Xiang Liu and Xiao Yao’s Story and Romance

 windiaaa041293:

Picture of the Wilderness

I have translated the map below.

Actually, the Weibo poster 墙外行人p was questioning the accuracy of the map based on what is known from the novel. I do find some discrepancies as well. I am also more inclined to think that the Fang Feng clan's locations should be swapped with Fang Lei clan, since the Fang Feng clan is from the North. The location of Qingshui Town also feels a little questionable - it seems too far away inland. I always had the impression that it should be on the east of the Central Plains, rather than on the west. Hmm....

 liddi:

I have translated the map below.

Actually, the Weibo poster 墙外行人p was questioning the accuracy of the map based on what is known from the novel. I do find some discrepancies as well. I am also more inclined to think that the Fang Feng clan's locations should be swapped with Fang Lei clan, since the Fang Feng clan is from the North. The location of Qingshui Town also feels a little questionable - it seems too far away inland. I always had the impression that it should be on the east of the Central Plains, rather than on the west. Hmm....

Yu Shan (Jade mountain) should be on the West if I remember correctly. 

It took 1 day to get from Zhi yi to Five Deity mountain and about half a day from Zhi Yi to Qing Shui. 

Qing Shui was located by the sea (East sea)  and from it went down south to Gaoxin. It mentioned  that the north of Qing Shui is Xuan Yuan. However, Xuan Yuan here was the kingdom after conquering of Sheng nong, meaning the central Plain at that time belonged to Xuan Yuan kingdom already. Thus from the text, I always think Qing shui was located in the south east of the great Xuan Yuan kingdom. 

Ze Province and Zhi Yi should be much closer to Sheng Nong mountain since XY and FFB frequently went to discovery those city in their day trip. 

And indeed, Fang Feng clan should be in the north of Sheng nong kingdom

Sheng Nong and its Central Plain was the largest part of Da Huang. This map show Gaoxin size was quite large and signicant.  

 H19279:

Ze Province and Zhi Yi should be much closer to Sheng Nong mountain since XY and FFB frequently went to discovery those city in their day trip. 

Based on the novel, the general location of Shen Nong mountain, Ze Province, Yan Chuan  Plains, Zhi Yi and Dan River are accurate:

Shen Nong Mountain was located in the hinterland of the Central Plains, its scenery beautiful and majestic. It had a total of nine mountains, two rivers and twenty-eight main peaks. To the north, it was connected to the strategic military fortress of Ze Province; overlooked the fertile Yan Chuan Plains to the south; guarded by the natural barrier of Dan River in the east; and the city walls and moat of  the renowned Zhi Yi laid to the west.

-- Vol 2 Ch1  (Chapter 19)

To travel from Zhi Yi to Qing Qiu would take two hours using a cloud carriage. It was even faster with a winged ride, requiring only about an hour.

-- Vol 2 Ch3  (Chapter 20)

Shen Nong Mountain is actually a mountain range, and Xiao Yao and Fangfeng Bei travelled on winged rides, which should cut their travel time considerably. So I guess it is still possible that they could have made a day trip to travel to and from Zhi Yi and/or Ze Province.  Also, Zhi Yi and Qing Qiu is an hour away by winged ride, which would make travel time between Zhi Yi /Ze Province and Shen Nong mountain considerably less than that.

We also know that it took Furball at least half a day to 1 day to travel from the ocean to Zhi Yi, after Xiao Yao woke up following the 37 years. 

The moment Xiao Yao woke up, she felt sunlight shining on her eyes. Instinctively, she turned oer, and closed her eyes to continue sleeping.
:
Once Xiao Yao climbed on to the back of the white condor, it immediately ascended into the sky and flew towards the Central Plains.
:
The next morning, the white condor landed outside Zhi Yi City. Xiao Yao knew that many people recognised Xiang Liu's winged ride, so it could only her this far.

-- Vol 2 Ch5  (Chapter 22)

 H19279:

Sheng Nong and its Central Plain was the largest part of Da Huang. This map show Gaoxin size was quite large and signicant.  

Yes true. I always thought that Shen Nong (the Central Plains) commanded the largest area, and Xuan Yuan the smallest. From the map, it would appear that Xuan Yuan and Gao Xin are almost comparable in size while Shen Nong is the smallest. Also, was Yu Abyss and Tang Gorge supposed to be on the opposite far ends of Gao Xin? 

When Cang Xuan was wounded, the physician Wu Cheng mentioned that Tang Gorge was thousands of miles away from Qingshui town. I don't recall whether there was any mention how long it would take for them to travel to Tang Gorge?

 H19279:

Yu Shan (Jade mountain) should be on the West if I remember correctly. 

My impression was that Jade Mountain was always isolated from the rest of the Great Wilderness.  I don't recall its location being mentioned in LYF. Was there anything in Once Promised?

 Kokuto:

Okay, I see this now.  And it's got the Haolin Bai Li tribe in the Central Plains,  and it's got Xi Ling clan in Xiyan, both of which are wrong, I believe.  And why is Gui Fang all the way up there?

Actually that is the Bai Li / Jiu Li tribe where the lovers bug originated. The tribe you are thinking of is  Gao Xin's Bai Hu tribe, which is further south.

 Kokuto:

And according to this map, Qing Shui Town is one of the most strategic spots on the map.  There's no clear path to Haolin, from Xiyan, except by marching thru Qing Shui Town ... and maybe below Xilling?   No wonder the Resistance Army was such a pain in the butt sitting in those mountains, ready to sweep onto any travel in those passes.

Qingshui Town is meant to border Xuan Yuan to the west, the Shen Nong resistance army to the east, and Gao Xin to the south. Nonetheless, I never imagined it to be so far inland. Also, the Shen Nong resistance army base was in the mountains, but was their hideout in the Shen Nong mountain range itself? I never had that impression. If it were, Xiang Liu would not have said that they could never go home anymore, and asked for two peaks on Shen Nong mountain for them to be buried there...

 plor20:

I echo everyone's sentiment about this map. Bai Li is described as mountainous in Once Promised, so it doesn't make sense to have it in the plains.  I also got the impression that the Haoling tribes were more condensed closer to the ocean.

Actually, I imagined Bai Li to be in the mountainous area where the current Qingshui town is supposed to be situated, or perhaps even further north, beyond Shen Nong mountain.  Does that make sense? 

And yes, I thought Gao Xin should be closer to the ocean instead of being spread so far inland. Though, I have no concept of where Yu Abyss is meant to be. 

 plor20:

Green dot is where I thought QingshuyTown was with the mountain range that XL would have been hiding in.

My impression is that it was probably closer to the mountains where the Xi He tribe was, rather than so far down south, because it is actually at the north of the Gao Xin kingdom.

In addition to having General Hong Jiang’s army to the East, Qingshui Town was West of the Xuan Yuan Kingdom and North of the Gao Xin Kingdom.

-- Vol 1 Ch2

Beyond the back door of the humble Hui Chun clinic laid a plot of land planted with medicinal herbs. Further down the field was the West River, which would lead into Qing Shui, and the rushing waters of Qing Shui would flow into the East Sea.

-- Vol 3 Ch13  (Chapter 46)

 plor20:

so something like this?: this also makes alot of sense too. red: baili, green= Qingshui Town

this would make sense becuase huichun clinic is near a small river, and would explain her ablity to swim to the ocean, and accessibility to guord lake.

Yes. That's how I would imagine it.

 Certainly not where Qingshui Town is currently. It would take her forever to reach the ocean at that rate!

i just did a quick scanning of the first chapter of Once Promised. it is said that:

Sheng Nong is in the center of D Huang. 

Gaoxin is Southeast of Sheng Nong.

Xuan Yuan is in the northwest of sheng nong

Bai li is mountain area on the South West of Shen Nong. 

Chapter 4 Once Promised said Jade Mountain was on the West of Da Huang

In chapter 9, once promised, it is said that Ze province is on the north of Sheng Nong mountain  which is located at the center of the Middle Plain. Zhy Yi is on the west of Sheng nong mountain 

Yu Abyss is where the sun goes down thus it should be on the West

Ji Province where Ah Heng died was in (or close to ) Xuan Yuan kingdom . 

Qing Shui should be half distance between Sheng Nong mountain and Five god mountain 

 HeadInTheClouds:

I would like to add that her accepting Jing's proposition is totally fine. With her issues, it makes sense why she would be reluctance to explore things with XL. Although, getting involved with an engaged man ain't a good look and speaks to her impaired judgement and moral standards. And I'm also not saying that if she has been less passive that would mean a happy ending for her and XL. XL would also need to do his part. It's about her decision making process, what action she took and how that comes across. Does that makes sense?

Yes, what you're saying definitely makes sense. In real life, I would have no tolerance for this type of behavior of going after an engaged/married man. There's no excuse. It's despicable. However, in the context of a story involving face/shape/gender-shifting, mermaids living in sea shells, deities threatening to whip, kill, and castrate each other, fish stones, PLBs, hot nine-headed demons, and morally gray characters living in a society that normalizes violence, subjugates women, conducts slave death matches for entertainment value, and where polygamy/fun with prostitutes is the norm for the entitled wealthy class, I can suspend my moral judgement and look at the extenuating circumstances behind XY's situation.

Do I think Jing is a waste of food/space/oxygen? Yes. Do I secretly wish TSH had been competent enough to actually kill him? Yes, although I guess that's not really a secret anymore. Do I think XY is dumb AF for getting entangled with this hot mess of a weaselly man? Undoubtedly. Had XY ended up with Feng Long, Ru Shou, TSH, heck even CX, then I wouldn't have felt the strong desire to smack some sense into her.

All that said, I personally believe that Tong Hua intended to write XY as a shrewd but pitiful character rather than a dumb b*tch who was completely undeserving of XL, so I choose to overlook her shortcomings and not hate on her too much. If I really allowed myself to hate her, I'd be a YaoJing fan instead of a YaoLiu fan because I'd think XY and Jing deserved each other. And the thought of having to head over to the YaoJing forum--that might be even scarier than death.

End rant :)