The Legend- novel vs drama

Soooo…this is not going to be a true novel vs drama comparison since the drama got so draggy that I pretty much fast forwarded and/or skipped a couple of episodes at a time but it should still give you guys a general sense of the differences between the novel and the drama.

• Zhao Yao (our heroine) was in spirit form for about 2/3 of the book so that meant she wasn’t a “twin” with the female second lead, Qin Zhi Yan. Instead, our heroine’s spirit could take over Zhi Yan’s body during the night but would get kicked out automatically during the day. So that also meant other than our hero, no one questioned our heroine’s identity.
• The captain of the guard, Lin Zi Yu is actually a guy in the novel so of course the whole harboring a secret crush on our hero never happened. Like in the drama, our hero had some trouble with those who were still really loyal to our heroine but since he actually liked the fact that they are loyal to Zhao Yao he is extra lenient towards them (For example, if memory serves me right, the old guy that plotted rebellion didn’t die in the novel) . As Lin Zi Yu explained in the drama, Lin Zi Yu and his brother were rescued by our heroine when they were young so both brothers are very loyal to her. In fact, one of the people Zhao Yao would meet in the “spirit place” would be Lin Yi Zu’s dead brother. Due to his loyalty to Zhao Yao, Lin Zi Yu would join the “rebellion” against our hero but all that would go away once they figure out their beloved dead leader is not so dead after all.
• The doctor is actually a kid in the novel. His love story is the same as in the drama but the price of saving Qian Jin (the girl he loves) is that his body aged backward until he has the appearance of a kid. Unlike the drama, the novel hinted a happy ending for the doc (so nope, he doesn’t die in the book) and his lady. By the end of the novel, Qian Jin hasn’t quite recovered her memory yet but she has already decided to give up her fighting energy in order to get her memory back.
• As for Si Ma Rong (the guy in the wheelchair), his story is a bit simpler but perhaps no less sad in the novel. His tragic love story is as explained in the drama but the thing the show left out is that his dead lover’s spirit is still in his house, stuck on the single thought that she has to protect him. Si Ma Rong did have a wooden maid in the appearance of his dead lover in the novel but the wooden maid never developed self-awareness as in the drama. A spirit herself, Zhao Yao could see Si Ma Rong’s dead lover (and even talked to her when Si Ma Rong was kidnapped) but our heroine didn’t have the heart to tell Si Ma Rong the truth but instead just told him to make sure he always stay at the same house (the girl’s spirit couldn’t leave the house).
• I don’t seem to remember A Da (hero’s loyal right-hand man) being a character in the novel so no tragic death there.
• Luo Ming Xuan’s (the villain) part in the novel was REALLY small compares to how much story time he took in the show. The whole thing about how Luo Ming Xuan’s wife tries to bring him back to life was briefly explained in the novel as a backstory for why Qin Zhi Yan ended up meeting our heroine. In the novel, Luo Ming Xuan only had time to wake up for a few moments before he was promptly put back into his never ending sleep by our heroine. His wife died at that same time as well so that whole big mess of how Luo Ming Xuan wreaked havoc during the last 1/3 of the show never happened in the novel.

• Jiang Wu is actually the bigger villain compared to Luo Ming Xuan in the sense he was much harder to kill. In the novel, there was no romantic triangle between Jiang Wu and our two leads. As Qin Qian Xian’s inner demon born because of his heart being shaken by Zhao Yao, Jiang Wu obviously treats our heroine differently but it was nowhere near “true love” sort of emotion. Zhao Yao herself had no problem doing everything she can to kill Jiang Wu especially after he kills her guards right in front of her. Jiang Wu was eventually killed by our hero who was furious because he almost arrived too late to save our heroine…again. (In the novel, Jiang Wu is pretty powerful but he was so no match against our hero especially when he is angry.)
• Jiang Wu didn’t die without leaving something nasty behind though. I am not sure if I missed the show’s explanation of our hero’s origin in all my fast forwarding but I think the show couldn’t quite make up its mind about our hero’s backstory. There was a scene of the hero’s dad sitting with our hero as a baby so that seems to indicate he is human in the show but then right before Jiang Wu died (in the show),  he warns our hero that Luo Ming Xuan’s sword could kill people like him- meaning inner demons…which would suggest that our hero is the same sort of being as Jiang Wu.
• In the novel, our hero’s backstory is the second one. He is not the son of the demon king as everyone thought but actually the inner demon of the king so that’s why the king had locked him up. The demon king was not a good person by any means but even he didn’t want to see the world destroyed by his inner demon. When Zhao Yao eventually found this out right from the mouth of the dead demon king in the spirit world, she asked the first question that came to her mind which is if our hero is really an inner demon then how did he end up having such a kind heart? (Inner demons should’ve been like Jiang Wu who would feed their power with the resentment and hate of the world which of course make them thirst for blood and destruction). The demon king explains that by locking our hero deep underground it somehow had the unexpected result of cleansing the hate and resentment from him, also sealing up our hero’s nature of feeding on the world’s negative energy.
• Nasty to the end, Jiang Wu used his dying power to break the seal in our hero so his body begins to feed on the resentment, causing his once sweet disposition to turn violent and cruel. Finding out from the demon king that the only way to reverse what Jiang Wu did is to seal our hero deep underground for who knows how long (our heroine would’ve been long dead by the time he is out), Zhao Yao decides that instead of being separated from our hero she will stick by our hero no matter what’s ahead of them. Vowing that he is of the same mind as our heroine at first, our hero eventually changes his mind when he loses control and hurts Zhao Yao badly.
• Realizing what our hero is going to do, Zhao Yao chases our hero to the underground and throws herself into his arm right before the seal closes.

Mo Qing stares at me in disbelief “Why are you here?!” Furious, he yells “Go back!” as he tries to push me away.

Wrapping my arms around his neck in a death grip as our bodies are hit by forces that threaten to crush us in agonizing pain “Don’t order me around!” I yell back “Don’t decide for me. I know what is the best choice!”

I know what is the best choice for me. I know there are many things in this world that are more important than love but I also know there is love that is more important than life. To be in possession of such a love, it is my blessing.

“In death in hell, if you are there, then that’s where I will be.” Compare to being alive, I want to stay by your side more.

Swallowing hard, Mo Qing finally stops pushing me away “Lu Zhao Yao, how lucky I am to have you in this life.”

It is good, at this last moment we both think of ourselves as lucky and blessed people.

Perhaps before meeting death, people would have many speculations but when that moment finally comes and all the senses disappear then death itself stop being so important.

This demon’s seal to Mo Qing and me is like death.

I can’t feel the seal or the existence of Mo Qing or myself for that matter. My intention had been to come keep Mo Qing company but who would’ve known in this place nothing exists and I don’t even know if I was able to stay with him.

But even if it turned out like this I don’t regret it. If I was only able to give him that brief embrace at that last moment then it is worth it to me.

After floating in that nothingness for who knows how long, I suddenly begin to hear a series of broken sounds of chanting. Sometimes the chanting seems far and sometimes close until I start to feel my own heartbeat.

One day during that chanting I opened my eyes. My senses slowly come back and I can feel that I am being held and I can also feel the very slow beating of his heart. It’s Mo Qing.

Surrounded by a blinding white light, with me in his arm, he floats in this seemingly eternality of nothingness for who knows how many years. But then that’s not important. Snuggling closer as I settle into a comfortable position, I wrap my arms around him, closes my eyes and continues to listen to the chanting while we float in the white light.

• The next time Zhao Yao regain consciousness she would find our hero had already woken up as well. Breaking out of the seal, Zhao Yao is overjoyed to see all her friends waiting for her. What Zhao Yao thought would take three or four hundred years, only took about 10 years thanks to Qin Qian Xian (along with the rest of his people) chanted the whole time while our two leads were in the seal. (Since there are demons in this world there are gods as well and it is possible for humans to become immortal/gods. The chanting would be kinda like Buddhist chanting that would help our hero dissolve the energy of hate in him.)
• Due to what Qin Qian Xian did to help our two leads, he himself also greatly benefitted from it as well and he soon was able to ascend to heaven as an immortal. There was a hint of romance between Qin Qian Xian and Lu 17 but Lu 17 herself never really understood what she felt towards Qin Qian Xian so she was puzzled why she didn’t feel happy to see Qin Qian Xian ascend into heaven. Figuring there is no reason to enlighten the poor girl now that Qin Qian Xian is gone, Zhao Yao simply tells Lu 17 that she would feel better once she eats some meat. Trusting whatever Zhao Yao tells her, Lu 17 happily sets off in search of some meat.
• Qin Zhi Yan (second female lead) didn’t get together with her guy in the novel either. There were too much between them with her dad’s death for them to pretend nothing happened. Other than some extra details here and there, I felt Zhi Yan’s portion of the story stayed closest to the novel.
• Their time in the demon’s seal didn’t affect our hero too much but it did a number to Zhao Yao’s body. Not only did she have to relearn how to talk but walking as well.

This made Mo Qing feel terrible.

Gu Han Guang (the doctor) proscribed some medicine then told me to rest…which is why from then on I would tell Mo Qing to feed me, to bring me water, for kisses, for hugs and whenever I am practicing to walk he must be by my side at all times. Sometimes when I am being extra naughty then I would want to go explore further and I would get him to carry me. He is of course happy to oblige. I know well enough that it actually makes him feel less guilty when I act like a spoiled brat. Giving in to my every demand, Mo Qing probably would just simply wrap me up in a warm fur coat if I tell him that I want to sleep up in the cloud.

Gu Han Guang told Mo Qing “You are raising her like a giant baby.”

He said this right in front me so I glared at him while Mo Qing is blowing on my medicine to cool it down. Feeling quite proud when Mo Qing answers “So what.” I tell Gu Han Guan haughtily “Did you hear that! I am a lucky girl so of course I have someone to spoil me.” To show off, I obediently drank the spoonful of bitter medicine Mo Qing holds up towards me.

In his ever gentle voice, Mo Qing urges “Be good, drink it all.”

Still showing off, I obediently drank the whole thing.

Mo Qing cleans up the dishes and before walking out of the door, he turns and tells the doc “She is the easiest to raise this way.”

Huh? What does Mo Qing mean by that? Is he suggesting…that I was harder to raise before?

Sneering, Gu Han Guan agrees “That’s certainly true. Compare to the never-ending troubles she gets in before, this is definitely better.”

• Zhi Yan ended up being great friends with Lu 17 and the two girls promptly become an eyesore to Mo Qing because if it wasn’t for the fact that he has limited their visit to an hour a day, the would take hours to tell Zhao Yao all the latest gossips. (He is worried about her getting enough rest to recover.)
• After sending off Qin Qian Xian into the heavens, Zhao Yao felt bad for Lu17 but then she is even more grateful that Qin Qian Xian could help Mo Qing and herself. (If Qin Qian Xian hadn’t helped our two leads he might not have become a god so soon and our two leads would have to been stuck underground for hundreds of years.) Belatedly remembering something she was told in the spirit world, Zhao Yao wonders if this was the blessing she was told for having been married to a god. (I don’t remember what happened to the guy who married Zhao Yao (in the spirit world) in the drama, but in the novel, thanks to the “hell money” Zhao Yao had people burn for the guy (to pay them back) the guy actually ended up being taken up to the heavens. (The guy had already been a good man for ten lifetimes so Zhao Yao’s money was the last push he needed. Since Zhao Yao was still married to the guy at the time, she was considered a sort of heavenly “widow”. Zhao Yao’s friend in the spirit world told her that the heavens usually has a special blessing for heavenly widows.)
• Promptly getting Zhao Yao’s thoughts because she is still wearing the necklace he gave her, Mo Qing narrows his eyes and demands to know about this heavenly widow business. Knowing she is in trouble, Zhao Yao shows Mo Qing how the whole thing came about (via the necklace) and tries to sooth his jealousy.

“We will talk about this at home.”

Grabbing his hand, I plant a kiss on his face, then planted another when his expression remained sullen. Pulling me off him, Mo Qing stayed stubbornly silent…which is the signal for me to slump down to the ground “Ahhh! My legs just got all weak. Hold me.”

“Lu Zhao Yao…”

“If you won’t hold me, then you can carry me too. No matter what, I can’t take another step.” I climbed onto his back and after a bunch more whining from me, Mo Qing finally relents to carrying me on his back as he complains “You even hid something like this from me. There has to be a punishment this time.”

Dropping my head against his back, I yelped “Ah! My head is hurting too.”

Holding his ground, Mo Qing says “Even if it hurts, the punishment stays the same.”

“Ah! My heart hurts too! You don’t cherish me anymore.”

“……”

“Ah! Now that I am yours, you don’t cherish me anymore. Ah, my unfortunate fate…”

“Ok….”

“Ah, unfortunate fate.”

“….no punishment.”

“Here, a kiss.”

I plant a big-o kiss by Mo Qing’s earlobe and is promptly rewarded by the sight of his face turning as red as a stunningly beautiful sunset.

The sun is setting, the birds are flying back to their nest…time for us to go home as well.

 

The End.

 

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