Alright, so
I did forget about this drama (sorry) but here it is, the
long-awaited love story between Ri Xuan and Yue Ying! I wasn’t too impressed
with how they fell in love and that may have had a toll on me getting this
recap out on a duly manner but now that I’ve revisited these episodes again,
I’ve come to appreciate things I’ve completely missed before, e.g. the reason
behind why they’ve got names of their own but go and adopt new ones for
themselves.
On a side note, I'm so glad I get a break from all those dark scenes. I love the green in these episodes.
Ran Ran’s
journey to vampire-hood started to manifest three years ago. During that time,
her and Mu Chen were on much friendlier terms (too friendly). 9th-Shi-Xiong was
still alive back then (pout) and he’s been harbouring that crush on her ever
since then too. I'll never
understand why Ran Ran is so popular with men.
Ran Ran was
living peacefully until she's overwhelmed with an unquenchable thirst.
Succumbing to her unconscious desires, she seeks out for blood from animals,
barely managing to spare human blood. When she snaps back to reality, she's
horrified at herself for gnawing at animal corpses.
Yao Bing witnesses
everything and informs Mu Chen about Ran Ran's condition. He takes her to Xu Nu
Shi Fu whose essentially useless. She can't cure Ran Ran's cravings for blood
and eventually Ran Ran's craving has lead to a man's death. Mu Chen mistakenly
assumes she's killed the man when she was only exerting self defence when that
man tried to rape her (in her altered state of blood craving – hence why her
memory is fuzzy). Well it doesn't matter how the man actually died because she
wholeheartedly believes she killed the man. Well now we know why Mu Chen distances herself from Ran
Ran...
To repent
for her sins (and to prevent future sins), she commits suicide by jumping off a
cliff.
Surprise,
surprise, she doesn't die. She happens to jump off the very same cliff Ri Xuan
did decades ago and like him, she survives. Ri Xuan keeps her alive by feeding
her Jiu Ban Ling Zhi (the holy mushroom), which Wu She had given him
before he had instantaneously incarcerated.
She asks
him where she is and who he is but he answers neither because neither matters.
The Ri Xuan back then is quite aloof.
Ran Ran is
alive but that doesn't mean she's free from her blood cravings. At night, she
would struggle with thirst but Ri Xuan feeds her the mushroom to control her
cravings.
She's not
the only one suffering, Ri Xuan is too. He's got a case of hallucinations: the
dead Wu She, for some reason, keeps coming back to haunt him. One night he's
having a nightmare and when Ran Ran tries to comfort him, he yells at her.
That's enough to set her off on another dying whim but Ri Xuan intervenes and
assures her she'd be forgiven for her (nonexistent) crimes.
Ran Ran is
comforted and starts to eat the chicken Ri Xuan catches for her. In Ri Xuan's defence for his
terrible attitude earlier, he's only doing it to protect her from him.
 |
| This hairstyle suits him waaaay better |
Misery loves
company, and these two are the perfect soulmates because they understand one
another’s struggles to live. They warm up to each other and reveal their
painful past. While Ran Ran doesn’t mind being trapped in the meadow, Ri Xuan
wants to escape it and reunite with his father. It's his life’s goal.
This time
when she asks for his name he isn't reluctant to share it but he shares it by
writing it on her palm. Ran Ran misinterprets the palm writing and hence the
name “Ri Xuan” is born (when his real name is Lou Xuan). Smiling, he lets her
misunderstand. The guy will go along with whatever she wants. Ran Ran likes his
name and decides to call herself Yue Ying to match his (more on their names below – I really like the meaning
behind their names!). Initially I thought the name-changing was only
meant to be romantic but perhaps its her resolution to adopt her new life, a
life with Ri Xuan in it.
There’s a
little hiccup in their relationship (that has barely started to bloom) when he
accidentally injures her during one of his hallucinations. Deeming himself as
dangerous for her, he avoids her completely except to give her food and flowers
at her bedside. (This is
probably when she started loving Mo Li flowers) He also stays by her at
night to control her vampire urges with the mushrooms. Yup, he’s sooooooooo
dangerous.
The hiccup
to their relationship ends when one night he wakes up from a nightmare and
suddenly realizes he can’t be without her. Okay. He gives up on the idea of
escaping because having her is enough. And he goes in for the smooch.
The way
she’s holding the flowers makes me think this is supposed to be a marriage.
Now the
problem before was only a hiccup because the real hurdle is still Ran Ran’s
vampire poison. Ri Xuan runs out of mushrooms to feed her and without a choice
he has to escape to save her.
I think the drama wanted to show that his love for her
empowered him to do the impossible, climb the steep cliff like it’s nothing
even when she’s on his back, but I can’t ignore my brain when it’s complaining
that he could have escaped by himself ages ago if it was this easy to climb.
But then we wouldn’t have a drama, would we?
Well,
they’ve escaped to Xu Nu Shi Fu. She tells them she can prolong Ran Ran’s life
by inserting three needles in her brain to control the poison but there’s a
side effect: she’ll lose three months of her memory. Wow. So precise. She doesn’t want to forget Ri
Xuan but he’ll sacrifice anything to save her. He promises her he won't let her
forget him.
Back to the
present, Ran Ran remembers Ri Xuan. He did just as he promised. Despite being
injured, they reconcile their love for each other and everyone in the
perimeters can only watch in silence awe. He tells her he only needs her and
she’s her everything.
The Red
Lady watches in bitterness. She wonders why Wu She never
believed her like Ri Xuan believes in Ran Ran.
♦ ♦ ♦ Comments ♦ ♦ ♦
The love
story was a little anticlimactic for my liking (I mean I was waiting for the entire span of the drama and they give me a measly four episodes and it
wasn’t that overly romantic either) but I do like the origins of their names: Ri Xuan
and Yue Ying.
The
relationship between their names (Ri Xuan and Yue Ying) remind me of the opposing relationship between Yin and Yang. “Ri” means “Sun” and “Yue” means “Moon”. The
latter part of their names are also opposites of each other:“Xuan” means
“(Public) Declaration and “Ying” means “Shadow” (so Xuan is in the open and Ying is in the shades). Both words in their name directly oppose each other.
Yin and
Yang, despite being opposing forces, their existence depends on each other. Yin
refers to the shady side whereas Yang refers to the sunny side. Yin is also associated
with being “female” and Yang being “male” hence Ran Ran (Yue Ying) represents "Yin" and Ri Xuan represents "Yang". They are two separate bodies but they
complement each other to complete each other.
Personally
I don't like how the naming was executed (it was pretty lame) but the idea behind
it was nicely crafted.
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