OK everyone's entitled to their opinion but I just want to say that it was xie lian who pushed them away, and after what happened it's understandable why he did, but they had no idea what happened all they knew was that the prince they knew was changing into a different person https://twitter.com/nicozawas/status/1248992558178598913

who didn't want them around. I'm ngl their empathy for him wasn't great, but neither was his for them he didn't know wtf was going on with either of their personal lives despite them being his closest friends. I'm not saying xl is to blame ofc because what he was going thru

was absolutely horrible, but I'm just saying that their relationship dynamics were rocky to start with so all it took was some pushing away for them to think they were unwanted by him. In the case of mq especially the insecurity he had about his relationship to xl ran deep

and I think that was more his own personal issue so him leaving was his way to try and prove himself to be an equal to xl, which undoubtedly because of the timing just ended up making him look disloyal and hurting xl, but I think mq probably thought he could help xl in some way

by regaining status. I'm not writing this well i know because I haven't put much effort into analysing what went down before but I just know it was more complex than them just being shitty friends. Feng xin in particular didn't want to leave initially, and i don't think even

after he completely gave up on xl. People fight and walk out sometimes, but people do come back too. Who knows if he would have came back because 191 happened the next day and that was when xl completely broke, so no time for either of them to cool off and try and fix it. Even

if he did go back he would have found no trace of xl (I can't remember if xl gave his parents a burial or not) because he was already on the revenge route.
On the issue of why neither of them contacted xl in those 800 years wasn't it canon that even hua cheng couldn't find

Xl until after his third ascension? If even the ghost king who was able to defeat 33 gods was unable to find xl, then I doubt they could've either. I also know that they both would've felt guilty after leaving xl and being the stupid emotionally constipated bitches they are, they

would not want to help xie lian directly in fear of either rejection (like when mq tried to help xl the first time), or him calling them out for it. That was why as soon as xl ascended they tried to help and watch over him subtly (E.g when he got given the ghost bridegroom case)

even going so far as to disguise themselves and follow him around lmao. Obviously they knew when xian le fell that xl's living conditions were shit because they themselves were living through it too, but in the present 1) he was a god and was even given a place to stay by

that bitch emporer 2) in 800 years xl probably could have found himself a decent place to stay (as he did before like when he became a guoshi for lqq or a general in ban yue) but his bad luck collar (which I don't think they knew about) and the fact he long gave up on being

a worshipped god means he probably didn't even attempt to rebuild a temple for himself until after he ascended again despite his past self being more than capable (mxtx didn't really explain why or how he did tho so it's hard to know why his mindset regarding that changed).

3) the xl they knew was the type who was used to luxuries and as I said before, was probably capable of finding himself somewhere better, but this xl is someone who is used to having the bare minimum and is accepting of it. they were understandably shocked seeing the changes

between this xl comfortably staying in a barely standing shrine, while the xl they knew was the type who lived a prince's life and who after losing that lifestyle struggled a lot. this shrine was just proof that xl had changed a lot in 800 years, and they were likely concerned

but as usual them being emotionally dumb bitches acted rude about it.
wow this is probably my worst thread yet in terms of coherency and structure of my thoughts, but yeh i just wanted to talk about the xian le trio's relationship and how it fell. i don't think any of them

can be completely faulted because all of them made mistakes. they all were absolutely horrific at just talking to eachother, and if it wasn't obvious how much they did care about eachother I would question the legitamacy of their friendship, but their actions do show that

there is a strong care for eachother there. i think because they went through such a drastic change in their relationship dynamics due to the situation change after the fall of xian le, it caused a lot of strain. the dianxia they admired and served was now wholly dependant on

them and that combined with their own personal issues and grief i don't doubt it would have been hard for them. they both wanted to help but xl himself was even pushing them away (unintentionally or not), the already existant strain combined with that, plus the fact that

white no face was actively trying break all of xl's relationships and make him feel like he was on his own... it was a recipe for disaster and with none of them being any fucking good at talking it would've taken a while for them to talk and work things out, but of course

by the time i think mq and fx would've gotten their heads out of their asses xl would've been gone. xl did think they abandoned him which is heartbreaking, but it really was more complex than just that. wnf planted a lot of thoughts in xl's head and that along with the trauma

of his experiences would've made it hard for him to believe that anyone would be there for him. all of that they did not Knwo about either and wouldn't have taken into consideration.

overall, yeh, they did fail at being there for Xie lian in those 800 years. but honestly i

Doubt that even if they did find him in that time period they would've been able to fix things. without hc i don't see xl being able to do that, because hc was the person that helped him to heal the wounds he had which they were a part of.
on the topic of them leaving him in the

First place I'm pretty sure that was doomed to happen no matter what because wnf wanted xie lian to be alone and abandoned, the fact that they already had a pretty badly communicated relationship just meant that misunderstandings and fights were quicker to happen. if they truly

knew what was going on we know that they wouldn't have just left xl like that, so even though it sucks it really isn't fair to blame them completely for that. they do care about xie lian and he cares about them, they're just all fucking stupid and went through the worst hellhole

of an experience that doomed their relationship.

Bruh i refuseeeee to reread this thread because I know its gonna be messy af. Just needed to say some points