Xiaoli

is the same lu guang as this one:

or let alone this one in one of the character profiles:

why do i think this? well, it has more with the nit-picking details i picked up from the clothing (the detail on the collar and pocket). for the very first two images of lu guang, he is depicted to having blue and black rectangle or stripe on his collar and one on his pocket, but on it's left side (although the watches are so switched too, so do with that information as you will).

not even cheng xiaoshi's outfit looks the same as it is not buttoned and has the pocket, but i guess it's a little change if you ask me. on the others, there is always a blue rectangle/stripe on the top part of the pocket, with some of the images missing the blue rectangle on the collar without the stripe or everything just missing (although it could just be to simplifying the outfit for animating it). however, for some reason, the vibes between these two lu guang are just not, the same? (if you catch my drift).

lu guang with the blue rectangles/stripes on both the collar and side of the pocket is always looking at the audience (which lu guang in most of these artwork does or looks away from the audience/us), with mostly similar vibes to lu guang in S1 and S2. yet, the lu guang with only the rectangle on his pocket is looking at cheng xiaoshi from below, with such a hopeful or innocent expression.

to me it looks a lot like wishful thinking, which he does a little (or most of the time) in the yingdu/bridon arc as he continues to keep cheng xiaoshi alive (at least). to me, it doesn't come off as the lu guang we've known (or at least developed into); more like his previous version of himself (who has made some mistakes in his own theories of perceiving time or to save cheng xioashi) as he's dived back in time a lot by now.

these little differences can be seen back to back (mostly in a second difference between each frame/scene):

or the fact that in these dreams and nightmares, the time on his watch is always 13th September 00:05, as if subconsciously accepting the inevitability of cheng xiaoshi's death, that he cannot be saved. the fact that every time, he chooses to dive back in time and look at cheng xiaoshi like its the first time, and act like he's okay, that he's alright. even if lu guang knows that death is an unchangeable point, he'll keep doing this over and over again for the very slim chance to save him.

but you know the only other character that really talks about punishment:

which is odd to me, meaning that the Red Eyes we saw in S1 cannot be the same red eyes as in S2, because if that truly was the case, Li Tianchen technically should enjoy killing and know about this "game" or so-called punishment throughout S2. Moreover, the killing styles are different since Li Tianchen kills others through suicide and specifically remembers his first kill as such.

however, i find it interesting when Red Eyes makes these claims because throughout S2, we never see Li Tianchen address this ever again or try to take Cheng Xiaoshi's powers via death which we see when qiao ling gets hers from li tianxi or when cheng xiaoshi died in the previous timelines. this means that Red Eyes already knows of the existence of other powers, i.e., probably lu guang, and how to take them as well; either from their own knowledge, or perhaps someone else (i'm looking at you, liu xiao). it could also explain lu guang's surprise when he learns about "someone having the ability possess spirits" as he probably never reached this far into a dive (assuming this actually takes place in 22/10/2021). this is also supported by the fact that in the yingdu/bridon arc when lu guang had a nightmare, cheng xiaoshi didn't say anything about the xu shanshan case.