#arcticposting

[arctic-scorpio]

(finally gets around to making this post; long posts are scary... anyways)

did anyone figure out what the red robe / clothing / armor?? jiao liqiao was caressing in episode 5 was? it's been on my mind for a while now because we never actually see di feisheng wearing it

this is the robe in question from episode 5:

on a casual watch it looks like di feisheng's red mengzhu robes, but it isn't! for one, he's wearing the standard red mengzhu robes at the presumed same time as this scene is occurring (before, during the welcome back ceremony; and after, at the private waterfall with wuyan):

so it can't be hanging out with jiao liqiao too. I guess theoretically it could be an optional outer robe that's part of the same set? but seeing as we never see him wear it, I'm not so sure...? and the standard red mengzhu outfit looks pretty complete and imposing already, to me?

so, what is this thing? was it even di feisheng's in the first place,,? the best guess I've come to after mulling it over is that... it's his wedding outfit that jiao liqiao prepared in advance and had waiting all these years (!??)

okay, so. reviewing the clues we have:

at first I was thinking that the metallic shoulderpad things make it look like armor... the closest outfit we see with similar metallic shoulderpads would be this one:

from episode 5, just coming out of seclusion; + episode 17-18 official mengzhu business breaking out yanwang xunming 阎王寻命 from prison by crashing qiao wanmian & xiao zijin's wedding

but that's kind of neither here nor there. at least it establishes affinity with the jinyuan alliance mengzhu position. it's clearly got Official / Formal jinyuan alliance vibes to it, which would make sense. esp regarding how jiao liqiao sees him and her position in relation to him (in the alliance, as his subordinate)

okay, here's a bunch of wedding robes:

xiao zijin's, from episode 17

a-fei's ghost groom clothes, from episode 20

jiao liqiao's, from episode 38

they all have the same two long ribbon trimmings down the front, all the way to the floor. complete with matchy sleeve ribbon decorations. this is similar to the episode 5 mystery red robe's gold ribbon design...

compare some non-wedding red robes:

li xiangyi's sect leader robes (episode 12)

jiao liqiao's standard red outfit #1 (episode 5)

jiao liqiao's homey vibes red outfit #2 (episode 17)

jiao liqiao's murdery vibes red outfit #3 (episode 34)

thoughts?? opinions? more theories or any extra clues??

[outer robe for official mengzhu battle armor that never got used in the show? or stashed wedding robe for non-consensual wedding plans that have been in the works for potentially 10 years and counting??]

[arctic-scorpio]

thinking about 对手 . my chinese isn't *that* good & my knowledge is full of gaps and holes but the way dfs says it right at the beginning has so much in it.. 这世上再无对手啊。李相夷之后，这世上再无对手了。只可惜功力尽复，我又能找谁战个痛快？

there is no one who can match me in this world. not after you.

the way 不是[X]的对手 means you are no match for [X]. I don't know how to capture it with english words "rival" or "opponent" which don't have the same history and usage vibes

(also, theory: dfs has been under the impression / "known" that li xiangyi "died" after their battle for many years already, while he was in seclusion in the cave. the way he talks about him sadly and wistfully doesn't sound like someone who just found out, but more like remembering an old ache, fond memory..)

also thinking about why li lianhua smiles that delighted, fond smile when he sees child form!dfs do anything. he does that when he sees him use his qinggong to jump up; he breaks out into another (completely insane, to the viewer) smile when dfs uses his inner energy to attack ge pan.

honestly it also drives me insane; why is he so fond?

maybe it's that he's finally seeing beifeng baiyang back in action and somehow that triggers fond memories (of fighting dfs before donghai?). dfs holds back there; he doesn't actually hurt ge pan badly, it's just a warning.

before, when he saw the hole in the cliff, llh said it was 一模一样。 the same as other times things got destroyed by beifeng baiyang?

was he happy to see that dfs is the same as ever, and back to, well, 60% of his previous power? was he admiring dfs's skill, as one martial artist admires another at the top of their game/art/craft/sport, despite himself?

how was llh planning to get dfs to tell him where shan gudao's body was, anyway? he couldn't have known in advance that there was asura grass in the tomb... or could he? could he have made an educated guess (since it was the nanyin princess's tomb) and just as dfs said, planned to trick him right from the beginning? i guess that's likely.

i kind of want to see more dfs being absolutely insane in his interactions with regular people, lol. 背着一把大刀的小孩，发着臭脾气 - he really didn't care lol, just stabbing someone's hand & saying 滚 to avoid talking to them, starting fights everywhere, saying 你算什么东西，也配跟我说话？

more feral / unhinged di feisheng, more loving di feisheng; this guy is so hard to get down lol

[arctic-scorpio]

I translated the Mysterious Lotus Casebook OST: 人世太匆忙 (The Human World is Too Hasty) by 严艺丹 Yan Yidan!

人世太匆忙

The human world is too hasty

等不及地老天荒

Can't wait for the land to grow old and the sky to become desolate

来日又方长

And the coming days stretch out vastly

还个神仙愿望

Return an immortal's wish

人世太匆忙

The human world is too hasty

褴褛青衫锦衣霓裳

Tattered scholars', rich nobles', immortals' robes

谁不是孤身走一趟

Who isn't walking this path alone, taking a look around?

香冉冉欲散

Fragrance, milling about, wants to disperse

风却越吹越狂欢

But the wind works itself up into a frenzy the more it blows

灰撒下之处填嗔贪

Where ash is scattered, adding hatred and greed

珠落落玉盘一生雍容一声叹

Pearls clatter into a jade dish; a life of generosity, a sigh let out

手捂不得心暖

Hands can't cover a heart to protect its warmth

酒杯一推纵身一跃

A push of a wine cup, a full-body leap

坦坦浮尘入凡间

In a cloud of dust, calmly descending to the ordinary human world

若世兜兜转转不小心就登云巅

If the world clumsily goes through a few revolutions, one simply ascends to the peak of the clouds before one knows it, if one's not careful

聚散得失一眨眼

In the blink of an eye, gatherings, partings, fortunes gained, losses incurred

情话微微共婵娟

Sweet words of love gently offer up affections

只盼能相念不相欠

Only hope to long for and reminisce about each other, without owing each other

[repeat chorus & verses!]

[repeat chorus x2!]

[arctic-scorpio]

[edit: maybe the way i put it was too harsh... he was weighed down by the burden of his position and couldn't see himself as a person loved by others, regardless of his flaws. not trying to character hate here 😭]

-

the thing is, my bf was in a rage about li xiangyi when we first watched the ending (iqiyi version) and i was comforted, i guess, by the way we were on the same page about di feisheng. (about llh ghosting him / leaving at the beach.) as other people have pointed out (for example) li xiangyi's problems were that he was arrogant, he didn't communicate with people, he just went ahead with whatever he thought was best while trampling on the wishes of the people around him who loved him. he got too caught up in the legend of himself and forgot to be a person.

and (if he really fucked off to die like that in the ending,) he did the exact same thing once again as li lianhua. (ignoring the feelings and wishes of the people who love him, stepping on their hearts -- not even leaving them with a body) ((if he really fucked off to die, why? why would he leave them without closure, without even a body to mourn, without a goodbye) (// i guess the doylist answer is because novel canon, but this show and its ending just haunt me so much i keep turning the questions in my head over and over))

for all that he insists that li xiangyi is long dead, the cracks shine through -- one of the most compelling things to me is watching it happen throughout the show. (for that reason i don't think dfs is wrong to call him by the name li xiangyi till the end of the show... or to provoke and agitate him, into showing some fire in his eyes / caring about something / showing some will to live and to fight)

and the thing is, li lianhua might insist on the separation between li lianhua and li xiangyi, but it doesn't exist as anything more than a legend you superimpose on the person. li lianhua also has his reputation as the miracle doctor, after all. the myth of the weak and intelligent physician is still just a myth. the li lianhua who likes spending his days peacefully, growing vegetables and playing with his dog, that's real. but also the li lianhua who spends ten years searching for his shixiong's body, who his companions hear is looking for people from the jinyuan alliance, whose facial expressions turn hard and sharp when he questions people about his shixiong's body -- that's also real.

let him retire from the jianghu and the public eye. let him break and abandon his swords. but don't let him ditch once again the people who care about him without so much as a goodbye ((don't let him go on hating himself and taking everything onto himself and believing that he's not worth saving))

as much as he wants narratively to escape from himself, and to deny that he's anything more than a dead man walking, i just think we shouldn't fall for it or let him get what he wants so easily (i say, while being haunted by the heartbreak tragedy version of the bookended narrative)

[arctic-scorpio]

also zhan yunfei is insane for that meeting with li lianhua / li xiangyi in the forest

the way they are simply glad to see each other

regardless of what the years have brought (despite everything, it's still you?)

you were good in the past -- you are good in the present

（当年月色就如今日？）

[arctic-scorpio]

something something fang duobing from li lianhua's present and di feisheng from li xiangyi's past. the both of them showing him that all of him deserves to be loved, is worthy of love, is more than a reputation or a failure. just by loving him so

i guess that's why any single leg of difanghua just feels incomplete to me

(li xiangyi is li lianhua, li lianhua is li xiangyi) (stop running away from yourself; you live) (i want an ending where he finally at least wants to live) (where he finally at least tries to go on) (because he is loved; because he is a person, not just a ghost)

[arctic-scorpio]

di feisheng has bde (big dao energy)

[arctic-scorpio]

okay but did di feisheng singlehandedly give me a thing about choking when previously i hadn't seen the appeal at all,, (it's more likely than you'd think)