Episode 37

Shenli was silent for a long time, then smiled “This sort of question, you knew what I would choose.”

Xing Zhi’s heart trembled, pulled back his hand, “Yes, I knew.”

“Then why hesitate.” Shenli said, “Go ahead and destroy Xu Tianyuan.”

Xing Zhi looked at Shenli silently for a long time but finally let out a helpless smile, “It is your life, at times like this, you should at least hesitate before agreeing…” But if she hesitated, then she wouldn’t be like Shenli. This woman is always so decisive when it comes to making decisions. 

Shenli moved to speak but in the end could only utter the word “sorry”. When Xing Zhi looked at her, Shenli then said, “This life you saved with so much hard work is going to be lost again. This time…don’t go seal the East Sea anymore. Back at East Sea, I was wondering why the Dragon King was so eager to give you all those gifts…look how much you scared them…”

“Ha.” Xing Zhi couldn’t help shaking his head and laughing. He patted Shenli’s head, and promised, “It won’t happen this time. No one will be scared.” He said, “I will stay with you until the end.” 

Shenli looked at him in disbelief. 

(Skipping over the next little bit where Xing Zhi explained what he will be doing to destroy Xu Tianyuan since it was in the drama.)

He has… planned in such details…

“You can actually…accomplish all those outside of Xu Tianyuan, why do you have to…”

Xing Zhi smiled, his injury made his face a little pale, but the warmth was the sort she had never seen in his eyes, “Because I can no longer imagine a world without Shenli. To meet my end with you, I am afraid is the most merciful ending I can think of.” 

Shenli felt a stab of pain in her heart and wanted to wrap her arms around this person. Perhaps this person has always lived a pessimistic life more than anyone else, so his wishes are so humble, so humble that it makes her heart break.” 

 “I am just afraid that in the end, I won’t even be able to end it together with you…” Before Xing Zhi could finish his words, Shenli lurched forward and bit his lips, rubbing against them slowly and thoroughly, before whispering softly, “No, I will stick to you, like when you were a mortal, I will always stay by your side.”

Xing Zhi signed, wrapped one arm around Shenli’s waist, and held the back of her head with the other, letting the kiss deepen, and only sighed between breaths, “At that time…you were obviously thinking at all times how to run away.” 

Leaving each other’s lips, Xing Zhi pressed his forehead against Shenli’s and whispered, “It will be a little dark here, don’t be scared. I will come to keep you company after I have properly dealt with those four seals.” 

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Seeing her eyes closed, sleeping quietly, her face peaceful as if she was having a lovely dream. 

Xing Zhi couldn’t bear to wake her up. He had seen the way Shenli slept. She slept with brows furrowed, her breathing shallow, as if she was on guard at all times, ready to jump up and crush to death anyone who dared to try anything bad. 

It is rare to see her sleeping so peacefully.

He stood quietly beside her. All he needed to destroy Xu Tianyuan was a spell. However, after the spell was recited, every time a part of Xu Tianyuan collapsed, a portion of his divine power would be taken away from him. If it was in the past, the amount of divine power being pulled away from him would only make him a bit tired, but not now anymore. The disappearance of Xu Tianyuan will drain all of his strength. 

Shenli’s eyelashes fluttered, she slowly opened her eyes and saw Xing Zhi standing in front of her. Shenli’s lips curved up in a smile, “I had a sweet dream and there is nothing better than waking up to the sight of you.” 

Then from now on I will give you sweet dreams every day and let you wake up by my side every day…

Xing Zhi’s mouth moved, but he couldn’t say that promise out loud. He only smiled, and asked softly, “What did you dream that made you so happy.” 

“Just now…” She replied, the corner of her lips curing up by itself, “I saw you lying on the rocking chair under the grapevine, holding an unfinished book in hand. You were sleeping so peacefully. The sunlight was so warm, and through the grape trellis, it sprinkled like stars on your face. You were so beautiful that I couldn’t take my eyes away.” 

Xing Zhi reached out and touched her smiling cheek, and he smiled too but his throat was so choked up that he couldn’t speak. 

Knowing the emotions in his heart, Shenli quickly asked, “At that time, why did you bring me back?’

Seemingly remembering, Xing Zhi shook his head with a smile, “I really have never seen such an ugly and strange phoenix so I wanted to take it back and observe it carefully.” He paused, “But fortunately, I brought it back out of curiosity.” 

Shenli muttered with some dissatisfaction, “I still looked fairly pretty after my feather grew out…” 

“You are the most beautiful like this.” Xing Zhi pulled her into his arms, and snuggled quietly for a while, “Shenli, are you scared?”

“A little. But I am not after being held by you.”

“But I am very scared.” Shenli might have a next life, but after he died, he would either turn into ashes or turn to life force scattered between heaven and earth…he hugged Shenli tighter. “If you end up running away with someone else, how frustrated would I be…”

Shenli was stunned and then broke out in a smile, “When did divine god Xing Zhi become so unsure of himself? Who else in the three realms can be compared to you?”

Xing Zhi didn’t answer, Shenli could hear soft recitals of spells rushing out. Those spells seemingly turning into streaks of golden light, passing through the dark abyss of the ruins and disappearing. Shenli was surprised, and asked after she felt some vibrations from the iron chains that bound her, “Is Xu Tianyuan going to collapse?”

“Xu Tianyuan is too big. If it collapses immediately, something unexpected might happen. This spell will make it collapse from the outside to the inside, slowly.” 

Shenli smiled helplessly, “To watch yourself die slowly…Xing Zhi, you sure are cruel to yourself.” 

The most tender part of Xing Zhi’s heart seemed to have been hit hard by those words. He breathed softly and immediately suppressed the pain down into his limbs. The wound on his shoulder split open, and that too was suppressed by him silently. He didn’t even frown. He just touched Shenli’s head and said, “I am sorry…I made you scared too…”

Shenli looked at him for a long time, and finally bumped his chest softly with her head and said wryly, “Who asked you to apologize? My heart was aching for you!”

Carrying so much, he can’t even choose a more pleasant way to die. All his life, Xing Zhi had been bound by the invisible power of fate… After hearing those words, Xing Zhi fixed his gaze on her, and finally just smiled, “The feeling of having someone feel bad for me is not bad.”

The gods in the sky are too high above. Not to mention mortals, even immortals can only look up to them. They will admire, worship, and be in awe, but the only thing they won’t do is look at them as those in need of pity. Who would be sad because of the gods’ helplessness? Whose heart would ache for them? Everyone has forgotten, that gods were ruthless, not because they lacked a heart capable of emotions but it was only because they were retrained too tightly. 

She moved her hands but was restrained by the iron chain. Shenli looked down and suddenly saw the iron chain tremble again. Shenli heard the sound of “click” coming from the distance, and the iron chain lock around her hands suddenly broke into pieces and fell into the abyss. 

Shenli looked at Xing Zhi blankly. Perhaps it was an illusion, but she felt that the blood on Xing Zhi’s face was slowly draining away. Xing Zhi turned his head, avoiding Shenli’s gaze, looking at some unknown point, “Perhaps the gate of Xu Tianyuan has collapsed. This iron chain is connected to the gate. It is used to control the fire seal. It is also to extract the power of fire seal as a way of balance.” He paused, “Shenli…the door collapsed, this means we can’t get out.” 

“Hmm.” Shenli nodded, she stretched out her hand, and put it around Xing Zhi’s waist, “I didn’t plan to leave in the first place. This is good.” She found a comfortable position on his chest, pressed her face against it, and sighed comfortably, “I’ve wanted to do this for a long time, you don’t know how difficult it was for me to hold back.” 

Xing Zhi was startled, then suddenly smiled as he too, wrapped his arms around Shenli. 

The loud noise of Xu Tianyu’s collapse was getting closer and closer, but Xing Zhi and Shenli seemed to hear nothing. They cuddled together quietly as if they had hidden themselves in the safest haven, no longer caring about the violent storms outside. 

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In the novel, Shenli’s father really didn’t have very much interaction with our two leads. When he went back into the abyss, the only thing he did was to take the fire poison from Xing Zhi’s shoulder, took a careful look at Shenli, and said as he walked away into the depths of the abyss, “Live, with your mother’s portion as well.” 

Shenli’s father sent both of our leads out of the abyss. Shenli couldn’t understand why Xing Zhi was still dying even after what her father did for them, which is why Xing Zhi explained that whole thing about why there is no longer a need for a god to exist since nothing else could threaten the three realms’ existence anymore. 

(The rest part of Xing Zhi’s death and what followed was very very close to what’s in the novel so I won’t add anything to it.) 

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Xutian Abyss disappeared, the miasma in the demon realm was lessening each day which means the monsters that were created by the miasma were also getting fewer and fewer. Without any wars, the infighting in the court got worse. Shenli doesn’t like all the infighting so she just called in sick all the time and stopped going in since there are no wars for her to worry about anyway. She wandered around aimlessly in the Demon Capital. She would catch a few of the generals who played hooky and sneaked out to drink. Sometimes she would beat some sense into the new soldiers who dared to bully others. For all that, she gained a new nickname of “Bad Luck.” 

Rouya was quite angry on Shenli’s behalf after she found out, “They are the unlucky ones! Don’t let me find out which of those unlucky fellows spread those rumors around, I would get Shushu to go peck him until he is bald!” 

Shenli sat on a chair and leisurely sipped her tea, “Nothing bad about it.” She said, “I was an unlucky person to begin with.” 

Rouya fell silent and looked down.

She still remembers when Shenli came back covered in blood with divine god Xing Zhi’s body. At that time, it was like Shenli had lost her soul. After Shenli had sent divine god Xing Zhi into the snow temple, she ignored her injuries and stayed in the freezing snow-covered land for three months. It was Demond Emperor who finally couldn’t watch her like that anymore and forcefully dragged her out. 

She fell sick the moment she was out and was like that for another three to four months. After she finally recovered, it was like Shenli had finally figured it out in her head and returned to her previous mannerisms. However, Rouya knew Shenli’s heart was already in tatters. 

“I won’t be coming back home tomorrow.” Shenli finished her tea and said softly, “Just prepare your own food.”

Rouya was surprised before suddenly remembering that tomorrow was the one-year anniversary of divine god Xing Zhi’s death. 

Rouya nodded with some anxiousness. Shenli glanced at her, ruffed her hair, and said, “Don’t worry, it’s all in the past. I know.”

This life was dragged back from death by Xing Zhi and her father. Even if she doesn’t live for herself, she should live a good life for them. She needs to take care of herself. If Xing Zhi can’t come to help her, then she can only rely on herself to take care of herself. 

Rouya nodded and watched Shenli walk away with a sigh. 

This is about all the novel said regarding what happened after our heroine returned to the demon realm with Xing Zhi’s body. That whole thing with Fu Rong Jun writing a novel and his subsequent visit filled with the suggestion that he might be harboring feelings for our heroine– nope, didn’t happen in the novel. After this part, the novel goes right to our heroine discovering Xing Zhi is gone from the snow temple.  

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Shenli ran out quickly, her steps were a bit stumbling due to her body trembling. She only looked ahead, searching for that familiar scent, and ran all the way to the city’s main street, looking around frantically. Suddenly, she heard some commotion ahead. There were people’s loud exclamations and the scoldings of soldiers. She pushed away the crowd and saw a white figure standing in the street. His back was turned to her, his black hair now white, but Shenli knew, it was him. 

She ran forward and hugged him from behind. 

“I knew it was you.” She said, “I knew it was you!”

Shenli had no clue how the surrounding crowd reacted, she only felt her hand being covered by a pair of cold hands, “Be soft.” He said, “It’s a bit tight.” 

Only then did Shenli dare to let go a little. The man turned around, with a pair of familiar eyes, with the same smile as he said, “Shenli, at times like this, you should smile.” 

Hearing this, Shenli’s tears flowed even faster, “I…am not going to do it.” 

Xing Zhi sighed, “Couldn’t you be obedient just once.” He leaned forward, lifted Shenli’s chin, and pressed his lips down on hers, “I am your own husband after all.” 

The exclamations around them became the background. Just like that, Shenli ignored everything as she hugged and kissed him right on the street. 

Divine god Xing Zhi is back, but his divine power is extremely weak. So weak, that he was like an ordinary immortal. Moreover, his body is not even as strong as an ordinary immortal. Shenli was worried that the remaining miasma in the demon realm would not be good for him so she took him directly to the mortal realm and bought a small house, just like when he was still Xing Yun. 

The immortals from the heavenly realm came to see him several times but Xing Zhi had always avoided seeing them, showing clearly that he wanted to be left alone. The people in the heavenly realm seemed to have gotten the message and had stopped coming. 

Shenli and Xing Zhi settled down in the little house. Life seemed to have returned to its original state: the sickly scholar and the domineering female lord. They planted some grapes in the backyard together and chatted while planting, “Aren’t you curious how I came back?” Xing Zhi asked Shenli. 

Shenli paused, “I am curious, but I don’t dare to ask.” She confessed, “What should I do if I ask and finds out this is a dream?”

Xing Zhi was taken aback, thinking inwardly that Shenli must’ve been frightened this time. He smiled and didn’t say anything more. It’s okay, he still has a long time to tell Shenli, this is their reality now. 

It’s just…he looked at the sky, the broken Sky Beyond Heaven, the remaining golden imageries left by his old friends…he lowered his head and loosened the dirt, all those memories regarding the ancient gods would probably be like dreams to the people in the future. He could imagine, in the memorial hall of the Sky Beyond Heaven, all the spiritual tablets that were able to float due to the remaining divine power of the gods should have all been turned into ashes now. Because…they used their last remaining of their very last remaining strength to turn them all into the power for him to survive. 

His friends, the past, all can no longer be recovered. 

“Shenli.” He suddenly called out, “I am no longer as powerful as I once was. Would you despise me?”

Shenli glanced at him, and asked naturally, “Why would I? From the beginning, it was a sickly mortal that I fell in love with.” 

They made a circle and ended up right back at the starting point. 

Xing Zhi paused, then smiled and said nothing more. 

The last god of this world disappeared, but an idle immortal was added. 

Year after year, time passed too slowly in the mortal world, and the grapevines in Shenli and Xing Zhi’s courtyard already have bunches upon bunches of grapes. 

One day, the sun shone through the grape vines on Xing Zhi’s face lying on the rocking chair. He was resting with his eyes closed, and suddenly heard a voice saying, “Taste, grapes.” Xing Zhi opened his eyes and saw Shenli standing next to him. She stood in the light, her silhouette too beautiful. Xing Zhi stretched out his hand to take the grapes, suddenly remembered something, and said, “Shenli, you still owe me two wishes from before.” 

Shenli had to think for a good while before remembering, “What other wishes do you have?”

“The first wish is that you help me pick grapes every summer from now on.”

Shenli laid down on the rocking chair next to him and nodded in agreement, “Alright.”

“The second wish…”

Shenli turned her head to look at him, “You are going to use up all your wishes today?” Xing Zhi just happened to turn his head at the same time. The two of them were quite close. Xing Zhi said with a laugh, “Because, the second wish will take a long time to finish.” He leaned up and quietly planted a kiss on Shenli’s lips.

“Give me as many children as a bunch of grapes.”

Shenli was startled, pushed him away, and ran off, “You crazy man!”

In the courtyard, only Xing Zhi remained as he chuckled softly. 

The sunlight, was just right. 

The End. 

If the last episode seemed kinda odd as the “last episode” especially since it focused on the story of Madam Jin, that’s because episode 38 is where the novel officially ended. Episode 39 is a bonus chapter. The drama again did a great job in pretty much using the novel as the script. By the way, the backstory of how our heroine’s parents fell in love was also in the bonus chapters but the show had moved those scenes to the episodes where Shenli “saw” her parents’ story. One interesting thing to note is that Shenli’s father was actually a kid (about 6-7 years old) when he was “born”. The drama probably thought it would be kinda odd to have Shenli’s mother fall in love with a kid she raised so they ended up making him an adult right from the beginning.

Final thoughts:

Overall I was quite happy with how Legend of Shenli turned out. I don’t think I have ever seen an adaptation that stuck so closely to the novel. It helps that I think the novel was more or less the perfect length for a drama. Not so long that the drama had to leave out a lot of stuff nor too short that the scriptwriter had to insert a bunch of new plots or characters. 

My only gripe is that the drama did change the “bed scene” in episode 31. In the drama, while it was Shenli who kinda “initiated it” but in the end it was Xing Zhi who led the rest of the way. In the novel, Shenli came right out and said, “Xing Zhi, I am going to force myself on you.” Obviously, Xing Zhi was not forced as he pointed out later that Shenli was not powerful enough to “force him” but our heroine did follow through as she was the one who pushed Xing Zhi down and literally had her way with him.  I felt the novel’s scene was much more fitting to our heroine’s personality. In fact it was pretty humorous that it really wasn’t a pleasant experience for either of our leads but our heroine, true to her personality, was like I am going to finish this no matter if this kills me!

I was also a tad bit disappointed at our two leads’ mildly awkward kissing scenes. The strange thing is that I felt Zhao Li Ying and Lin Geng Xin had great chemistry together. They were great being playful together, or sizzling longing glances, or suggestive touches, or angry glances of jealousy… I was happy with them all…until we got to the kissing scenes. Oh well, like I said I only found the kissing scenes just a tad awkward so it really didn’t affect my overall enjoyment of the show. I think mostly with novel adaptations like this, I am just really grateful that the drama didn’t slaughter the ending like *cough* Princess Agents (our two leads’ last drama together).

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