Talk:Xiao-Qing (Verta)/@comment-50.68.111.217-20191130034953/@comment-45.56.151.105-20200422145744

You were not over thinking. In the original tale, Xiao Qing was a male snake that wanted to marry Xiao Bai when he first saw her. Xiao Qing wanted to take her by force, but was defeated by Xiao Bai. He then asks to be Xiao Bai's servant and follow her forever. Xiao Bai think it's weired to have a male servant stay with him, so she rejected the idea. Then Xiao Qing turned himself into a young female. Which solved the problem. Xiao Qing followed Xiao Bai thereafter. They eventually get very close and become sisters.

The movie probably was hinting this tale. But the movie did not adopt this part of the tale. Also, it's commom in Japanese anime to show some romatic affections between sister-like female characters. Chinese anime is heavily influenced by Japanese anime.