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| Love Beyond the Grave: Why Carrying a Lantern in Daylight Is Never Just a Ghost–Human Romance (Photo: Tencent Video/China.com) |
Love Beyond the Grave (慕胥辞) might look like another fantasy romance on the surface, but its original novel Carrying a Lantern in Daylight (白日提灯) tells a far deeper, heavier, and more layered story than first impressions suggest.
Beneath the supernatural setting and dramatic visuals lies a narrative about distance, restraint, choice, and the quiet cruelty of time itself. Adapted from Li Qing Ran’s novel, the drama stars Dilraba Dilmurat as He Simu and Arthur Chen Feiyu as Duan Xu.
Trailers and official synopses tease a fated bond between a Ghost King and a young general, but readers of the original work know the story goes far beyond a simple love that defies worlds.
Not Your Typical Ghost King Story
In Carrying a Lantern in Daylight, He Simu is not a ghost who once lived as a human. She was born an evil ghost, the daughter of a former Ghost King and a human woman.
This makes her existence rare and unsettling even within the ghost realm. Despite appearing female, her title is Ghost King, not queen, a detail that quietly reinforces the novel’s refusal to follow neat labels.
The novel’s world-building is meticulous. When humans die, they first become unconscious spirits. Only after time can they regain awareness and reincarnate.
Those trapped by unresolved emotions remain behind, feeding on one another until they evolve into powerful evil ghosts. Strength is built on consumption, and power comes at a moral cost.
He Simu stands at the top of this hierarchy, yet she chooses restraint. She governs the ghost realm with strict rules, trading wishes rather than taking by force. It is a lonely form of authority, built on self-control rather than indulgence.
A Bond Built on Shared Senses
Duan Xu, a young general from the Great Liang Kingdom, enters He Simu’s life not through destiny alone but through a binding exchange of five senses. This connection allows He Simu to experience a world she has never truly known: colour, warmth, taste, and the fragile beauty of human life.
At first, Duan Xu meets her while she is possessing a fragile-looking human girl, appearing timid and harmless.
But when her true identity is revealed amid crows and ghostly fire, his reaction is not fear, but curiosity. That recklessness becomes his defining trait. Danger draws him in, and the closer he gets, the deeper he falls.
Their relationship grows through mutual understanding rather than idealised devotion. He Simu learns of Duan Xu’s past and ambitions, while he begins to see the weight she carries as the ruler of a realm she can never truly belong to.
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Love Versus Time
The novel is painfully aware of imbalance.
He Simu measures her life in centuries.
Duan Xu’s time is counted in decades. She knows that loving him means watching him fade, and that fear shapes many of her choices.
The story does not romanticise sacrifice lightly.
When He Simu runs away, it is not weakness but fear: fear of failing to protect his heart, fear of becoming the reason for his eventual pain. Duan Xu, however, is relentless.
Once he decides on something, neither gods nor fate can stop him.
His boldest act comes when he invites her to his wedding, not to another woman, but to the future he wants to share.
He offers her his ability to see colour so that the first vibrant world she witnesses is him, standing before her in wedding robes. It is romantic, reckless, and deeply human.
The Novel’s Ending Explained
The ending of Carrying a Lantern in Daylight is bittersweet rather than neatly joyful. Duan Xu chooses to do everything he has for a single shared moment of life. He Simu, fully aware of the cost, finally accepts.
Yet the story does not promise permanence. War continues, political tides shift, and unrest grows within the ghost realm itself.
Duan Xu’s body weakens as the exchange of senses takes its toll, a truth he hides from He Simu. Their love exists in borrowed time, precious precisely because it cannot last forever.
Rather than offering a clear victory over fate, the novel ends with acceptance. Love does not conquer time, but it gives meaning to the moments stolen from it.
For He Simu, who was born into eternity, that fleeting connection becomes the most human experience she will ever know.
Drama Adaptation: Familiar but Not Identical
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The upcoming drama Love Beyond the Grave is expected to follow the novel’s emotional core while adjusting plot details for television. Official materials suggest a stronger focus on destiny, shared senses, and the balance between the human and ghost realms, but readers are already preparing for changes in pacing and resolution.
As with many adaptations, the drama may soften some of the novel’s harsher truths, though its visual scale and casting promise an emotionally charged experience.
Reactions from readers and viewers are divided. Some praise the novel for its philosophical depth and refusal to romanticise immortality. Others admit the story is emotionally demanding, especially its focus on restraint rather than fulfilment.
Among drama fans, anticipation is high but cautious. Many are excited to see He Simu’s complex authority and Duan Xu’s dangerous devotion brought to life, while others worry the adaptation might simplify a story that thrives on nuance.
One thing most agree on is that this is not a comfort romance. It is a story that lingers, asking uncomfortable questions about love, time, and choice.
If you’ve read the novel or watched the trailers, what do you think matters more in this story: the romance, the world-building, or the emotional cost behind every choice? And if the drama changes the ending, would you welcome it, or would that betray what makes Carrying a Lantern in Daylight so unforgettable?