Episode 3
In the drama, the woman’s dead husband was rewarded to become a deity for his valor but that was not the case in the novel. In the novel, the husband was simply a soul that had lingered on earth due to his unwillingness to leave his wife. Like in the drama though, the husband does decide to leave once he realized that his presence is actually shortening his wife’s life. That one little part the drama changed was:
“Madam.” Shenli gently held the woman’s frail thin hand, “He left so you can live a better life. Have you felt his sincerity?”
“I felt it…” After a few moments of silence, the woman said in a hoarse voice, “How can I not feel it? I heard it…he was singing our village’s ballad as he left. It was his way of letting me be at peace.” Her tears fell on Shenli’s hand as she silently helped the woman back into her room.
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- The part of our hero falling into the pond so our heroine had to drag him out by his hair was not in the novel, but I loved it!
- Our hero’s collection of leaves and writing notes on them are not in the novel.
Episode 5
Translation of the night where our heroine walked into the courtyard in the middle of the night to find a bunch of intruders on the ground and she herself got pulled into a nightmare created by the formation as well.
Night time, when all lights had gone out in all the houses, there suddenly came Taoist chanting outside of the courtyard. Xingyun covered his head with the blanket and sighed, “I didn’t expect this, I really overestimated the crown prince.” Before he finished muttering, he heard a faint crisp movement. Xingyun immediately got up, grabbed the clothes on the bedside, threw them on, and walked into the front room.
After Shenli had turned back into human form, she had been sleeping on a makeshift bed made of stools in the hall. Every night when he got up to drink water, he would see her lying firmly on the narrow stool, going back to sleep after giving him a glance. Wary by nature but also trusting of him.
But today, Shenli was not lying on the bench. Xingyun immediately knew this was a bad sign and hurriedly walked to the door of the hall to look out. In the courtyard, there are already five people on the ground. Besides three men in black, there were actually two people dressed as Taoist priests. They were all lying on the ground, weak and pale, moaning. In this courtyard, there was only one person who stood with her back straight like a mountain. This girl named Shenli, seemed to have never bent her knee and back, so stubbornly strong that it makes one want to sigh.
Just in the time Xingyun was sighing, two streaks of bloody tears came out Shenli’s tightly shut eyes. The sight was shocking but her fists were still tightly clenched together, even the corners of her lips did not move the slightest. Xingyun knew the formation would not hurt people’s lives but it would bring out a person’s deepest fears, and destroy a person’s mind. If Shenli kept on fighting against it forcefully like this, then the formation would attack more fiercely. Xingyun never imagined someone would be able to hold on this long inside a formation such as this. If this goes on, he is not sure what might happen…
Seemingly unable to watch any longer, Xingyun couldn’t hold back the urge in his heart and stepped into the courtyard, stepping into the very formation he had laid out with his own hands.
At that moment, he saw Shenli suddenly start bleeding from all seven orifices, her clenched palms abruptly loosened, and her body slowly collapsed to the ground. Xingyun closed his eyes, adjusted his breathing slightly, and continued to walk forward. When he opened his eyes, the scene he had just seen was gone like a dream. Shenli was still standing there with her fists clenched. There were also only two blood tear stains on her face.
Without Xingyun’s calming ability, Shenli’s whole world was collapsing. All the people of the demon world had disappeared into a red lava. Those brave soldiers were reaching out their hands toward her for help but she was restrained and unable to move. The majestic Demon Palace was turned to dust, causing her to worry for the Demon Emperor’s safety. However, when she turned her head, she saw the Demon Emperor had tied her hands together and said coldly, “This was not a place that should’ve existed. You all should not have…” Her heart sank and before she could even say anything, the Demon Emperor suddenly opened her mouth, bit her neck, and tore off a piece of her flesh, ready to eat her alive!
NO….
“Shenli.” A soft call seemingly coming from a long distance away came floating in, freezing everything around her, “Wake up.”
Who was calling her…
Her eyes felt a stabbing hurt, and an inexplicably familiar face appeared in her sight, “It’s all fake, it’s okay.”
Those red and chaotic scenes gradually faded and her hands were no longer bound. Shenli watched as her surroundings slowly came to focus and became real. It was still that same small courtyard, with chanting sounds outside. Xinyun was opening her eyelids with his hands, blowing into them, and said, “Wake up quickly.”
Her eyes were getting very dry from getting blown on. Shen Li closed her eyes with patience. However, thinking she was not awake yet, Xingyun opened her eyelids again forcefully, took a deep breath, and was about to blow again. Shenli turned her head to avoid it, “Stop blowing.” She rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand, “I am about to go blind.”
Xingyun said with a smile, “I was just trying to help you blow away the nightmare.” He pulled Shenli’s other hand, “Anyway, let’s leave this formation first.”
As she was led away by him with her hand in his, Shenli looked down at the bloody marks on the back of her hand. She was stunned for a moment. Is this formation really so powerful…. She looked up Xinyun’s back and asked in a daze, “Because you are the one who set up this formation…so this formation won’t hurt you?”
“It won’t? This is just a formation, how can it figure out who’s who?” Xingyun’s voice was soft and casual, “It’s just that I have no fear in my heart, so the formation had nothing to use.”
Have no fear in his heart…Shenli was silent. Having no fear in one’s heart is really no different from having no care in one’s heart. This guy Xingyun is truly too indifferent… But…Shenli looked down, her gaze fell on their clasped hands, this person, for some reason, makes people feel at ease.
Singyun pulled Shenli into the hall without saying a word. Not mentioning a word of what he saw when he stepped into the formation.
This was a very important scene in the novel because, for the first time, our heroine saw her worst fear which made her unwillingness to marry a useless divine immortal seem like such an insignificant sacrifice. Even when she falls in love with Xingyun later on, the pain of watching all her people die while she remains helpless standing by helped to keep her focus on the bigger picture of what her duty is.
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Here is a little funny scene the drama left out.
The scene of when Mo Fang comes to see our heroine in the mortal realm to warn her that the demon soldiers are hot on her trail:
Shenli looked around and saw that all the blood spirits were affected by the sunlight and were all on the ground unable to move. Still, just in case, Shenli handed the red spear in her hand over to Xingyun and said, “Take this first and walk over there. I have some things to discuss with him. There is a killing aura on this spear, those spirits won’t dare to attack you.”
Xingyun didn’t say he wanted it but Shenli had already shoved the spear into his arms. He could see that those blood spirits wouldn’t be able to move in the daylight and was about to reject Shenli’s offer but then Mo Fang abruptly raised his head, glaring at him, seemingly saying with his eyes “You dare to touch His Lordship’s spear! You deserve death!” Xingyun fell silent, hugged the spear tighter, leisurely walked over to the other side, and even turned his head to give Mo Fang an innocent smile.
Episode 7
Scene set up: This is the part where our heroine kissed our hero to give him 500 years worth of her cultivation power so he can stay alive.
She straightened Xingyun’s clothes and patted his shoulder before leaving: “What I said about falling in love with you is true. However, I am being forced to get married so I can’t be with you. Take care.” Shenli stood up and left without any hesitation. After Shenli and the other three figures disappeared, the dark cloud over the Imperial Capital also disappeared.
Xingyun laid on the ground in a daze, the energy circling inside him making him extremely uncomfortable but he looked a lot better than he did moments ago. The warmth on his lips seemed to be still there, causing him to look up at the sky involuntarily. Touching his lips, he laughed after a few moments and muttered, “As if…if you say you want to be with me, I would definitely agree.”
A long hair fell from the air onto his face. Xingyu held it in his hand. Suddenly, he felt he couldn’t laugh anymore.
Can’t be with him…?
Under the mask, the Demon Emperor seemingly sneered, “You are just worried that I would send people to kill him.” (Referring to Shenli giving our hero 500 years worth of her cultivation power) His voice was slightly cold, “Why should I bother? In a year or two, this mortal will forget you, get married, and have a family. He will live a life that has nothing to do with you. Your feelings and sacrifices will all be in vain.”
Shenli was silent but inwardly, she was thinking that it would be nice if that really was the case.
She recalled the small courtyard in her memory. The sound of the breeze blowing through the grape trellis, so peaceful. People such as Xingyun should always live such a life. It would be too lonely if it was just him to the end. It would of course be good if someone could keep him company. Although…that person is not her.
Shenli suddenly remembered the day when she woke up in the small courtyard. The first time she saw Xingyun. The sun was pouring in, and the warm breeze was just right as he was taking a nap on a wicker chair with his eyes closed.
She hoped that he could be so peaceful for the rest of his life.
Shenli took a deep breath and looked at the clouds in the distance. She suddenly understood a bit of Xiao He’s feeling. (The lotus demon) There are some things that have nothing to do with whether they are worth it or not, it just all depends on whether you are willing or not.
Side note: The Demon Emperor always wore a mask in the novel and appeared as a man. The Demon Emperor would only show her true self as a woman when she is alone with Shenli.
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“My Lord, there is something else.” After being silent for a long bit, Mo Fang finally said, “That mortal, he has already passed away.”
“Hmm.” Shenli answered, “I guessed.”
A day in heaven is a year in the mortal realm. Thirty years have passed, Xingyun is only a mortal, it is only natural that he would have died of old age. Moreover, if Xingyun had not passed away, the Demon Emperor would not have let her out so easily. As the one who raised her to adulthood, the Emperor knows only too well of her temperament.
“That’s go back.” Shenli took two steps before she suddenly turned her head to look at Mo Fang, “When he passed, did you see?”
Mo Fang nodded, “Very calm and peaceful.”
“Of course, because he is Xingyun.” No matter how bad something is, they are all nothing to him. The corner of her lips slightly raised, Shenli said, “He was probably smiling.”
Mo Fang was silent, reminded of the last time he saw Xingyun in the mortal realm. He was ill, lying on the bed. Although he was old but he had the same demeanor. He looked at him and said, “Ah, Shenli’s subordinate.” He was weak and had to take three breaths after saying those words, and then continued, “How is Shenli doing lately?”
Mo Fang didn’t answer him at the time, neither did Xingyun press him for an answer. He just looked at him, smiled, then closed his eyes to rest. He was indeed someone who seemed detached from everything but someone like that, remembered His Lordship in his heart for thirty-plus years. Mo Fang didn’t want to tell Shenli this and only asked, “Does your Lordship want to find his reincarnation?”
“No.” Shenli said without looking back, “I only like Xingyun. That has nothing to do with his previous life or his next.”
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In the novel, Shenli plucked all of Shushu’s feathers so this scene was funnier compared to the drama…and made more sense.
Shenli returned to her manor, walked past the sandy ground in front of the courtyard, and kicked over a small sandy mound. A featherless Shushu lay on top of the kicked-over loose sand. Shenli raised an eyebrow, Shushu hurriedly said, “Too shameful to see people, Your Lordship! No feather, so ugly, Your Lordship. You are so heartless, Your Lordship!”
Shenli picked it up by the feet, “Ah, you got dirty. Say, I have yet to see what you look like in the water taking a bath.” Shushu stopped talking. Shenli orders, “Rou Ya, prepare a bath.”
“Ah! Spare me, Your Lordship! Going to drown, Your Lordship! Ah! Your Lordship! Are you in a bad mood, Your Lordship! Don’t take it out on Shushu, Your Lordship! I am still a life…blurb, blurb…”
“I am going to see what you look like in every situation.”
Standing by the wooden barrel, and upon hearing Shenli’s words, Rou Ya said in shock, “What did Your Lordship say?”
“Haha, nothing.”
Your Lordship…what’s wrong with you…
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In the novel, we don’t get much background on General Zixia and certainly never met his wife and daughter, so the part of our heroine saving his little daughter is only in the drama.
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All text copyright @ www.Ninja-Reflection.com
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