#Di Feisheng's dao

[the-wintry-mizzenmast]

When a dao isn't just a dao 笛飞声的刀不只是刀

A quick and dirty analysis of Di Feisheng's dao

Following up from my previous post speculating about Di Feisheng's dao 刀, I think the configuration of Di Feisheng's dao is quite clever and consistent with his character, despite looking like nonsense at first glance. I know more taiji and kung-fu 刀 dao forms than I do 劍 jian forms, and this is what I choose to do with my knowledge and time, I guess.

Before I launch into his dao in particular, I think it's important that you understand what a dao is, and how you are supposed to attack and defend with one.

When you say 刀 dao (in English, it's also been called a Chinese saber or broadsword), this is what it's supposed to look like (I've annotated the image below from the Wikipedia entry on dao). They are by definition single-edged, and the majority are slightly curved (though there are some variants such as the Nandao 南刀 which are straight). A dao should have a point, a sharp edge (in red), and a blunt edge (in blue). The blunt edge (short edge, or inner edge, since the thing is curved) is usually quite thick.

One of the main ways that a dao does damage is through slashing/chopping motions, either down, sideways, or upwards (which my sifu always called uppercuts). All upwards slashes with the dao require that you turn your wrist so that the sharp edge, which usually faces down, faces upward instead.

The other way that a dao does damage is via forward thrusts, where the point of the dao is supposed to pierce enemy flesh. The basic attacks I've mentioned above are in the beginning of this clip, and I've added text to the original video below to highlight what's what and what they're supposed to look like.

(n.b. I was just randomly searching for videos to show what I'm trying to describe, no endorsement intended).

One of the things you'll notice from the above video as well is that the master is putting his hand on the blunt edge. This helps stabilize and give more power to the dao through its various motions, and is a basic part of how dao forms are supposed to work.

The blunt edge is also important because it helps in defense. One of the cardinal rules of a dao is that when you are defending, the dao should be kept close to your body, with the blunt edge facing your body. This is what a basic block looks like:

Should you get hit, you can brace the blunt edge of the blade using a shoulder or upper arm. In certain positions you can also use your hand as a brace on the blunt edge to stop (or execute) a particularly strong attack.

These are the dao basics. Now you have enough background to know what makes Di Feisheng's dao so unusual: it is double-edged, and it has a blunt tip.

These two things must follow if you have a dao that has two edges and is blunt at the tip:

You are limited to slash and chop attacks as your main blade damage. Thrust attacks won't penetrate flesh unless you have a serious amount of qi behind it.

Your defense is limited, because you can't use your dao to defend in the usual way.

But wait, does Di Feisheng's dao really have two full edges?

If you're a details guy like me, and completely obsessed over Di Feisheng (guilty as charged), you'll notice that one the edges of his dao doesn't actually extend the full length of the blade:

From the way that light reflects off the edges of his dao, you can see a bit on the short (inner) edge of the dao where the blade seems to transition from sharp to blunt:

And this shot, it's confirmed that there is a short blunt area on the inner edge of his dao:

In this memorable scene, Di Feisheng uses his hand against the very short blunt part of his dao to press his attack into Li Xiangyi's cheek:

One of the upsides of his unusual dao is also that he can use the inner edge for attacking as well. Upward sweeps using the inner edge aren't possible with usual daos (because they are blunt), but are possible with Di Feisheng's dao. I think we see an example of that here in the way you see his arm sweeping upward. (He has also added a substantial amount of qi to this sweeping strike, most of us plebs don't have enough qi to do anything like this.)

You can see how he gains some flexibility to his attacking capabilities, when he flips his blade mid-block into an attack:

While a double-edge gives him more adaptability in terms of attack on along the slashing and chopping edges of his dao, what he is losing out on because of the blunt end is thrust. You almost never see Di Feisheng thrust his dao forward because his sword just doesn't work like that.

In this final scene in the episode one fight when they are charging at each other, Li Xiangyi thrusts the Shaoshi Jian forward, but Di Feisheng, due to the design of the dao, has to slash:

However, most of the power of a dao is in its slashing and chopping motions. This is where the weight of the blade and its curved design (plus gravity and force) result in the most damage. Unlike the jian, the dao's thrusts do less damage. My conclusion about this is that it's a purposeful trade-off that Di Feisheng has made. He would rather maximize his offensive capabilities where they are strongest.

In terms of blocking, the design of Di Feisheng's dao means he's at a defensive disadvantage, since there's no blunt area to brace his body against for blocking (he can use his hand on the bit that is blunt, but because he has an edge along the rest of it, he can't use a shoulder or upper arm). This is a key feature of the standard dao that Di Feisheng's dao is missing.

In this move in the Battle of the Eastern Sea in episode 1, we see Di Feisheng execute a block, but he's got both of his hands along the hilt instead:

At this point, it should be noted that the standard dao is typically a one-handed weapon. The hilt is slightly curved, so you can get a good downwards chop with your wrist. There are other daos that have straight hilts and can be two-handed like the Miaodao 苗刀 (which is more similar to the Japanese katana 刀 than most Chinese folks like to admit). Di Feisheng's dao being straight-hilted and two-handed isn't that unusual because it's a feature that can be present on certain types of dao (it's way less unusual than the two edges!), but I thought it was worth pointing out in case any eagle-eyed readers noticed the difference between the Wikipedia image and what Di Feisheng has.

I could wax on about Di Feisheng's dao and his fighting style forever, but I think this thread has gone on for long enough.

I believe that the design of Di Feisheng's dao is very clever. At first glance, it seems utterly silly (what kind of dao has two edges?), but on deeper inspection of his style and how he uses it, it is consistent with his character.

He is always playing on Hard Mode because he is trading defense for more flexibility in his offense. And he is maximizing his offense where it is strongest (slashes and chops), and choosing to forego the offensive capabilities where it is weaker (thrusts).

...And that really is Di Feisheng's martial arts style in a nutshell, isn't it?

[tiny-breadcrumbs]

The sun, A blue

[madamadragon]

Title: DRAMA IN THE DRAMA

Parings: Li Xiangyi | Li Lianhua/ Di Feisheng, Li Xiangyi | Li Lianhua & Fang Duobing

Chapters: 1/1 (for now)

Plot:

"I told you not to touch it!"

"I wasn't touching it, I was examining it"

"It's the same thing, you idiot"

Due to a talisman Li Xiangyi finds himself in a mysterious room surrounded by his friends and five strange people who say they are from the future

Or in alternative

Li Lianhua and Di Feisheng are married, Fang Duobing is having fun, and someone wants to rewatch the series.

[madamadragon]

Well i named my cat CAT so i can relate

Names are important, they say. 😅

[shijiujun]

WHY YOU SHOULD WATCH 莲花楼 MYSTERIOUS LOTUS CASEBOOK

Guess I’m back for another rec, you know I’m there when I get minimum two bromance dudes and historical and OOMPH if you liked The Blood of Youth this might be up your lane!! Slightly similar main character premise but super good, the trope never gets old!!

TL;DR

- Stupid disciple + his (unknowing) shifu - Enemy bros “where is my shixiong’s remains?!” + “defeat me and find out” vibes who have to work together and form their deep friendship and get past misunderstanding and mystery blah blah love it - All-powerful legendary swordsman losing all his powers and becoming a legendary physician - Everything is about dead shixiong we don’t even know how the man looks like - Investigations and jianghu shenanigans, cases!!!  - Uwu puppy dog and good in martial arts disciple and his sickly, ex-legendary and still cool shifu who doesn’t know he’s a shifu LMAO - Yes uwu bromance, especially cuz shifu is DYING and he is WEAK and he gonna spit out blood and faint everywhere as they find cure for him 

-----------

AIRING DEETS

Total episodes: 40

Premiered on: July 23

VIP ends: August 18

Can be watched from iQiyi

Airing schedule: 6 episodes on the first day, 2 episodes everyday after for 6 days, then 8 episodes a week except for the last week, that has 6 episodes with finale

SUMMARY

Ten years ago, Li Xiangyi who was master of Sigu Sect, challenged Di Feisheng, master of the Jinyuan Alliance, to a fight on the seas, where they both end up critically hurt as Li Xiangyi tries to find out where his shixiong’s (Shan Gu Dao) corpse and bones went - his sect was attacked on the same day, and when he returns to the sect, critically injured, he sees some of his deputies blaming him for the attack, and instead of going in, he disappears after that.

Ten years later, Li Xiangyi is now Li Lianhua (Lotus Li LMAO) and he’s an eccentric but skilled doctor who has his eyes on earning money. By chance, he meets Fang Duobing (Fang Many Illness LMAO), a young, aspiring detective who’s super skilled in martial arts, but he’s been unable to enrol in Bai Chuan Yuan (the past Sigu Sect), a sort-of sect that plays an enforcer role in the pugilistic world and helps to solve cases, arrest wrongdoers, and the like. Fang Duobing’s dream is to get in, but as he’s the only son of two powerful people who’ve been refusing to let him be part of Bai Chuan Yuan, he’s failed the test 3 times despite being the most-skilled one there. On his third try, however, he tells the four masters of Bai Chuan Yuan that his shifu is Li Xiangyi, a Li Xiangyi who used to be a part of Bai Chuan Yuan and is still greatly missed by the four masters. They agree to it, but only if FDB solve three cases with arrests.

His first case leads him to meet LXY who’s now known as Li Lianhua, and their meeting doesn’t go off to a great start; FDB is idealistic and a rich, wealthy young master at heart who’s never suffered much hardship, and LLH drugs him after and scolds him for being too trusting of people and being too obvious, going around with two servants. LLH leaves him with parting words, only to meet him again later at the scene of the crime.

They solve cases together from there; LLH is still looking for his shixiong’s body ten years later, and decides to solve cases with FDB as a guise to get closer to the truth, making use of FDB slightly. Later, Di Feisheng recognises him, and the three of them are forced to become allies/friends to uncover a greater conspiracy. The clock is ticking for them as well, as Li Xiangyi was poisoned and injured ten years ago, and was given only ten more years to live. The story begins in the year that he’s meant to die.

*Fang Duobing met Li Xiangyi when he was young and still sickly, and Li Xiangyi encouraged him, and Fang Duobing held onto his every word and suffered a lot to become healthy again and as skilled as he is today, all because Li Xiangyi said those words to him that year ;-;

WHY YOU SHOULD WATCH

(1) Fight scenes are GREAT 

- Water water water

- All female sect?!

(2) Bromance, subtle for now, but greater later I assume - ZENG SHUNXI’S FACE HE SO PUPPY BLURBLUR AND SMILING?! AND CHENG YI SMIRKING?! Like Fang Duobing is just wagging his tail and running after a person he doesn’t know is truly his shifu as he claims LOL

(3) Shifu Li Xiangyi not knowing he was shifu to Fang Duobing

(4) Li Xiangyi being the reason for Fang Duobing to EXIST but Li Xiangyi ain’t around anymore (not) and he sad and Li Xiangyi can’t tell him who he is UWUUUU

(5) Familiar faces hehe if you are a SNGX/The Blood of Youth and SHL fan 

(6) CASES ARE INTERESTING!!!

[la-muerta]

《也且由他》 Translation

On 14 March 2024, 藤萍 Teng Ping-laoshi (author of Auspicious Pattern Lotus House) and 严艺丹 Yan Yidan-laoshi (music director for Mysterious Lotus Casebook, who also wrote most of the songs for the OST) posted the lyrics for a song that did not make it to recording eventually.

It's clearly written about Di Feisheng and Li Lianhua/Li Xiangyi, and I've translated the lyrics below:

--

"Even In This, I’ll Leave It Up To Him"

I've been on a reckless journey of a thousand miles How many times going back and forth have I asked for directions?  How many people have lost hope in the desolate fog and under the waning moon? Shoulder to shoulder, we have faced many dangers and difficulties

I didn’t understand the wind and the moon [1] even when the city was destroyed  My eyes are heavy as I stared into the darkness of the night I fulfilled my promise to meet you for our battle of life and death  By ending the delusions and obsessions [2] of love and hate Fulfilling our final farewell to each other

Here I am, my dao is weeping blood While you charged ahead alone on the quest for innocence Only on a snowy day in the crumbling ruins will I be able to meet you again I look back, and the road behind is filled with raging wind and biting cold

The path ahead is uncertain again I'm always gazing at the crows circling at sunset [3] Favours owed and resentment grow together Life is more unpredictable than death A thousand piles of snow drowns ten thousand waves [4]

--

Translation notes:

[1] literal translation, but 风月 also means romantic entanglements

[2] 痴嗔; referring to two of the three “poisons” in Buddhist teaching that are the cause of all mortal suffering and obstacles to enlightenment

[3] crows mate for life, at sunset they return to their nests; likely a reference to Yuan Dynasty poem 《天净沙·秋思》 describing the melancholy sound of their cries

[4] the snowfall represents inevitability, and the tides are obstacles in life

Thanks to @kingsandbastardz for sharing the lyrics!

P/S: 14 March is White Day (when guys give their partners reciprocal Valentine's Day presents) so happy V-day to DiHua nation I guess 🥲

(Image from weibo post and transcription of original Chinese text under cut)

《也且由他》 

千里莽征途 几番来回问去路  荒烟残月下几人还凋零了期盼 并肩共度了重重危难 

城破湮灭也不知风月 眼眸沉沉望尽了黑夜  赴君一战生死约  痴嗔爱恨终结 是同奔赴了诀别 

此处有我长刀在啼血 你自去闯清白戒 残垣断壁大雪天才能与你相见 潇潇回首一路凛列

前路又茫茫  总凝望昏鸦夕阳 恩与怨共长 生比死更近于无常 千堆雪淹没万重浪 

[howdaretrashships]

Feihua Most Unhinged Moment Tournament: FINAL ROUND

Tournament Masterpost

Propaganda:

Option 1: Di Feisheng writing 'If Found Return to Li Lianhua' on his hand

You've been investigating how everything went so wrong ten years ago. You've determined that someone has been working behind the scenes to drive a wedge between you and your... husband rival ex... rival for their own benefit. The lead you have is the crazy lady that's obsessed with you, but she couldn't have done it herself.

You're this close to finding out who she's working with and being rid of her for good when the guy shows up to save her, stabs you in the side, and poisons you with something you can feel will ruin your lifelong progress in martial arts.

Do you go to your personal bodyguard? No. (Well, maybe you couldn't find him, but still.)

No. You take the time to wrap your dao in rags to disguise it and then you go to the Sigu Sect waterfall and write "Find Li Lianhua' on your hand. It's a note for yourself. Y'know, since you've isolated the poison in such a way that you'll have amnesia.

Ok, note for yourself - check. Then what?

Well then you walk into the river just before you pass out and let it take you downstream.

What's downstream? Well who knows really. Your rival, Li Lianhua, the man previously known as Li Xiangyi? Maybe a blind guy collecting corpses to sell into ghost marriages?

What if someone else finds you first, what then, huh? Better hope they don't recognize you when you don't even know yourself anymore.

But don't worry.

The note on your hand says you belong to Li Lianhua.

Option 2: Toasting the moon with nuptial wine on the 10th anniversary of the Donghai fight

You're here on this mountain for him.

(Well, actually, you were injured and betrayed by an old friend [again] and abducted here. But you were meeting that friend so you could rescue him.)

He was abducted and tortured by a woman that claims to love him. She plans to marry him (even though he's not willing). She's keeping him bound and helpless.

(He stopped you from killing her once. You wonder if he ever regrets that.)

You help him survive a 10% chance of repairing his meridians, and he comes out stronger for it. He says he'll repay you, but you know what the payment will be and you don't want it. (He won't listen. He wants you to live. He wants to fight you again.)

The room you're hiding in is decorated for a wedding (his wedding) and the wine you're drinking is nuptial wine (crossed-cup wine) and he says today is the day. Today, ten years ago, was the last time you crossed blades.

The last fight before you died, that he spent ten years healing from. The fight that broke the truce you negotiated together. The fight that shouldn't have happened - wouldn't have happened - if you had just talked to each other.

If you had trusted each other the way you do now.

And he looks at the moon and says the moon wasn't as bright as it is now. And he smiles.

And you realize it's actually always been this bright, you've always felt this way, you just didn't have the ability to recognize it back then. (His smile is soft as he agrees.)

So you toast to who you were, and who you are; with wedding wine, in a newlywed chamber. (And you don't tell him he won't get another fight.)

[bbcphile]

MLC Amnesia Fic (What's Sealed Away)

It was one thing to know what his qi felt like in his meridians–although he didn’t know what his neili was called, only that it had a name–and to know that, if he started running his sword forms, his arms and legs would guide him where his mind couldn’t. Muscle memory felt familiar. Reliable. But this? This free-floating knowledge, not connected with any event, any memory, any movement or motion? Just facts appearing in his mind? Assertions he was supposed to accept unquestioningly as truth? With no memory of how he learned them? Nothing to prove their validity? He clenched his hand around his dao’s scabbard. There had to be a better way than this.

NOTES:

I had a ton of feels about the differences between DFS and a-Fei, different types of memory and what is and isn’t lost in the sheer mindfuckery that is amnesia (very loosely inspired by my own experiences with amnesia), and a desire to explain some of the weird behaviors in the amnesia arc (why a-Fei spends so much time away from everyone else in the Mountains Red arc–-which LLH justifies with a lie about a-Fei sleeping instead, why LLH never tells FDB that it’s dangerous and painful for a-Fei to get his memories back, etc.), and thus this fic was born.

TW/CW: amnesia, body horror (finding the mind control bug), panic attack (to skip the panic attack, stop at “he pressed his shaking hands against the sheets” and start again at “His pulse finally started to slow.”)

Thanks to @momosandlemonsoda for being an amazing beta reader!!

Relationship: Di Feisheng/Li Lianhua (with hints of future difanghua)

[peridot-tears]

Fic Writer Q & A!

Tagged by @dragongirlg-fics UwU

How many wips do you have currently?

2 for Lianhua Lou, 3 for Mo Dao Zu Shi.

Lianhua Lou

strings played against his throat, my whumpfic in which FeiHua's escape from Jiao Liqiao goes wrong, and Di Feisheng marries her to ensure the wellbeing of Li Lianhua, who becomes her concubine. Just updated uwu

My unpublished modern AU where Di Feisheng is an MMA fighter cowboy, Li Lianhua is his chiropractor, and Fang Xiaobao is the new sheriff in one of those Chinese towns they built purely for tourism. In this case, it's an Old West theme. Here's a preview.

Mo Dao Zu Shi

My Mo Dao/Percy Jackson crossover where WangXian and friends romp through Camp Half-Blood!

My Wen Xu/Wei Wuxian/Lan Wangji AU where Wei Wuxian is adopted by the Wens instead of Jiang Fengmian. I swear I subvert so many jianghu tropes, this could be its own original novel, but here we are lol.

My two-part where Jin Zixuan flees to Lotus Pier and manages to alert the Jiangs in time for the Wang Lingjiao's attack. It's mostly written from Yu Ziyuan's perspective, and it's been a delight.

More Q&A below the cut!

Which one are you finding the hardest to finish?

Definitely #1 under Mo Dao. It's a huge labor of love, but I'm thinking maybe I thought too big with the plot. It could have just been a fun teenage romp, but then it turned into a drama that handles much larger themes, and the trouble is in being able to tie up all the plotlines I suddenly have.

What does it usually look like when inspiration strikes for you?

Usually when I have two days in a row off of work, so my brain has had at least 24 hours to clear out and think about fun. I go into a pleasant fugue state, meaning I'm focused, but I can occasionally take a five-minute break to chatter about it with my frens or listen to a song. (I'm answering this post while I'm working on fic btw.)

Do you curate playlists for each fic or is your process different?

Oh nah lol. I sometimes line some chill songs or ballads up in the background or like a Buzzfeed Unsolved marathon for background noise, but sometimes it has the opposite effect where I can't focus at all. So sometimes I just write in complete silence.

Do you go balls to the wall and write as you go or are you more organized?

Balls to the waaaaaaall babeeeeeee. Aside from the ones that're born from me chattering with frens. Both my Lianhua Lou fics and #2 under MDZS are from very specific and thorough chats that I screenshotted for reference.

I tag @westiec @theleakypen @kingsandbastardz @tavina-writes @heyholmesletsgo @the-wintry-mizzenmast and whoever else wants to do this, how do I know this many people lol.

[eirenical]

I'm having fun posting these every week even if I never seem to actually hit Wednesday, so how about another snippet? ^_^ This part comes after the night of the Donghai battle the next morning on the beach.

[Other snippets of this fic that have been shared, not necessarily in fic canon order.]

*

Di Feisheng woke to the sound of water: the soft susurrus of the waves against the shore, the steady patter of light raindrops hitting the sand and lighter plinks where they hit the ocean.  A quiet groan soon joined those sounds as he rolled himself onto his back, the aches and pains of last night's adventures making themselves heard loud and clear over all the others.  He pried open his eyes to the treacherous clouds overhead, hanging low and heavy and promising more rain for those unwary enough to be caught out in it a second time.  They'd have to move soon.  If Li Xiangyi were any more capable of it than he felt right now.  Easing back onto his side, Di Feisheng stretched his free hand over to reach for Li Xiangyi's wrist… and froze.

Li Xiangyi was gone.

Barely a breath later, Di Feisheng was on his feet, aches and pains forgotten, the robes that had been draped over him in his sleep pooling onto the sand.  He scanned the beach, gaze skipping from sand dune to sand dune, cursing the rain that had wiped away any traces of where Li Xiangyi might have gone.  The man could have turned into a ghost and floated away for all the surrounding terrain gave clues of his whereabouts.  He was just… gone.

The blast of a cold wind brought with it the sting of a thousand grains of sand, a harsh reminder to search out what articles of clothing he could find and make use of them.  He found both shoes, though he seemed to be minus one sock, all of his underlayers save the Yinzhou armor, and both of his outer layers.  His dao, he found, had been safely within reach of where he'd awoken.  Li Xiangyi's clothes were missing, as was his sword.  All of this gave him hope that Li Xiangyi had at least left the beach under his own power—or their combined power, as the case might be—but where could the man have gone?  They might have saved him from immediate death last night, but that didn't mean he was out of danger.

Once he had collected himself and his belongings, Di Feisheng pulled a golden whistle from an inner pocket of his robes.  Wuyan was never far from him, and he had never yet failed to answer his lord's call.  If there was one man in the entire world who understood the meaning of loyalty, it was him.  He would come now, too.

Di Feisheng had no sooner finished cresting the dunes back onto the more solid footing of the road than Wuyan caught up to him, dipping his head in a perfunctory bow before raising his eyes to roam Di Feisheng's figure.  Apparently satisfied with what he saw, he relaxed his posture, awaiting instructions.  Neither was fond of wasting breath on pleasantries or questions, especially ones that were unnecessary.  Doing him the same courtesy of coming straight to the point, Di Feisheng said, "Li Xiangyi.  You saw him leave and said nothing?"

Wuyan's eyebrow lifted, a brief, sardonic smile crossing his lips before he answered.  "My lord, he was already gone when I arrived.  I have been running interference to keep Jiao-guniang from finding you all evening.  I assumed you wouldn't want… unexpected company."

A sneer twisted Di Feisheng's lips before he could control it.  "You assumed correctly."  He sighed.  "There's no help for it, then.  Two can search more efficiently than one and he can't have gone far in his condition.  We'll just have to track him down."

Three hours later, with a sinking certainty that one determined fool could, in fact, have gotten much further in his condition than he should have been able to, Di Feisheng was nearly ready to admit defeat and change tactics.  But just as he was about to call Wuyan back to his side to regroup, the twin of his golden whistle let out a piercing cry from back on the beach.

Di Feisheng wasted no further time, leaping into the air and speeding towards the source of that sound.

[the-wintry-mizzenmast]

I've been staring at Di Feisheng's 刀 dao for weeks. It's very unusual for a Chinese dao to be double edged and blunt at the tip, and these features limit the types of attacks (slashes) that do damage and the ones that don't (thrusts). I don't know who (on the preduction team) designed his blade and why, but it makes me wonder if in-world it's supposed to signal that Di Feisheng has chosen it precisely because it makes him fight on Hard Mode all the time.

[zishuge]

Today I gave myself feels thinking about Fang Duobing, Di Feisheng, and Hulijing moving on and aging in a world without Li Lianhua. A world where Li Lianhua isn't there — but then again, he is there, in Lianhualou, and in the townspeople who flock to it, bearing gifts for the miracle doctor who once saved a life, fixed a roof, exposed a conman, comforted a child. Young Fang Duobing used to want to know every little detail about his hero, Li Xiangyi. Now Fang Duobing wants to know every detail about his beloved friend, Li Lianhua. The years pass and fewer people come. But if they remember him, Li Lianhua lives on.

(long post, half meta, half fic, bittersweet)

They travel together, with Hulijing, in Lianhualou. Fang Duobing has nothing better to do, so he takes up detective work again. Di Feisheng has nothing better to do, so he comes along. Everywhere they go, they look for Li Lianhua. And in their journeys, it seems like everywhere they go, someone is talking about Li Xiangyi. Li Xiangyi, who had always been something of a legend, but ever since his reappearance and subsequent (re)disappearance, has seemingly been elevated into something approaching godhood.

you should've seen him, people say, floating across the rooftops in red, cold and beautiful, like an avenging hero out of some novel. wasn't he dead? no — of course he wasn't, li xiangyi would never have been so easily killed. but it was bicha poison, i heard nobody could survive bicha poison. yes, he was definitely dead, and came back to life through dark magic. no, he'd been alive the whole time, just held captive by di feisheng. he tried to kill his shixiong ten years ago and failed, and came back to finish the job. no, his shixiong tried to kill the emperor and li xiangyi came to stop him. the emperor? impossible. yes — don't you know, li xiangyi is the emperor's long-lost son?

All of it only amuses Di Feisheng, but it irks Fang Duobing. The same Fang Duobing, who, when he was younger, would've hungered for every little detail about Li Xiangyi and begged to hear more, now finds it maddening to listen to these strangers talk about him as if they knew him. The world might have known Li Xiangyi, but it had never known Li Lianhua.

Li Lianhua, who could wield Shaoshi like it was a natural extension of his arm, but regularly cut his fingers clumsily slicing radishes and onions. Li Lianhua, who would invariably try to shrug off an attack of bicha poison, but yelped and jumped back from hot oil splatters in the kitchen like a child. Li Lianhua, who frowned when a passing carriage splashed mud onto his robes, but knelt carelessly into the dirt and grass to play with Hulijing.

None of them knew any of that.

But as Fang Duobing and Di Feisheng continue their travels, they begin to encounter other people as well. People who come running when they see Lianhualou in the distance tottering their way. People who come bearing gifts — a woman looking for the shenyi who had helped her with her back pain and also exposed the con artist who had tried to trick her daughter into marriage. A young man coming to thank the doctor who had given his father herbs for stress while uncovering the corrupt official who had falsely accused him of theft. An elderly couple looking for the young man who had helped them thatch their roof before a rainstorm and had given them some medicinal cream before he left. (One middle-aged man with a club, looking for the wangba quack doctor who had exposed his infidelity to his wife — he had left after one look at Di Feisheng, standing silently in the doorway with his arms folded across his chest and dao strapped across his back.) People who greet Hulijing like an old friend.

Fang Duobing listens eagerly to every story they tell him, and in return, he tells them about his brilliant, kind, exasperating friend. Di Feisheng rolls his eyes every time, but Fang Duobing notices he never walks away either. They don't talk about it. But it’s as if Li Lianhua returns, however briefly, during those visits; in those moments, Fang Duobing can almost see him standing there, bending down to pet Hulijing alongside these old friends as she grins her little doggy grin and wags her tail. She escorts their guests to the door, and sits in the doorway after they leave, looking out at the world as though waiting. He doesn't ask if Di Feisheng can see him too. They sit and share wine after these visits, and eat the fruit that the visitors bring, until Di Feisheng can stand the heavy silence no longer and pushes Fang Duobing outside to spar. Hulijing follows faithfully, as always.

(fang duobing had brought home a puppy, once. he can't remember where he found it, but he remembers that he had held it in his lap in his wheelchair, eager to show it to his uncle before taking it home to his mother. his uncle had glared, and told him that dogs were only useful to guard the house, and tianji manor already had guards, human ones, and that fang duobing would do better to focus on his swordplay rather than waste time on such useless and frivolous things. he had taken the puppy away and fang duobing had never seen it again. it wasn't until those blurry months as he rode across the countryside looking for li lianhua, hulijing trotting along ever so loyally at his side, that he realized this was just another way that shan gudao and li xiangyi were opposites.)

The years pass, and there are fewer and fewer people who come. One day Fang Duobing wakes up with the unbearable realization that he is now older than Li Lianhua had ever been, would ever be, and is unable to get out of bed for a good half a shichen. Di Feisheng leaves him be.

The years pass, and Di Feisheng grows older too. There are lines on his face, snowy white beginning to thread through his jet-black hair. Fang Duobing wants very much to tease him about it, but the words catch in his throat when he looks too closely at the signs of time on Di Feisheng's face. What a precious and altogether rare thing it is, to age.

The years pass, and Hulijing grows older too. Fang Duobing finds that more and more often, Hulijing can no longer keep up with him when he goes riding. He stops going riding. She gets cold more easily now too, and more and more often Fang Duobing wakes in the morning with Hulijing curled up under the covers next to him, her wet nose shoved into his armpit. He holds her close and thinks about Li Lianhua shivering in his arms.

--------------------

It's been nearly a year since their last visitor, but today there is an old man. He comes in the morning, bringing a basket of plums. A long time ago, he says, a young man who lived here saved my life. I had been poisoned, he says, by my son who wanted my money and my lands. The doctors said there was no cure. But then the young man came and performed a miracle. He saved my life. He saved my life.

Fang Duobing knows it was no miracle that saved him. He asks for the old man's hand and it is given readily, albeit bemusedly. He presses his fingers to the inside of the man's wrist, and is greeted with a whisper-faint, gentle thrum of yangzhouman — a soft hello from a much-beloved friend. You fool, he thinks dazedly, caught somewhere between overwhelmed that here is someone, inside whom a piece of Li Lianhua lives on, and so bitterly angry. What had it cost? Some hours, days, weeks? He doesn't let himself think of what another week might have afforded them in those wild final days, in their desperate search for a cure. Fang Duobing gives the old man back his hand and blinks back the sting of tears. He cannot talk about Li Lianhua today. He apologizes and tells him that the man he is looking for is traveling and won't be back for a few days, but that Fang-mou will pass on the message. Before he leaves, the man leans down to rub at Hulijing's ear. My old friend, he says, like me, you, too, are truly old now.

After the man leaves, Fang Duobing folds himself into a sit on the floor of Lianhualou and gathers Hulijing into his arms. Gently — her joints are stiff now, and he can't haul her around, can't roughhouse with her the way he used to. Di Feisheng comes down the stairs from where he had been listening; he stands behind Fang Duobing and places a warm, steady hand on his shoulder. At the edge of his vision, near the door, Fang Duobing can see the hazy hem of green robes. If he looks up, he wonders brokenly, what would he see? The face of a man forever frozen in youth? Or a face lined with age, snowy white beginning to thread through jet-black hair? He suddenly finds that he cannot bear to find out.

Fang Duobing knows. He knows that the myth and the outlandish rumors about proud, arrogant, beautiful Li Xiangyi will never die. But he also knows that one day, there will be no one else who comes to Lianhualou; no one left who remembers gentle, sly, infuriating Li Lianhua. One day, the old man will pass on and the piece of Li Lianhua that he carries with him will fade as well. And one day… Fang Duobing presses his forehead against the soft fur of Hulijing's neck where it has gone white and thin with age. He closes his eyes and breathes.

--------------------

Years and years and years later, Fang Duobing is awakened from where he has fallen into a light doze reading in his chair by a soft knock on the door. There is a woman standing outside, holding a small basket of pears. I think I remember this building, she says. I must've only been six years old, but I had run off and lost my parents. I fell down in the street and skinned my knees. A kind gege helped me and gave me a piece of candy. He said he would walk me home but I said I didn't know whether I should tell him where I lived. He laughed and asked if it would help if I knew where he lived. He pointed to the most fantastical and wild house I had ever seen. I think it was this place. Xiansheng, does he live here? Who was he? Do you know him?

Fang Duobing smiles and invites her inside. On the bed, the small white dog that Di Feisheng has named, ridiculously, Baigujing, raises her head and thumps her tail a few times in hello. Di Feisheng looks up from where he is writing a letter at the table. Fang Duobing leads the woman over and waves at her to sit down. He sits across from her, ignoring Di Feisheng's eyeroll, and offers her a piece of candy. He always keeps candy around. Fang Duobing smiles once more and says, if you'd like to know — there is so much I would like to tell you.

[ahfeiandhisdao]

Merman Shen Langhun

Saw artists on twitter posting Mermaid/man versions of characters for Mermay challenge. Got very excited and inspired to draw something too! As I'm currently obsessing over Xiao Shunyao (for a whole year, don't judge.. or do, I can't help it T-T) , drew a Merman Shen Langhun 🩷💜

On one of my close friend's suggestion, made some edits and made another version without the hat thing and the jaggered edge sword, replacing with Di Feisheng's double edged dao and blue fins and merbody.

The snake was actually added later to represent his tattoo and stuff. I am not satisfied since couldn't draw the scales of the merbody plus the face details ended up horrendous, I sincerely tried to make it based on Xiao Shunyao but...💀😂 anyyyyways it's still pretty good (by which I mean better than previous attempts! Let's go!)

[arctic-scorpio]

di feisheng has bde (big dao energy)

[mx-myth]

Do we ever know if fang duobing ever named his sword? Obviously li xiangyi (at the time) named his shaoshi and wenjing and di feisheng has his (as we all know) capital-d dao, but did xiaobao ever name his?

[howdaretrashships]

Feihua Most Unhinged Moment Tournament: Semi Finals, Bracket 1

Tournament Masterpost

Propaganda:

Option 1: "You're still so clingy."

They, until very recently, each thought the other was dead. (Not a wild conclusion to come to. Di Feisheng was told Li Xiangyi died, and he was in seclusion healing from his injuries. The world assumed he was dead when he wasn't heard from for ten years.)

When Li Lianhua (Li Xiangyi) last saw Di Feisheng, he was planning to kill him. And then the poison took effect. The poison that allowed Di Feisheng to get the upper hand. (The poison that would have killed him sooner if not for a certain monk.)

With the clues he put together over the years, Li Lianhua couldn't be blamed for thinking Di Feisheng poisoned him. Or, perhaps, that he knowingly let his subordinates poison him.

(If Di Feisheng would kill is shixiong, and steal the body after they negotiated a truce, what wouldn't he do?)

But Li Lianhua reveals himself as Li Xiangyi and meets his supposed enemy.

Why then, if they are supposed to be enemies, does Di Feisheng greet him with "How have you been?"? (If he knowingly poisoned him, or let it happen, shouldn't he know? Shouldn't the question be a little more pointed; a little more winkwinknudgenudge smirksandgloating?)

And why, if they are supposed to be enemies, does Li Lianhua respond with "You're still so clingy after not seeing each other for ten years."? (And not: "Shouldn't you know? Considering you poisoned me?")

(And what does it say about their relationship before Donghai that he says still so clingy? That Di Feisheng... is Still. So. Clingy.)

"You're still so clingy..." said to a supposed enemy that smiles after finding out Li Lianhua (Li Xiangyi) isn't dead. Said in response to the supposed enemy genuinely asking how he's been the last ten years.

(And then Di Feisheng is surprised and angry on his behalf when he finds out Li Xiangyi [Li Lianhua] is Not Okay.)

Option 2: Di Feisheng writing 'If Found Return to Li Lianhua' on his hand

You've been investigating how everything went so wrong ten years ago. You've determined that someone has been working behind the scenes to drive a wedge between you and your... husband rival ex... rival for their own benefit. The lead you have is the crazy lady that's obsessed with you, but she couldn't have done it herself.

You're this close to finding out who she's working with and being rid of her for good when the guy shows up to save her, stabs you in the side, and poisons you with something you can feel will ruin your lifelong progress in martial arts.

Do you go to your personal bodyguard? No. (Well, maybe you couldn't find him, but still.)

No. You take the time to wrap your dao in rags to disguise it and then you go to the Sigu Sect waterfall and write "Find Li Lianhua' on your hand. It's a note for yourself. Y'know, since you've isolated the poison in such a way that you'll have amnesia.

Ok, note for yourself - check. Then what?

Well then you walk into the river just before you pass out and let it take you downstream.

What's downstream? Well who knows really. Your rival, Li Lianhua, the man previously known as Li Xiangyi? Maybe a blind guy collecting corpses to sell into ghost marriages?

What if someone else finds you first, what then, huh? Better hope they don't recognize you when you don't even know yourself anymore.

But don't worry.

The note on your hand says you belong to Li Lianhua.