haineko

Unfortunately this will always be an unpopular opinion. The story was unbalanced to begin with (novel) and though the script version helped somewhat they ended up cutting it out anyway…and I know a villain is a villain but just the feeling that the more she struggles the more they ridicule irks me
I wouldn’t want to do that to anyone because I can’t imagine how I’d feel like in a situation like that, especially since XL was one of the only person to treat him with kindness when he was younger

Well for one she didn’t know she was going to portray a villain before reading the whole script (the team gave her a vanilla outer shell summary when they reached out to her 🤣), and she said she had to go through hours and hours of criminal documentary to get the vibes of what she’s portraying. Second, her story along with XL’s were mostly cut out (I’d say almost 80%) so you really have no idea what she is like other than the surface level they show you, like do you know what kind of a person is other than a bad person? Or who XL is other than a good person? And finally, she had a lot of problems in her character portrayals in the past (like facial expressions, lack of emotion and control, body language), just not good… this show actually showed a little improvement on her end

Yeah her character’s archetype is pretty trendy in Chinese fandoms at the moment and many people still like her couple so I’m really excited for the 3rd lifetime 😆

Also I can’t wait to see TTJ’s 追妻火葬场 (you do so much to torture your wife and now you chase her through fire and ashes) hahahahhahahahahaha

Yeah probably so. It’s been mentioned by BL that while they were filming CDL confided in her she was terrified people would hate her after this show (I think this was when they were filming the Bo’re dream together).

CDL also said in another interview that BL would go through the script multiple times with her when they have scenes together, sometimes even after she’s done her shift for the day, to help her feel comfortable enough to ease into the character. You know like if you have to do it, do it so good people would hate but praise you for it.

Whether or not fans fight, the relationships between the main casts on set was pretty sweet.

Funny story, when the production team reached out to her for the role, they gave her the vanilla version of the script (the outside of the White Lotus). She read it, thought it was close to what she usually portrays, and took it. Apparently the team discouraged the actors from reading the original novel since it has quiet a bit of inappropriate themes and ideals, and so she got a huge surprise when she read the whole script and realized she was really just the main antagonist.
And then she went through hours of criminal documentary and shows to figure out how to portray a villain correctly, because she didn't know how. It's actually kind of funny when you think about it XD

Youku can’t get enough of negative attention😢It makes the viewing experience so bad for everybody…

Yep. Thanks~

There is a deleted scene where XL left his sect to return to his country. His master told him that something outside of his own being changed his predetermined destiny and that if he were to return now, he'd die young (referring to LSS traveling back through time). He chose to go back anyway knowing his country is doomed.

Also YBC specifically wedged in between TTJ and YXW to exact revenge. This was part of the script when she was speaking to her maid in the palace, but the final version redubbed it and she just said she needs to rely on power to survive. That's why her maid was scared, because YBC sounded evil.

But uh, love story between ML and FL? I mean misunderstanding is a conventional thing in love stories. Besides, she's been struggling between doing what she's supposed to do and falling for TTJ.

Yes, 6.2 is a bit low. Even with the show cut in such a rushed way it still deserves at least a 7.

However, you really have to take into consideration the HUGE battle royale that has been going on for more than a year now. It's essentially Novel Fans VS Show Fans VS ML Fans VS FL Fans VS SML Fans VS SFL Fans VS every-other-fandom-out-there-that-doesn't-want-them-to-succeed Fans.

***Gossip Ahead Proceed With Caution***

Oh man where to start?

There was the back and forth when the posters came out and a lot of ppl were attracted by TH (aka Chen Du Ling) and Novel Fans + FL Fans ganging up on people who complimented her beauty, feeding them info on how bad she is and saying it's morally corrupt to like TH/YBC.

There was the huge scandal of LYX when the show came out and people just made fun of him forever because he looks different from Ashes of Love, not to mention that ridiculous ballerina weightlift mantis meme.

There was the fight between FL and SFL about how YBC's story was cut so short she's just there to be hated (I'd say kinda), and then this backfired and now everyone's mad at SFL's fans because they're accused of whitewashing YBC.

Then there's people actually trying so hard to whitewash YBC. Oh lord. Why the heck would you do that. It's the highlight of her story and character development and plays an important part in the 3rd life.

And not to mention PR and YQY's story and how everybody argued if the novel or the show did justice to his defecting of his country, if he's a coward etc.

And then just people in between taking advantage and villainizing everybody. Plus the platform. Fuck the platform. They literally took a clip of another one of Chen Du Ling's character being bullied with the captions "XXX gets severely disciplined! It's so refreshing you have to come see it!"

That's not even everything.

The platform doesn't care if people like the show or not, as long as there are people discussing it, and they have been discussing it for over a year. It's gotten so bad I had to come here to see actual normal discussion being made. I literally can't say I like someone without being told by at least 1 person it's wrong, and I like everyone.

Just...love the show and focus on the story.

They all have Bo're's memories, the reason being Bo're is similar to Aranya's dream in the Pillow Book - meaning those who enter don't just get to see what happened, they actually live as those people and experience their lives firsthand (kind of like a soul-traveling out-of-body experience). You can say in a way all of them lived another person's life in those brief moments.

Another thing, and this is the part where the editing really butchered the story, is that Bo're is actually meant to be a reflection of reality, and foretells a lot of major plot twists and the lead couple's future emotional development via a different setting. This is less apparent in the novel - Bo're in the novel is mostly just MY ignoring SJ for 100 years, the wolf demon (yes, XL was a wolf demon in the novel's version of Bo're) pining over SJ essentially forever, and TH being TH with bits of lore on the side from time to time. Personally I think the show grouped the lore together pretty nicely - the 12 gods, Chu Huang's more detailed story and her child, Ji Ze's foretelling, what 同悲道 is (the curse the Demon Lord tries to do to end time and bring chaos), how the Demon Lord came to be, how to get rid of the demon bone (is that how you call it in English?), how YBC was exposed to its influence, and extras. The way they cut those episodes really didn't do the lore part of the story justice, and if you're watching the show and completely into the lead couple's love story it's SO easy to skim by those details. I mean, I only noticed those details because there is so much fighting going on in the Chinese fandoms I gave up on trying to be a fangirl to any of the 3 main couples + I read the script about a year ago, and the point of the dream is to be a mirror of reality, it's meant to foreshadow the future plot.

So yes, of course TH and YBC are similar, figuratively and literally.

They are not the same person. The novel has undergone several different drafts since the author first started writing it. In one of the earlier versions YBC reincarnates into another fellow cultivation sect and has met LSS before LSS went back in time (her name is Yao Guang). When LSS first met YBC she actually made a remark that she recognized her. This was then cut out because the author decided not to write a 3rd life for her, and she stayed a mortal who becomes evil after years of abuse + her selfish act of hoarding the Love Thread, did bad things and died a very extreme death. TH on the other hand has been completely anihalated of her existence, her body and soul burned in hell flames (or whatever it’s called 业火) and her bones (usually the carrier of essence) turned into the Jade. There is no way she could ever reincarnate. Even in the show they aren’t the same person, but spoilers.

Thank you, too, for reading through my long replies ♥
Let's enjoy the rest of the show together~

I'm glad it helped you appreciate the story and its characters more! And don't worry, it's still a very good story no matter what :D

After they met in the human realm Mo Nv did everything she could to support and comfort Gong Ye (kind of like how XL treats YBC). He falls for her. He then finds out that everybody sees him as a replica of XL and breaks down in front of her, but she realized too that no matter what she does XL is gone. Not wanting to lie to him, she cuts ties and he succumbs to his demons (like SJ did). During the finale, as he's about to be killed by TTJ she jumped in front of him. Before she died, she apologized for causing him harm and comforted him by saying she knew perfectly he wasn't XL, but that she chose to die for him. By the end Gong Ye got rid of his demons and took up his responsibilities, making the heavenly realms a better place while reminiscing her.

However, rumors are their love story has undergone changes during filming and that Mo Nv might not have died in the finale. I guess we'll have to see.

At least they managed to fit the main couple's story in, which makes the story complete in a sense (I'd say around 80%). The story would be 10000 times better with the side characters stories because they actually compliment TTJ and LSS's story overall. I'm just so afraid now that they will cut PR's story too because she's a key character in the script's next plot.

YBC was a pure tool in the novel, the author didn't give her much good qualities. I'm kind of thankful the screenwriter chose to show her mercy by giving her a 3rd lifetime. Also YBC was very wicked near the end of her life, and the things she did were not redeemable. Hopefully this makes you feel a bit better, you know, she was written to be hated.

At this point I can only blame the higher ups because they no longer allow TV shows to be split into 2 parts like they did with Love Like the Galaxy or The Blue Whisper. It absolutely HAS to be 40 episodes now or 2 seasons separated months apart...that means the platform loses money. I hate that we can't have longer shows now but the insanity that was those 70+ episodes trash shows did play a major role :(

No problem! I can actually fill you in on some of the details right now if you're interested! Lemme put a spoiler banner first:

**SPOILER ALERT*** LIKE HUGE SPOILERS***JUST IN CASE***


So around 10000 years ago the battle between the 12 Gods + MY against the Demon Lord took place.

Fast forward to 10000 years later. The Ye family has 2 daughters- one born from noble blood (YXW) and one from commoner blood (YBC). Because of this, YBC was basically bullied all her life and YXW would get away with it because the whole family shuns the older daughter. YXW would at several occasions try to kill YBC and YBC would barely evade them.

The years of abuse and multiple death threats has YBC very scared, so when she stumbled upon a second Love Thread, she kept it as her own. 1 Love Thread gives the ability to love, 2 gives the ability to be loved. She vowed to stay a good person and from that point on she did a lot more charity and with the effect of the 2nd Love Thread, she was no longer ignored by others around her (I'd say everybody except her family - discrimination has no bounds lol).

XL comes back from his 3 years (I think 3 years?) of cultivation. His master wanted him to stay because he has what it takes to become an immortal, but XL has his responsibility in mind and politely declined the offer. Before he left, however, his master foretold that something outside of his own being has changed his destiny, and thus if he leaves, he'd die early. XL leaves anyway because he senses unrest and want to be with his people if a war is to come.

It's around that point when XL starts showing his affection for YBC, and because YXW really likes XL, she plotted to use aphrodisiac on her sister and have her raped by another guy at a royal party. This plan of course failed and backfired when TTJ used it against her and they married instead.

Next comes the part where the Nighmare Demon captures YBC - and during that time she had a dream where she got what she wanted initially, then everyone either died or didn't love her anymore, and then she died a horrible death (this is mostly left out in the script because the dream in the novel is unacceptable imo, if you're interested I'll leave it at the bottom). This prompted her to want to rely on XL and his stature as a prince. They married, but he's the type that always puts responsibility first and treats everyone with equal kindness whereas she needs to be in that special place because of her lack of sense of security.

The emperor is an A-hole who doubts on everyone and the Ye family defects with PR's convincing. They leave without notifying YBC. She nearly died because of an uproar in the streets, and as a result, XL volunteered to go into battle to save YBC's life from his father and from the people. She asks to go with him and he obliges.

In the mean time, LSS (in YXW's body) hasn't found a way to extract the demon bone in TTJ's body, and that's when she met JZ, who told her she needed a dream, a tear and a thread. When she heard of 般若浮生 (the dream) she jumped on it- because she had no options left- she couldn't control TTJ's ambitions - cue the part where he kills his brother and feed his subjects a soup made of the brother's flesh.

In the dream, it was shown how the Demon Lord came to be, what he wanted to do (同悲道 - a curse that will turn the world back into chaos and restart time). YXW saw through SJ's eyes how the 12 Gods fell, what JZ has laid out for the future, and why the Jade thingy saved YXW earlier in the story (via SJ and Chu Huang's connection). At the end of the dream, MY demonstrates how to cleanse someone of their demon powers using the jade she has (forgot the name).

During that battle, the demon Mo Nv fell as a result of injury. Around the same time one of JZ's disciple/servant was playing with a camellia flower branch he stole from JZ and lost it when it fell down into the human realm - this disciple/servant was then physically punished (leaving a red mark on his hand) and then kicked out of the heavenly realm as well (a pretty big plot point but with how this show is cut maybe not anymore?).

There's also a pretty elaborate part detailing Chu Huang's love story and her unborn/unhatched child (egg/spiritual egg lol). This actually extends into why the Demon Lord was betrayed right at the end but most of it was cut *sigh* Just remember that egg is VERY IMPORTANT!!!

Back in the real world, XL senses what his master foretold has become true. His senior (the dude that's always with him) tries to talk him into changing his mind, but he refuses again since there is a war going on. This was told during a scene where XL was taking care of a stray cat, and the other dude was bitten by it after he scoffed at it then tried to touch it. I think XL just laughed it off and said something like you have to look at everything with kindness and fairness, opposing the idea of noble and commoner discrimination, and embracing the idea that everything happens for a reason. This basically cemented his idea to stay, because he doesn't consider himself to be more privileged to live than his people.

YBC has become more selfish as a result of the dream. The demon bone alluded that XL's love for her is due to the 2nd thread, and this, coupled with what she saw in the dream, the abandonment she felt at the wedding and her lack of sense of security started making her second guess if his love is genuine. XL's father then wanted him to send YBC back (essentially to be a hostage). He knew he was throwing her into the fire, but he also knew he was going to die in battle, so he chose to send her back. This is why she was crying, because she knew she would only receive torment back in her city. And she did, which deepened her doubt and hate. She starts plotting revenge.

***END OF FILLER SPOILERS***

This should fill out most gaps right now, I still left a good chunk out because they still might appear in later episodes (PR's story).




(And here is YBC's dream from the novel)

When YBC was 8 she had a dream where she would marry a man who loves and protects her (XL), they'd go on to have a child, then the child would be murdered by TTJ, XL would lose his love for her and she'd end up being made into a 'human pig' at TTJ's hands - I'm translating the term literally, but it's a very very very extreme punishment that includes chopping off a person's limbs, stuffing them into a huge vase, shaving off all hair and pulling out all the follicles, then taking their eyes, nose and ears off while poisoning them into silence, then finally left in the bathroom to rot. Apparently the appearance of a person after all this is done is akin to a pig and in ancient times and pigs reside in the bathroom so............yeah

(I'm glad this part is out of the script THANK GOD it's too much)

Yep that's her! The script is a bit more complicated than that, but with the screen time given to side characters now that's definitely her lol

But like I said the script can't be trusted because supposedly there were ppl who worked on the project saying the 3rd lifetime had a lot of changes done, though for Mo Nv it's mostly her love story (maybe)

**SPOILER ALERT*** LIKE HUGE SPOILERS***JUST IN CASE***

SHORT VERSION:

She revives and doesn't interfere with the main couple's love story in the 3rd life. Source is original script. If you don't want to be spoiled just stop right here.

**SPOILER ALERT*** LIKE HUGE SPOILERS***JUST IN CASE***



Yes, she does reincarnate/return to her original being, which is a drought demon named Mo Nv. She was injured during the battle 10000 years ago and spent the last 10000 years through countless human reincarnations as she works her way back to become a demon again (typical Xian Xia stuff).

But no, she doesn't interfere with the main couple because the moment she came back she basically turned around and went back to the human realm because she'd rather hold on to the memories of XL, and wasn't interested in participating in reviving the demon lord.

The reincarnation of XL does have a love storyline with LSS though soooo...

Anyways Mo Nv mostly spends her time atoning for her sins and guilt of her YBC persona with the reincarnation of XL and only appears in the heaven/demon realms near the end. Like there was a line from TTJ right before the final battle when she walks into his throne room and bows down to him that was along the lines of "so there is no escaping from fate if it already has us all intertwined".

Source: read the script, but the show so far has had quiet a bit of changes so it's certainly not 100% accurate, though I'd argue against the plausibility of 2 people mingling with the main couple's love story.