Did Yan 13 -love- THIRD MASTER Xie Xiaofeng?

[PJ]

From bliss' translation:

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Xie Xiaofeng suddenly grabbed him by the shoulder and said, "It's you! You've come as well!"

"Yes, it's me. I've been here for some time, but I still don't understand."

That person turned towards Yan Shisan's body and said, "You should've known that I would've wanted to see him one last time."

"I know, of course I know."

He had never forgotten what Tie Kaicheng had said either.

He had no friends and no family, although he taught me his swordsmanship, he never allowed me to befriend him. Nor did he ever let me know where he came from or where he would go.

Because he was afraid of having sentiments towards another person. Because if a person wanted to become a swordsman, he couldn't have any sentiments.

Only Xie Xiaofeng knew that the comradery between the two of them really did exist, because he knew that Yan Shisan wasn't really emotionless.


[...]


"If he had really struck out, then my life would've been forfeited. But even until the very end, he never struck out."

"Why?"

"Because he didn't have the intention to kill!"

"Why?"

"Because he had saved my life before!" Xie Xiaofeng knew Tie Kaicheng wouldn't understand so he continued, "If you've saved a person's life, it will be very hard for you to take that life back. Because you will already have developed a level of sentiment between the two of you."

This was indeed a very difficult sentiment to explain. Only humans are capable of developing this kind of sentiment. But it is because humans have this sentiment that they are human.
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What kind of sentiment do you think Yan 13 developed? Could it be... some kind of love?

Furthermore, could Tie Kaicheng have developed a forbidden type of love relationship with Yan 13, one that was not allowed to be explored (perhaps b/c Yan 13 was afraid of having feelings)? I base this on the way things were worded: Tie Kaicheng said he wanted to see Yan 13 "one last time." In my personal experience, that usually happens when you have some kind of romantic feeling for the other person (whether you realize it or not).

Now, I realize this may be completely not what the author had intended. However, using my own feelings, when I read that passage, I really got the impression that Yan 13 had developed a love for Xie Xiaofeng, and that Yan 13 was trying very hard to subdue his emotions, but in fact the more he restrains, the more complex the feelings become.

[Suet Seung]

Are you implying romantic feelings between two men? Why can't two men have a deep sentimental feeling as in kinship like brothers or an intimate friendship that comes from two people understanding each other?

Were there any other characters that made you feel the same? Perhaps there's a pattern in his writing?


But then....haven't you heard of the saying "To die for a comrade(best friend).....(umm forgot the last half of the saying, I think maybe:-->) there are no regrets?"

Anyway, there are friendships that has a deeper meaning, it doesn't mean romantic feelings like the modern mindset would lead us to think.

[Ren Wo Xing]

In traditional Chinese culture, 'guy love' or 'brotherly love' is often considered to be deeper and more profound than mere romantic love.

[PJ]

In traditional Chinese culture, 'guy love' or 'brotherly love' is often considered to be deeper and more profound than mere romantic love.

Yes; and even in the Western bible, David (I think it was him) loved a man more than any woman (in a non-romantic way).

So can we say that perhaps Yan 13 loved Xie Xiaofeng, and Tie Kaicheng -> Yan 13, in a non-romantic way?

By the way, would any of you by chance have seen the Japanese movie MOON CHILD? There is a strong brotherly love in there that is bordering romance, which I find interesting, b/c Asians aren't as sensitive to it as Western viewers.

[bliss]

PJ might not be completely shooting in the dark. In the most recent chapter of Bordertown Wanderer I translated, there is a brief exchange between Ye Kai and Ding Linglin about the "special relationship" Ye Kai and Fu Hongxue have. Ye Kai chides Ding Linglin for being jealous of a man but Ding Linglin jokes that it's not that uncommon to see men going for other men.

Anyway, I also uncovered a really cool long martial art name for you PJ. It's a hatchet ax skill too, and those are extremely hard to come by:
一百零八招開天辟地盤古神斧 (One Hundred and Eight Stances of the Sky Scorching Earth Splitting Ancient Divine Hatchet) the signature skill of Xue Bin.

[Ren Wo Xing]

HOLY COW! That beats out the 'Hundred Changes, Thousand Illusions: Hengshan's 13 Stances of Cloud and Mist" by two extra characters! Although if you don't count the first few characters, '108 stances', Jinyong's still wins out by 2 characters; however, if you take out the '13 stances', Jinyong is behind again by 1 character.

[PJ]

Great new ELOMA:

108 Stances of the Sky-Scorching, Earth-Splitting Ancient Divine Hatchet

May I give it a more intuitive name. How about: Great Hatchet.

[Ren Wo Xing]

Great new ELOMA:

108 Stances of the Sky-Scorching, Earth-Splitting Ancient Divine Hatchet

May I give it a more intuitive name. How about: Great Hatchet.

Clearly, you've been reading a lot of Minford translations...

[bliss]

Correction to my original translation, it should be "Sky-Splitting Earth-Scorching".

So ... 108 Stances of the Sky-Splitting Earth-Scorching Ancient Divine Hatchet

[PJ]

PJ might not be completely shooting in the dark. In the most recent chapter of Bordertown Wanderer I translated, there is a brief exchange between Ye Kai and Ding Linglin about the "special relationship" Ye Kai and Fu Hongxue have. Ye Kai chides Ding Linglin for being jealous of a man but Ding Linglin jokes that it's not that uncommon to see men going for other men.

Really? Which chapter was that? I thought Fu Hongxue was only mentioned once in the novel, when Ye Kai asked Shangguan Xiaoxian if she ever heard of Fu Hongxue.

[bliss]

Really? Which chapter was that? I thought Fu Hongxue was only mentioned once in the novel, when Ye Kai asked Shangguan Xiaoxian if she ever heard of Fu Hongxue.

In Bordertown Wanderer, not Eagles in September.

[PJ]

In Bordertown Wanderer, not Eagles in September.

Doh.............