Xiang Liu and Xiao Yao’s Story and Romance

 Dramadoggy2021:

Okay can we ask them to make the alternative ending for xL ..like those neat  fan fiction? We know the main drama they won’t change …????I will skip the death and happy ever after with Jing ..

Actually I will accept his death then he returns comes alive and then XL and Xy live happily ever after ..

lol I wish for an alternate ending too. I saw someone make this comment on Reddit:

"He's the author's pet and will be tortured to his death. Maybe author-now scriptwriter will give us a mini extension side story of modern reincarnation. She specifically gave Xiang Liu an epilogue chapter when all the other guys don't get an extra chapter. Maybe she'll do some more extra and up that up. Let Jing have her in this life and let Xiang Liu have her in reincarnation lol"

I know they're going to follow the novel ending extremely closely. Somebody filmed it. *warning spoilers* https://www.youtube.com/shorts/eFWrNaTRq0U

Us XL fans can only hope that YaoLiu special is true

 Elise:

lol I wish for an alternate ending too. I saw someone make this comment on Reddit:

"He's the author's pet and will be tortured to his death. Maybe author-now scriptwriter will give us a mini extension side story of modern reincarnation. She specifically gave Xiang Liu an epilogue chapter when all the other guys don't get an extra chapter. Maybe she'll do some more extra and up that up. Let Jing have her in this life and let Xiang Liu have her in reincarnation lol"

I know they're going to follow the novel ending extremely closely. Somebody filmed it. *warning spoilers* https://www.youtube.com/shorts/eFWrNaTRq0U

Us XL fans can only hope that YaoLiu special is true

Never wished for a rushed ending as much as I'm wishing for this drama lol

 nathsketch:

In every drama, every single one of those magical beings comes back to life after some 500-1000 years. 

But this one, the most important one, will remain dead forever? Spare me this nonsense. There has to be a strand of soul somewhere.

Right??? In every Xianxia drama, somebody dies and gets resurrected. How come XL dies permanently while every other main character in Xianxia dramas gets to come back to life? It's not fair ?

 Elise:

Right??? In every Xianxia drama, somebody dies and gets resurrected. How come XL dies permanently while every other main character in Xianxia dramas gets to come back to life? It's not fair ?

In the novel, XY gets to meet her mother and her father’s spirit, even though they both were believed to have died 300+ years ago. XY is resurrected twice. TSJ is resurrected once and saved from the brink of death by XY’s healing blood and medical care two other times (when they first meet and after XY’s assassination). And XL burns through nine separate lives. 

If XL still ended up getting resurrected (against his will), death would really be meaningless in this story ?

 AH :

If XL still ended up getting resurrected (against his will), death would really be meaningless in this story ?

We know that Tong Hua said his story is done.

But also ??

?

 liddi:

At the gambling den, Fangfeng Bei walked out from the crowd and sat opposite Xiao Yao.  She calmly sized him up.

XY: What should we bet on?
FFB (indolently): Not money. Let's bet on something else. Do you dare?

Xiao Yao hesitated.

XY: What's there to be afraid of? Name it.
FFB: Higher number wins. The loser must answer a question truthfully.
XY (indifferently): Alright. Let's gamble!

Xiao Yao and Fangfeng Bei took up the dice cup and waved it. Fangfeng Bei obtained 6,6,5 while Xiao Yao first got 2 6s and a still spinning 3rd dice, which ended up on a 4. Xiao Yao's face changed while the gamblers present shushed each other.

FFB (unrestrained smile): Who... do you like?

Xiao Yao was stunned.
Tushan Jing anxiously stared at the Xiao Yao in the water mirror, hope in his eyes.
Xiao Yao felt that Fangfeng Bei was deliberately embarrassing her, and glared at him,

I'm back on desktop now. So this scene is an adaptation of the gambling den scene in chapter 29... Does XY not mention the bugs being Lovers' Bugs to XL in the adapted scene? Does the scene still end with XL stopping XY from leaving to take her to eat at the one-armed veteran's donkey meat restaurant? I assume yes given the intro you gave for the next scene. 

I also see that they kept TSJ watching XY through the water mirror... which I was never a huge fan of. So I assume this is yet another scene where XL knows that TSJ is watching and listening (which was probably at least part of the reason he asked XY his first question in the first place) while XY is unaware. 

Well the seem to cut the chapters from 30 something to only 22?  

Well they need to get rid of some scenes like with Fenglong’s sister ? ..can’t stand her ..and the guy who tried to assasinate CX (while xy was hugging Cx for dear life to protect him) and the girl he likes ..has no bearing to the whole story .

please  just more sweet moments with XL…the sad part i will skip and await for that other ending ..happy with Xl 

Man what’s with Jing watching her through a water mirror?  Stalker .gees ..

 blimarch:

XL doesn't seem to be sincerely fixed on his choice. Otherwise, why:

would he often tests XY love for him?

Which scenes are you referring to? When XL asks XY who she most wants to spend her entire life with? In the novel he hesitates before asking that one but can't help himself. He's curious. I don't think that means he wasn't still committed to his choice. 

 blimarch:

would he be on extreme flirt mode with XY as FFB? He could just have been a mild non-provocking FFB, it wouldn't change anything to his cover but it would have made it easier for XY not to fall in love with him. And since this gentle alter-ego version of XL is one very attractive solution to her fears against god of war XL... and considering how conveniently FFB appeared after XL took some notes during the beach scene...

As blabla100 mentioned, FFB already had that reputation before XY came along. I would also add that it was a safe way for XL to get to flirt and be close with XY without it being "real" and undermining his choice, because XY never took the flirting seriously since it was so over-the-top and because of his reputation. And I'm sure she enjoyed it, since she was feeling lonely and neglected at the time with TSJ not visiting her for a long time (16 months iirc). 

As for him appearing "conveniently", blabla100 correctly mentioned that XL had that alter ego for 400+ years. He can't appear as XL in Xiyan, so of course when XY goes there she's going to see him as FFB and not as XL. 

 blimarch:

"Who do you want/wish me to be" > would XL have assumed to hear XY answer had she said "XL"? What would he have won? What next ?

XY tells him who she wants him to be: FFB forever. Unfortunately, he's not willing to fulfill that desire.

 blimarch:

"Why don't you stop being a princess and wander the world with me?" > if she'd known he loved her, and if she did stop being a princess,  would he have let himself be loved? (and having all the elements, resourceful and decided as she is, XY would have find an alternative way to protect CX - because it's the only thing that she cares about, not the politics)

This scene happens before XY knows for sure that FFB is XL. She answers him in the drama: "Okay. If you give up everything, I'll go with you." After FFB stares at her for a few moments, he can only smile and laugh sardonically. XY then says, "Don't try to fool me." She called his bluff. 

The scene in chapter 16 of the novel is very similar:

Fang Feng Bei asked half seriously half in jest, “Why don’t you not be a Princess anymore and go wander the world with me?”

Xiao Yao giggled. “Sure! If you can let everything go first.”

Fang Feng Bei chuckled while Xiao Yao stared at him. She felt like she called him on his bullshit. When she was wandering the world being a con artist, he was likely home tickling his maids!

 blimarch:

on the beach, why was XL heartbroken in the first place despite supposedly having set his mind up as soon as he knew that XY was Princess of Haoling? Doesn't makes sense unless he hoped for a chance together with XY

We don't know exactly when XL decided not to pursue XY or if he ever really thought that pursuing something with her was possible. The novel gives us very little insight into his thoughts. We know that he had definitely decided to push her to be with TSJ by chapter 22 (based on his choices at the end of their 37 years in the clam shell...) but before that? When he was FFB he was clear with XY that their relationship was a temporary one and he (IMO) never seriously pursued a romance with her. He kept his role to just a mentor and a companion (albeit, a flirtatious one). So he seemed to have at least partly made the decision before then. 

The novel doesn't show us much about what his thoughts were before he met XY in her true form for the first time... other than that he wasn't terribly happy with her. The novel even suggests that he came close to killing her... despite loving her and their lives being connected through the bugs already. I'm really not sure how seriously we're supposed to read that part...

“The Princess of Gao Xing?” Xiang Liu laughed coldly “No wonder you would die to save Zhuan Xu.”

Xiao Yao didn’t dare say anything more.

Xiang Liu’s hand seemed to casually rest on her shoulder and his finger passed by her neck and he softly said, “What else have you lied about? Why don’t you come clean all together today. I won’t kill you.”

“I told you before, I only bullshit but I never say anything fake. I like to talk because I’m afraid of being lonely. If I’m full of lies, then the more I talk the lonelier I’ll get.”

Xiang Liu’s sharp finger retracted in that moment and Xiao Yao never knew how close she was to death.

But shortly after, he says that he's forgiven her for lying to him and asks her to keep making poisons for him. 

XY drawing a line between them with her earnest answer about being afraid of letting him into her dreams... even if XL already knew at that point that there was no future for them, I'm sure it was painful to hear her confirm it like that. 

 blimarch:

same with XL asking for sucking XY's blood from her neck. The heck with this inappropriate request from him at this point? Why couldn't he accepts the fact that a woman wouldn't want to be physically intimate and risk her reputation with a man that hasn't confessed to her?

He goes for her neck because that's what he always did. This is just my speculation, but I think XL enjoyed having the excuse to be physically close with XY when he bit and stroked her neck. And for some of the bites there was definitely an erotic element to it.

As for XY's reputation when she regains her true form... why would her reputation be relevant to XL's decision to bite her on the neck or on the wrist? If he was caught in her bed biting her anywhere, or not biting her at all, her reputation would be in the gutter. As far as I can tell, XY stopping XL from biting her neck wasn't about her reputation. It was about drawing a personal boundary. One that XL respected.