Xiang Liu and Xiao Yao’s Story and Romance

 HeadInTheClouds:

I still think that she's really thoughtless. Now that I'm entertaining the thoughts that she knows more about the Lovers Bugs than she claims, it just leaves me with a not-so-positive opinion of her :-(.

Is there something in particular that made you think XY knows more about the bugs?

 HeadInTheClouds:

I'm wondering whether this is where some of our different interpretations came from.

Totally possible. 

 HeadInTheClouds:

I'm watching and reading this story in Vietnamese. My experience has been that the Vietnamese translation of Chinese dramas and literature is better compared to English. There are words and cultural contexts that are similar, while difficult to convey in English.

That makes sense. Others have also mentioned that the English subtitles fail to capture a lot of the details and nuances from the original dialogue. 

 HeadInTheClouds:

We will need to wait for liddi, to get the actual Mandarin translation, though.

ETA: speaking of the devil :-). Welcome back @liddi

I feel so lucky to get to see all the translations that have been provided in this thread. They are truly appreciated. ^^

 liddi:

I agree with this interpretation. The shaman king also says this in the novel:

巫王的脸皱成了一团，说道：“要么同心而生，要么离心而死，情人蛊一旦种下，无法可解...”
The shaman king's face wrinkled up. "They either live because their hearts are one, or die because their hearts are no longer one. Once the lover's bug is planted, it cannot be removed...."  

As such, the crux lies in the unchanging love the couple have for each other in their hearts, regardless of whether there is physical intimacy with someone else other than the one the bug was planted in.

I'm glad it matches up with the original text! ^^

 liddi:

It is ironic because Xiang Liu went in, fully knowing that if there was a risk of dying because of a heart that has changed and no longer has love, he was the one most at risk in the event she stopped loving him, while Xiao Liu was always secure in that sense.

A deeply selfless choice from the very beginning <3

 H19279:

What is the best understanding of heart connection? Does it include all emotion or specific emotion that links to heart or links to pain?

I took this to be more metaphorical rather than literal. Suggesting two lovers who are so close and connected emotionally that they can understand each other emotions.

 H19279:

If not, then they even can feel her touching anything.

That would definitely be distracting / difficult to get used to. 

 H19279:

unless he could control the bug to stop sending such signal

I really hope he does. It doesn't seem like it would be too much of a stretch, given how much control he has over other aspects of the connection. 

 HeadInTheClouds:

I took this to be more metaphorical rather than literal. Suggesting two lovers who are so close and connected emotionally that they can understand each other emotions. 

Based on that interpretation, are you thinking that being so connected emotionally that they can understand each other's emotions is a requirement for the lovers (like proof of their love?) to produce Lovers' Bugs?

I'm going off of the English translation here, so I could be off base, but I thought the Voodoo King made it sound like the successful planting of the bugs (and subsequent creation of the bug connection between them) would connect the two hosts' lives and emotions. So the connection was actively changing something related to their emotions. Like creating a situation where the hosts would be able to feel each other's emotions through the connection, or at least the recipient would be able to feel the cultivator's emotions through the connection similar to how the recipient feels the cultivator's pain. 

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Chapter 37:

The Voodoo King coughed once and solemnly explained, “Lover’s Bug, like its name indicates, is a pair of male-female voodoo bugs. The couple who has the bug successfully planted will have their lives and emotions connected. If one [feels physical pain] then the other will [feel physical pain]. If one [feels anguish / emotional pain] then the other will also [feel anguish / emotional pain].”

 Kokuto:

I haven't read all this, but I wanted to post this observation before I forget it or things move past it.

I didn't want to be overly me and harp on details again with this post, but I also don't want to leave this post ignored since you took the time to put these thoughts together. So here I am again. ^^"

 Kokuto:

XY was imprisoned and tortured and depowered by a nine tailed fox, and yet chooses as her life companion a nine tailed fox who imprisoned and tortured and depowered her.

I'm sure you won't be at all surprised by this, but I wouldn't say that TSJ imprisoned, tortured, or depowered XY. To the extent that one could maybe say that TSJ "trapped" XY, it really feels like a trap of her own making. She had her own criteria for a life partner, which she acknowledged were very difficult criteria to meet. It took him a long time, but TSJ did eventually meet all of them. One of those criteria was being someone who was incapable of letting her go. (I do think that's a crazy thing to want in a life partner, but I get that her trauma makes her see that as a desirable trait). 

When she asked TSJ to help her run away from QS town, XY was testing him. She wanted to cut ties with him, but TSJ unexpectedly exceeded her expectations, strengthening the ties between them instead of handing XY an excuse to sever those ties. That felt like a very important step in their relationship (which led them directly to the dragon bone prison confession and promises), and it all resulted from XY going to TSJ first. 

There are a few situations like that. For example, after XL told XY that he stopped her wedding based on a deal he made with TSJ, XY went to confront TSJ. She confessed that she was still deeply affected by their breakup and cried in TSJ's arms. Up until that point, TSJ wasn't planning to tell XY about his suspicions related to TSH / FFY / TSZ because he thought she was over him. He only told her (and opened the door for the two of them to get back together) after she cried in his arms. 

 Kokuto:

XY states she is not willing to share, and will only marry someone who won't have other wives or concubines in their life.  Yet, she is the one with multiple men in her life, and can't put only one first, and romantically loves two men.

Yep, she's unwilling to share her husband. She does learn to "share" CX, or at least to get over the fact that he's married to many other women. It probably helps that he still always treats her as his first priority out of all the women around him. 

I wonder if this "unwilling to share" mindset factors into how strongly she tries to deny her feelings for XL? 

 Kokuto:

XY states she wants a safe place to call home, but all her choices ensure she has no safe place to call home, except the one XL gives her.

In fairness, she was relatively safe when she was WXL in QS town, and she was planning to leave. Her father recognizing her, CX forcing her to go to Five Gods Mountain, and XY accidentally outing herself when she mistook Ah Nian's mother for her own mother was a pretty unpredictable chain of events. 

But on a semi-related point, the drama added a few interesting lines in episode 37 that weren't included in chapter 26, where XY seems to be aware of the fluctuation in her own wants and wishes. 

XY: This is the second time I've grilled fish for you. Last time I did it, I was still Wen Xiao Liu. At that time, I felt the world was so big, but I was alone with nowhere to go. Now, I do have a home and someone waiting for me. But I want to just wander for a lifetime. 

XL/FFB: Just Tushan Jing could make you so disheartened... 

@AH

"No matter how much XY kisses TSJ and no matter what FFB gets up to with other pretty ladies, the bugs will remain Lovers' Bugs as long as they both still carry love for each other in their hearts."

@HeadInTheClouds

For me it's physical intimacy can be seen as a betrayal and a change of heart by proxy. I'm not as adamant about the physical betrayal aspect of this as I am with the change of heart = falling out of love and/or loving another person in a romantic sense (other kinds of loves are OK). There's not much in the novel to draw a firmer conclusion for me. Yes, if he knows the workings of the bugs then he would abstain. Back then, sex before marriage was very much frowned upon and members of prominent families are especially strict about it, so he probably feels reasonably confident that Jing and XY won't go that far. And I can't believe I'm speculating on fictional characters sex lives :-)

@liddi

As such, the crux lies in the unchanging love the couple have for each other in their hearts, regardless of whether there is physical intimacy with someone else other than the one the bug was planted in. It is ironic because Xiang Liu went in, fully knowing that if there was a risk of dying because of a heart that has changed and no longer has love, he was the one most at risk in the event she stopped loving him, while Xiao Liu was always secure in that sense.

Reading between the lines here and decyphering the text through the "lens of truth"...

Chapter 38 

Xiang Liu’s expression was sly and acted really nonchalant “How would I know? You’re the one who learned some voodoo. This is the first time I played with a bug. But no need to fret, when either you or I die then we’ll know what happens, right?”

it's possible to interpret this declaration as XL's admission that this is the first time he's fallen in love. Given his personality and by experience with the hundreds of years he spent womanizing as FFB, XL should be able to continue living his parallel dissolute life without much risk.

"She remembered in the ocean when she let her hair loose, the stirring in her heart. She remembered twining her hair around her fingers, each strand was a longing."
Actually this is not about Jing, but about XL.