Kokuto:
LOL!
The juxtaposition of these two gifs is perfect. "Other Men" = super hero Xiang Liu. PERFECT. And XY's face in the second one. LOL!
lol yep. The director/scriptwriters totally did that scene on purpose since XY also falls in love with Xiang Liu xD
I think I said this before but I found that fox asking her to wait 15 years and not to fall in love with another man absurd. I know they're deities and live a long time but he shouldn't have asked her to do that. The honorable thing would've been to break off his engagement with his fiancee first and then start a relationship with XY. Him and XY were doing couple things behind closed doors. It looked like they were having an affair behind everyone's back (sorry, not sorry).
Elise:
lol yep. The director/scriptwriters totally did that scene on purpose since XY also falls in love with Xiang Liu xD
I think I said this before but I found that fox asking her to wait 15 years and not to fall in love with another man absurd. I know they're deities and live a long time but he shouldn't have asked her to do that. The honorable thing would've been to break off his engagement with his fiancee first and then start a relationship with XY. Him and XY were doing couple things behind closed doors. It looked like they were having an affair behind everyone's back (sorry, not sorry).
Definitely. The Jingers love to apply modern labels to this ancient tale, so let me tell you, by modern-day logic, that fox is a stalker who keeps rocking that very cliché attitude of "wait for me, I'll get a divorce and then you'll officially be my wife, no more hiding" while doing essentially nothing to change his situation. But sure, what an upstanding guy. Ideal husband material right there.
That would be great! Thank you!
Here's the full excerpt from the novel with all the context.
-----
Chapter 4:
If Lao Mu was from either Sheng Nong or Gao Xing Kingdoms, even if he loved Chuan Zi he would have a hard time accepting that Chuan Zi was going to marry a prostitute. But he was from the Xuan Yuan god tribe, filled with wild abandon and ridicule towards social norms, so after he squatted on the doorstep for some time and thought about it, he decided there was nothing wrong with it. So that was how Chuan Zi’s marriage was settled.
Once Lao Mu decided on it, he went about making it happen. But the brothel decided to raise the price sky high and the cost to buy Xan Tian Er’s freedom would allow Ma Zi to marry ten Chun Taos. Lao Mu tried to get people to be the middlemen but to no avail even with his and Xiao Liu’s twenty-some years of relationships in Qing Shui Town.
Lao Mu was furious but there was nothing he could do. The brothels in Qing Shui Town were special, a place for information to be disseminated and gathered, filled with the most beautiful and talented girls, where powerful men would often go visit. There were various powers at play there, not just Sheng Nong, Gao Xing, and Xuan Yuan, but the various noble families from the Chi Sui family in the Middle Plains to the Fang Feng family from the North.
Lao Mu furrowed his brow and sighed. “I see that Tian Er really wants to be with our Chuan Zi and now would rather get beaten than see another customer. That old madam is vile!” Ma Zi felt bad and tried to talk Chuan Zi into giving up. No matter how pretty Xan Tian Er was, she wasn’t someone for guys like them. Chuan Zi’s face was ashen and he would sit on the courtyard stoop just cradling his head through sleepless nights.
Inside his room, Xiao Liu laid on his pallet with his legs up looking at his precious little mirror and giggling. The image inside the mirror was all his glorious handiwork that night. He drew nine heads on Xiang Liu’s face and his icy eyes were glaring at him like daggers.
Xiao Liu stared at the mirror and flicked Xiang Liu’s head. “Go ahead and rage! Go ahead and rage!” After he was done flicking, he wiped the mirror and it returned to its original state. It appeared just a bit more ornate than an ordinary mirror but there was no sign that it contained anything from the past.
This seemingly ordinary mirror was actually created from the spiritual essence of a mythical gorilla type beast in the inner wild desert region. It was vicious and had the power to see into the past. It was a power that worked against nature so it was hard to develop this ability and these beasts were even rarer to encounter. And a mirror created from the spiritual essence of such a beast, there was only one such mirror in existence. The reason was that to seal the spiritual essence of such a beast into a magical object and have it show the past required the beast to be completely willing without a shred of anger. But there was no such beast who endured the painful training to develop such a power to see the past who would be willing to die without any anger.
Xiao Liu tucked the mirror away and put his hands behind his head. After that night, many months had passed and Xiang Liu never showed up again. So many people were looking to take him down so it’s normal for him not to appear. If he did appear Xiao Liu would feel like his life had reached the end. So Xiao Liu prayed every day for more people to be looking to take him down. Make his life so busy that he completely forgot about Qing Shui Town and one Wen Xiao Liu.
But, now……aish!
A little white condor that was the astral projection of the giant white flying condor Furball came flying in through the window and haughtily landed in front of Xiao Liu. Xiao Liu spoke to it. “Seeing you so puffed up, I just want to pluck all your feathers off, roast your right side, stew your left side, and after eating all of you throw your bones to the dogs.”
Furball charged Xiao Liu who grabbed his head and rolled under the pallet. “Tell your master I need to see him. It’s something important.” Furball glared angrily at Xiao Liu before spreading his wings and flying into the night. Xiao Liu felt it a bad idea to meet Xiang Liu in the room. The same environment may cause him to remember the insult last time and cause him to easily get enraged.
Xiao Liu left the house and walked upstream with the river until he left Qing Shui Town and entered a deep dense forest. He saw a tree as thick as it would require 5-6 men to encircle it and climbed up that tree and found a comfortable spot and sat down.
The tree was very tall and Xiao Liu could see far from the vantage point. The winding river glowed silver in the moonlight and, if it wasn’t the middle of the Winter with the blustery wind blowing, then the view would be perfect.
He’s here!
Xiao Liu raised his head and a white condor carrying Xiang Liu dove down from the center of the moon. White hair, white robe, flying down from the sky like falling snow, he softly landed beside Xiao Liu.
Xiao Liu said, “Three choices. Whip me 40 times. Kick me off from here. Or listen to me say something important. Important!”
Xiang Liu asked, “Did you bathe?”
Xiao Liu was still cheeky. “Bathed super clean, just waiting for my lord to arrive.”
Xiang Liu’s hand grabbed Xiao Liu’s shoulder and he lowered his head. Xiao Liu docilely tipped back his neck and when Xiang Liu’s sharp fang pierced his skin and started drinking his blood, Xiao Liu didn’t close his eyes and instead looked at the moon.
Xiang Liu wasn’t holding back and Xiao Liu gradually felt lightheaded. “Are you planning to suck me dry all at once? Even if you have nine heads, I didn’t hear that you had nine stomachs! Can’t you save some for next time?”
Xiang Liu’s lips were still on Xiao Liu’s neck and were right next to the artery that led straight to the heart. “When do you think I should bite down right here? Tonight?”
Xiao Liu immediately countered, “Not tonight since it’s too pretty out. Killing me is such a mood-ruining thing to do. Wait for the day when I really want to kill you.”
“You don’t want to kill me?”
Xiao Liu smiled. “No! You clearly know I don’t want to kill you, and I won’t kill you.”
“I don’t know. All I know is that you ought to hate me.”
“You don’t know and you dared to come see me while still nursing your injury? You really see me as a harmless bunny rabbit? Or are your nine brains fighting with each other and now you’re stupid because none of them work?”
Xiang Liu leaned in, clearly to continue his meal, so Xiao Liu quickly added, “Because I’m lonely!” Xiang Liu’s lips pressed against his neck and didn’t move.
“No matter if you believe me or not, but I really don’t hate you at all and don’t want to kill you. Because I’m very lonely. I developed a strange tic when I was hiding in the deep mountains and went many years without encountering another person. I caught a monkey and started talking to it all day long. The monkey tried to escape and when it couldn’t it actually hit its head against the cave wall and committed suicide. Later on, I encountered a snake that wanted to eat me and almost bit off my leg. But it could understand what I was saying and reacted to whatever I said. I knew it was dangerous but I couldn’t help myself and could constantly go prance around in front of it. It was so furious it almost went insane. Having it around, it wasn’t so lonely in the mountains anymore.” Xiao Liu laughed “After some time, he discovered I was super sneaky and wanted to leave but I wouldn’t let it and kept bothering it so it kept trying to kill me.”
Xiao Liu looked up at the moon and there was an indescribable sadness in his eyes. “They say the Heavens favors the tribes of the Gods, but I think it favors the humans. They are just like the Gods in every way except their lives are so short in comparison. Look at the moon, it’s been there like that for the last thousand years. No matter how beautiful a sight, one will still get tired of it.”
“That snake, what happened afterwards?”
“Died!”
“You killed it?”
“No, the King of the fox tribe.”
“Nine-tailed fox?”
Xiao Liu shut his eyes. “The Nine-tailed fox wanted to kill me but the snake believed only it could eat me so it blocked the path of that vicious fox…so it ended up dead!”
Xiang Liu softly chuckled. “Interesting. And the fox?”
“I killed it.”
“You’re that powerful?”
“He should have killed me the moment he caught me. But he was consumed by hatred and greed. He used various special creatures to feed to me, forcing me to eat many disgusting things, all so that he could make me nice and plump before eating me. He intended to use my mythical blood to help him recover his lost powers……Oh, I forgot to tell you, he wasn’t a Nine-tailed fox by then, just an eight tail since he got a tail cut off so his powers were severely depleted. He raised me for thirty years and right when he was about to partake of the victory, one day he accidentally got drunk in front of me.”
“He kept you locked up in a cage?”
“Yup.”
Xiang Liu was silent for a moment and his hand was massaging Xiao Liu’s neck. “Am I the snake to help alleviate your loneliness?”
Xiao Liu smiled. “Who knows? Perhaps I’m the snake who is amusing you.”
Xiang Liu released him. “The important thing?”
“Does the brothel on Dong Gui street belong to you guys?”
“Why are you asking?”
“Chuan Zi wants a prostitute from there.”
“You want to ask me to help you secure her freedom?”
“Does that brothel belong to you guys? I guess not. It doesn’t seem like the way you operate anyways.” Xiao Liu smiled and a light glinted in his eye. “No need to help me, I’ll go ask another person for help.”
The white condor Furball flew back and was circling overhead. Xiang Liu lightly leaped up and landed on the condor’s back. “This was your important business?”
“Er…..Chuan Zi’s marriage is important………..Ah——”
Xiao Liu’s branch suddenly snapped in half and he fell, slamming through various other branches and causing Xiao Liu to start spitting up blood. Wham, Xiao Liu finally landed on the ground as a swirl of dirt blew up around him.
Furball was so happy and circling low overhead to mock Xiao Liu. Xiang Liu stood on his back with a smile. “You are the snake egg that anyone can eat.” Furball rose higher and Xiang Liu left.
Xiao Liu waited a few moments before slowly sitting up. His head was spinning and he couldn’t see straight and his legs hurt so much he couldn’t walk. The startled chipmunk peered out at him and Xiao Liu smiled. “What’cha looking at? Looking at me being made a fool? I didn’t get to be a fool for nothing, I traded something small for something big. The next time I see that big demon he won’t be looking to wring my neck…..”
The sun hadn’t even risen when Shi Qi tracked him down and found Xiao Liu curled up within a tangle of broken branches. He looked totally beaten up but was sleeping with a slight smile on his lips. Shi Qi knelt down and slowly picked off the leaves on his head and saw that there were two fresh bite marks on Xiao Liu’s neck. It was slightly hidden underneath his collar with the red teeth impression vaguely showing the imprint of a pair of lips.
Xiao Liu’s eyelid fluttered open. “Shi Qi?” He opened his eyes and smiled. “I can’t walk again.”
Shi Qi piggybacked the docile Xiao Liu on his back. Xiao Liu rested for three days and when he was able to move around on crutches had Lao Mu make a few dishes and invited Xuan over to drink.
Xuan arrived and Xiao Liu warmly poured everyone a bowl of wine. Lao Mu and Chuan Zi drank their wine and promptly fell over fast asleep. Xuan smiled at Xiao Liu while Shi Qi quietly sat to the side. Xiao Liu said to Xuan, “I asked you here to ask for something.”
“Please tell.”
“Chuan Zi wants Xan Tian Er, so can you help make it happen?” Xuan said nothing. Xiao Liu earnestly added, “I know this seems rather abrupt but Chuan Zi’s marriage is very important so I am shamelessly asking you.”
“Why does Brother Liu think I can help?”
“I don’t know the true identity of you or Ah Nian but I know you are from no ordinary background. I was curious and wanted to asked around but you sniffed it out. If Brother Xuan wanted to help, then you can.” Xiao Liu tried to be extra buddy-buddy and called him Brother Xuan.
Xuan glanced at Shi Qi. “Ah Nian and I just want to live a quiet life.”
“Yes, yes, I know. I promise I won’t bother you guys ever.”
Xuan stared at Xiao Liu who smiled. “I have lived in Qing Shui Town for over twenty years. I am just me.”
Xuan got up to leave. “Remember to invite me for the wedding banquet.” Xiao Liu was all smiles “I will, I will!”
Yeah, I thought it was kind of weird that she thought XL would own a brothel.
The drama changed a few things so the dynamics in some parts are quite different from the novel.
In the novel, XY lays low after the charcoal shenanigans and XL doesn't contact her for months. When Furball finally goes to XY to collect her usual poison delivery, XY uses the brothel question as an excuse to arrange a meeting with XL even though she clearly doesn't think XL actually owns the brothel and already suspects Xuan to be the mastermind behind blocking Chuan Zi's marriage (without YSQ suggesting it). When she asks XL if he owns the brothel, she doesn't even let him answer and instead answers her own question.
In the drama, they make it seem like XY actually thinks XL *might* be the one blocking Skinny's marriage and feels responsible, and that's why she arranges the meeting. Even though she talks about begging XL for mercy while she waits for him in the tree, it doesn't seem like that was her motivation for arranging the meeting. When she asks XL about the brothel, she seems to really want an answer. It's only when XL doesn't know the name of the brothel she's talking about that she concludes that he must not own it and moves on (although at least they still have her say that she didn't really think he owned the brothel or that he was the one blocking the marriage). The drama also makes it seem like XY doesn't suspect that Xuan is the one blocking the marriage until YSQ says it's him. And instead of showing XY being happy after the encounter with XL (because she successfully diffused his anger), the drama shows her cursing XL. Huge difference.
-----
Episode 6:
LM: The Madam is asking for too much. Even if we sell Rejuvenation Hall, we still can't afford to buy out her contract. You should choose another woman.
Skinny: No! I don't want anyone but Tian'er!
WXL: Sang Tian'er is not young, and she's not the top woman. Normally the Madam wouldn't hold her back and not allow us to redeem her.
YSQ: Someone's playing dirty.
WXL: Could it be Xiang Liu? Because last time I drew on his face? If that's the case, I need to find Xiang Liu. I can't let my actions ruin Skinny's marriage.
YSQ: Don't go. I'll go.
WXL: Don't bother. Don't provoke him. Anyway, whoever goes to find him, let's talk about it tomorrow. I'm tired. I'm going to sleep. Skinny hasn't come back yet. Remember to find him.
[While YSQ picks drunk Skinny up from Xuan's wine shop and brings him home, WXL sneaks out of the clinic.]
[Mini-Chubby reports to Xiang Liu in his military tent.]
XL: He actually dares to come see me. Is he planning to repay me?
[WXL giggles while looking at XL's face covered in her charcoal drawings in the gorilla mirror.]
WXL: Acted tough! Acted tough!
[WXL flicks XL's furious face in the mirror.]
WXL: Acted tough, huh? Acted tough, huh? Acted tough! Acted tough! Hahaha!
[A gust of wind blows and WXL sits up.]
WXL: Your Lordship, are you there? Thankfully, it's not that nine-headed demon. I still haven't figured out how to beg for mercy yet.
[WXL puts up his hands in a begging gesture.]
WXL: Your Lordship, as you're a magnanimous lord, don't be angry with someone insignificant like me. If you get sick from anger, you might not care, but it would break my heart.
[WXL throws off the over-the-top begging attitude and sits back.]
WXL: That nine-headed demon boasts brains but has no heart. Pleading like this will be in vain.
[WXL thinks and puts on a cocky attitude.]
WXL: I'm telling you, don't think I'm afraid of you!
[The camera pans to XL standing in another tree behind WXL, listening to him run his mouth.]
WXL: Believe it or not, in the future, I won't use my blood to heal your wounds anymore. You have so many enemies and you're bad-tempered. Without me, you're doomed sooner or later!
[WXL considers.]
WXL: That might be too much. Would he really kill me if I did that? Forget it! I'll just lie down and let him eat me.
[WXL lies back on the tree branch. XL takes that as his queue to fly over to WXL. After a few moments of staring, WXL plasters a smile on his face and puts the mirror away.]
WXL: I'll give you three choices. First, whip me forty times. Second, kick me out of here. Third, listen to my serious matter. A serious matter for real!
XL: Have you bathed yet?
WXL: I've washed really well, just waiting for your arrival, my lord.
...
XL: Didn't you come to me for business?
WXL: Ah. Is the brothel on Nanhuai Street yours?
XL: Why do you ask this?
WXL: Skinny wants to marry a girl from there.
[XL gives WXL a look.]
XL: You want me to let her go?
WXL: Is that brothel yours?
XL: Name?
WXL: It seems it's not yours. I thought so. You wouldn't be difficult like that. All right, I don't need your help. I'll ask someone else.
XL: Is this the business you mentioned?
WXL: Yes. Skinny's marriage is important.
[WXL begins to start climbing down from the tree. XL gives WXL another glower and then breaks the branch that WXL is holding onto, causing him to fall to the ground.]
XL: You, at most, are a snake egg that gets eaten by others.
[XL leaps onto Chubby's back and departs.]
[WXL initially can't walk and starts to pull himself along with his arms. Later, he walks painfully through the forest with the help of a walking stick.]
WXL: Damn Xiang Liu, next time I see you, I'll definitely kill you. Damn Xiang Liu. Damn Xiang Liu.
...
[YSQ uses his powers to track WXL and carries him back to the clinic.]
...
WXL: Skinny's marriage wasn't stopped by Xiang Liu but by someone else.
YSQ: It's shopkeeper Xuan from the winery.
WXL: You're really smart.
I think they did film that exchange with Furball. There was a clip I saw, that had XL talking to Furball, while he was sitting at a desk in the camp. But I didn't remember seeing that scene in the show.
The drama does show XL talking to mini-Chubby when mini-Chubby delivers XY's message requesting the meeting, but it doesn't show XY trash-talking mini-Chubby or telling it to deliver her message (requesting the meeting) to XL. I guess they didn't want to show XY bullying the cute little mini version of Chubby.
nathsketch:
Definitely. The Jingers love to apply modern labels to this ancient tale, so let me tell you, by modern-day logic, that fox is a stalker who keeps rocking that very cliché attitude of "wait for me, I'll get a divorce and then you'll officially be my wife, no more hiding" while doing essentially nothing to change his situation. But sure, what an upstanding guy. Ideal husband material right there.
Exactly. Back when I was a drama watcher only, I was wondering why Jing didn't think to keep tabs on his fiancee to find any reason to break off the engagement. All he did in the drama was beg and ask his grandma to break it off, like why didn't he try harder?! As an ex-Jinger, I was so disappointed in him.
Xiang Liu has the best introduction out of all the guys. It was made even better with Xiao Yao's song playing in the background.
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