Xiang Liu and Xiao Yao’s Story and Romance

 AH :

 HeadInTheClouds:
Neither XL nor CX would have done what Jing did - and it isn't because they love XY less than he does. They would have fought and exhausted all possibilities; Jing just folded like a cheap house of cards. Lack of strength of character aside, it's also because Jing had made XY his reason for living which doesn't speak well for his character to me. I don't see this as romantic - throwing away honour, responsibilities, rhyme and reason for "love" just showed me that this person is not well-balanced and has issues.
When CX and his guards arrived at the kill maze after the flame sequence had started, CX wanted to run directly into the flames (throwing away rhyme and reason and responsibilities) to look for XY. To protect him from himself, his guards felt like they had to knock him out. So they did. He genuinely "folded like a cheap house of cards" and was carried away, unconscious, before his guards even found XY. 

CX didn't transfer any of his own power to XY and tbh he didn't really contribute anything to saving XY's life beyond bringing his guards to XY's general vicinity and being delusional enough that his guards decided (without him telling them to do so) that they should keep transferring their own power to XY, even if doing so was useless. 

Xiao Xiao and his guards were the ones who searched through the flames to find XY, they were the ones who got her out of the kill maze, and they were the ones who decided to transfer power to her continuously, and then did so. All while CX was unconscious. And when he woke up, he was delusional. He was convinced that XY wasn't dead (even after all the best doctors agreed that she was) specifically because he was convinced that she wouldn't leave him behind. 

Hi @AH, I had written a very long long post with regard to CX's and Jing's contribution in recueing XY. Unfortunately, I acidentally clicked the "x" symbol, the page was closed and all of my work was gone. :((

Thus, I will just make a short comment about your opinion about CX's role. 

First, there is nothing wrong or less contribution from CX when he used his guard instead of himself to save XY. His guards had more spiritual power, more experience than him in this kind of emergency situation and they could do much better than himself. And the story proved that Xiao Xiao and Jin Xuan dealed with this crisis properly within their capability.  CX had the resource and luxury to have such skillful guards and those guards worked for him, respected his interest and prioritized him and his interest because he had convinced them, trained them. That was his quality. Xiao Xiao and other would not risk their lives to get into the inferno to search for XY if it was not because of CX's deparate desire and they knew how important was XY to CX. Those guards worked like the emergency workers in our modern life. If there were fire or terrible accident happening to our relative or loved one, we always call emergency service first. Xiao xiao knocked CX out, making him unconscious because he could not do better than them (especially in unstably emotional status when he arrived at the site) and if he had gone into the maze, they would have allocate resource to protect him and could not have fully focused on seeking for XY in limited amount of time (they could stand inside for half hour maximum?). 

And when he woke up, you thought that he was delusional because he was convinced that XY would not leave him behind. Actually, althought his doctor Jin said that XY was dead but her body was not completely "dead". Her body was still solf and warm because of the steady, continuous spiritual power tranfered to her body. Compared with her status when Xiao xiao found her (cold, stiff, no breath and pulse) there was signal of improvement.

小夭没有一丝生气，但因为有灵力源源不绝地输入，她的身体还是温暖柔软的，并没有冰凉僵硬。虽然感受不到她的脉搏和呼吸，可玱玹觉得她的心脏仍在微微地跳动。

Xiaoyao was not alive at all, but because of the steady, continuous input of spiritual power, her body was still warm and soft, not cold and stiff. Although he couldn't feel her pulse or breathing, Cangxuan felt that her heart was still beating slightly.

Thus, in CX's eye, XY was not considered as completely dead. Was his feeling of weak heart beat delusional or he did feel the very weak heart beat?

And later Xing Yue brought another 2 doctor whose father studied medicine with Sheng Nong emperor. They told him that they were incompetent. CX still insisted and keep hoping that XY could go throught the tribulation. 

馨悦问两个医师：“王姬可……真死了？”

两个医师回道：“已死，五脏虽还有生气，但那全是靠着源源不绝的灵力在支撑，一旦停止输入灵力，五脏就会死透。”

馨悦犹豫了下，对金萱说：“小夭已死，玱玹却还不愿接受现实，你们尽力宽慰一下他。”

Xinyue asked the two doctors: "Is Wang Ji... really dead?"

The two doctors replied: "She is dead. Although her five internal organs are still alive, they are all supported by a steady stream of spiritual power. Once the input of spiritual power stops, the five internal organs will die completely."

Xinyue hesitated for a moment and said to Jin Xuan: "Xiaoyao is dead, but Cangxuan is still unwilling to accept the reality. You should try your best to comfort him."

....

输灵气的暗卫脸色发白，另一个暗卫立即换下了他。

The secret guard who lost his spiritual energy turned pale, and another secret guard immediately replaced him.

So, there was still signal of life on XY. And CX hold on it. The supply of spiritual energy by his guards was kept. 

CX still kept that tiny thread hanging XY's last signal of live. Since he woke up, he was in charge of making the decision. I believe that if XL had not come, CX would keep his guard or asking for people with high level of spiritual power to do what they had done just to keep her "alive" and waiting for miracle or good doctors that could cure her. He probably would not drag her around like @HeadInTheCloud said but he would drag or try all kind of doctors. Trusting XL was evidence for his will of rescueing her and his belief that she would get through. 

----------------------------------

Extra discussion point: 

As we see in the original text, XY's internal organ was kept working by the steady spiritual power. TH used the idiom/phrase "源源不绝" to express the characteristics of the spiritual power. This input of spiritual power was mentioned twice in chapter 21 during the time XY was in Zijin Palace on Sheng Nong peak. Thus, we can rule out that the power came from Jing. 

In chapter 22, from XY's POV, she said when her heart was so weak and she run out of physical strength to keep her heart beating despite the guilde from the other heart, suddently there was a surge of steady spiritual power to her heart and she could follow the instruction of the other heart and locked up herself. 

她真的没力气了，就那一点点比风中烛火更微弱的心跳都已耗尽她全部的力气。即使有另一颗心脏的牵引鼓励，她的心跳也越来越微弱。

突然，源源不绝的灵力输入进来，让那点微弱的心跳能继续。

她听不到、看不见、什么都感受不到，可是她觉得难过，因为那些灵力是那么伤心绝望。连灵力都在哭泣，小夭实在想不出来这些灵力的主人该多么伤心绝望。

She really had no strength, and her heartbeat, which was weaker than a candle in the wind, had exhausted all her strength. Even with the tug and encouragement of another heart, her heartbeat was getting weaker and weaker.

Suddenly, a steady stream of spiritual power came in, allowing the weak heartbeat to continue.

She couldn't hear, see, or feel anything, but she felt sad because the spiritual power was so sad and hopeless. Even the spiritual power was crying. Xiao Yao really couldn't imagine how sad and desperate the owners of these spiritual powers must be.

TH used the same phase for the spiritual power - 源源不绝. There are many words which have the same meaning of continuous (or unending). Why did TH use only 1 phrase to indicate the characteristic of the stream unless she gave the glue that they came from the same source. The word that TH used to describle Jing's spiritual power is 不停 = without stopping)

XY could not hear, see or feel anything externally (the last image that she saw before she "died" was the flower petals flying toward her). But she felt the emotion of the spiritual power. How did she do it if her senses were numb. There is only one reasonable answer is she felt it via the bug connection. Hence the power came from XL. 

Additionally, what Xiao Xiao ordered the guards to transfer to XY was spiritual energy (spiritual  [qi]). The water jade pallet and the contiuous supply of spiritual energy [qi] worked similarily to the blood-spelled claim shell that XL used to save XY in chapter 48. 

归墟海上的水晶洞内，漂浮着一枚白色的海贝，海贝上遍布血咒，小夭无声无息地躺在咒文中央。充沛的水灵灵气汇聚在她身周，就好似蓝色的轻烟在萦绕流动，让她显得极不真实。玱玹伸出手，想确定她依旧在，却怕破坏阵法，又缩回了手，只能眼睛一眨不眨地盯着。

A white seashell floated on the surface in a crystal cave on Guixu sea. The seashell was covered with blood spells, and Xiao Yao laid silently in the centre of the written spells. Abundant spiritual energy from water spirits gathered to envelope her like blue mist, lingering and flowing, making her appear ethereal. Cang Xuan reached out his hand, wanting to make sure she was still there but then withdrew his hand for fear of breaking the formation, and could only stare at her without blinking. 

Therefore, XL did not only sending the spiritual power (via the bug) to help her lock herself up but he kept sending it all the time until he reach to Sheng Nong peak to keep her organ working at minimum level. CX's guard supplied XY spiritual energy ([qi]) since it was the vital element which use by the body organ to maintain vitality. People were only dead when they run out of [qi]. 

BOTH XY AND CX FOUGHT TO KEEP XY ALIVE AND THEY DID NOT ACCEPT HER DEATH AND SURRENDER AS JING. Jing's spiritual power only kept XY's body from the fire. But it would be much better if he brought her out of the maze when the inferno started which he could do much better and faster than anyone due to his special eyes which allowed him to see through the magical maze. 

Glossary of Terms in Wuxia, Xianxia & Xuanhuan Novels | Immortal Mountain (wordpress.com) 

Below are some discussion in the past about the Merlin assasination and debate about the steady spiritual power sent to XY

https://mydramalist.com/discussions/lost-you-forever/110123-xl-and-xy-story-and-romance-warning-spoilers?pid=2848205&page=305#p2848205 (analysis by luv2bafangurl)

https://mydramalist.com/discussions/lost-you-forever/110123-xl-and-xy-story-and-romance-warning-spoilers?pid=2847331&page=302#p2847331 (Liddi translated some part of chapter 21-22)

Xiang Liu and Xiao Yao’s Story and Romance - Page 306 #2922553 - Lost You Forever - MyDramaList 

https://mydramalist.com/discussions/lost-you-forever/110123-xl-and-xy-story-and-romance-warning-spoilers?pid=2848819&page=306#p2848819 (Liddi's revised theory)

 nathsketch:

His fans managed to make an already ridiculous character into something simply repellent. Imagine thinking the PLB is a "guarantee for love not to change", "a cheat connection",

This is an example of deliberate, willful misinterpretation of a work to suit your agenda/purpose that I questioned. The Lovers Bugs is a plot device with "knots" in it that the author probably didn't think about or couldn't explain even if she tried. So there is room for interpretations. But not like that. I don't engage with people like this because they are not sincere and reasonable to me. Continuing to engage with such people just makes me the clown. 

And, my god, do I hate some of the changes to the XL character in the drama. That scene on the left above that Kokuto and blabla100 discussed a little earlier, is one of them. No wonder some long-term XL's fans from the novel gave up on the drama.

 Kimiya78:

Hey AH  
And thanks a great deal for your elaborate responses I even copy them in my note to refer to em when having ambiguity :)

You're welcome :)

 H19279:

Hi @AH, I had written a very long long post with regard to CX's and Jing's contribution in recueing XY. Unfortunately, I acidentally clicked the "x" symbol, the page was closed and all of my work was gone. :((

Oof I hate when that happens. RIP all that effort </3

 H19279:

First, there is nothing wrong or less contribution from CX when he used his guard instead of himself to save XY. His guards had more spiritual power, more experience than him in this kind of emergency situation and they could do much better than himself. And the story proved that Xiao Xiao and Jin Xuan dealed with this crisis properly within their capability.  CX had the resource and luxury to have such skillful guards and those guards worked for him, respected his interest and prioritized him and his interest because he had convinced them, trained them. That was his quality. Xiao Xiao and other would not risk their lives to get into the inferno to search for XY if it was not because of CX's deparate desire and they knew how important was XY to CX. Those guards worked like the emergency workers in our modern life. If there were fire or terrible accident happening to our relative or loved one, we always call emergency service first. Xiao xiao knocked CX out, making him unconscious because he could not do better than them (especially in unstably emotional status when he arrived at the site) and if he had gone into the maze, they would have allocate resource to protect him and could not have fully focused on seeking for XY in limited amount of time (they could stand inside for half hour maximum?). 

I agree that there is nothing "wrong" with CX contributing to XY's survival this way, but as for whether it is "less" or not... I simply cannot give CX 100% of the credit for the things his employees did. All the work they put in, all the risk they took on, and all the spiritual energy they gave. CX was willing to put himself at risk, clearly, but did not actually do so. So perhaps some credit for intentions if you're feeling generous, but none for execution there. He provided no spiritual energy of his own, he provided no essential blood transfusions, and he did not sacrifice an extra life. So no credit for any of that. He brought people who were capable of helping XY to her vicinity. I do give him credit for that. Due to how much he cared about XY, his employees decided, while he was unconscious, to continuously transfer power to her and to put her on a special pallet. Since doing so appeared to be useless, they presumably would not have put in so much effort if CX had not cared so much for XY. And those contributions were necessary for XY's survival. So I give him some credit for that, but not as much as I would give him if he did those things himself. After he woke up he called more doctors to examine XY. They weren't able to do anything for her, so again maybe some credit for effort, but none for execution. 

 H19279:

Compared with her status when Xiao xiao found her (cold, stiff, no breath and pulse) there was signal of improvement.

 H19279:

Xiaoyao was not alive at all, but because of the steady, continuous input of spiritual power, her body was still warm and soft, not cold and stiff.

The way I read it, XY was not cold and stiff when Xiao Xaio found her. TSJ was still transferring power to XY (despite being unconscious) when Xiao Xiao found XY and TSJ. The guards tried to separate TSJ from XY, but were not able to do so. So he was able to continue to transfer power to XY while the guards carried him and XY out of the maze. Outside of the maze, Xiao Xiao checked XY's pulse. When she didn't find one, she instructed the guards to begin to continuously transfer power to XY from that point on. 

After CX woke up, XY was "still" warm and soft, the way she was when Xiao Xiao found her, rather than cold and stiff the way she should have been given that she'd had no pulse and hadn't been breathing for quite some time. 

-----

Chapter 21:

As the time passed the guards with lower power already had charred skin but they didn’t stop and continued searching and calling. Suddenly Xiao Xiao called, “Halt!”

The five all paused and Xiao Xiao turned her head before pointing left. “Over there!”

The five rushed over and saw a man holding a woman tightly in the center of the flames, he was transferring power to her and her body was not scorched by the flames but he was completely burned to the point of passing out.

They surrounded the man and extinguished the flames and Xiao Xiao recognized him as Tu Shan Jing. She ordered, “I’ll take the Princess, you guys help Master Jing.”

They wanted to carry Jing but his arms were in a death grip around Xiao Yao and they couldn’t separate them. Xiao Xiao had no time to lose. “Take them together and we can deal with it later.”

A wood power guard created a stretcher and they placed Xiao Yao and Jing on it before carrying them out of the inferno.

They were all highly trained powerful warriors so they easily found their way out of the maze and escaped in no time. Zhuan Xu was still passed out and Xiao Xiao inspected Jing and Xiao Yao’s pulses and her face fell. “Master Jing is still alive but the Princess…..she has no pulse.”

Xiao Xiao put her hand on Xiao Yao’s back and said to the guards, “Back to Sheng Nong Mountain immediately. Even if it's useless, from now on we have to keep transferring power to the Princess. Tell Miss Xing Yue that the Princess is gravely injured and to bring us the best doctors in the Middle Plains but seal all the information.”

 H19279:

And when he woke up, you thought that he was delusional because he was convinced that XY would not leave him behind. Actually, althought his doctor Jin said that XY was dead but her body was not completely "dead". Her body was still solf and warm because of the steady, continuous spiritual power tranfered to her body. Compared with her status when Xiao xiao found her (cold, stiff, no breath and pulse) there was signal of improvement.

小夭没有一丝生气，但因为有灵力源源不绝地输入，她的身体还是温暖柔软的，并没有冰凉僵硬。虽然感受不到她的脉搏和呼吸，可玱玹觉得她的心脏仍在微微地跳动。

Xiaoyao was not alive at all, but because of the steady, continuous input of spiritual power, her body was still warm and soft, not cold and stiff. Although he couldn't feel her pulse or breathing, Cangxuan felt that her heart was still beating slightly.

Thus, in CX's eye, XY was not considered as completely dead. Was his feeling of weak heart beat delusional or he did feel the very weak heart beat?

That translation and Koala's translation are aligned. XY was not alive at all. The best doctors in the world AND CX could not feel her pulse. And yet the text also says that CX "felt" that her heart was still beating. If no pulse could be detected, then clearly he didn't physically feel her heartbeat. A weak heartbeat = a weak pulse, not no pulse. 

He believed that her heart was still beating with zero evidence to support that belief, and plenty of evidence to contradict it. And the specific reason that the novel gives for that belief is that he feels that XY would not leave him behind. Which is why I call him delusional. 

The continuous transfer of power kept her body warm and her organs alive, despite her lack of breath and apparent lack of a heartbeat, but the reason she was not actually as dead as she appeared and the reason she was able to be revived was her bug link with XL, which CX was not aware of. Like TSJ, CX got lucky.

-----

Chapter 21:

Xiao Yao had no life but with the power being continuously transferred to her, her body remained soft and warm rather than cold and stiff. Even though no pulse could be detected, Zhuan Xu felt that her heart was still beating slightly.

Zhuan Xu gently touched Xiao Yao’s forehead. “I know you’re very brave and you’ll make it through this. You’ve endured being left behind and I know you won’t leave me behind. I’ve planted the phoenix tree on Zhi Jin Summit and in tens of years it’ll grow tall. You promised me that you’ll be with me to watch the phoenix flowers bloom all over Sheng Nong Mountain.”

 H19279:

And later Xing Yue brought another 2 doctor whose father studied medicine with Sheng Nong emperor. They told him that they were incompetent. CX still insisted and keep hoping that XY could go throught the tribulation.

馨悦问两个医师：“王姬可……真死了？”

两个医师回道：“已死，五脏虽还有生气，但那全是靠着源源不绝的灵力在支撑，一旦停止输入灵力，五脏就会死透。”

馨悦犹豫了下，对金萱说：“小夭已死，玱玹却还不愿接受现实，你们尽力宽慰一下他。”

Xinyue asked the two doctors: "Is Wang Ji... really dead?"

The two doctors replied: "She is dead. Although her five internal organs are still alive, they are all supported by a steady stream of spiritual power. Once the input of spiritual power stops, the five internal organs will die completely."

Xinyue hesitated for a moment and said to Jin Xuan: "Xiaoyao is dead, but Cangxuan is still unwilling to accept the reality. You should try your best to comfort him."

....

输灵气的暗卫脸色发白，另一个暗卫立即换下了他。

The secret guard who lost his spiritual energy turned pale, and another secret guard immediately replaced him.

So, there was still signal of life on XY. And CX hold on it. The supply of spiritual energy by his guards was kept.

Again, that translation aligns with Koalas. The doctors were clear: XY was dead. There was no hope. The moment CX's guards stopped transferring power to her, her organs would die completely. CX was not willing to accept reality (going by the translation you provided) or the truth (going by Koala's translation). 

His delusion was not based in reality. He was simply lucky since, unknown to him, XL's life was keeping XY alive (along with the continuous transfer of power), and XL had the unique ability to revive XY from that nearly-dead state.

-----

Chapter 21:

Xing Yue asked the two doctors, “Is the Princess really…..dead?”

The doctors replied, “She’s dead. There is still life coursing through her because of the unending transfer of power into her body, but the moment that ends her body will be completely dead.”

Xing Yue hesitated and then said to Jin Xuan, “Xiao Yao is dead and Zhuan Xu hasn’t yet accepted the truth. Please do your best to comfort him.”

 H19279:

CX still kept that tiny thread hanging XY's last signal of live. Since he woke up, he was in charge of making the decision. I believe that if XL had not come, CX would keep his guard or asking for people with high level of spiritual power to do what they had done just to keep her "alive" and waiting for miracle or good doctors that could cure her. He probably would not drag her around like @HeadInTheCloud said but he would drag or try all kind of doctors. Trusting XL was evidence for his will of rescueing her and his belief that she would get through. 

Xiao Xiao and CX's guards kept XY alive. When CX woke up, he didn't order them to stop since he didn't accept that XY was dead. Sure. I don't see that as particularly worthy of credit. He refused to accept the diagnosis that all the best doctors gave him. Again, I don't see his inability to accept reality as worthy of credit or praise. Keeping XY's body in limbo indefinitely while waiting for a miracle in any other circumstance would have achieved nothing. CX was lucky that XL provided a miracle. 

I get that you and HeadInTheClouds view the idea of CX dragging XY's body around as somehow a good thing... but I have a friend who is an ICU nurse. I can't help but picture her watching in horror as a man drags the body of one of her patients from hospital to hospital, along with a life support machine that breathes and maintains a heartbeat for the body, creating the illusion of life despite the patient being 100% brain dead and 100% unable to breathe or produce a heartbeat without the machine, because he refuses to believe that the patient is dead and beyond saving. To me, that kind of action is sad and disturbing. Not positive. 

XY would not have survived if CX had not brought his people to save XY and if they had not gone on to transfer power to her. I fully acknowledge that. We just disagree about how much credit he (separately from Xiao Xiao and his guards) should get for his contributions. 

 H19279:

XY could not hear, see or feel anything externally (the last image that she saw before she "died" was the flower petals flying toward her). But she felt the emotion of the spiritual power. How did she do it if her senses were numb. There is only one reasonable answer is she felt it via the bug connection. Hence the power came from XL. 

Hearing, sight and the ability to sense external things would not have helped XY sense the emotions imbued in the spiritual power that was transferred to her, so I don't view the fact that she had lost those senses as relevant for this analysis. 

I also don't see any reason why XY would need the bug connection in order to sense emotions that were imbued in the spiritual power that had been transferred into her. She didn't feel the emotions of the person who transferred the spiritual power separately from the power itself. If that was the case, it would make sense to conclude that the bug connection must have been involved. But she senses emotions in the spiritual power itself. Power that had been transferred into her. I don't see what purpose the bug connection would serve in that case. 

When the sad and devastated spiritual power was transferred to her, XY wanted to see who had imbued such sad and devastated emotions into the spiritual power, but she didn't have the strength. To me, this means that it must have been necessary for the person to be physically with XY in order to transfer spiritual power to her. (I also personally do not take the view that there is any evidence to support the idea that it was possible for XL to transfer spiritual power to XY from a long distance away via the bug connection. The reference he made to a voodoo master controlling a bug from a long distance away in order to kill another person does not suggest to me that it must be possible to transfer spiritual power across a long distance via the bug connection between two Lovers' Bug hosts.) So if XY had had the strength to open her eyes, she would have been able to see the person who had transferred the power to her. XL was still far, far away at this point. The person who was physically with her was TSJ.

TL;DR - I do not view XY sensing the sad and devastated emotion imbued in the spiritual power that was transferred to XY as evidence that the power must have been transferred from XL.

-----

Chapter 22:

She really had no strength left, so that even the weak sole flame that was keeping her heart beating was too much to sustain. Even with another heart guiding her heart, still the heartbeat grew weaker.

Suddenly power coursed through her, unending streams of power that allowed the weak heartbeat to continue beating.

She couldn’t hear it, couldn’t see it, couldn’t even feel it, but she felt sad because the spiritual power was so sad and devastated. Even the power was crying and Xiao Yao couldn’t even imagine how heartbroken the owner of the spiritual power was.

Xiao Yao wanted to see who was so sad but didn’t have the strength. She could only follow the guidance of the other heart and slowly locked herself up. Just like a flower blooming, the reverse process was to return to being a bud, into a seed, back into the soil, laying in the Winter to wait for the Spring to arrive.

 H19279:

Jing's spiritual power only kept XY's body from the fire.

From my reading, I don't see evidence to support this conclusion.

 H19279:

BOTH XY AND CX FOUGHT TO KEEP XY ALIVE AND THEY DID NOT ACCEPT HER DEATH AND SURRENDER AS JING.

I'll reiterate a thought from one of my earlier comments.

TSJ protected XY from the flames of the maze and continuously transferred power into her body until CX's guards took over (after they had taken TSJ and XY's bodies out of the flames / maze), even though doing so seemed useless because XY appeared to be dead. It was lucky that he did so, because it kept her alive enough to be saved. If he had not done so, it would not have been possible for XL to save her. If CX's guards had not arrived in time, XY still would have died despite the TSJ's actions. 

After Xiao Xiao checked XY's pulse (after TSJ and XY's bodies had been taken out of the flames / maze) CX's guards transferred power into XY continuously until XL arrived, even though doing so seemed useless because XY appeared to be dead. It was lucky that they did so, because it kept her alive enough to be saved. If they had not done so, it would not have been possible for XL to save her. If XL had not arrived in time, XY still would have died despite CX's guards' actions.

In terms of actually contributing to saving XY's life, the only difference is that CX's guards took TSJ and XY's bodies out of the maze. Unlike TSJ, they could do so because they were not focused on continuously transferring spiritual power to XY at that point. 

IMO, CX and his guards did not contribute more to saving XY than TSJ did. 

 H19279:

But it would be much better if he brought her out of the maze when the inferno started which he could do much better and faster than anyone due to his special eyes which allowed him to see through the magical maze. 

If doing so would have required him to stop transferring spiritual power to XY, then it would not have been much better. Quite the opposite. It would have resulted in XY's death.

 nathsketch:

Attributes like "sad", "hopeless", and "crying" are usually associated with Jing, but it's extra nice to see that this time around it has nothing to do with him.

The description of the spiritual power being "sad", "devastated" and "crying" is one of several reasons that I still view TSJ as the most likely source of the spiritual power that XY described feeling in that scene. It matches up with TSJ screaming in devastation and crying while he was transferring spiritual power to her.

Presumably XL was also sad and devastated at this point. Perhaps he was even crying. We don't know.

But we do know for certain that TSJ was sad, devastated, AND crying when he transferred spiritual power to XY because Tong Hua shows us. IMO the "crying" description is included intentionally to hint at who provided the spiritual power.

-----

Chapter 21: 

Jing let out a scream from deep within his soul, it was a scream that didn’t even sound like it was made by a person, and he flew up and used his hands to slash the branches and grabbed Xiao Yao in his arms.

Jing went to feel for her pulse but felt nothing. His entire body was shaking and he tightly embraced Xiao Yao and tried to use his body warmth to warm her icy cold body.

He put his hand on her back and continued to push spiritual power into her. “Xiao Yao, Xiao Yao, Xiao Yao……”

...

Jing’s entire body was convulsing and his tears came down like falling rain. Xiao Yao, Xiao Yao, I beg of you!

No matter how much power he transferred to her, her pulse never started again.

Jing let out a gut-wrenching scream as his tears soaked her robe.

Xiao Yao! If you’re not in this world, how do you expect me to continue living? I was wrong! I was really wrong! I should have never left you! No matter what reason, I should have never left your side!

The final stage of the maze started and every single cherry blossom turned into a flickering flame and a burning inferno lit up to destroy everything so that even if the Grand Emperor and the Yellow Emperor wanted to destroy all there would be no proof left.

The flames rushed forward and burned Jing’s clothes and his skin was in pain but he continued to hold Xiao Yao tightly in his arms and allowed the flames to engulf them together.

Xiao Yao, I only want to be your Ye Shi Qi. I said I would listen to you for life so you can’t leave me! If you leave then I’ll go with you. No matter where you run to, I’ll always chase after you!

...

The five rushed over and saw a man holding a woman tightly in the center of the flames, he was transferring power to her and her body was not scorched by the flames but he was completely burned to the point of passing out.

They surrounded the man and extinguished the flames and Xiao Xiao recognized him as Tu Shan Jing.

This is response several points I've read in the last few posts. Since I'm on my phone, I won't be able to quote.

Point one is that I agree with this: 'I don't think XL would have accepted the Poison Love Bug if he hadn't planned on having a future as a lover/husband with XY.' XL had definitely planned to have XY by his side. Even after she became a princess, he came to see her not because he was only angry at her and wanted to punish her. He legitimately just missed her. The amount of disappointment he felt when he realized XY had intended to reengage on her oath was so well portrayed by JC. If she hadn't, then why did she hope he didn't recognize her?

XL loved her so much and all she was was a disappointment. I believe Headintheclouds had mentioned that perhaps XL got catfished and I literally laughed out loud. Sometimes I just feel so bad for XL for falling in love with XY, but because his love stemmed from an emotional bond and was compounded by physical attraction, it was harder for him to break.

Second, I disagree that XY loved Jing more. I genuinely feel that XY didn't love Jing more than XL. She perhaps loved XL at the same level as CX, except only romantically. She couldn't hurt CX by being with XL, so she lied and protected him by hiding XL. She couldn't love XL more than CX, so she hid her love deep in her subconscious.

XY and Xingyue had a conversation about how FFYY treated Jing. Xingyue has mentioned that when a woman loves a man, she sometimes will do the opposite and try to hide him from everyone, but when a woman hates a man, she will want everyone to know (paraphrasing).  TH meticulously hid XY's love for XL like this, I.e. Jing and CX come to her thoughts first, but XL is the last memory lingering. She dreams about Jing but ends the dream grieving not being able to be with FFB because he is XL.

The third point is that I had a conflicting image of where the sad spiritual power came from, but now that I'm super biased, it only makes sense that it belongs to XL. Haha. TH made it extremely vague. But the heartbeat guiding her strength, so that she wouldn't completely fall into oblivion, is definitely XL. Because of this heartbeat, she technically wasn't dead to me, and the doctor who couldn't detect this heartbeat wasn't powerful enough to feel it. In the end, the only person who kept XY from dying was XL. He was the heartbeat, while Jing and CX were just like the IV tube giving her vital fluids and vitamins (still important, obviously). ?

 nathsketch:

All this talk of power reminds me of the babe, but the babe with the power, 

the power of voodoo, 

can be no other than Xiang Liu :D :D :D 

No one else has the voodoo bugs and he's the only babe. Sorry in advance to the other dudes. Maybe next time ;)

haha! love it.

 nathsketch:

All this talk of power reminds me of the babe, but the babe with the power, 

the power of voodoo, 

can be no other than Xiang Liu :D :D :D 

No one else has the voodoo bugs and he's the only babe. Sorry in advance to the other dudes. Maybe next time ;)

 AH :

Oct 13, 2023 01:26 am
 nathsketch:
Such a babe. What a babe. Save that babe.

 AH :

 plor20:

But the heartbeat guiding her strength, so that she wouldn't completely fall into oblivion, is definitely XL. Because of this heartbeat, she technically wasn't dead to me, and the doctor who couldn't detect this heartbeat wasn't powerful enough to feel it.

I agree with this.

 plor20:

In the end, the only person who kept XY from dying was XL. He was the heartbeat, while Jing and CX were just like the IV tube giving her vital fluids and vitamins (still important, obviously).

I disagree with the notion that only XL kept XY from dying.

If TSJ had not transferred spiritual power to XY continuously and protected her body from the flames of the maze, XY would have died.

If CX's guards had not saved XY and TSJ from the maze in time and continuously transferred power to XY, XY would have died.

If XL had not used the bug connection to goad XY to keep her heartbeat going, if XL had not used the bug connection and his own heartbeat to guide XY's heart to keep going, if XL had not given XY transfusions of his essential blood, and if XL had not sacrificed one of his extra lives as part of a voodoo blood spell to extend XY's life, XY would have died.

XL did the most, but each of the three were essential. 

-----

Chapter 21:

Xiang Liu calmly said, “She’s almost out of time.” If it wasn’t for so many powerful people transferring power to Xiao Yao, even by the time Xiang Liu rushed here it would have been too late. It was by Zhuan Xu’s seemingly pointless effort that he managed to secure a lone shred of chance for Xiao Yao.

..

Xiao Xiao said, “We rushed into the maze to save the Princess. When we found her, Master Jing was protecting her. If it wasn’t for Master Jing using his spiritual power to protect her body then her body would have been incinerated into ashes already. Because he kept transferring power into her, it kept a sliver of hope alive. You can say Master Jing was the real person who rescued her. But when we got there he was already unconscious and we brought them both back to Zhi Jin Summit. Master Jing’s injuries are actually not severe but he’s the one who doesn’t want to live so that is why he’s not waking up.”

[Note: If XL also transferred power to XY before Xiao Xiao discovered XY's body, Xiao Xiao obviously would not know about it, which is why I have not quoted Xiao Xiao's statement as evidence in relation to who transferred the sad and devastated spiritual power to XY.]