Ah Fei and Ging Mo Meng after SENTIMENTAL SWORDSMAN

[Ken Cheng]

For some reason, I've always felt rather sorry for Jing Wuming whenever he appears in the story. His life (or lackthereoff, as implied by his name) is just so empty.

He seemed to like it that way, though. Ging Mo Meng was kind of like Ah Fei with the humanity stripped away. I see him as a foil to Ah Fei in the same way that Yip Goo Sing was a foil to Sai Mun Chui Sheut in LUK SIU FUNG.

[tape]

Everybody in the story is pretty likable now that I think about it with the exception of Lin Xin Er. SGJH is the coldly rational and calculating villain, who isn't particularly evil but just does what has to be done to achieve his goal. JWM is a merciless killer that you can't help but feel is just a misguided, tormented soul. Ah Fei is the bright spot of youth that you just want to succeed. Li Xunhuan....well I really like the guy despite not being able to write anything particularly great about him.

I guess the Long father/son are terrible people, and the women aren't that great, but in general the men are some pretty good characters, as per Gu Long.

[Ian Liew]

Keep in mind, though, that Jing Wuming was with Shangguan Jinhong at that time, which is why Guo Songyang was 100% sure that he was going to die and exposed so many flaws. If Jing Wuming had been by himself, I doubt Guo Songyang would have acted in such a way! My personal opinion is that Guo Songyang is most likely stronger than Jing Wuming by himself.

That would explain a lot. The 70s adaptation had Jing Wuming all alone, and after the fight Jing reported the details to Shangguan Jinhong, at which point Shangguan Jinhong saw through the entire thing and told Jing Wuming what Guo Songyang's true intentions were. I had always wondered what made Guo Songyang so suicidal in that fight (other than Kwan Chung looking far more deadly in his pre-fight pose than Lam Wai To).

[Ken Cheng]

That would explain a lot. The 70s adaptation had Jing Wuming all alone, and after the fight Jing reported the details to Shangguan Jinhong, at which point Shangguan Jinhong saw through the entire thing and told Jing Wuming what Guo Songyang's true intentions were. I had always wondered what made Guo Songyang so suicidal in that fight (other than Kwan Chung looking far more deadly in his pre-fight pose than Lam Wai To).

This is another one of those great wuxia battles we would have loved to see (but never got to): Ah Fei vs. Ging Mo Meng vs. Gwok Sung Yeung in a "Mt. Hua Sword Tournament" style elimination derby, with no extenuating circumstances (e.g. everybody is in top physical and mental shape and armed with his favorite weapon).

I wonder who would emerge alive from that rumble.

[daydreamer_gal]

He seemed to like it that way, though. Ging Mo Meng was kind of like Ah Fei with the humanity stripped away. I see him as a foil to Ah Fei in the same way that Yip Goo Sing was a foil to Sai Mun Chui Sheut in LUK SIU FUNG.

Not sure if he actually liked it or just didn't know how to live any other way. He seemed a lot more unhappy in the novel, probably because of the descriptions of his state of mind by the omnicient narrator, which doesn't translate very well onto the screen.

[daydreamer_gal]

With regard to the original question of what Ah Fei & Jing Wuming did after SSRS, this is is what I remember based on the little that was mentioned at the end of the story and in the other stories in the series:

Ah Fei - At the end of SSRS, the narrator implied that he was going to look for his father.. of course, what Ah Fei himself actually said was that he "wanted to travel the open seas to look for an herb that granted everlasting life and to look for the deity of longevity". He also promised to be back in 3 years to attend Li Xunhuan & Sun Xaiohong's wedding (after the mourning period for her gandfather). It was mentioned in Bordertown Wanderer that he met up with Li Xunhuan once a year for a drink. Also, in Flying Eagles in September, it was said that he looked after Shangguan Xiaoxian for some time after Lin Xian-er died, before passing her to Ye Kai (he seemed to know him from somewhere, probably through Li Xunhuan). Then of course, he appeared briefly in Bordertown Wanderer and met Ye Kai & co.

Jin Wuming - In Bordertown Wanderer, it was mentioned that he had a duel with Ding Chengfeng (Ding Linglin's father) around the time of the Bai family massacre, resulting in Ding Chengfeng's leg getting pretty badly injured. After fighting, the two apparently felt "great mutual admiration and respect for each other", which was why Jing Wuming "was willing to take away a child of the Ding family [Lu Xiaojia - poor kid] and raise him" and teach him his sword skills. In Flying Eagles in September, Shangguan Xiaoxian also mentioned that he dropped in on Ah Fei and saw her, and told her where Shangguan Jinhong's treaure was hidden. She also mentioned that he "helped her catch the butterfly" - I chuckled pretty hard when I read that.. Jing Wuming catching butterflies was a funny picture =P.. but then again, Shangguan Xiaoxian was doing her idiot act at the time, so she might have just been embellishing; after all, she was a liar. Finally, he appeared at the end of Bordertown Wanderer to take the badly injured Lu Xiaojia away (Ding Chengfeng seemed to think that he could save him, but it was mentioned that he might just be comforting himself) and to talk to Ye Kai.

Yup, so that's what I managed to glean about what the two of them did after SSRS.. Nothing particularly spectatcular, though.