AH

Seeing JTC in wedding clothes right now? Oof. Doesn't even matter if it's modern.

In the novel, the first part (the mountain peak) is promised by ZX to XL for saving XY from death after her assassination. The second part (the years of army provisions) is promised by TSJ to XL for using the promise XY owed him (in exchange for allowing her to transfer the poisonous bug from ZX to him) to make XY leave her wedding to FL.

Interesting. The bow taming part is different than the novel. I hope their escapade in episode 37 includes other important bits from the novel. Thanks for the summary.

Yes, thanks to his essential blood transfusions she can breathe under water and swim almost as well as XL can. iirc it's covered in chapter 26 of the novel.

Even when you catch up with the end of S1, be careful in the comments section if you haven't also read the novel to the end. Some people are really not great about using the spoiler tag.

"ugly poisonous snakes" ... ridiculously, I feel compelled to put in a word here for XL and any other "poisonous snakes" that aren't horrible, conniving Tushan clan members. Some are quite principled and not bad to look at!

(Please don't take this seriously, "poisonous snakes" was just too on point to resist).

She says it to him in episode 8 and episode 9 too. So good.

He hated having to ask her to do that. He needed TSJ's support.

There isn't really one clear moment in the novel or the drama, but it would necessarily have to be sometime before XL decided he was a candidate to receive the poisonous bug.

I really don't want to think too hard about what Gong Gong does after XL dies and saves his life. It's too frustrating no matter what he does.

Yes, that's a little clearer in the novel I think. They had some time together in QS town (a bit more than what was shown in the drama). A few meetings after that before XL pulled out his FFB persona. 10+ years as companions as FFB and XY. 37 years in the clam shell (although not under ideal circumstances). And a few more meaningful meetings after that. At least three that last more than a full day.

Oh no, I feel like he decided he wasn't her endgame long before that, and was also already actively working to ensure that she could get a happy ending with TSJ. Definitely by the time of her resurrection in chapter 22 (which is why he pushes her to TSJ when she wakes up). Way before her wedding in chapter 32.

Remember he has always felt from the very beginning that the best death for a general is to die on the battlefield. So I'm not sure he ever thought there was any chance of having a long-term romance and peaceful happy ending with anyone - even XY. Even as early as when he willingly accepted the poisonous bug.

But if he did, learning about XY's true identity killed any hope they would've had. XY knew that from the start. And it significantly changed the equation for XL. Yes, he wanted XY to kiss him underwater and he wanted her allow him to drink blood from her neck after that point, and was hurt when she drew lines stopping him from doing so. But even so, I don't think he thought they could be endgame at that point. And eventually he starts to actively hide his feelings and keep XY's in check too. The balance between them shifts to a point where XY is the one constantly making bids and XL is the one shutting her down.

I think that really starts when he presents himself as FFB, when he clearly says they are temporary companions. And he starts to toe a very fine line between keeping XY company to alleviate her loneliness (and his own) but not letting her know how he feels about her or letting her develop deeper feelings for him.

Once their army is fully wiped out, Gong Gong and XL would have no further means to fight for that cause. In theory, Gong Gong would hopefully be able to let go of his cause at that point. But more likely he would end his life, if he wasn't dead already.

At least he tried to get a straight answer there for once? ^^" Especially after the pain of her earlier "you're not a man who should be in a young lady's dreams" answer.

I think the drama should follow the novel faithfully (including fully covering everything XL does the way he does it in the novel and how XY feels about him). I have my own ideas about possible alt. endings but only to entertain in my own mind. I don't think they would work perfectly for an on-screen adaptation. I've already posted those here.

He's a Jade Mountain person. As far as I'm aware, he hasn't been introduced yet unless he was included in XY's childhood scenes.

Of course she doesn't outright say it, but that's the very heavy implication.

And in chapter 26 (when she spent a day and a night with XL in the ocean being distracted from her heartache), XY thinks to herself that (if it were possible) she'd like to spend the rest of her life like that.

There are a few other occasions where the novel makes a point of noting her having similar feelings.

You're welcome :)

As someone who has spent a lot of time thinking about possible alternative endings, IMO, it would be very hard to just have alternative endings for the last episode. You'd need to make pretty big (and conflicting) plot changes earlier on in the drama to make a satisfying ending for a different ship vs. the original endgame ship.

This makes her sound so healthy, but loving more than one man literally gives her a splitting headache in chapter 32 (not to mention all the other troubles it causes her).

I mean, in the novel XL tells XY right before he wakes her up that TSJ is dying. And then he disappears before she wakes up and his condor takes her as close as it can to TSJ. He really does everything he can to make sure XY thinks about TSJ and not him when she wakes up. And then she finds out about the deal he made with ZX and really believes it was all a transaction to XL. And lastly, when they finally go back to the ocean together she can tell that XL doesn't want her to know about the things he said while she was healing, so she pretends she wasn't conscious to hear it and resolves to bury the memories.

So many nails were needed for that coffin.