starliphx

since you seem interested in Xiao Hua's character, here is some stuff the author said during an interview:

(Source: https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E8%A7%A3%E8%AF%AD%E8%8A%B1/4870?fromtitle=%E8%A7%A3%E9%9B%A8%E8%87%A3&fromid=8537249)

Xiao Hua appeared (in the novel) suddenly. I just wrote a few words and suddenly I couldn't stop writing about him. I wanted to just introduce him as a side character, but it was impossible, he paved his way into my story.

Xiao Hua is a... How do I say this? He is someone you play with during your childhood. But he has more experience than you. He walks in front of you (i'm assuming the author means in life), and you follow behind. And when you look at Xiao Hua, you will see yourself, because the things the both of you experienced are so similar.

Xiao Hua went through many things he wished he didn't have to, and made a lot of choices unwillingly. And then when you walk the same path he has walked, you pity him, but at the same time you feel that he is strong, very strong. It's a very complicated feeling that I do not know how to explain (well, the author doesn't know how to explain many things in his novel too hahahahha)

When I was thinking about Xiao Hua's dialogue, i often get goosebumps, because I feel that he is very realistic. In fact I really wish that there is someone like Xiao Hua in my life, because a person like Xiao Hua will never harm me. Xiao Hua will never harm Wu Xie, because when he sees Wu Xie, he sees a younger version of himself, and remembers experiences that he went through. Xiao Hua wants to protect Wu Xie, but at the same time, he knows that Wu Xie needs to grow strong too, and there is only one path for Wu Xie, but he also doesn't want Wu Xie to take that path.

So to Wu Xie, Xiao Hua is person that he can rely on. This kind of reliance is more humanised than the kind of reliance Wu Xie has on Xiao Ge.

nobody knows because the author never explains it hahaha

he never explained the mysteries haha but there are a lot of fan theories that makes sense out there.

He either dug a (plot)hole too deep that he himself don't know how to explain, or he doesn't want to explain so he can earn more money (so that people will keep buying his new books to get an explanation)

Time Raiders is non-canon (not based on any of the TLT books) so i didn't include it. yes it is the book 4 that has not been released.

Reunion happens the latest in the timeline. the lost tomb series is not released chronologically, so the timeline might be confusing. AFAIK third uncle is missing even before the main story, and Wu Xie is always looking for him. the stories are connected but you need to get the timeline correct or it will not make sense.

Candle in The Tomb, Lost Cavern is not part of the series though, I think you might have mistaken it because they have a character named Wang Pang Zi too. The Lost Tomb series actually started out as a fanfic of Candle in The Tomb, which is why they have the same characters, but afterwards it got popular and the author re-wrote it to become his original story.

Here's TLT in chronological order:
Mystic Nine (happens many many years before the main story)
The Lost Tomb 1 (book 1)
The Lost Tomb 2 (book 2, 3, 4, but currently only released 2 and 3, 4 is not yet released)
The Lost Tomb 3/Ultimate Note (this drama, book 5, 6, 7)
Tibetan Sea Flowers (5 years after main story, drama not yet released)
Tomb of the Sea (7-8 years after main story)
Reboot/Reunion seasons 1&2 (12 years after main story)

yeah Wu Lao Gou has planned for a very long time to escape "it's" control but he couldn't do it within his generation, so he planned with Xie family to escape (hence the shared identity between San Xing and Lian Huan) but he knows that it is not enough, so Wu Xie also become part of the plan. Everything Wu Lao Gou did was to escape "it's" control.

in Tomb of the Sea Wu Xie explained it to Li Cu that it was supposed to be Wu Xie infiltrating the Wang family but he's too involved by then (no longer clean and innocent), the Wang family will not trust him, that's why he needed (clean and innocent) Li Cu's help.

hahaha idk which is worse

to be born into the mess (Wu Xie)
or to be dragged into it cuz you meet the criteria (Li Cu)

actually it is planned from the beginning that Wu Xie will be entering the plot. Wu Lao Gou named him Wu Xie for him to live innocently BUT not because they don't want him to be involved. They needed Wu Xie to be innocent and "clean" so that the Wang family can trust Wu Xie. Which is why they never tell him anything, because once he knows, the Wang family will never trust him. They chose Wu Xie to be the one to infiltrate the Wang family because Wu Xie is important to the Wang family too (his ability to read the snake pheromones). Wu Xie infiltrating the Wang family is also part of Wu Lao Gou's plan to leave the mess - he knew that it couldn't be done in one generation and hope that Wu Xie will be the last generation in the mess.

Qi Yu is also planned by Wu Lao Gou (and he is Qi Tie Zui's son, part of the 9 Gates, so i don't think he is from Wang family). It is never mentioned in the novel that he looks like Wu Xie, but Wu Xie suspect that they used technology to predict how Wu Xie will look like in the future (since he was a kid at that time) and made Qi Yu wear a Wu Xie mask to trick the Wang family.

Also at that time, the Wang family had many people pretending to be Wu Xie. So you can tell that Wu Xie is important to them too, and Wu Lao Gou knows that, which is why he chose Wu Xie to be the one to infiltrate the Wang family. Wu Xie was never meant to be safe from this mess.

sorry i don't have an answer but i just want to let you know the the author is very famous for digging (plot)holes without filling it (never explain everything properly) so you might never know hahahaha

things like the Ultimate behind the Bronze Gate, what's in the Meteorite etc are never explained. there are many fan theories behind it though :)

the link i gave you above (https://strictlybromance.com/which-order-to-read-and-watch-dao-mu-bi-ji/) tells you the timeline of the lost tomb universe :) i think there are two english translations of the the title - Reboot and Reunion, so both are correct haha

he plays Wu Xie 12 years after the main series ended (so i'm sure it's more than 12 years after this drama, cuz the main series itself spans across a few years)

Xiao Ge appears in every lost tomb series except for Tomb of the Sea (except in flashbacks. he didn't appear cuz he is guarding the Bronze Gate). he might not appear in Tibetan Sea Flower (2021) (same reason as before), but Tibetan Sea Flower will explore his origins so he probably will appear in flashbacks too, not too sure (drama is not out and I don't read the novel haha)

i think both Black Glasses and Xiao Ge gets old, just at a slower rate (they are not immortal, just have long lifespan)

Wang family is the secret 10th family that was discovered by Wu Xie's grandfather. They want to know/own the secret that the Zhangs are protecting. You'll know more about them in Tomb of the Sea (they never appeared in the main series, so i don't think they will appear in this drama)

he actually has a very sad life :( his childhood with the Zhangs wasn't the best because he was useless to them when they found out that he isn't the 3000 year old foetus.

ooohhh haha you started with the oldest Wu Xie LOL

Zhu Yi Long plays the oldest Wu Xie hahaha his Wu Xie is at least 40. Usually i'm used to the new cast by the 2nd or 3rd ep! might be the same for you :) I like to play guess-who-this-character-is in the first ep LOLOL

not much is known about him...
the book details him as
- a Mongolian who has the Chinese surname Qi (so people are speculating that he is a descendant of the Qi family of the 9 gates, but this is not confirmed)
- super old, probably older than Xiao Ge (Xiao Ge is 100+ years old, in case you don't know)
- Used to work for Chen Pi Ah Si, now hired by San Shu
- Has eye disease, not specified, but can see clearly with very little light
- studied in Germany (music and autopsy)

you might want to read https://strictlybromance.com/which-order-to-read-and-watch-dao-mu-bi-ji/ to get a better understanding on why the casts are always changing. basically it's got to do with copyright issues :)

personally i liked Zhu Yi Long's Wu Xie the best so far, followed by Neo Hou (no offence but Joseph Zeng's Wu Xie is quite low on the list, so don't worry, you might find the other Wu Xies to be alright too!)

methinks Xiao Ge should write a diary after every adventure (like Wu Xie and his grandfather)

This is a major spoiler from book 9 (this drama only covers book 5-7). Wu Xie never found out what "it" was until book 9 so it will not be revealed in this drama (unless the screenwriter changes the storyline)

"it" is Zhang Qi Shan's (Fo Ye, leader of the 9 Gates) subordinates who came together to from an organisation to get the secret of immortality.

you can read more about it here https://strictlybromance.com/daomu-biji-novel-volume-9-summary-part-2/

The Wang family was never mentioned in the series at all until the author wrote Cang Hai Hua (Tibetan Sea Flower, which takes place 5 years after the main series ended. This is the book that talks more about Xiao Ge's origins) so "it" is not the Wang family.

https://kisskh.at/56837-can-hai-hua

hehe thanks!! the comment you linked is a brief summary, just typed out another long story HAHAHHA (this time I tried my best to make sure it's canon)