Fan Fiction Thread for Lost You Forever

@AH

Xiang Liu in my imagination is actually a unique creature that is similar to snakes and dragons, but is neither a snake nor a dragon. He has no parents. Like Sun Wukong in Journey to the West, the egg that hatched him was "born by heaven and achieved by earth", that is, it was born by absorbing the vitality of heaven and earth and the energy of the sun and moon for a long time. The birth of Sun Wukong is described in Journey to the West like this (Tonghua may have been inspired by this) (Modern Chinese version): "There was a famous mountain in the sea called Huaguo Mountain. There was a fairy stone on the top of the mountain...Since the creation of the world, it had been absorbing the essence of the sun and the moon. Over time, it had gained vitality, and a fairy embryo had been nurtured inside. One day, the fairy stone burst open and produced a stone egg, which was as big as a ball. Touching the wind, it turned into a stone monkey."

 There is only one Sun Wukong in the world, and there is only one nine-headed snake in Dahuang. In fact, Xiang Liu should be a very sacred being like Qilin, but because he looks weird and chooses the wrong camp, he can only be an evil villain and is considered a creature that brings disasters. 

This paragraph is the original Ming Dynasty version of Journey to the West about the birth of Sun Wukong. I’ve posted it below:

海外有一国土，名曰傲来国。国近大海，海中有一座名山，唤为花果山。此山乃十洲之祖脉，三岛之来龙，自开清浊而立，鸿蒙判后而成......那座山正当顶上，有一块仙石。其石有三丈六尺五寸高，有二丈四尺围圆。三丈六尺五寸高，按周天三百六十五度；二丈四尺围圆，按政历二十四气。上有九窍八孔，按九宫八卦。四面更无树木遮阴，左右倒有芝兰相衬。盖自开辟以来，每受天真地秀，日精月华，感之既久，遂有灵通之意。内育仙胞，一日迸裂，产一石卵，似圆球样大。因见风，化作一个石猴，五官俱备，四肢皆全。便就学爬学走，拜了四方。目运两道金光，射冲斗府。

 ZYHLJ:

Xiang Liu stretched his necks and ran away from Xiao Yao's evil claw like a cat that refused to take a bath. He fled to the corner, with all nine of his heads standing up warily.

 ZYHLJ:

Xiang Liu used his tail to quickly write on the sand -  "There is crab shit in the water".

You have no idea how much I love these tiny details to our baby Xiang Liu. It is absolutely a treat for me.

 HeadInTheClouds:

Is he fighting with himself? Is there a main head that is in charge of all the other heads? Which one is the baby of the group? This is the image that I had in my head when I read this scene. He's too cute!

I also love this illustration of him too. hehe. 

 liddi:

With the rise of social media, creators are more accessible than ever to the readers/viewers which I don't think is always a good thing. I like to maintain my distance lest my view of them ends up tainting their creations.
I am personally grateful that I got to interact with one of my favourite fantasy authors on her messageboard before she passed away - during that time, she had been nothing but warm, gracious and witty. I don't feel that such accessibility is a bad thing, since it is an avenue to better understand the intent behind the works, and perhaps even better appreciate it as a result. I remember once, when asked if she would ever consider continuing a particular series, she shared that she wrote the series during a dark period in her life, and she felt that at present, she could no longer recreate the same frame of mind that drove the creation of those books anymore.

It is hard trying not to get caught up in engagment and all these randome metrics. Maybe perhaps, this is also a reason why TH decided to stay away from social media, keep her views on her work closer to her and free of  reader's interpretation etc.

 liddi:

Fun fact. The way Tong Hua renamed some of her characters/locations is such a clever play on the original names and/or strokes, which enabled her to change the names while still retaining the references to the original:

These are amazing. I love it.

 liddi:

LOL! Why shave his head? Jade Mountain is not a monastery. But it sounds like a great idea. He can quarrel with Lie Yang or get drunk with Sir Bi.

I wanted to show Maoqiu sense of drastic humor here--just how much he dreaded being love with a useless woman. haha.

 liddi:

Is the witch doctor the equivalent of the 巫王 Shaman King? It is interesting that you call him a witch doctor... I did not like the term "voodoo" but thought that shaman was closer to what I had in mind. Are they called witch doctors in Hmong culture?

Liddi-this changes everything. My mind is blown.  I may need to go back and re-edit some stuff. The witch doctor thing was from a poor translation from a google translate and I was too lazy to go back and reference what Kaolo had used, and I swear Kaolo may had used witch doctor at one point...but my memory escapes me. 

We call them "txiv neeg (male)" or "niam neeg (female)" and shaman is the the correct translation.  I refuse to use the word voodoo king, even I cringed when I used witch doctor. The next chapter might take longer because I will have to go and reedit this chapter and the next chapter.

 liddi:

How did he lose his soul?

Huayu will have to answer to Maoqiu as payment for him taking care of her cocoon for 50 years. So you will find out soon.

 liddi:

招魂 Soul summoning is a shamanistic ceremony done for those who are deceased especially in foreign lands, and their spirits cannot find their way home. This sounds different from the Hmong tradition of calling a soul back into a person whose physical body is still alive but the soul is lost. 

We do have similar soul summoning ceremony mostly used for people who past away from thier home. Just last year a family here in Minnesota had to go to Colombia to do a soul summoning and then back home, a shaman had to do a soul release ceremony to guide him back to the ancestors.

Chapter 8: Spirit Calling*

Maoqiu spent many moons wandering Jiuli, hoping to learn more about the lost practices of spirit calling, but to no avail. One bright morning in spring, a white butterfly emerged from the cocoon. As it attempted to fly, it fell off the tea table, and a graceful woman, clad in a thin, translucent silk gown, materialized, rolling on the ground. Maoqiu, sitting with his head resting on his arm at the tea table, was startled awake. Staring at the woman, he recognized the same soft features he had witnessed half a century ago in the Central Plains.

She turned around to look at him attentively, her bosom exposed, her sable soft hair outline the curves of her shoulders. The woman's red lips curved into a captivating smile and caught Maoqui off guard. He looked away, only to have his gaze quickly return to her. Fighting his urge to imprint her body within his eyes, Maoqiu quickly got up and took off his outer robe to cover her up. Still smiling, she took the robe as Maoqiu walked to a dresser in the corner of the hut. He took out a brightly embroidered robe, neatly folded, with a silver necklace, the only piece of jewelry he managed to make in all of the past fifty years, and set it on the table.

The woman stood up and observed the robe, running her fingers over the stitching and appliqué. Maoqiu turned his back to her, clasped his hands behind him, cleared his throat, and said, “Fang Feng Wuming…I will ask the Li family to help prepare a meal.” He turned around slightly, only to see the woman still smiling seductively at him. He glanced away. “There’s tea there…” Without finishing his sentence, Maoqiu stomped out of the hut.

When Maoqiu returned, he noticed that the woman had already conjured up a purple butterfly, in the image of an ordinary teenage boy, to conceal herself and mask her spiritual powers. She was wearing the clothing and the silver necklace he had made for her. Sitting at the table and watching the woman carefreely enjoying her first meal in fifty years, Maoqiu suddenly felt very annoyed. “Who are you? And don't ask me who I think you are…if I knew, would I be asking?” Maoqiu demanded.

“I'm not Fang Feng Wuming,” she answered. “What happened to the real Fang Feng Wuming?” Maoqiu inquired, his voice a little calmer.

“He died.” The woman, still hidden behind a teenage boy’s illusion, who was not Wuming, pointed to her hair bun, where the silver butterfly used to nest, now taken over by a purple one. “While I helped him with his dying wish, and since I was at it, I thought, I should send him and his mother back to the ancestors with a parting gift.”

“Parting gift?” Flashes of the fires and the Fang Feng Bei estate ablaze ran through Maoqiu's mind. Maoqiu stood up from his wooden chair, slammed his hand on the table, and stared at the woman, aghast. “That was a funeral offering?!”

“Of course! They were my family for almost five hundred years and they deserve the best gift. I call it justice.” The woman looked at Maoqiu and smirked.

“You aren't afraid of death at all, are you?”

The woman bellowed out laughter. “Lord Maoqiu, it is not death one should be afraid of. It is karma. Death is just the beginning of another cycle.”

“But so many innocent lives were lost…the Li Rong clan…” Maoqiu searching for the words, “how did you manage to…”

“None of them are innocent…perhaps the children?” The woman took a deep breath, and Maoqiu could see on her face that her values had long been compromised. “But they will grow older and eventually contribute to the family's shady business. Trust me, as Fang Feng Wuming, I’ve seen the cycle over and over.” She looked at Maoqiu with resolute eyes, her consciousness was unbothered. 

“Besides, it wasn’t all my doing.” She continues to eat, her emotions indifferent. “The spirits of the lives they took did most of the work. I was more of a channel for them to act on their rage.” 

Maoqiu didn't know what to think and sat back down, his mind blank from the woman's answer. After a while, watching her silently, Maoqiu murmurs, “Is that the reason you…” He clears his throat, “The reason why you lost your soul?”

“Ah…” The woman looked at Maoqiu and noticed how his eyes softened and became watery. She smiled lightly, setting her chopsticks down and clasping her hands on the table. She answered jestingly, “Lord Maoqiu, when I fell asleep, I was just self-healing. You see, I nearly damaged all my meridians. My soul was lost because Fang Feng Wuming refused to leave me, and I had to drag him by the ear to accompany his mother back to the ancestors.” The woman scrunched her face, her brows narrowed, and she rolled her eyes. “Can you believe that little brat? Our agreement had ended, and he reneged on his promise…When I escorted him back, his ancestors were prepared to marry me to him.”

“A ghost bride? Are you…”

“Of course not! I told them I have a blood feud that needs to be settled. Marrying me would be bad luck for them.” Maoqiu stared at her. His mind was replaying her words over and over again.

With silence again within reach, the woman finally spoke, “Maoqiu, do you believe in fate?”

“Fate?” Maoqiu scoffed, and looked away in disbelief. “More like how did you find me?”

The woman motioned for the purple butterfly, and it flew into her hands. The male illusion reversed, and the woman sat in front of him once again. “He told me.” Maoqiu looked at her more bewildered than ever. “You don't remember him. You met him at the Fang Feng mansion all those years ago. He was the one who told me that you gave your earnings away.”

Nothing about this woman made sense. Was this really the same butterfly he saw? How could he possibly remember? How did he ever get involved with such an annoying person? All he had to do was ignore that piece of information about Xiling Xiao Yao, and he couldn't. And now he is entangled in such a mystery of a woman. Maoqiu's head started to hurt, and now more than ever, he thought maybe a useless woman might be a little bit better.

“Fine. Let's say this butterfly told you who I was…who could this butterfly be that deemed me so important that you should seek me out?”

The butterfly flew back to her hair, but the male illusion didn't manifest this time. It continued to flutter its wings when the woman rested her chin in her palms, her elbow on the table. She looked at Maoqiu, and her pretty lips curved into a smile. Her eyes became big and round, a shimmer filled the darkness within.

“You saved his life by chance. He was just a beggar child trying to keep himself and his sister alive. The money you gave him was enough for him to enjoy a few moments of joy in his short life, save his sister and watch her get married happily. His biggest regret was being unable to repay you for your kindness…” The woman spoke frankly, unfazed. “So he remained here searching for you until he could fulfill his dying wish.” She shrugs her shoulders and continues to enjoy the food in front of her. 

A lump found its way into Maoqiu’s throat. He had lost count of the many beggar children he gave money to. Now, his heart sank as he thought about how many of them might be stuck roaming DaHuang, searching for him to repay him. 

“So…Fang Feng Wuming's wish was for you to take care of his mother…”

“Yes. But it's a little more complicated than that…”

They stared at each other for a while. “I can tell you a tale if you have time.” Maoqiu remained unmoved. “Alright, alright…long story short…Wuming accidentally died because of my carelessness, and I owe him a life. Now I will never drink wine again because of it. I don't ever want another Wuming haunting me. As for his poor mother, she was a moth demon who fell in love with a beautiful demon general. Her desire for him manifested her to gain a human form but before she gained words to confess, the Li Rong family kidnapped her and enslaved her to the brothels. So when she died, I burned the Li Rong family for her in payment for showering me with a mother's love.” 

“Tu Shan Zhen’s attempted assassination?” 

“Ah, that one….almost forgot about him. His family…tsk..tsk.” The woman shook her head in disapproval and then chuckled a bit. Maoqiu's head was still spinning. “I have a bone to pick with someone related to him. I just want to see what will happen if he dies.” The woman grabbed the tea and, using her powers, brewed a tea that smelled of spring flowers and sipped from it. Maoqiu looked at the woman and his eyes started to glisten with exasperation. Her nonchalant attitude was driving Maoqiu mad. 

“Ah…before I forget, Lord Maoqiu…” The woman stood from her chair, waltzed to his bed, and laid on it, on her side, with one hand propped on her head, and the other nicely laid on her hip. “My name is Huayu.” With that, she closed her eyes and fell asleep from the meal, in self healing.

It was still too early for the crickets to start singing, but somehow, a rhythmical melody began. A burst of beautiful butterflies appeared above Huayu, and they flew around her. If Maoqiu wasn't mistaken, they looked like they were tending to her. Maoqiu sat quietly, looking at her, perplexed and contemplative. With Huayu's soul returned, her spiritual powers have also returned. It might take several months, but eventually, Rou Sou will pick up the trail that seemed to have gone cold in the last fifty years.

Maoqiu knows they cannot stay in Jiuli for long and would have to be on the move. He didn’t know how well and or long Huayu could conceal her spiritual powers and he couldn't fathom putting his teacher’s family in danger. Maoqui also didn’t understand why he couldn’t give up this woman. He doesn’t owe her anything; yet, the thought of giving her up ached his heart to no end.

After some arrangements, Maoqiu ordered his hut to be destroyed and an oath made that the Li family no longer has an association with him. Maoqiu and Huayu left Juili under the guise of a master and student. “Master, where are we off to?” A perky Huayu inquires. “Wherever I see fit,” Maoqiu replies. “Okay.” She linked her arm onto Maoqiu's, and he tried to shake her off, but her grip was very tight.

*Soul calling (hu plig) is a Hmong/Miao ceremony in which a shaman traverses into the spirit world,with the help of their spiritual guides, to guide a lost spirit back to a living person.

 plor20:

Maybe perhaps, this is also a reason why TH decided to stay away from social media, keep her views on her work closer to her and free of  reader's interpretation etc.

It's a plausible reason. However, she used to interact very actively with her fans in past years. It is said while she was writing "Memories Scattered Across the Galaxy", she once posed a question whether her characters should have a child, so it would appear she sometimes gather feedback based on minimal information given. Now, any comment of hers is almost as rare as the sighting of a nine-headed demon.

 plor20:

These are amazing. I love it.

Glad you found it informative. Haven't figured out the rationale behind Zhuan Xu's name change to Cang Xuan - will share if it comes to me.

 plor20:

We call them "txiv neeg (male)" or "niam neeg (female)" and shaman is the the correct translation.

Thank you for confirming that the term matches what is called in Hmong culture.

 plor20:

“Who are you? And don't ask me who I think you are…if I knew, would I be asking?” Maoqiu demanded

Grumpy Maoqiu is fun to see!  Huayu answers Maoqiu differently from Fangfeng Bei - "who do you think I am?" vs Fangfeng Bei's "Who do you hope that I am?" I just wish Xiao Yao would have answered him just once, but that would mean revealing that she hoped he was Xiang Liu.

 plor20:

“The spirits of the lives they took did most of the work. I was more of a channel for them to act on their rage.” 

Does this mean that Huayu is a medium as well? So Fangfeng Wu Ming and all the other vengeful spirits had been possessing her physical body during those 500 years? 

 plor20:

As for his poor mother, she was a moth demon who fell in love with a beautiful demon general.

I presume the general is Xiang Liu, who later took pity on her and had her dance regularly for him to spare her from servicing other customers? In which case, who was Fangfeng Wu Ming's father? One of her customers? It surely couldn't have been Fangfeng Bei. Did she ever figure out that Fangfeng Bei and Xiang Liu are one and the same based on their resemblance?

 plor20:

Maoqiu's head was still spinning. “I have a bone to pick with someone related to him. I just want to see what will happen if he dies.”

Jing? I can't imagine it would have been Hou. What is her beef with Jing then. I don't imagine Xiang Liu would ever have revealed his love for Xiao Yao to anyone, much less Fangfeng Wu Ming's mother. Or did she see Xiao Yao often in his company and put two and two together?

 plor20:

Maoqiu's head started to hurt, and now more than ever, he thought maybe a useless woman might be a little bit better.

LOL. Poor Maoqiu. He's gotten it bad, just like his master before him.

 plor20:

Maoqui also didn’t understand why he couldn’t give up this woman. He doesn’t owe her anything; yet, the thought of giving her up ached his heart to no end.

Huayu certainly appear to have far less psychological trauma compared to Xiao Yao, so there is greater hope for a happy end. 

@plor20

What a wonderful chapter! Suddenly I found there were a lot of foreshadowings buried in the previous story. I feel that my English skills are almost insufficient for this, I will read it again tomorrow and give you feedback :-) Huayu is so beautiful! I really like the setting of the soul and the afterlife in the story~ :-)