No Paths are Bound
is a Heaven Official’s Blessing: Tian Guan Ci Fu fanfic by Cataclysmic_Calamity.
The story retells the events of the novels with a key point of divergence: After his first banishment, Xie Lian's cursed shackle was placed around his eyes instead of his neck, rendering him blind.
This fanfic contains examples of the following
- Adaptation Expansion: The fic expands on the events of Hua Cheng's time in the Kiln and his 800-year search for Xie Lian, as well as the backstories of other supporting characters.
- The exact circumstances behind Hua Cheng's death during the war between Xianle and Yong'an are never specified in the novels. Here, he's murdered by Qi Rong and Bai Wuxian as a means to hurt Xie Lian.
- Adaptation Origin Connection: Shi Wudu learned of the Reverend of Empty Words and its interest in his brother from Hua Cheng, and Jun Wu taught him the spell for switching fates.
- Adaptational Villainy: In this universe, Qi Rong's father not only abuses his wife and son, but also rapes Mu Qing and many other children.
- Babies Ever After: The epilogue reveals that over the next two millennia, most of the couples in the cast have had at least one child.
- Belligerent Sexual Tension: Between Ren Song and Lan Qiangiu
- Beta Couple:
- Mu Qing and Feng Xin
- Pei Ming and Shi Wudu
- Ling Wen and Yushi Huang
- Lan Qianqiu and Ren Song
- Yin Yu and Quan Yizhen
- Shi Qinxuan and He Xuan
- Canon Welding: Small details throughout the fic establish that all of Mo Xiang Tong Xiu's works are taking place in the same universe, such as characters from TGCF visiting locations and meeting the ancestors of characters from Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation: Mo Dao Zu Shi, or a cameo from the protagonist of The Scum Villain's Self-Saving System: Ren Zha Fanpai Zijiu Xitong.
- Distant Epilogue: The epilogue is set two thousand years after the events of the main story.
- Dramatic Irony: Xie Lian spends a large portion of the fic grieving Hong'er, not knowing that he was still around as a ghost.
- Similarly, readers watch Pei Ming believing that his son, and later Shi Wudu, is dead while knowing that both are still around.
- Genius Loci: Mount Tonglu is one in this universe due to Jun Wu's wife being imprisoned there after the kingdom of Wuyong was destroyed.
- The Lost Lenore: Hong'er is shown to be this for Xie Lian until he realizes that he's still around as Hua Cheng.
- Qing Yuan is this for Pei Ming.
- Official Couple: Hua Cheng and Xie Lian.
- Offing the Offspring: Shuo was murdered by his own father.
- Original Character: Due to the gaps in Hua Cheng's backstory, several new characters are introduced to flesh out his life between his time as Wu Ming and his reunion with Xie Lian at Mount Yujin:
- Zhao Beitong, a ghost who Hua Cheng encounters during his time at Mount Tonglu. She later reveals herself to be the spirit of Mount Tonglu and Jun Wu's ex-wife.
- Shuo, Bao, Yanlin, a trio of young ghosts who died as children and were held captive by Lang Ying at Mount Tonglu before Hua Cheng freed them.
- Paper-Thin Disguise: Feng Xin and Mu Qing's disguises as Nan Feng and Fu Yao don't fool Xie Lian for a moment.
- Parental Substitute: Zhao Beitong becomes one to Hua Cheng during his time at Mount Tonglu.
- Hua Cheng later becomes one for Shuo, Bao, and Yanlin.
- Rape as Backstory: Mu Qing was raped by Qi Rong's father when he was a child.
- Rape Is a Special Kind of Evil: Chapter 100 makes clear that rape is a line that even Qi Rong will not cross.
- Related in the Adaptation:
- In the novels, Mei Nianqing has no blood relation to Xie Lian whatsoever. Here, he's the latter's distant ancestor.
- In canon, Pei Ming and Hua Cheng have no relation to each other. Here, they are father and son.
- Secret Sex Worker: Xie Lian hides from his parents and Feng Xin that he tried to prostitute himself to earn money for their food and medicine.
- Sex for Services: When Xie Lian needs money to obtain medicine and food for his parents, he tries to prostitute himself to earn money (since him being blind makes it difficult to resort to robbery like he did in canon), but ends up not being able to go through with it.
- Slut-Shaming: Xie Lian is on the receiving end of this from the 33 Heavenly Officials he encountered during his first banishment, who shame him for being desperate enough to attempt prostitution to earn money.
- Spared by the Adaptation: In No Paths are Bound, Black Water spares Shi Wudu's life.
- Surprise Pregnancy: Shi Qinxuan discovers that she's pregnant after renouncing her godhood and being rendered mortal while stuck in her female form.
