Is there precedent for a demon leaving their demon core with someone else for safe keeping before death in the Dahuang universe? The only remotely comparable demon death I can think of is the dogwood demon who loved Qing Yang, who killed herself to join him in death and turned into dogwood flowers across his grave.AH :
I did not see any description of Zhu Yu (the name Zhu Yu 朱萸 literally means "red dogwood")'s death in Once Promised, but in LYF, Cang Xuan described her death as follows:
所有真正疼爱呵护他的亲人都在这里了！玱玹跪下，一座接着一座坟墓磕头，小夭跟着他，也一座接着一座坟墓磕头。给大伯磕头时，玱玹多磕了三个，他看着盖满整座坟头的茱萸花，轻声地对小夭说：“这应该是朱萸姨所化，她选择自毁妖丹、散去神识时，我已在高辛。我不知道为什么，师父说让我别难过，朱萸是心愿得偿，开心离去。”
All the relatives who truly loved and protected him were here! Cang Xuan knelt down and bowed to the graves one by one, and Xiao Yao followed suit. When he got to Eldest Uncle, Cang Xuan bowed an additional three times. Looking at the dogwood flowers that covered the entire gravestone, he said softly to Xiao Yao, "This should be transformed from Aunt Zhu Yu. When she chose to destroy her demon core herself and scatter her divine consciousness, I was already in Gao Xin. I did not understand why, but Master told me not to be sad. Zhu Yu got what she wished for and passed away happily."
-- Vol 1 Ch15
I don't read a lot of fantasy novels, so I can't tell whether it is a precedence.
The term 魂飞湮灭 describes a soul that is scattered into annihilation [when a person dies], and is probably applicable here. I recall stories (e.g. Xue Yang from Mo Dao Zhu Shi / The Untamed) where people would travel the world to collect remnants of the soul 残魂 to piece together in hopes of restoring a certain character back to life. While 魂 (soul) is not exactly the same as 神识 (divine consciousness), if the demon core encapsulates the consciousness, it should probably operate on the same concept. Nonetheless, I would be surprised how Xiang Liu was meant to leave his demon core in someone else's safekeeping, and still be able to go into battle the way he did. Recalling the way the leaked script described the 37 years under the ocean, Xiao Yao's body was comatose but her consciousness was very much aware of everything around her and could not leave far from her body. Won't it then stand to reason that without the demon core and his intact consciousness within him, Xiang Liu would be just an empty shell? Then again, this is all fantasy, so I don't really know what laws Tong Hua would have put in place for such a situation, assuming she did plan for this to happen.
But I thought TSJ and Feng Long were childhood friends in such a way that if an 80+ year difference (probably more like 100+ years, depending on how much older TSJ is than XY?) could be significant enough to separate a child deity from a young adult deity (like the difference between a 12 year old human and a 18 year old human?) then they wouldn't be peers and the idea of them being childhood friends who grew up together wouldn't make sense.
Actually, the novel says this:
丰隆说：“爷爷为了培养我的经营之道，曾把我送到青丘，让我和璟一起生活学习，我们相处很是投契，可以说璟是我的师傅，也是我的至交好友。”
Feng Long said, "In order to cultivate my business skills, my grandfather sent me to Qing Qiu and had me live and study with Jing. We got along very well. You can say that Jing is both my teacher, and also my best friend."
-- Vol 1 Ch12
As such, Feng Long appeared to have studied together with Jing, but does not imply that they were of similar ages. My interpretation is that he learnt the ropes of the business world with and from Jing, hence his statement that Jing was his teacher as well as his friend.
I don't think the novel ever mentioned how much older Jing is from Xiao Yao. However, in Ep26 of the drama, when Jing called her "older sister", Xiao Yao blustered and said that Jing was older than her by over 100 years old "你比我大上百岁呢". In addition, Jing mentioned that he and Hou had a good brother relationship for over 400 years before he was ambushed, so what Xiao Yao said tallies.
In which case, Jing would be older than Feng Long by almost 180 years, if not more.
Based on age, Xiang Liu is the oldest (he had already survived the death match arena, escaped to the North Pole for over 100 years, before returning and living as Fangfeng Bei for 400 years. As such, he would most likely be older than Jing by at least 300 years.
So in terms of age, Xiang Liu is the oldest, followed by Jing, then Xiao Yao and Cang Xuan (similar ages), with Feng Long being the youngest.
. I tend to think of the LYF characters as inspired by the mythological figures / creatures, but not necessarily looking the same as the original figure / creature that inspired them.
Yes I agree. And if we were to look at Tong Hua's description of Xiang Liu's true form, it was starkly different from the original mythological creature as well:
Layers of dark clouds loomed over them like collapsing mountains that were about to crush down on their heads. Amid the huge waves, a pure white nine-headed sea demon battled with the entire ocean. The ocean roared in fury, trying to rip them apart, but the nine-headed sea demon was fearless, calmly taking every hit. Wave upon wave crashed into the body of the nine-headed sea demon with unforgiving, brutal force, while the crest of the waves were like sharp swords, soaring straight to the sky, trying to tear the demon’s heads off. This was a battle of the strongest against the world, without any flowery moves or clever techniques, just a collision of force against force, eclipsing the heavens and the earth, obliterating the light of the sun and the moon.
Amidst the turbulent winds and raging waves, Xiang Liu actually sensed Xiao Yao’s slight movement and one head turned to look at her.
Xiao Yao immediately closed her eyes and her heart was pounding, not out of fear but because she was awestruck. It was like someone who had never seen the ocean seeing the surging ocean for the first time, someone who had never seen a mountain seeing the eruption of the volcano for the first time. It had nothing to do with beauty or ugliness, but being in awe and respect of such power.
-- Vol 3 Ch10 (Chapter 43)
So in my imagination, Hou Tu's true form would look similar to the pictures you originally shared, or something like another mythological creature 鸣蛇 Ming'she (sounding snake):
cr. 传统文化很有趣 @ zhihu.com
Woops, didn't mean to insult the mighty demon general. ^^
He's sulking as I type :-)
Oh no! I imagine shaving one's head due to head lice wouldn't have been terribly fun. But it sounds like it worked out. And I'm glad the barrettes are getting a second life with Xiang Liu and we get to see it. ^^
I'll stick more things into his hair and show it to you guys. It will help him build character :-)
I had to shave my head on numerous occasions as a kid due to one ailment or another. I was quite a sickly child.
My hair is super easy to manage - thank god, since I'm super lazy :-) - it's thick enough without being too thick, and it's super straight. I just wash and let it air dry and it will automatically fall into place. I can't remember the last time that I needed to brush my hair. I've been thinking of shaving off my hair - this is the only "style" that I haven't revisited as an adult. I think it would be liberating to not have to fuss with it.
I have friends whose hair seems to be similar to yours. They struggled with the bob style because their hair poofed out too much and they could never get it to sit right without some heavy-duty styling. Keeping it long and tying it up seems to work best for them. I've told them they should join me and shave it all off for The Leukemia Foundation's Shave for a Cure. Strangely, none of them have taken me up on it :-)
If you say that Xiang Liu initially decided to pursue Xiao Yao because he mistakenly thought that Xiao Yao was mentally strong and could withstand his possible death, it actually makes sense :-),ZYHLJ:
I think XL thought that XY or maybe I should say WXL was amendable to a few hundred years together. She spends time with her human family - and I'm wondering if they are the latest in a line of short-term human companionship that WXL have had throughout the years - and compared to them, he does have a longer life span. The successful implanting of the Lovers Bugs also told him that she loves him as well.
but I personally think that he cared more about Xiao Yao than that
Could you please elaborate?
At this point I think Xiao Yao is cowardly and selfish. If she had expressed willingness to accept any outcome and insisted on being with him, I think Xiang Liu would agree. Her self-deception, vulnerability, cowardice, and selfishness cost her that opportunity forever.
This, we agree on. XY was reluctant to deal with the consequences of being with XL and that played a big role in how their relationship played out. On the surface, it looks like it's XL who "rejects" XY and does not give her a chance, for me, the reality is that XY was the one who weighs up the gains and losses in her relationship decisions and very consistently picked the options that minimize her loss.
XL is the one who thinks that as long as there are beautiful sights, then life is worth living. XY is the one who needs someone for the sights to be worth it/for life to be worth living. One focuses on the process; the other focuses on the outcome. XL would have been happy to hold her hands and enjoy whatever time they could have had together, but XY is the one who is afraid that those times will end so she doesn't want to give them a chance to start at all. Eventually, XL realized this and he faded out of her life. She chose Jing as her forever companion; then he helped to have Jing as an option for her. But the choice has always been XY - XL DID NOT choose for XY. There are instances where XY could have chosen differently, but she continued to return to Jing.
Well, I'm on AliExpress looking into tiny shorts and a suit to recreate this look:nathsketch:
Wait! Are you planning on sticking your grumpy pants into this outfit? Haha! Prepared to be iced out for at least a week. I think he'll look adorable, but he probably won't share the same sentiment. I saw this cute panda outfit that would look awesome on him ;-)
plor20:
@nathsketch
here's few stores I found , maybe they ship to you. Don't ask why I have it readily available. hahaha.
Just found this amazing item on AliExpress. Check it out! $1.35 | 1Set 20cm Cotton Doll T-shirt Overall Hats Fashion Doll Clothes Suit Casual Wears Pants Suits 1/12 Dolls Clothes Accessories
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https://a.aliexpress.com/_mqQjPaOhahahha...
We need help, you know?
NO WE DON'T ahahahahahahahaha
This be you ladies right now?
I think it's time to admit that we have a problem, ladies! :-)
Apparently the title of the story that took place between Once Promised and Lost You Forever is 千方相 Thousands of Directions/Sides.liddi:
As such, it is by a rare miracle that someone (曰白酱) once took a screenshot of Tong Hua's Weibo post from way back when, which includes an excerpt from 千方相 and some of her own footnotes.
The following is the translation of that leaked excerpt which features Xiang Liu in one of his transformations, and is very likely the only prose we will ever get from the two books that remain uncompleted.
Thank you for this little excerpt, liddi. I felt such a bang reading about XL's and his interaction with other characters. It would have been awesome to really get to know this character better - we barely get anything from his perspective in LYF because LFY was very much about XY and her perspective. The likelihood of TH returning to this universe is not really high. She seemed to have moved on and her focus for the past few years has been on drama land and screenwriting. Maybe she'll drop us a little short story in a decade or so time - once all the fans have mellowed out or are too old to go to war with one another anymore :-)
Zhu Yu 朱萸 literally means "dogwood"
Thank you for clarifying that. Do you know the difference between 朱萸 (Zhū yú / dogwood) and 茱萸 (Zhū yú / dogwood) by any chance, or why Tong Hua uses two different terms?
-----
Volume 1, Chapter 15:
所有真正疼爱呵护他的亲人都在这里了！颛顼跪下，一座接着一座坟墓磕头，小夭跟着他，也一座接着一座坟墓磕头。给大伯磕头时，颛顼多磕了三个，他看着盖满整座坟头的茱萸花，轻声地对小夭说：“这应该是朱萸姨所化，她选择自毁妖丹、散去神识时，我已在高辛。我不知道为什么，师父说让我别难过，朱萸是心愿得偿，开心离去。”
Koala's translation:
All their relatives who loved them were laying right here! Zhuan Xu knelt down and bowed to all the graves one by one and Xiao Yao followed suit. When he got to their eldest uncle’s grave, Zhuan Xu bowed an extra three times and said about the dogwood flowers growing all over, “This should be the manifestation of Auntie Zhu Yu who was a dogwood wood spirit who gained human form after thousands of years. She chose to kill herself to destroy the demon soul and remove all her god powers. I was at Gao Xing by then and didn’t understand why but Master told me not to be sad. He said Auntie Zhu Yu got what she wanted and passed in peace to be with our Eldest Uncle.”
Your translation:
All the relatives who truly loved and protected him were here! Cang Xuan knelt down and bowed to the graves one by one, and Xiao Yao followed suit. When he got to Eldest Uncle, Cang Xuan bowed an additional three times. Looking at the dogwood flowers that covered the entire gravestone, he said softly to Xiao Yao, "This should be transformed from Aunt Zhu Yu. When she chose to destroy her demon core herself and scatter her divine consciousness, I was already in Gao Xin. I did not understand why, but Master told me not to be sad. Zhu Yu got what she wished for and passed away happily."
Google:
All the relatives who truly love and care for him are here! Zhuanxu knelt down and kowtowed one by one. Xiaoyao followed him and kowtowed one after another. When kowtowing to his uncle, Zhuanxu kowtowed three more times. He looked at the dogwood flowers covering the entire tomb and said softly to Xiaoyao: "This should be the transformation of Aunt Zhuyu. She chose to self-destruct the demon pill and disperse." When I regained consciousness, I was already in Gaoxin. I don't know why, but Master told me not to be sad. Zhu Yu got her wish and left happily."
-----
Chapter 50 / Volume 1, Chapter 17:
外婆弥留时，娘和大舅娘整夜守在外婆的榻边，茱萸姨为了方便照顾她和颛顼，让他们同睡一榻。小夭虽然模模糊糊地知道外婆死了，可毕竟从没经历过生离死别，对死亡没有深刻的感受。颛顼却亲眼目睹过娘亲自尽，他又一出生就抚养在奶奶身边，和奶奶感情深厚。他的惧怕悲伤远比小夭强烈，夜里常会惊醒，生怕奶奶在他睡着时就离开了。颛顼惊醒后，再无法入睡，有时候是无意，有时候是故意，反正小夭也会被他弄醒。小夭早已经习惯，每次醒来，就学着娘亲哄自己入睡的样子，抱住颛顼，轻拍着他的背，困得眼皮子都睁不开，却会哼哼唧唧地胡乱唱着歌谣。
...
小夭刚穿戴整齐，茱萸姨冲了进来，原打算叫醒他们，可竟然看到两个人手拉着手，站在门前。茱萸姨顾不上多想，拉着他们就走：“我们去见王后娘娘，你们记住啊，待会儿不管娘娘说什么，都要听仔细了，也要牢牢记住。”
...
外婆让茱萸姨把他们领了出去，留下娘和大舅娘说话。
小夭和颛顼在外面站了一会儿后，听到了大舅娘的哭声，颛顼[不顾茱萸姨的阻拦]，拉着小夭冲进了屋子。小夭看到外婆闭着眼睛，安详地睡着了。
...
颛顼别过了脸，走到大伯的墓前跪下，给大伯磕了三个头，又给墓旁的茱萸磕了三个头。紧接着，他开始清理野草。小夭擦干眼泪，走了过去，跪下磕头，磕完头，擦拭墓碑。
Koala's translation:
When her grandmother was dying, her mother and her eldest aunt sat beside the bed day and night. Auntie Ju Li had her sleep on the same pallet as Zhuan Xu so she could watch them more conveniently. Xiao Yao had a vague understanding of death but she had never experienced it in person before so didn’t have any feelings about it. But Zhuan Xu had seen his mother commit suicide right in front of him, and he was raised beside his grandmother since he was born, so his sadness was far greater than hers. He was always afraid that grandmother would be dead when he was sleeping so he couldn’t sleep soundly. Sometimes he woke up unconsciously, other times deliberately, and Xiao Yao would wake with him and got used to it. Every time he woke up, she would do as her mother did with her and comfort Zhuan Xu to go back to sleep. She would embrace him and softly pat his back, croon a lullaby to him even as her eyes were closed because she was so tired.
...
Just as Xiao Yao got dressed Auntie Ju Li rushed into the room intending to wake the kids and was shocked to see them standing hand-in-hand by the door. She didn’t think more of it and grabbed them both. “We need to see Her Highness the Empress. Remember, whatever she says to you both, listen carefully and remember always.”
...
Grandmother gestured to Auntie Ju Li to take the kids out and let her speak with Xiao Yao’s mom and their big aunt.
Xiao Yao and Zhuan Xu stood outside for a while until they heard their eldest aunt sobbing. Zhuan Xu held Xiao Yao’s hand and [ _ ] ran back inside and they saw their grandmother with her eyes closed in peace.
...
Zhuan Xu turned his head and walked over to their Eldest Uncle’s grave and bowed three times. He also bowed three times to Auntie Ju Li’s grave beside it. He then cleared the weeds and Xiao Yao wiped her tears and walked over to join him. After bowing three times she started wiping down the tombs.
Google:
Cang Xuan described her death as follows
Thanks for sharing your translation!
I did not see any description of Zhu Yu (the name Zhu Yu 朱萸 literally means "dogwood")'s death in Once Promised
I'm not 100% sure, but I was under the impression that Zhu Yu killed herself more than 100 years after the "last" battle between Sheng Nong and Xuan Yuan. Perhaps more like 200 years after the last battle. So her death would have occurred well after the events of Once Promised?
XY and CX were apart for 300 years after the last battle, but CX only spent the last ~200 years of those 300 years in Gao Xing and Zhu Yu killed herself at a time when CX was in Gao Xing. And in chapter 15, CX tells XY that Zhu Yu handed Qing Yang's spy network over to him about 100 years prior. So approximately 200 years into the 300 years that he and XY were apart, and approximately 100 years after he left Xuan Yuan for Gao Xing.
From what I gather, in the period after the last battle, Zhu Yu maintained the spy network that Qing Yang created and ran, with Zhu Yu as his right-hand woman, before his death. And before her death, Zhu Yu brought Jin Xuan to CX so she could play the role that Zhu Yu had played and passed the spy network over to CX.
-----
Koala's translation of Chapter 11:
Zhuan Xu spent the last two hundred years running all through Gao Xing territories but he was unfamiliar with a city within Xuan Yuan territory. He spent his time keenly observing while Ah Nian had been here before but this was her first time out and about without guards so she was also extra excited. All those knick knacks that the commoner ladies used interested her. Zhuan Xu noticed that she liked it so picked out a few silver bracelets for her. Ah Nian gave two to Hai Tang and the two girls happily put them on.
-----
Koala's translation of Chapter 15:
As the cloud carriage traveled up to the Peak, Xiao Yao looked at Zhuan Xu who was tightly gripping her hand, his lips pressed together. It had been over two hundred years when a very young him was forced by his four uncles to leave Xuan Yuan Mountain alone. Back then, he stood at the boat bow and looked back at the disappearing Cao Yun Peak and vowed: I will be back!
The cloud carriage stopped and the maids came to assist the Princess down. Zhuan Xu and Xiao Yao got off the carriage.
Zhuan Xu looked up and saw the plaque hanging over the Palace door, on top was handwritten in their grandmother’s script “Cao Yun Court” in three large characters. He said in his heart: Grandmother, Dad, I’m back! After wandering for two hundred years, I’m finally back! Sorry for making you wait so long!
...
Xiao Yao sighed. “It’s lucky being his citizens, but unlucky being his family. You are such a weirdo. He ignores you for two hundred years and let the uncles try to get rid of you, and you still respect and love him.”
Zhuan Xu smiled. “Xiao Yao, do you hate those two maids who were gossiping about you? Because of them you wandered for hundreds of years.”
“No, if it wasn’t for those two hundred years, I’m not the person I am today. I would have grown up peacefully with my dad but I like who I am today. I’m not scared of anything because I’ve lost everything. No matter what I encounter, I will take a knife in my own hand to destroy my obstacle like I killed that Nine-tailed fox.”
“If the royal uncles didn’t force me, I wouldn’t have gone to Gao Xing, and I wouldn’t have seen another world. Without their assassination attempts and plots, I wouldn’t have become wily, calm, powerful in the face of danger. We vanquished obstacles and crushed it under our feet and put it inside of us to give us strength. We don’t see obstacles as bad, and Grandfather is like us as well, which is why he chose to let go.”
...
It was deep into the night when the guests started leaving. Perhaps it was because Zhuan Xu lived in Gao Xing for two hundred years, he and Yu Jiang got along well and talked long after the other guests had left before they headed out together.
-----
Koala's translation of Chapter 28:
“Zhuan Xu was abandoned to Gao Xing to grow up for two hundred years. He knows it’s hard to stay alive and now I know he was likely understanding your reasons and doesn’t blame you one bit.”
-----
Koala's translation of Chapter 30:
Zhuan Xu cleaned the sea urchin and discussed with Xiao Yao how to eat it. He lived in Gao Xing for two hundred years and knew way more about how to prepare seafood. Xiao Yao was in a daze, Zhuan Xu always gave in to her and she never opposed his wishes. This was the first time in their lives where they butted heads and Xiao Yao actually didn’t know what to do.
-----
Koala's translation of Chapter 39:
Zhuan Xu looked out over the hills and said, “I lived in Gao Xing for over two hundred years. I went out early fishing with the fisherman and coming in late into the night. I went out hawking wares with peddlers in exchange for wine, I dug for lotus root by the pond and sang songs afterwards under the moonlight, I hunted bandits on raids with the soldiers, when I was forced into exile from Xuan Yuan and wandered Gao Xing, it was the people of this land who accompanied me through the most lonely and adrift period of my life. They are all dead now but their grandchildren and beyond still live on this land. They still work hard doing all the things I did with their ancestors. I know their hardship and I know their happiness!”
-----
Koala's translation of Chapter 40:
The Grand Emperor continued, “I taught you for two hundred years so I know that your ambition is not on one mountain or one land but on the vast wilderness. Since you left Gao Xing, I have been waiting for you to come back.”
...
Zhuan Xu could forgive Little Zhu Rong but not Master because Little Zhu Rong had no connection with him but his master took him in when he was in peril. He raised him for two hundred years and his master’s face had long since merged with his memory of his dad. Because he saw his master as his father now, that is why he couldn’t so easily forgive him. But now all the resentment was gone leaving only the comfort and gratitude of love. The Grand Emperor really did do his job as a dad and take care of everything for Zhuan Xu leaving him like any child in this world who could never repay the parental care.
-----
Koala's translation of Chapter 15:
Xiao Yao asked, “That Jin Xuan is your person?”
“I hope so. When Eldest Uncle was alive, he built a vast information network that Auntie Zhu Yu ran. When he died, the network only listened to Auntie. When your mom died, Auntie Zhu Yu was still alive but it stagnated. About a hundred years ago she did bring Jin Xuan to Gao Xing to find me. She handed the network to me per Auntie’s orders before she left for battle. Jin Xuan is also a wood demon. If I am to sit in Eldest Uncle’s spot, then Jin Xuan would sit where Auntie Zhu Yu sat. But whether she is absolutely loyal to me, only time will tell!”
-----
Your translation of Chapter 12:
All the relatives who truly loved and protected him were here! Cang Xuan knelt down and bowed to the graves one by one, and Xiao Yao followed suit. When he got to Eldest Uncle, Cang Xuan bowed an additional three times. Looking at the dogwood flowers that covered the entire gravestone, he said softly to Xiao Yao, "This should be transformed from Aunt Zhu Yu. When she chose to destroy her demon core herself and scatter her divine consciousness, I was already in Gao Xin. I did not understand why, but Master told me not to be sad. Zhu Yu got what she wished for and passed away happily."
I don't read a lot of fantasy novels, so I can't tell whether it is a precedence.
The term 魂飞湮灭 describes a soul that is scattered into annihilation [when a person dies], and is probably applicable here. I recall stories (e.g. Xue Yang from Mo Dao Zhu Shi / The Untamed) where people would travel the world to collect remnants of the soul 残魂 to piece together in hopes of restoring a certain character back to life. While 魂 (soul) is not exactly the same as 神识 (divine consciousness), if the demon core encapsulates the consciousness, it should probably operate on the same concept. Nonetheless, I would be surprised how Xiang Liu was meant to leave his demon core in someone else's safekeeping, and still be able to go into battle the way he did. Recalling the way the leaked script described the 37 years under the ocean, Xiao Yao's body was comatose but her consciousness was very much aware of everything around her and could not leave far from her body. Won't it then stand to reason that without the demon core and his intact consciousness within him, Xiang Liu would be just an empty shell? Then again, this is all fantasy, so I don't really know what laws Tong Hua would have put in place for such a situation, assuming she did plan for this to happen.
This is reminding me that someone mentioned in this thread that Ah Heng died in Once Promised (before the final battle) and Chi You somehow managed to find her soul and bring her back?
Not sure if the rules would be different for a demon like Xiang Liu compared to a deity like Ah Heng, but I wonder if knowing more about Ah Heng's situation might shed some light on the rules in the Dahuang universe?
AH :
But I thought TSJ and Feng Long were childhood friends in such a way that if an 80+ year difference (probably more like 100+ years, depending on how much older TSJ is than XY?) could be significant enough to separate a child deity from a young adult deity (like the difference between a 12 year old human and a 18 year old human?) then they wouldn't be peers and the idea of them being childhood friends who grew up together wouldn't make sense.
Actually, the novel says this:
丰隆说：“爷爷为了培养我的经营之道，曾把我送到青丘，让我和璟一起生活学习，我们相处很是投契，可以说璟是我的师傅，也是我的至交好友。”
Feng Long said, "In order to cultivate my business skills, my grandfather sent me to Qing Qiu and had me live and study with Jing. We got along very well. You can say that Jing is both my teacher, and also my best friend."
-- Vol 1 Ch12
As such, Feng Long appeared to have studied together with Jing, but does not imply that they were of similar ages. My interpretation is that he learnt the ropes of the business world with and from Jing, hence his statement that Jing was his teacher as well as his friend.
Ah, that clarifies it. I vaguely remember the idea of them learning / studying together, but I missed or forgot the idea that Feng Long was learning from TSJ rather than alongside him as his peer. I find your choice to translate "师傅" as "teacher" a bit clearer than Koala's choice to translate it as "master" in this context. Thank you for the clarification!
Based on age, Xiang Liu is the oldest (he had already survived the death match arena, escaped to the North Pole for over 100 years, before returning and living as Fangfeng Bei for 400 years. As such, he would most likely be older than Jing by at least 300 years.
With that knowledge, XY also estimated in chapter 23 that XL would have escaped from the death match arena between 500 and 600 years prior.
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Koala's translation of chapter 23:
Xiao Yao watched his departing figure and suddenly thought about five or six hundred years ago when Xiang Liu escaped the slave death match arena. He ought to have been a young man just like him [Left Ear], but already so world-weary and beaten down, so broken and battered. But like a newborn baby, whatever and whomever he encountered would direct the course of his life going forward.
But…. she wasn’t even born yet back then!
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I wonder how old XL was when he entered the death match arena? I assume he was old enough to have cultivated a humanoid form. Maybe somewhere in the realm of 200? And I wonder how long he was there before he escaped? My gut feeling has always been that he was there for years, but not as long as Left Ear (since XL left by escaping and was pursued, while Left Ear endured for 40 years as part of a bargain for his freedom).
Yes I agree.
Glad I'm not off base there. ^^
Vol 3 Ch10 (Chapter 43)
Thank you for the translation! Love this scene... and the aftermath! ^^
So in my imagination, Hou Tu's true form would look similar to the pictures you originally shared, or something like another mythological creature 鸣蛇 Ming'she (sounding snake):
cr. 传统文化很有趣 @ zhihu.com
Ooh great image! Thank you for sharing the name. Googling it and reading about them having four wings has sent me down another rabbit hole.
I got to thinking of how a snake with wings is a little bit like a flying fish (and I watched a video ^^), where the lack of legs makes more sense in terms of physics / logistics. Which got me thinking about sea snakes (and a certain sea snake demon), but then I started thinking about the old metaphor for doomed lovers from different worlds / adage: if a bird and a fish fell in love, where would they live? / a bird and a fish may fall in love, but they cannot build a home together. And I was thinking about how a sea snake with wings (or a sea snake demon with a winged mount?) could live in both the sea and the sky / mountain peaks / tree tops. Although I suppose different types of snakes can get almost anywhere a fish or a bird can get, even without wings. Not an epiphany exactly, but a fun train of thought and a nice excuse to watch some nature videos and relive some good memories.
and from his POV it's more practical for XY to marry someone like Jing, than going after FFB, who may or may not live to see another day. So regardless of being biased or not, I'm sure he was being honest too.blabla100:
LCJ didn't say MARRY Jing or someone like Jing. He specifically said it was better to be his friend Jing's side piece and live as his mistress. He wasn't arguing for her to pick between two unknown men, he was saying specifically Jing was a better choice than FFB.
He also didn't say FFB wasn't going to live to see another day (FFB is a playboy not a fighter). He said he wasn't always in the city, i.e. settled.
I guess if you believe a woman would rather be a sidepice with house and second rate, than married who hadn't settled in a house yet, than LCJ was 'honest.'
Thank you for clarifying that. Do you know the difference between 朱萸 (Zhū yú / dogwood) and 茱萸 (Zhū yú / dogwood) by any chance, or why Tong Hua uses two different terms?
I wonder if it is like the kanji for tree in Japanese.
木 = one tree
So, the difference is dogwood and dogwoods? Or dogwood and dogwood flowers?
He's sulking as I type :-)HeadInTheClouds:
ACALDJSHF that pic is too cute!
I'll stick more things into his hair and show it to you guys.
Yes please!
It will help him build character :-)
That's my father's favourite saying about the benefits of suffering. Now I'm feeling for the poor doll <3
I had to shave my head on numerous occasions as a kid due to one ailment or another. I was quite a sickly child.
Numerous occasions? That sounds rough. That's a lot of character-building to endure for a kid :(
My hair is super easy to manage - thank god, since I'm super lazy :-) - it's thick enough without being too thick, and it's super straight. I just wash and let it air dry and it will automatically fall into place. I can't remember the last time that I needed to brush my hair.
Okay, well there you're very lucky! I can't remember the last time I was able to let my hair completely air dry. It takes FOREVER!
I've been thinking of shaving off my hair - this is the only "style" that I haven't revisited as an adult. I think it would be liberating to not have to fuss with it.
I've had that thought occasionally on frustrating hair days, but it sounds like you already have ideal, no-fuss hair! Treasure it!!
I have friends whose hair seems to be similar to yours. They struggled with the bob style because their hair poofed out too much and they could never get it to sit right without some heavy-duty styling. Keeping it long and tying it up seems to work best for them.
I keep my hair down most of the time, but this is one of the main reasons I keep it pretty long now. The length creates weight that keeps it more contained.
I've told them they should join me and shave it all off for The Leukemia Foundation's Shave for a Cure. Strangely, none of them have taken me up on it :-)
I first grew my hair out from chin-length when I was at the peak of my pre-teen awkward phase and I think it left me with a life long aversion to growing out very short hair. ^^"
A little over a decade ago my hair was about as long as it had ever been and I decided to donate eight inches, braided, which brought it up to my shoulders. I kept my hair tied up for six months until it grew out longer because it lacked the weight needed to keep it nice and contained when it was down. But at least it was long enough that I could tie it up!
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