What would have happened if…
...Mingtian would have returned in time instead of Xie Yi?
- He would have run right out to find Xie Yi and pretty much thrown him at Shi Yue. Xie Yi would not have been allowed to take a single step out of the sect. He would have been a guilty mess towards Xue Hua and considerably more snappy at everyone else.
...Shi Yue had not been captured and died?
- Xie Yi would have gone to find and talk to him. Shi Yue would have listened warily and helped Xie Yi under the condition of Xie Yi’s cultivation being crippled. Xie Yi would have agreed.
...Nie had found Mingtian while he was in the village?
- Stressed Xue Hua parents. Very awkward Xue Hua and Mingtian. Nie, who is satisfied with his son’s mate and dissatisfied with the living conditions.
...the roles were switched?
- Uh, to avoid the mess of how things would have gone, just master-XY and disciple-SY… The disciple who wakes his master, drags him to lessons (before he leaves for his own), makes sure his master is well-fed and clothed. Poor Shi Yue would have a lot of work to do. In fact, that would make Xie Yi even lazier.
...Xiao Jin turned into an actual human?
- One of you said it correctly. That’s a pretty hard rival for Shi Yue. Honestly, Xie Yi would follow him around like a puppy. Xiao Jin would ignore it for a while. Once he’d notice Shi Yue, he’d decide that Shi Yue would make a good husband for Xie Yi and would start acting in a fatherly-figure-way to avoid Xie Yi forming romantic feelings.
Dad Xiao Jin.
Also, a very squealy author is what would happen.
...the story had actually been planned out cleanly from the start?
- Oh boy. It would have been a lot of black humour. Half of the story would have been in the past timeline. It would have been a one-sided crush, with the other side seeing it as a rivalry, and everyone would be fighting like children while actually, pretty cruel stuff happens. ...Very dark humour. Less story, more comedy, actually.
...Xie Yi had been another sect’s disciple?
- Let’s say, the Virtuous Sect would be improving their walls because ever since that one meet-up a year ago, some guy keeps on sneaking into their sect to bother their Grandmaster?!
Xie Yi’s and Shi Yue’s relationship. What are the thoughts of…
...Mingtian?
- He can’t even tell you how happy he is that he does not have to worry about Xie Yi getting cheated by the guy he crushes on. Also, he’s kinda relieved it’s a guy. He’d be scared about Xie Yi raising a newborn.
...Xue Hua?
- Eh, as long as Yue is happy.
...Ying Hua?
- Eh, as long as it’s fun?
...Juxian?
- Actually, literally does not really care as long as Xie Yi’s soul is in a good state.
...Li Mei?
- She ships it. And it’s hilarious to see Shi Yue so bothered by it. She’s questioning who is going to end up on top.
...Xu Yan?
- Still can’t get fully over the fact that his friend is into guys but after seeing a horde of males stare after Xie Yi for years, he kinda started thinking of Xie Yi as some weird third gender and forgot that it would be a same-sex relationship.
...the sect leader?
- Kind of expected this to happen when he noticed Xie Yi raising himself as the little wife.
Random trivia
- Even in the original timeline, Xie Yi would have had sociopathic tendencies. Everyone would have accepted it as the weird behaviour of a genius, though.
- Shi Yue’s desire to unconditionally help people and spread peace stems from his childhood and the fact that he wants to be acknowledged
- Xue Hua would have accepted even the cruel Mingtian of the last timeline, but it would have torn his heart to know that Shi Yue hated him
- That the old Tiankong could split from Xie Yi at all was only possible due to the dissonance of the memories overwriting the child-Xie Yi’s brain
- Although Shi Yue is not aware of it, he has locked himself out of marrying. The conscious expectations he has and what he looks out for, do not line up with the sort of person he enjoys spending time with and whom he would trust to share his life with
- If in this exact same setting Shi Yue did not have Xie Yi as his disciple but met him as an adult, he would have needed longer to initiate contact but would have had fewer concerns about getting closer
- Mingtian does not have a fixed elemental disposition, but he does lean toward ice like Xue Hua
- Mingtian’s mum would have adopted Xie Yi instantly
- Xue Hua did not talk a lot as a child. He did not talk to others because he was haughty. ...He did not talk a lot to Mingtian because he noticed at some point that would start to stutter and stumble over his words
- Mingtian has zero problems being scratched like a dog. Tiankong often did it in his last life
- Shi Yue cooks as a hobby, but he mostly bakes when he’s stressed
- There was once a girl who tried to appeal to Shi Yue by making him a meal. ...Tried.
- If Xie Yi knew about the Black Spiders’ agency, he would have joined them for fun
- Mingtian would have joined too, for the sole reason of cleaning up behind Xie Yi
- Xie Yi rarely doubts Mingtian, which results in him being very gullible. In one case, Mingtian tried to tease him by asking for an actually nonexistent plant as his birthday present. Xie Yi actually found it in some cursed cave and brought it back
- Most disciples avoid the times when Xie Yi uses the bath because they worry about their reactions
- Xie Yi’s involuntarily seductive behaviour partially comes from the fact that his female subordinates (who were more often around than the male ones) constantly displayed those behaviours and he somehow got into the habit of unconsciously copying parts of it. A lot of the rest is simply physical charm
- If you asked Xie Yi to choose between Mingtian and Shi Yue, he would have chosen Mingtian in his last life. In this life, he would rather fight to death than make the choice
- Shi Yue's ideal place for a home would be nearby his sect, somewhere in a peaceful but well-lit forest corner
- ...Xie Yi's ideal place for a home would be near a dragon's lair, because so much interesting stuff happens around them
- Towards the end of his last life, dragons preferred fleeing over the trouble of fighting with the weird cultivator-beast pair
- Mingtian, in total, killed less humans than Xie Yi. He even killed less than a number of subordinates of Xie Yi's, as he tried to keep it to a minimum
- If Xie Yi and Shi Yue could have a child, the child would have been an absolute black-belly. They'd be perfect at acting sweet and innocent while planning the most vicious things. Shi Yue would do nothing but run after them, trying to keep them from causing trouble and fixing their mistakes, while Xie Yi would stand at the side, calmly explaining how the plan would have been better hidden.
I didn't know if I needed those informations, till I had read it. Yeah, I needed them
I'm a fan of random info xD
All of these were great fun to read. But the one about dragons fleeing the duo towards the end of the last life
I died laughing.
Yes. This.
While that one is good too. I myself am torn between what if
Mingtian would have returned in time instead of Xie Yi?
And
Xie Yi had been another sect's disciple?
@Lucaria True another sects disciple and constantly breaking into the sect would have been fun to read too.
lmaoo the child one is so accurate tho, shi yue would have his hands full
Oh my god, Xie Yi really should join Black Spider for fun/as a hobby later in the story
Stories are really fun to read when MC's have OP hidden identities that they use to slap people in the face! But Xie Yi probably wouldn't do that kind of thing looking his personality.
But Tiankong counts as a hidden identity so I'm happy!
I still kinda want to know what would have happened if Mingtian hadn't been killed in the original timeline. Like, what if, once he was caught in the array, Shi Yue showed up first or Xue Hua woke up and protected him.
(please know that I made an account just so I could post this comment. So, now that I can post comments, you should also know that your work is awesome author-san)
The dedication! xD Long answer below spoiler
Let's say Shi Yue walked in right after he was caught. He would have imprisoned Mingtian as would be the usual procedure, and would have been quite surprised to see that Mingtian would hardly resist. Due to this, he would have asked Xue Hua about Mingtian once he woke up. Xue Hua would have freaked out and have half a breakdown while insisting that no one is allowed to hurt Mingtian. With the whole situation, understanding that Xue Hua is Shi Yue's partner and seeing how Shi Yue behaves, he would have tried talking to Shi Yue about Xie Yi.
That said, Xie Yi would have showed up to search for Mingtian and would have left behind a carnage at them imprisoning him. The whole situation would have ended in a large fight, which would have made Shi Yue doubt the situation and not fully believe Mingtian. Mingtian would have left with Xie Yi. Although Mingtian would be alive, Shi Yue would still have been caught at a later date. Xie Yi wouldn't have committed suicide due to Mingtian being alive, but after a few years, Mingtian would have accepted that there was no use continuing as it was because Xie Yi would have wasted away, so it would have ended in a double-suicide...
Unless I said something else about this issue sometime. Sometimes, I plan different ways for stories to go and all are possible, so it might be that I've said sth different in a comment once xD
@Owl Thank you!
Soooo what about xie it's childhood before cultivation of any sort came into his life?
Where's his parents?
Has he always had a cracked core?
Questions ^ I thought of while reading this chapter
He really was just a street rat, somehow keeping himself alive (Would have died if no one found him soon). His parents are dead, but no conspiracy or anything
The core... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Spoiler
Oooh nice info :D also, about Juxian literally not caring, lmao XD
I really really hope at some point in the story this “made up plant” becomes crucial to their surival. Oh man that would be great. Thanks so much for the random trivia.
...the story had actually been planned out cleanly from the start?
- Oh boy. It would have been a lot of black humour. Half of the story would have been in the past timeline. It would have been a one-sided crush, with the other side seeing it as a rivalry, and everyone would be fighting like children while actually, pretty cruel stuff happens. ...Very dark humour. Less story, more comedy, actually.
After reading far too many times (around once every two to three months) I realize that I like this version better than the “if I planed version”.