off, she stopped archery, she didn't have to hold up the sorrow (which she could share) anymore. After CX's wedding, she went to Gaoxin for 13 months. She opened a medical clinic in Ying Zhou island and she could slowly recover. Because she didn't have much deep memories in Gaoxin as in Shennong, Zhiyi and Zhe Province (Zhe Zhou). Zhiyi and Zhe Zhou are the places that she and FFB used to visit and discovery together 

Every few days she would go find Fang Feng Bei to practice archery and afterwards head to the city of Zhi Yi and Zhe Province to play. Fang Feng Bei lived up to his reputation as a consummate ne’er-do-well playboy for the last four hundred years, he knew Zhi Yi and Zhe Province like the back of his hand. Whatever nook and cranny had something fun, he could find it, whatever was tasty, he would find it. The two of them were each other’s companion as they enjoyed life’s endless pleasures. (Chapter 20)

Jing got married and she accepted it. CX still paid attention to her and she realized that there was nothing change between CX and her. The only pain that she suffered was XL's choice, no more XL without amour or duty- FFB. She still made poison for XL but when her grandfather mentioned FFB, she was really devastated. She could not say that he had gone, she could not hang out with him. And she didn't want to go anywhere since everywhere in Zhiyi or Zhe Zhou tied to her memories with him. This is the pain which later she acknowledged in front of public in chapter 41. However, on the bright side, it was also one of driving force for her to dedicate her time and effort to learnt medicine and edit the medical book. Hard working made he rmind busy and it helped her distract from the pain. 

P/s: In my mind, I always believe that she made the ice crystal ball for XL (not FFB) and the answer for the question that she resisted, refused to think of that matter, the last question, is XL

@H19279 @MengXiang

I fully agree. Her love had always been for Xiang Liu. If it wasn't, the lovers bug could never have been planted successfully, at a time when that was the only persona she knew, way before Fangfeng Bei came on to the scene. The crystal globe was an appeal to Xiang Liu to take her away - the reference to the mermaid, merman and the shell are all associated with Xiang Liu and their 37 years under the ocean. So I agree that her answer to the 4th question was Xiang Liu. However, she desperately wanted Fangfeng Bei because that was him at the core, sans the  loyalty to the Shen Nong army, the stumbling block to him choosing her and being her lifelong companion. Fangfeng Bei was her only hope of him staying in the mortal realm with her in a world where he could exist in peace with her family, and with his death, that hope was lost.

@H19279

You pointed out how her grandfather mentioning Fangfeng Bei made her even more dispirited back in Vol 2 Ch14 (Chapter 31). It is noteworthy that this was even before her wedding to Feng Long when Xiang Liu killed Fangfeng Bei for good. This indicated he resolutely stayed away from her after their last parting at the doors of the residence, and her malaise and reluctance to explore places that held so much memories for them had to do with the foreshadowing of her impending loss, a loss she knew spelled irrevocably his final choice for his own life, one that did not include her in it.

 windiaaa041293:

It's fine even if I'm said to be stalking them.


An ancient artifact...is the voodoo bug of course:

Symbolism of Control:

The voodoo bug spell serves as a symbolic representation of control and manipulation. When implemented, it ties Xiao Yao to someone else's will, suggesting a form of magical influence over her actions and decisions.

Very interesting point here. Very.

You could say the reverse. The bug pretty much has tied and allowed XY influence over XL action and decisions.

 windiaaa041293:

It's fine even if I'm said to be stalking them.

lol nothing wrong with stalking them when they do the same to us.... >.>

 windiaaa041293:

The voodoo bug spell serves as a symbolic representation of control and manipulation. When implemented, it ties Xiao Yao to someone else's will, suggesting a form of magical influence over her actions and decisions.

I don't recall this in the novel. Is there any point in the novel that suggests the bug is a symbol of manipulation that controls XY and not XL? LOL

 nathsketch:

I saved your post. Here it is:

Oh, thank you!  I was going to go look for it.