Only decided to do up a thread (since someone suggested it), so I will. In the end, you can take it or leave it. I only made this thread to shred some light to this whole dramatic split between the fandom 'Hou Chi/Shang Gu vs Bai Jue's perspective'. 

So here goes:

Seriously what I hate most is seeing the fandom being divided like this now, because they only see how much Hou Chi is suffering right now, but honestly, it really doesn't hurt Bai Jue any less than to have to do this to her. 

When I see comments like those, it shows me they don't care or understand the pain and suffering that Bai Jue have to endure at this point.

I commented this elsewhere, so will just say again in here:

Bai Jue refusing to let Hou Chi knows that he's Qing Mu, so in her eyes, Qing Mu is gone: 
If you try to see it from another angle here, what good does telling Hou Chi that he's Qing Mu? Aside from causing her more pain and suffering.... Yes, she will know that he's Qing Mu, but then what? Bai Jue can't be the carefree Qing Mu again, because he's not the same Qing Mu who can love freely like when he was prior to him awakening. He's back to Bai Jue who have responsibilities. I am not saying that Bai Jue can't be Qing Mu once this is all over, I still imagine he can be, because he shown me he can be so sweet/loving when it comes to her, except during this time, you only see it when Hou Chi/Shang Gu doesn't know it's him, and this is, sad... Qing Mu (again) can love Hou Chi freely was a blessing for him/them because it was their happy times. 

Bai Jue didn’t intend for Qing Mu to meet Hou Chi and fall in love with her, and them being together, because it makes it harder for him now, since he is forced to do the one thing he didn’t want to do(to hurt her), this is why he told her to not venture out etc because he didn’t want to put her through all that now because Qing Mu being gone forever (in the eyes of Hou Chi), but not really, since Qing Mu just became one with Bai Jue, and you can really clearly see how much Bai Jue cherishes their moments when he was Qing Mu with Hou Chi, because when Hou Chi asked Bai Jue to divorce her, Bai Jue expresses hurt and he was reluctant at first, he didn’t want to divorce her, it was the one thing he wants to keep with him and remember their times together, something that ties them together even if it was the time when he was Qing Mu with Hou Chi.

And what I am going to say now is a guess, but I am leaning it to be a fact, because in episode 39, when Hou Chi went to Bai Jue and asked if he's Qing Mu, he said "no", but he was also the one who asked for the tomb/tablet to be made for "Qing Mu", so my guess is that, Bai Jue, indirectly used that chance to leave the final message for Hou Chi when she goes to that place later and got that final message from "Qing Mu".

Why I said it was Bai Jue? Well, hints really:

(1) In order to hurt her less, he can really use indirect methods. He knows what he said have hurted Hou Chi when they met again, but Bai Jue was the one who said to make that tomb/tablet for Qing Mu's death. So this tomb/tablet wasn't there when Qing Mu was "alive", so he couldn't have left that message for her.

(2) When Qing Mu left in episode 38 and became one with Bai Jue, he never planned to leave just like that because you can see there's regret in him, like words he wants to tell Hou Chi and the promise he made to her that he will wait for her, but now he don't get that chance to, so if he was the one who left the message for her, at that place, then he wouldn't look like he did back then.

(3) Most importantly, Bai Jue was at that scene (that same place) just before Hou Chi went to receive the message. We didn't clearly saw him being the one to leave the message for her, but he was there. And he saw Jing Jian playing Go, and saying all that, the way he looked at him, was like he's Qing Mu even when he's Bai Jue now.

So it is clear that Bai Jue, have memories of the times he experience as Qing Mu, even though he lied to her, but the thing with Bai Jue right now is, he can really only use 'indirect ways' to show his love for her. Well, I am not saying 100% it's Bai Jue, but I am getting a feeling it was Bai Jue for all the prior points listed. He can't tell Hou Chi directly, but this is the only way he knew how, hence why he made this tomb/tablet for Qing Mu, goes to that place, before Hou Chi receive the message and then Hou Chi receiving the message later.

To put this into perspectives, sooner or later she will be hurt, it's either now, or prolong the the inevitable. Because again, this hurt was inevitable, but what Bai Jue is doing by doing what he's doing is using indirect methods to minimize her pain/hurt, at the same time, directly minimize the hurt by cutting ties with her sooner rather than later, because when it's time for him to fulfil his plan, and before you said that "well, in the end she finds out anyway, and was hurt with regret" <-- Well, yeah, if Bai Jue can go as far as enduring Shang Gu (Hou Chi) hating him forever, as long as she's alive/safe, then her hatred can be her strength to live on, he didn't plan for her to find out the truth later... Shang Gu remembering and remembering her time as Hou Chi, is more of a plot-point to push forward for them to get a happy ending. Yes, the process when she have to wait for Bai Jue hurts, but then she didn't have to wait 60,000+ years the way Bai Jue did, so between the two, we can see who actually waited longer here.

I won't deny that Bai Jue have hurted Hou Chi on his end, but people need to understand that it was inevitable. And while he hurts her, but he is also using indirect methods to minimise the hurt that she will receive in the overall outcome. To him, Qing Mu and Hou Chi being together isn't supposed to happen, because originally, he just want to kept things platonic between them, thus him sacrificing silently. Minimising the pain. If you see the conversation between Gu Jun and Bai Jue, you will see that what has happened, showed that it was now inevitable for him to do this to her. It is hurting him a lot to do this to her...

So really, it isn't only Hou Chi hurting here, it hurts Bai Jue to do this to her as well.

Don't just keep thinking that if Bai Jue told her the truth, then in that sense, yes, she will be less hurtful, but he knows that if Hou Chi found out then she would stop him in this tribulation. So there's two sides to the coin here.

Just like how back then, how hard Bai Jue tried to stop Shang Gu from going through with this.... So they can both think of a plan, but Shang Gu, was determined to go through with it. Bai Jue is the same now. The only difference is, for Bai Jue who watched it all happened back then when he know what's going to happen, but is powerless to stop it, he didn't want Hou Chi to go through the same pain he felt back then (because he knows it's painful to see the one you love to die in front of your eyes). THIS is the reason why Bai Jue was so determined to keep it away from Hou Chi. 60,000 years ago, when he stopped the process, and absorbed it into himself, his destiny was already determined (doomed), and that's the path he wants to take.

But alas, this is how I see it. Certainly is sad to see people not trying to see things from a two side perspective instead of one. I mean, yeah, I can see Hou Chi is hurting too, but what is happening now, it is also hurting Bai Jue to be cold to her, and it is really sad (from my view) that I can clearly see his pain/suffering that he's enduring, yet, he can only use 'indirect methods' to show his love/care for Hou Chi/Shang Gu and Yuan Qi....

For me, I just can't understand how fans can hate on Bai Jue right now, how can they not understand that what Shang Gu is saying is also hurting Bai Jue, so it's equal the hurt, but for Shang Gu, at least she's surrounded by people she loves, but Bai Jue? He is all alone, alone, so how come people don't understand just how much Bai Jue have suffered silently on his end?? Honestly, I know and can understand Hou Chi is hurt from losing Qing Mu, but it also hurts Bai Jue (double the pain) to have to do this to her, since all he ever wanted was for her to live a happy/carefree life away from her destiny, but in the end, it was destiny that brought Qing Mu and Hou Chi together. Sad really, if people can see it from both sides, and different angles, then we can all just enjoy this together, but at the end of the day, I guess this is what makes ALP a great drama, despite our different perspectives, we can still talk about it so much in depth.

For me, I understand that Hou Chi / Shang Gu is hurting, yes, but I ALSO understand that she isn't the only one hurting, Bai Jue is too, if not more, if you think about it, or try to see it from his angle. Even if you can't see it or feel his pain, I CAN, so kudos to Xu Kai for playing out Bai Jue very well. He is now listed as one of my favourite actors in the overall. 


Anyways, I am ending this by saying, I only made this thread to shred some light and also because I am getting tired of (somewhat) repeating myself to those people, so in the end, you can take this insight or leave it. Depending on how your reply is, if I feel like I will be repeating myself by saying the same thing again, I won't bother to reply, and I will just leave it that we have different perspectives. I know we have different opinions/perspectives and that is fine, even if we don't agree on everything that has happened, for me, I will say this again, I don't hate Bai Jue, I still love him and I don't understand how people can hate him right now considering you can clearly see how much it is hurting him now, since hurting Hou Chi / Shang Gu was never his intention, but he is hurting, ever so, silently... If anything, I actually felt sorry for him, I know how much he is enduring right now, and the later episodes, how he shows me that he can only use indirect ways to show his love for both Shang Gu and Yuan Qi, I just find it all the more endearing, yet sad, at the same time, because he have to bear the pain of being misunderstood, yet that is the path he's decided on....

Love Reading your analysis of the story 

 Sasha91:

Love Reading your analysis of the story 

Thank you! I am glad to know you do! 

I love your assumptions on Bai Jue's point of view. There is no doubt on how well Xu Kai acted. I don't think I could ever hate Bai Jue even a little bit.

 Amanda9:

I love your assumptions on Bai Jue's point of view. There is no doubt on how well Xu Kai acted. I don't think I could ever hate Bai Jue even a little bit.

Thank you, honestly, wish I can give 'likes' for these replies, since it saves me from replying to each one haha. 

I am glad to know you're among one of the people in here who can understand this in Bai Jue's pov, and can't ever hate Bai Jue (truth be told, I can't either, so it's always saddening to me to see people who actually hates him though). Xu Kai acting is great! He made the character portrayal so enjoyable and I love how he portrayed the emotions (his pain silently, and his love for Hou Chi/Shang Gu), so for me personally, I really love Xu Kai on my end and I also have to say that ZDY did a great job in her character as Hou Chi and Shang Gu also. 

What i feel after reading the novel is I feel sad for Bai Jue and hoping he get happy ending with Shanggu. Yeah i like when he's Qingmu or BoXuan too but at the end of the day i want to give a hug for him, after the sacrifice and endurance that he's done. In the novel we saw how he loves Shanggu indirectly, and what he thought. Its so bitter and painful and hopeful at the same time. And I think Xu Kai manage to portray that emotions well. How he's hurting that he has to hurt her but he doesn't have any choice since HouChi is stubborn the last path to take is to be cruel to her. I love how in the novel Shanggu is more coolhead and admit that Houchi doesn't know how to give up, and she punish Bai Jue not just because of Houchi/Qingmu's matter but also he make Gujun and BoXuan dead. Cmiiw

 Although I actually don't know why he's doing what he's doing, i mean chaos the tribulation is surely a big thing and the 3 realm and Shanggu surely will know after it happened and she will realized what he's done. I don't think Shanggu can hate him after knowing he sacrifice for her, even without all the knowledge of the extent of what he's done. 

Summary of Bai Jue's/Qing Mu's life: From a formidable Ice Cube , to a Warm but Short Lived BonFire.
*cries*

"The one who is left behind is usually the one who suffers the most" 

Yes, this is usually the case, but if you're thinking that Bai Jue doesn't consider Shang Gu's feelings here when he made that decision to sacrifice himself for Shang Gu so she can stay alive, and looking at the whole "the one left behind is usually the one who suffers the most" then, I will try to put this into perspective for you. 

(1) Back then, when Shang Gu decides to go through the tribulation of chaos by sacrificing herself, did she also considered how Bai Jue would feel at the end of all this? She did it anyway, despite Bai Jue told her not to, how do you think Bai Jue is feeling in that moment? I am not saying that she intended to hurt Bai Jue, but her decision ultimately did hurt Bai Jue back then. "The one who is left behind is usually the one who will have to suffer", back then Shang Gu did not think of the after result of the impact on Bai Jue when she was determined to sacrifice herself in the end for the safety of the three realms. So in the end, from her perspective she did it anyways knowing that Bai Jue will bear the pain of being the one to survive, and losing her. Try to backtrack to that part and how Bai Jue actually felt in that moment, before anyone goes and say "Bai Jue is cruel for doing this to Shang Gu......"

(2) At least for Bai Jue, he made sure and did all that he could, e.g. keeping things platonic when he was Bo Xuan with Hou Chi, telling her to not venture outside etc, he even, tells her that he will come back to her one day, to give her hope so she won't go out looking for him. Hou Chi and Qing Mu falling in love, was not supposed to happen, because of what happened Bai Jue had to be cold to her now (which is not what he wanted to), the reason he pushed her away(as we see now) is because he wanted her to stay out of the danger and he didn't want her to find out about what he's planning on his end, because he knows that if she found out she will stop him, ok, what I want to say is, in Bai Jue's case, he really did all he could, endure all the pain, to the point of being misunderstood by the one person (Shang Gu/Hou Chi) he loved whole heartedly and is doing this for, to the point that he didn't mind if she hates him, because to him, as long as she is alive at the end then that's what he wanted. No, he doesn't want her to suffer by being alive, that's why he went as far as to endure all the pain from having Shang Gu misunderstand him, to remove Shang Gu's memories so she doesn't have the memories of the time when they are together, so in Shang Gu's eyes, she only have the memories of the time when she doesn't know how Bai Jue felt for her, so to her it was just a one sided crush. She didn't know how Bai Jue felt for her because that part of her memories was removed from her. Bai Jue endures all this, and he did it for a reason, and justifiable too I might say. Before he goes and sacrifice himself, he told her to not think of him anymore, and to not dream of him anymore, he told her to take good care of herself, and that was his final good bye to her. He made sure that she is surrounded by the people who is like a family to her, those who care and love her, this was all before he sacrifice himself, so in the end, Bai Jue did what he could so that even if he's gone, Shang Gu can live on happily without ever knowing the truth. Because he cared, cared whether she's living happily or not after he's gone, thats also the reason why he endured so much to have her hate him and forget about him. To even have her said those hurtful words to him that she will never love him or hate him, they will be strangers and will never meet again....

So, really, try to see this from both sides here. In the end, Shang Gu will eventually find out the whole truth, but this is not Bai Jue's plan, because he didn't want her to find out if she is going to be sad and suffer from it.... otherwise he wouldn't have tried so hard to did all that he did to ensure she doesn't know... Why she found out the truth was not in his plan, it was 'Destiny' giving them a second chance for them to be happy, and since this is also considered a trial of their love, they will get their happy ending but honestly, in my opinion, between the two, and the whole "the one who is left behind is usually the one who hurts more", Shang Gu never go beyond and think that far, she only thought of accepting her responsibility and disregarding Bai Jue's feelings at the time, so it isn't only just on Bai Jue disregarding Shang Gu's feelings by not telling her the truth here, for Bai Jue's case, at least it serves a purpose where he endured all this just to make sure that Shang Gu forgets about him so she won't be burden or hurt when he's gone... really, try to understand that Bai Jue had it more hard in comparison, and he even waited longer for her than she on him(for their happy ending)... 

Look, I love Shang Gu too, and but if someone is going to use that "the one who lives is the one who suffers", then this is honestly my answer to you. Don't always try to fault and blame everything on Bai Jue by just looking at Shang Gu's pov, she have made some questionable choices too which back then, when she was determined have hurted Bai Jue and this needs to be reminded of if you go the "Bai Jue didn't consider her feelings" , "Bai Jue is cruel to leave her all alone in this world".... card on me...

I totally agree. Bai Jue bears the weight and suffering of her practically lonely plan. This is also painful for him.

 Lorena Li:

I totally agree. Bai Jue bears the weight and suffering of her practically lonely plan. This is also painful for him.

Indeed. I felt like making a thread for this is better tracked then in the comment section. Once I do up a review in here, I will be sharing the link to this thread(topic) to my review as well, to further express my views about Bai Jue, and how much he deeply loved, and sacrificed for Hou Chi/Shang Gu. 

If people hates him or don't understand him, then well, that's on them, to me they are clearly missing out a great/indepth and loveable character IMO. 

 KiKo Tsukino:

Indeed. I felt like making a thread for this is better tracked then in the comment section. Once I do up a review in here, I will be sharing the link to this thread(topic) to my review as well, to further express my views about Bai Jue, and how much he deeply loved, and sacrificed for Hou Chi/Shang Gu. 

If people hates him or don't understand him, then well, that's on them, to me they are clearly missing out a great/indepth character IMO. 

I feel for the people who abandon this drama. They are missing a big story. 

 Lorena Li:

I feel for the people who abandon this drama. They are missing a big story. 

I am getting two of my friends to watch it, because I haven't encountered a Xianxia story this good for a long time now. Hopefully 2 of my friends will end up loving it. 

And yeah, those who gives up and not give it a try sure is missing out IMO.

 Lorena Li:

I feel for the people who abandon this drama. They are missing a big story. 

yes....i cant disagree with this beautiful quote...their bigbigbig loss..👏

Bai jue is a complex character and is really misunderstood. Both Shang gu and Bai jue suffered a lot but all their fate was cruel. I love the story and characters, its a wonderful story with soo much pain and suffering. I m really happy to be able to watch such a wonderful story after a long while. As for Bai jue he is the most pitiful character, He did all that knowing that he would never end up with his love of his life and he was alone while doing it all. He did what he could but could not control what happened and in the end had to huet houchi/shang gu. For me both houchi and shang gu were the same person just without the memories of the other. Although many said that they were different and houchi had to dissapear for shang gu to come back was a misunderstanding. Just like Bai jue and qing mu both shang gu and houchi were one but i don't know why shang gu did not remember houchi they are definitely the same person.    

 dark pheonix:

Bai jue is a complex character and is really misunderstood. Both Shang gu and Bai jue suffered a lot but all their fate was cruel. I love the story and characters, its a wonderful story with soo much pain and suffering. I m really happy to be able to watch such a wonderful story after a long while. As for Bai jue he is the most pitiful character, He did all that knowing that he would never end up with his love of his life and he was alone while doing it all. He did what he could but could not control what happened and in the end had to huet houchi/shang gu. For me both houchi and shang gu were the same person just without the memories of the other. Although many said that they were different and houchi had to dissapear for shang gu to come back was a misunderstanding. Just like Bai jue and qing mu both shang gu and houchi were one but i don't know why shang gu did not remember houchi they are definitely the same person.    

Thanks for voicing your opinions to this. 

From my understanding Shang Gu didn't have Hou Chi's memories is because Bai Jue removed it along with the the memories of the whole Tribulation of Chaos, so to Shang Gu when she have woken up again, she only have the memories of after she came back from training at the Netherlands, so she didn't know about Hou Chi, let alone, about Bai Jue's feelings and what this whole 'Tribulations of Chaos' is all about i.e. her responsibility as the Chief God, to sacrifice herself to bring peace to the three realms. 

Bai Jue is indeed the most pitiful character, but I really do love him on my end, he did what he could to ensure Shang Gu/Hou Chi doesn't get hurt later, if there's a choice he really don't want to be cold to her, because it hurts him to see her getting hurt like this. 

For me, I don't separate Qing Mu from Bai Jue, since he is still Bai Jue to me. Qing Mu condition is the same as Hou Chi if you look at it, because Qing Mu is Bai Jue, and Hou Chi is Shang Gu, just without their memories of their past. Their love is an extension to Bai Jue and Shang Gu, just like what Gu Jun said in episode 33 "Your love with Hou Chi kind of makes up for their regret", because the short time they had as Qing Mu and Hou Chi is an extension to the love Bai Jue and Shang Gu want to have with each other, but they never got the chance to due to the tragedy that happen. If it didn't happen, and if they weren't tied to their responsibilities back then, they would have been able to get that kind of love. Remember how Shang Gu said, when she spent that one day with Bai Jue (before she sacrificed herself), Shang Gu asked Bai Jue why he is so sweet to her(the last day they both shared with each other), and Bai Jue said that it's not impossible, showing that if they have time, without the tragedy happening, Bai Jue can show that kind of love to Shang Gu back then. So, this is why when Bai Jue returns with complete memories, despite he is breaking off these emotional connection to those he cared about, he still cherish the time he (as Qing Mu) have with Hou Chi and why when Hou Chi asked him to divorce her, it hurted him so much and he was reluctant at first, but in the end, it just have to be, because he's determined to go through with his plan. In addition to this, Bai Jue have already shown me he can be sweet when it comes to his love for Shang Gu, so for me, I don't separate Qing Mu and Hou Chi from Bai Jue and Shang Gu. To, me they are the same, just under different identity when they love each other as Qing Mu and Hou Chi. As Bai Jue and Shang Gu, their love is not inferior to their love as Qing Mu and Hou Chi in my opinion, because, they've been through a lot to be together, and to see the sacrifice and pain Bai Jue did all that, it made me love them even more, because their love provided me the angst, and a sense of touching love story, which I love. I just wish they had a more happier/fulfilling ending that what the drama had to offer (still sad about that though)