American Perspectives: Xi Xuan Pt. 1 ("Love and Redemption" Ep. 56)

 

 

 

“Love and Redemption” can be viewed on Viki or Youtube. Dialogue adapted from English subtitle translations by "Destined Love Team at Viki.com." "Love and Redemption," is based on the novel "Liu Li Mei Ren Sha," by Shi Si Lang. The writings presented here are based on observations from the television series.

 

 

 

 

 

Devil Star is sleeping on top of a round platform in his room that has no roof or walls, and extends over the waters.  He hears Sifeng approaching.  "Yu Sifeng, it's been three days now.  You came so early.  Are you here to admit defeat?"

 

"I just want Xuanji to see everything that belongs to us," says Sifeng.

 

Devil Star sits up.  "No matter what your game is, it's all but useless."

 

Sifeng raises his arm, and a flash of flame energy generates, creating visual imagery of the memories they had together.

 

The tree with the windchimes and written secrets is the first to appear.

 

"Xuanji and I once planted a tree that looked exactly like that.  It was blooming with blue blossoms and covered with wind chimes.  Those notes contained our feelings."

 

Devil Star observes the tree, and the expression on his face softens.  Memories of the actual tree flash through his mind like lightning bolts.

 

"I wrote down everything from memory," Sifeng continues.  "So much time has passed.  I didn't expect that I've never forgotten any one of them."

 

Devil Star closes his eyes. He cannot let Sifeng win this bet.  He waves his arm in the air, and the visual imagery of the tree disappears.  "I've told you, what you're doing is totally meaningless.  Chu Xuanji is already gone.  Give it up!"

 

Sifeng turns around to face him.  "Is that true?  Why can't you take another look, then?"

 

He looks up at Sifeng.

 

"You're afraid that you can't confine Xuanji anymore," says Sifeng.  "Do you think you can seal everything?  Xuanji is right here.   She can hear me talking to you.  She remembers everything.  Do you remember that you love blue flowers the most?"

 

Devil Star's eyes turn red, and his stomach churns.  He remembers that time Sifeng and Xuanji were wearing wedding attire, and trapped in an underground world.  As Xuanji, he remembers the flower blossoms falling into the palm of her hand.  He opens his eyes, and his facial expression softens.  "Blue flowers?"

 

Sifeng's heart races.  "Xuanji?"

 

"I remember.  And I remember that my favorite wine is the Flower Wine from Fuyu Island."

 

Sifeng beams, but he still needs to be careful.  He's letting setimentality dominate his common sense.  "Xuanji, is that you?  You're back?  Come back to me, quickly!  Don't be controlled by the Devil Star's soul!"

 

"I don't know," Devil Star says softly.  "Can you see me through his eyes?"

 

"Xuanji, I can see you!  I can!"

 

Devil Star smiles. "Sifeng, tell me quickly.  What else do I like?"

 

"Xuanji!  Xuanji!"  Says Sifeng.  He grabs the Devil Star's hands.  "Xuanji!  You like dessert.  You like the fragrance of flowers.  You like the moonlit night in Shaoyang, and all the places we've visited together.  We agreed to spend the rest of our lives in Utopia."

 

"Right," says Devil Star.  "Utopia.  Is the Rose Gold Bird Clan hiding in Utopia, too?  Where are they?"

 

"In the swamp of Longhan Village," Sifeng reveals.

 

"Where exactly is that swamp?"  Asks Devil Star.

 

Sifeng's heart drops, and the color drains from his face as he realizes what he has just done.  He releases Devil Star's hands and backs away.  "You're not Xuanji!"

 

Devil Star sits up and laughs.  "Yu Sifeng, oh Yu Sifeng.  You truly love her deeply.  You fall for this trick every time.  I just didn't expect you to come to your senses so soon.  But, I've asked almost everything.  The Rose Gold Birds are in the swamp of Longshan Village."

 

"You actually used a hallucination spell to worm facts out of me?  How could you call yourself Demon Lord?  You're so despicable to break your promise!"  No wonder King Bailing went to great lengths to destroy him.

 

Devil Star rises.  "It's already 7:00.  Three days have passed.  Your Chu Xuanji didn't appear at all.  I've kept my word, and only used my hallucination spell on you after 7:00.  Accept defeat, Yu Sifeng.  All your childish memories and pitiful love are petty and insignificant in my eyes.  They are worth nothing."

 

"You're lying!"  Sifeng yells.  "Xuanji clearly responded.  The eyes can't hide it.  It's Xuanji.  Xuanji is affecting you."

 

Devil Star closes his eyes, opens his palm, and strikes Sifeng with black smoke.  The smoke wraps around Sifeng's neck like a collar, and Devil Star lifts him up.

 

"I'm Devil Maleficent, Lord of the Demon Citadel.  No one can stop me even if I were to destroy the world.  Do I need to lie to a pest like you?  Even if this primordial spirit was in love with you when it became Chu Xuanji, so what?  So what if she pledged eternal loyalty to you before?  She was just playing along.  It was entirely unreal.  She doesn't understand the past.  Now that she has all my memories, she'll know that sincere love and eternal promises are the biggest joke!"

 

He releases the smoke energy, and Sifeng plummets to the ground, vomiting blood.

 

"Why didn't you believe it in the beginning?"  Asks Sifeng.  "What have you been through?"

 

Devil Star flies up to him, and grabs his chin.  "Yu Sifeng, do you think a piece of memory left in Chu Xuanji's primordial spirit will allow you to do as you wish without costing you your life?  Fine.  I'll show you the price you'll pay for offending me."  With a backhanded motion, he sends Sifeng flying upward, surrounded by black smoke.  The smoke wraps around Sifeng's neck.

 

"Xuanji," Sifeng says calmly.

 

"Sifeng!"  Xuanji yells from within.  "Let go of him!"

 

Devil Star closes his eyes, losing his focus.  "Let go of him!  Don't hurt Sifeng!  Let go of him!  I forbid you to hurt Sifeng!  Let go of him!"  His grip wavers.  He has memories of Sifeng in the heavens when he came to save the God of War.  Devil Star's head begins to hurt.  "Let go of him!"  His strength and resolve wavers.  "Let go of him!  Devil Maleficent!"  He grabs his forehead.  "I won't let you hurt Sifeng!  Let go of him!  Did you hear that?"

 

The smoke energy disappears as the Devil Star puts both hands on his head to relieve the massive headache.

 

Sifeng falls to the ground.

 

Devil Star groans in pain, and in the black smoke, he disappears, and Xuanji materializes.

 

"Sifeng!"  Xuanji yells.

 

He looks up at her in disbelief, and runs forward to embrace her.  They hold each other tightly.

 

"Sifeng!" Xuanji says.

 

"Xuanji!"

 

"Sifeng!  Leave here quickly."

 

"We promised to stay inseparable.  How can I abandon you?"

 

Xuanji pushes him away.  "Don't be so foolish!"  She covers her ears.  Her head feels like it's going to split open.

 

"Xuanji!"

 

"Get lost!"  Devil Star emerges as Xuanji disappears.  Devil Star's eyes are down cast in embarrassment. Sifeng smirks.

 

"Devil Maleficent," says Sifeng, "you lost.  Xuanji has always been here.  She appeared.  I told you, you can't kill me.  Xuanji will never let you kill me."

 

"I only showed you mercy and spared your life because you saved my primordial spirit many times before," Devil Star musters.  "However, don't take my kindness as your bargaining chip."  He shoots black smoke into Sifeng's face.  "I sealed your meridians.  Before I find the Rose Gold Birds, you better stay in the Demon Citadel."  He disappears in a cloud of black smoke, feeling completely emasculated.

 

 

 

 

 

A transparent blue crystal bell with an attached red string and message flies to the Devil Star while he's meditating.  Devil Star carefully grabs the bell.  He studies the message, which is partially smoke damaged.

 

"Together, whether alive or in death," the message reads.  Devil Star feels a bit shaken, and he crushes the bell.  "Chu Xuanji, are you going to put away thousands of years of hatred and humiliation we've suffered?"

 

"I don't want to kill anyone," Xuanji's voice replies.  "I don't want all life to live in misery.  And I want Sifeng to be well."

 

"Yu Sifeng again.  Do you want to be with him so much, and refuse to part with him?  Do you really believe in this?"

 

"Yes!  I believe in Sifeng!"

 

"Have we not suffered enough in the past?  Didn't we used to believe in friendship, our friends, and the people we loved?  But what happened in the end?  What did we go through?  What did we get?  Trust me.  Stop resisting me.  I'm doing this for our sake.  I'll make everyone who hurt us pay the price for it."

 

Linglong, Little Six, and Sect Leader Chu materialize in front of him.

 

"Hurry and let Xuanji out!" Linglong demands.

 

Devil Star leans forward.  "Barging into my chamber?  Do you really wish to die?"

 

"Xuanji, do you not recognize us anymore?"  Asks Sect Leader Chu.  "We're your family."

 

"Family?"  Devil Star sneers.  He laughs bitterly.  "I, Devil Maleficent, have lived for over 10,000 years.  You mortals only live for several decades.  How dare you say such things!  Since you once took care of my primordial spirit, I'll spare all your lives today.  Get lost!"

 

"Xuanji, you can hear us, right?"  Linglong asks.  "Even though you've become Devil Maleficent, I believe you still have your memory.  You lacked six senses when you were a kid.  It was me, Father, Mother, and Minyan who stayed by your side.  Nothing has changed now!  We're still here for you!"

 

"Xuanji," says Little Six.  "Auntie Yinghong and Uncle He Yang are missing you, too.  Everyone is waiting for you to return."

 

"Xuanji, you lived for so long," says Sect Leader Chu, "but in this lifetime, our consanguinity can't be changed.  I'll always be your father."

 

An undesired shift occurs in the Devil Star.  Out of anger, he back hands the three family members with black smoke.  "So noisy!  What family?  What friendship?  They're all displeasing sounds.  Since you like talking about love so much, I wonder which is more important to you?  Your love, or your lives?"  He shoots black smoke at them.

 

Linglong and Little Six put up an electric blue barrier.

 

"Xuanji, I know it's you," says Sect Leader Chu.  "Before your mother died, I promised her to take good care of you forever.  You're not good at expressing yourself, but you have a kind heart."

 

Devil Star wavers.

 

"I know your mother was right," Sect Leader Chu continues.  "Come back.  You shouldn't be like this."

 

Devil Star's resolve weakens.

 

"Come back," says Sect Leader Chu.

 

Devil Star reluctantly withdraws his energy.

 

The electric blue barrier lowers.  Devil Star closes his eyes.  "I, Devil Maleficent, will never stop."  He opens his eyes.  "The heavens sowed the seeds of bitterness.  They have to bear the consequences.  I don't want to waste my time killing you.  Stop annoying me."

 

He floats a dark brown vial over to Sect Leader Chu.  "This is the Core Fire.  Take it back and set up a barrier with it.  When the Transcendent Furnace is overturned, and fire from the heavens descends to earth, this Core Fire can resist the fire from the heavens and protect you."  With a sweep of his arm, he makes Xuanji's family disappear.

 

Devil Star sighs.  Sifeng approaches him.

 

"You can't kill me, nor can you kill them," Sifeng points out.  "Actually, you have all the love inside you.  Even if you deny that you're Xuanji, she can still influence you."

 

"Illusion," sighs Devil Star.  "It's just an illusion.  The heavens wanted me to undergo Ten Lifetimes of tribulations, so that the illusion of Mortal Love can eradicate my hatred.  All of you are simply pawns of the heavens.  Only if I burn away all the illusions, can the heavens know that I'm not Chu Xuanji.  The grudge in my heart can't be eradicated by so-called love.  I refuse to be a pitiful worm like you who allows the heavens to shove you around."

 

"Will you be happy, then?"  Sifeng asks.  "You simply changed from being manipulated by the heavens into being controlled by hatred.  Devil Maleficent, why can't you let go of your hatred, and see who you really are?"

 

"Let go of hatred?"  Devil Star scoffs.  He laughs bitterly.  "You can't even let go of Chu Xuanji!  What right do you have to make me forget the hatred that is buried deep in my bones?  Yu Sifeng, do you know who the God of War is?"  He closes his eyes, crosses his arms, and God of War emerges in a thick cloud of smoke.

 

"Do you know how I got my body?"  God of War asks.  "I'll show you.  Tell me if I can let go of this hatred.  Should I let it go?"  She turns around and lowers her red hanfu, showing her bare shoulders, which are scarred with stitch marks.  There is a huge scar of stitches around her neck.

 

"The scars," whispers Sifeng.  "How did you get them?  Who did this?"

 

"It was King Bailing."

 

"King Bailing?"

 

"I thought Bailing was a bosom friend that I would never find again, so I trusted him completely.  I didn't care about the differences between deities and demons.  I would often drink wine with him at the white pagoda by Ruoshui Pond.  And then...the Demon-Immortal War began.  I thought our friendship would bridge the war.  But I never expected him to plot against me and harm me.  Yu Sifeng, I'll show you what kind of person he is right now!"  She casts a cloud of red smoke over him.

 

Devil Star and King Bailing are meeting at the White Pagoda, having a drink.

 

"Feel free to drink!"  Devil Star says.  Devil Star takes a sip, while King Bailing watches him closely.

 

"The heavens and demon clans are waging war," says King Bailing.  "I'm afraid there'll be fewer chances for me to drink with you, Brother Jidou."

 

"I was wondering why you were in such a bad mood," says Devil Star.  "So, it turns out you're worried about this."

 

"Asuras are skillful in battle," says King Bailing, "so the Celestial Troops were instantly defeated.  At this rate, the Heavenly Palace will be invaded before long.  The crux of the problem is that the heavens doesn't have someone like you who is invincible enough to protect us."

 

"Hmm," says Devil Star.  "It's not my intention to see the Devil and Demon Clans waging war on the heavens.  Unfortunately, the grievances have accumulated over the years, and can't be removed overnight.  But I was thinking that if you marry a woman from my clan, perhaps it can help mitigate the war.  And a woman from my clan can assist you in protecting the heavens forever."

 

"No," King Bailing says firmly.  "Gods and Demons are enemies.  How can the heavens be unified with the demon clan through a marriage?"

 

"Gods and Demons are enemies?"  Asks Devil Star.  "Then, why did you invite me for a drink and befriend me?"

 

"Brother Jidou, you're different from other demons.  Among all the demons in the world, you're the only one who I'll befriend.  Judging from the current situation, I wonder how much longer we can drink together like this."

 

"The three realms are so big, it's hard to find a bosom friend," says Devil Star.  "I'm willing to drink and talk to you every day."

 

King Bailing slowly rises from his seat.  "Is that true?"

 

Devil Star stands.  "We're friends.  Don't you trust me?"

 

King Bailing pauses.  The gears in his head are turning.  He turns away from Devil Star.  "I'm just afraid that once the heavens are conquered, the three realms will descend into chaos.  All the gods and deities won't be able to escape from their doom."  He clenches his fist.

 

"You need not worry about the war," says Devil Star.  "I brought some good news for you."  He begins to feel drowsy and dizzy.  His eyes flutter.  He is about to lose his footing.  "Something is wrong with the wine."  He looks over and notices the incense burner.  "What do you mean?"

 

King Bailing slowly turns to face him.  "Brother Maleficent, didn't you just say you wanted to drink and talk with me everyday?  Unfortunately, you're an Asura after all.  That makes me uneasy.  But if I can completely turn you to my side, only then can I rest easy forever."  He reaches out to touch Devil Star's chest.  Devil Star backs away.

 

"What did you say?"  Devil Star asks.

 

Devil Star's eyes close, and he begins to teeter backwards.  King Bailing catches him before he hits the ground.

 

"I'm sorry, Devil Maleficent," King Bailing whispers.  "I'm only doing this for the sake of the heavens."

 

 

 

 

 

Devil Star is partially conscious, laying on an operating table, while King Bailing walks into the darkened room that is lit up in red.

 

"Brother Maleficent," says King Bailing, "you shouldn't have woken up so soon.  We're friends.  The current situation won't look so good for you.  Since you'll forget everything soon, I won't hide it from you.  I'll change your entire appearance, so that you can make a clean cut from the past.  You'll transform into a new person.  No one will ever be able to recognize you."

 

"Why are you doing this to me?"  Devil Star asks.

 

"Didn't you want to drink, and talk to me everyday?  It's the only way to fulfill your wish."

 

Devil Star is feeling a profound sense of regret.  He had been open minded, and non-prejudiced.  This is the thanks he gets.

 

"This is best for all of us," King Bailing continues.  He summons a dagger, and wraps his hand around it.

 

Devil Star feels very fearful as this psychopath is ready to (literally) cut him open.  He is too drugged up to fight back.

 

King Bailing wraps both hands around the hilt, and plunges it into the Devil Star's heart.  Devil Star groans in agony.

 

"These two weapons made from demonic bones are too vindictive," says King Bailing.  "I'll remove them for you, and find you another weapon in the future."  With his index and middle fingers, he shoots a stream of golden energy into Devil Star's body.  He removes the Juntian Hoop and Cehai Hook.

 

Si Ming enters the room and bows.  "My King, the Heavenly Emperor has ordered you to release Devil Maleficent immediately."

 

"Even if I'm willing to," says King Bailing, "it's too late now.  Go back and report to the Heavenly Emperor that I'll definitely build an upstanding God of War for the heavens."  He summons the Crystal Lamp.  "Brother Maleficent, I'm going to use this Crystal Lamp to seal your soul.  Lie down.  Take a rest."  He pulls the soul out of Devil Star's body, and it lands in the lamp.  He promptly seals it up.

 

"Devil Star, you have no heart now.  I'll use the corner of the Crystal Lamp as your heart.  All of your six senses will be gone.  You'll be at my disposal."

 

He chips off a corner of the Crystal Lamp handle, and the piece floats into Devil Star's chest.  With his hands, he scans golden energy into Devil Star's body.

 

He quickly removes the dagger.  "Now, you're no longer the Devil Star, Devil Maleficent, but the God of War from the heavens.  Starting from tomorrow, you'll serve the heavens, wipe out all Asuras, and slaughter the Demon Citadel."

 

Devil Star shifts into God of War, his male body turning female.  

 

Without a second thought, as the God of War, Devil Star is slaughtering his own people.

 

 

...To be continued...