CX didn't get there until the situation with Jing per your excerpt.HeadInTheClouds:
I took his thought "When he came back from Jade Mountain with Xiao Yao, that night he tossed and turned unable to sleep... He wasn’t a clueless green boy, he knew what changed in the way he felt about her." to mean that his feelings for XY changed after he saw her true form on Jade Mountain. He was attracted to her beauty, so the platonic love he had for Xiao Yao since their childhood changed and was no longer platonic.
Your excerpt with the Voodoo King and Xiang Liu both supported the condition of willingness from both partners in order for the Bugs to be successfully planted and not become Heatbreak Bugs.
With CX, it was not planned, but rather done out of desperation. I don't see a decision made under desperation to be truly willing.
Willingness as a Condition for Successfully Planting the Bug
The excerpts I quoted for the Voodoo King and XL only seem to emphasize that the recipient needs to willingly accept the bug being planted in them. I don't see those excerpts as suggesting that the cultivator (in this case, XY) also had to be "willing" (as in, this had to be a preferred option and not a last resort) to plant the bug in the recipient.
When the Voodoo King said, "The Lover’s Bug... absolutely requires the couple to willingly accept the bug for it to be successfully planted." I interpreted that to mean that each host had to willingly accept their own bug.
XY willingly accepted the bug she planted in herself. CX did not willingly accept the bug that XY planted in him. XL did willingly accept the bug transferred from CX to him.
Conditions for Lovers' Bugs Turning Into Heartbreak Bugs
The bugs did not turn into Heartbreak Bugs after XY planted the bug in CX, so a lack of willingness can't be the trigger for that transformation. Willingness determines whether the bugs are successfully planted or not. We know two things about what "successful" or "unsuccessful" planting means:
1. The Voodoo King said, "The couple who has the bug successfully planted will have their life and emotions connected."
2. The Voodoo King also said, "Once the Lover’s Bug has been planted there is no way to break the spell. It is impossible." and XL said, "Years ago I was only able to remove the bug from Zhuan Xu because he didn’t know it was you so he didn’t willingly accept the bug. So you never successfully planted the bug on him in the first place."
An unsuccessfully planted bug might not connect the lives and emotions of the hosts. It might only cause the recipient to feel the cultivator's pain and nothing more.
And an unsuccessfully planted bug can be transferred to the right person (a person with love in their heart for the cultivator), whereas a successfully planted bug cannot be transferred.
Heartbreak Bugs are produced by "not lovers". I'm not sure if that means that if CX and XY did not have love in their hearts for each other, then when XY planted the bug in CX that would have produced Heartbreak Bugs. Or if the bugs first need to be successfully planted before they can properly become Lovers' Bugs or Heartbreak Bugs.
Lovers' Bugs can also turn into Heartbreak Bugs if the Lovers' Bugs turn on each other.
For a start, she grew/nurtures those bugs intentionally and deliberately for Xiang Liu over a period of years. Kinda like how she creates poisons specifically for him - it was done with heart and love :-).
Later in the novel, XY puts her feelings into the poisons she creates. But I don't think she put love into raising the poisonous bugs that she planned to use on XL. She wanted to use the bugs to regain some leverage over XL. Which is the same reason she ends up planting the bug in CX when he's having her tortured. Wanting to make either of them feel her pain isn't a nice thing. It's a means of self-defense.
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Chapter 5:
Jing said, “I’m going back to Qing Shui Town so give me the antidote for Ah Nian.”
Xiao Liu said, “She wasn’t even poisoned! Ah Nian, with her background, of course she found the best doctors and can cure any poison so I decided to just pull a fast one on her. Everyone around her is so protective of her. They will be looking for the poison and if they can’t find it, they will keep me alive.”
“You——–” Jing looked at his hands and in his eyes was unspoken pain. Xiao Liu “That…. fooling them will only temporarily save my life. So even if I didn’t poison Ah Nian….I poisoned Xuan.”
Jing stared in shock at Xiao Liu.
“The poison was placed on Ah Nian’s body, I know Xuan would hug her, comfort her, and the poison would enter his body. Once it went into the blood stream, it’s very hard to remove. With Ah Nian’s personality, she must be crying these last few days and needing Xuan to comfort her often. He would never suspect it was aimed at him.”
“What poison did you give him?”
Xiao Liu cautiously explained, “Actually, it’s not really a poison, it’s best described as voodoo. The voodoo magic is practiced by the Jiu Li tribe and is their secret learning. A few hundred years ago, the Jiu Li tribe had a voodoo king who was called the poison master of the great wilderness. The voodoo magic is considered evil stacked against mainstream medicine and poisons. People have heard of it but very few actually understand it.”
Xiao Liu explained, “In truth, I raised a voodoo bug inside of my body, and that bug is now in Xuan’s body. From now on, when my body hurts, his body will also experience the same pain.”
“That voodoo bug must not have been easy to raise.”
“Of course! Very hard to raise!” If it was easy to raise this magic would be all over the great wilderness. Even with Xiao Liu’s special body, it still took him years to raise it.
“Why raise a voodoo bug?”
Xiao Liu sighed. “It was all to control Xiang Liu that big demon! He is a nine-headed monster and not a single poison can take him down. So I thought of this great plan but before I had a chance to plant it in him, I ended up using it on Xuan.” Beasts are very instinctive and Xiao Liu was worried Xiang Liu would cotton on to the voodoo bug. He was so compliant when he needed to drink his blood so that one day the voodoo bug would unwittingly be planted into Xiang Liu’s body.
...
Xiao Liu stared and then suddenly asked “How long have you been here?”
Xiang Liu lightly answered. “Long enough to hear that you wanted to plant a voodoo bug in me.” Xiao Liu’s face changed color – speaking with Jing, he never tried to play word games so he was just careless earlier and forgot that he was on Xiang Liu’s territory. Xiao Liu laughed. “But I didn’t do it, I planted it in Xuan.”
There aren't any clear differentiating factors really, in real-world or in fiction. We're essentially trying to use this plot device as a means of showing/proofing romantic love. I'm saying yes, because the Lovers Bugs that were meant for lovers planted successfully, you're saying no because we don't know if these particular Lovers Bugs work in the same way that most Lovers Bugs work :-).
I don't think the Lovers' Bugs used by XY and XL are different than most other Lovers' Bugs. When I call into question whether both hosts need to have romantic love for each other in order for the bugs to not turn into Heartbreak Bugs, I'm calling that into question for all Lovers' Bugs, not just the particular pair used by XL and XY.
Remind me again who Se Mai Er was.
A Jiu Li woman kept by TSJ's grandmother, who helped TSJ's grandmother deal with the voodoo bug that she used to extend her life (which was the more common parent-child type of bug and not a rare male-female Lovers' Bug).
Se Mai Er was the person who told XY that the type of bug she had sounded like it could be a Lovers' Bug.
-----
Chapter 26:
Se Mai Er looked around to make sure they were alone and then said, “The voodoo bug the Princess mentioned before, I thought and thought and still have no idea what it is. But I did remember a legend that circulated in Jiu Li about a very rare voodoo bug.”
Xiao Yao perked up and listened carefully. “What kind of bug?”
Se Mai Er explained, “Most voodoo bugs are parent-child bugs. The parent bug can control the child bug, and this kind of bug is easy to raise and easy to plant. But legend has it there is a rare, extremely difficult-to-raise-and-plant bug. That bug has a gender difference and is split into a male bug and a female bug. It is hard to raise and even harder to plant. If a woman raised the bug, she needs to find a man to plant it. If a man raised the bug, he needs to find a woman to plant it. Almost always this bug is raised but cannot be planted even in a lifetime. So this bug remains just a legend in Jiu Li.”
“What kind of bug is it?”
“I don’t know what kind of bug it is but I do know its name. It’s called a Lover’s Bug and legend says “Lover’s Bug, Heart to Heart.” It sounds a lot like what Princess described.”
Xiao Yao was stunned and in a daze. She then asked, “If a woman raised the bug, she needs to find a man to plant it in. But this world had plenty of men and women, how hard would it be to plant the bug! How could this bug be so hard to plant, a lifetime could pass and it still wouldn’t be planted?”
Se Mai Er shook her head and said apologetically. “I learned too little back then and listened to this but didn’t ask more questions thinking it just a legend. But our Voodoo King will know. If Princess has time, please visit Jiu Li! Even though the outside considers us scary evil people, but our people are actually quite wonderful!”
Xiao Yao said, “When I have the chance, I will definitely visit Jiu Li.”
Se Mai Er said, “I feel like the Princess has a special connected fate with Jiu Li. I hope that when I am still alive I will have the opportunity to greet you in Jiu Li, and if not then I will make sure my people treat you well when you come.”
Se Mai Er was already very old and this parting was likely forever and Xiao Yao suddenly felt a twinge of sadness.
Se Mai Er laughed “I’m already content. So many Jiu Li men and women die in foreign lands but I can return to my homeland all thanks to Princess.” She lived in the Tu Shan clan for so many years and knew a lot of its secrets. If the Grand Madam and Hou wasn’t wary of what Xiao Yao said about the voodoo spell, they wouldn’t have told Se Mai Er to make a blood vow before letting her return him. Likely her ending would have been another fate. Shan Hu and Miao Pu brought two big bags back and Se Mai Er accepted it and bid farewell to Xiao Yao.
Xiao Yao watched until Se Mai Er’s figure was gone from sight and she turned to look East where Qing Shui Town was, and beyond that, where the vast ocean lay. Xiao Yao murmured “Lover’s Bug?”
Xiao Yao had so many thoughts going through her mind so she sent Shan Hu and Miao Pu back first so she could slowly walk up the mountain path back to Zhi Jin Summit.
Seeing the looming grandeur of the Palace, Xiao Yao suddenly felt extremely fatigued, so fatigued she might shatter. She wearily sat down on a stone step.
The mountain breeze was quite strong and she started to get cold but Xiao Yao still didn’t want to move. She stared in a daze as the sun set and the leaves continued to fall.
Zhuan Xu walked up behind her and draped his own cloak around her “What are you thinking of? An entire afternoon thinking and you still don’t have an answer?”
“I thought too much and couldn’t figure it out, so I stopped thinking. Actually, life is really futile, no matter how strong and powerful, there are two things in life that cannot be controlled.”
Zhuan Xu raised his eyebrow “Oh? What two things? Do share!”
“Life! Death! We can’t control our birth and can’t control our death. Sometimes I think since we can’t control the biggest two things in our lives, why fight for all the little insignificant things? It feels so pointless!”
Zhuan Xu laughed “Dummy, can’t you look at it from another angle? Because we can’t control life and death, we have to fight to control the others so that everything between life and death is fully under our control. For example, you’re not happy right now and I’ve decided that no matter what I will make you happy again.”
Because of the last thing Zhuan Xu said, everything felt meaningful again. There was a hint of laughter in Xiao Yao’s eyes but she pretended to be all stern and said, “Fine, you make me happy then!”
Perhaps, XY knew all along and the whole "using these bugs to deal with XL" is a ruse and what she has in fact loved him earlier on and wanted to use these Bugs tie him to her?? Given her fear of abandonment, what's better way to ensure the man that she loves can never leave her. Better to die together then being left behind.
With CX, it was out of desperation :-)
I'm not at all sure about this theory, just playing devil's advocate. I find that XY isn't always the most reliable person, she does a lot of lying by omissions and evasions.
I don't think the text supports this interpretation.
She is Zuyu (Different way of spelling of Ju Li). She was a wooden demon who was nurtured and raised up by Qing Yang from a wooden stick. Ju Li/Zu Yu was maid of Qing Yang when she became human form. She obeyed him unconditionally. Her role to Qing Yang is similar to Kim Xuan or Xiao Xiao to CX. Qing Yang and Shao Hao used to joke or tell her many time that she had no heart and she was a fool. She had believed so. She did not know what is love and she did not know that she loved Qing Yang. Before the last battle, Ah Heng let her know that Qing Yang had died and never come back. She was super devastrated, disbelieved , she pointed to her chest that she felt super hurt there, but how come, she had no heart etc...H19279:
Eldest aunt in LYF is indeed Shen Nong Yuxang in Once Promised who got married to Qing Yang althought he had died by the marry but she and other people didn't know except Ah Heng, Shao Hao and Chang Yi couple
Oh okay. That's confusing. If Zhu Yu is Ju Li, then both Yu Xang and Zhu Yu / Ju Li were buried beside Qing Yang? That doesn't seem to match the number of graves? But the number of graves referenced in LYF already seems wrong...
1 - Empress Lei Zhu
2 - Second Uncle
3 - Fourth Uncle / Chang Yi
4 - Fourth Aung / Chang Pu
5 - Ah Heng
6 - Eldest Uncle / Qing Yang
7 - Eldest Aunt / Yu Xang
8 - Auntie Ju Li (if she is not Yu Xang)
Unless Chang Yi and Chang Pu were buried in one grave together as a married couple and Qing Yang and Yu Xang were buried in one grave together as a married couple, with Ju Li / Zhu Yu in a separate grave beside them?
1 - Empress Lei Zhu
2 - Second Uncle
3 - Fourth Uncle / Chang Yi + Fourth Aunt / Chang Pu
4 - Eldest Uncle / Qing Yang + Eldest Aunt / Yu Xang
5 - Ju Li / Zhu Yu
6 - Ah Heng
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Chapter 15:
In the flower covered hilltop, there were six graves containing her grandmother, eldest uncle, eldest aunt, second uncle, fourth uncle and fourth aunt (Zhuan Xu’s parents), and her mom. But in truth, three of the graves were empty and had nothing inside.
She wasn’t sure what was in her eldest uncle’s grave and only saw dogwood flowers growing all over his grave site. Her eldest aunt was married to her eldest uncle but she was also the Sheng Nong Kingdom’s eldest princess. When the Sheng Nong Kingdom fell, she incinerated herself and left no corpse behind so what was buried in her grave was her wedding dress when she married into Xuan Yuan.
She didn’t know how her second uncle died, only that he left a blackened charred bone fragment which was buried in his grave.
Her fourth uncle who was Zhuan Xu’s dad, died at the same time as the Sheng Nong Kingdom’s General Zhu Rong (Little Zhu Rong’s dad). They were both burned alive and nothing was left. His grave was only his clothing. There was also the grave for her fourth aunt who committed suicide.
And then her mother who died with the Sheng Nong Kingdom’s Great General Qi Yo with neither leaving any corpse behind. Zhuan Xu said her mother’s grave contained her battle armor.
Because she knew her mother wasn’t in her grave, she never wanted to come visit. What could she pray to a battle armor? Gao Xing’s palace still had entire closets full of her mother’s clothes!
But when she was standing there with Zhuan Xu, she still felt sorrow even if her mind told her it was just a battle armor.
All their relatives who loved them were laying right here! Zhuan Xu knelt down and bowed to all the graves one by one and Xiao Yao followed suit. When he got to their eldest uncle’s grave, Zhuan Xu bowed an extra three times and said about the dogwood flowers growing all over, “This should be the manifestation of Auntie Zhu Yu who was a dogwood wood spirit who gained human form after thousands of years. She chose to kill herself to destroy the demon soul and remove all her god powers. I was at Gao Xing by then and didn’t understand why but Master told me not to be sad. He said Auntie Zhu Yu got what she wanted and passed in peace to be with our Eldest Uncle.”
Xiao Yao silently bowed three more times.
-----
Chapter 50:
Zhuan Xu turned his head and walked over to their Eldest Uncle’s grave and bowed three times. He also bowed three times to Auntie Ju Li’s grave beside it. He then cleared the weeds and Xiao Yao wiped her tears and walked over to join him. After bowing three times she started wiping down the tombs.
Each did their tasks silently, though Xiao Yao snuck a few peeks at Zhuan Xu but he never once glanced over at her.
After finishing the graves of their eldest uncle and eldest aunt, they went to clean their second uncle’s grave.
I don't know, but I personally always belived that she was able to raise the bugs because she had already fallen for XL, otherwise no matter the magic behind them, she wouldn't been able to.blabla100:
I disagree with this. My understanding is she got the walnut shell with a pair of bugs from the old woman begger. I don't know if the bugs would hibernate without feeding. She had been feeding/raising the bugs for several year before she planted it to CX due to urgent context. So by feeding the bug (in the drama it showed that she used her blood to feed them), the bug could grow up or change into active form. The feeding process can be considered similar to how we activated yeast for baking. It took her several years to make them ready for planting. She might know the way to raise/feed them via the knowledge in Jiu Li Poison Manuals Book that her mother gave her and Royal Mother forced her to memorize the content. I guess all the bugs can be feed or activate (from hibernate mode) in a similar way. Or at least the way she knew was also suitable for this particular bugs.
Her purpose of using bugs for XL is that she wanted to contain XL. She knew that she could not poison him. She was not capable of fighting against him. Keep in mind in the beginning, XL was quite violent to her. She might be afraid of he would eat her one day as tonic food. So planting her only bugs is the only way that she can control or prevent him from stubborn action on or beating her. As she said, she didn't want to kill him. This method seems to be most suitable for that purpose. Why did she need to use it for other. XL was her only threat. Therefore, she raised the bugs specially only for him as she told him later.
The debate now included some point
If she knew that it was Lovers' bugs from the beginning. In my opinion, she had not known it was Lovers' bug. If it were ordinary poison bugs (a pair of a mother and a child bug), it also had the characteristics of that the receiver would share the same pain as the original host. I think She thought it was ordinary poison bugs. Thus, love is not requirement for planting successfully.
In the drama, it shows she tried to plant it on him once and fail but it was planted (let's say not fully) on CX. there are 2 possibilities for that:
- XL at that time had no love/affection for her. And since he had very strong power, it might help to prevent the penetration of the bug
- For CX, either it is because he has feeling (not romatic love yet) for XY (haha it seems the bugs could recognize the real identity of host and receiver) or because his resistance was not strong. Anyway we all know that the planting was not successful. The walnut shell (house/incubator for the bugs in case of having no host) still existed. It was not plantly completely and successfully.
Moreover, as the veteran in the drama said, it is possible to deliberately plant it (without love) but it can cause enormous trouble. In the novel, according to Voodoo King it is also required love from the host and love and willingness from the receiver for successful planting. In the drama, by espisode 11 and 12, it is not clear if mutual love is required. At least it needed love and willingness from the receiver for moving the bugs from previous, unwilling receiver. So by the time of transfering the bugs from CX to XL, at least it met 1 condition: the receiver was whole-heartedly willing and love the host.
The bugs was maintainced and developed inside both host by being fed with LOVE. The bugs turned to heart-breaking bugs when one of them changed (meaning no more love).
The question is if WXL already had love toward XL by the transfering time. In my opinion, WXL did have romantic feeling for XL. The way WXL looked at him (TH describled his appearance under WXL's eyes). She for sure liked his look. It seemed like she admired him (his look, his powe, his intelligence, his devotion for Shennong army abeit his liberal demon nature ). She felt he could understand and share her past. That is why she could tell him about her past which she had never told anyone before. She was willng to offer him blood later for healing or she helped him to get the herbal medicine back from CX. She cared for his safety (always said that he had to be back, he should not die). She felt bliss when he sucked her neck in the pond. There are many proof that she was attracted by XL. She said her heart was strong and had a hard shell. So it is difficult to allow anyone into her heart. But actually that hard shell was twice got soften by XL: when they first met and when he brought her to observe the moon on the sea
When the aura of death came hurtling over Xiao Liu tumbled and tried to avoid it while saying “My lord, I really am Wen Xiao Liu. Maybe I’m not ONLY Wen Xiao Liu, but I have no intention to harm the resistance army under General Gong Gong. I don’t belong to the Kingdom of Xuan Yuan, or the Kingdom of Gao Xing, and not to the Kingdom of Sheng Nong. I am just……….”
Xiao Liu paused and thought “Who am I?”
He raised his head and allowed his entire expression to be seen by Xiang Liu “I am just someone who has been discarded. I have no ability to protect myself, I have no one to rely on, I have nowhere to go, so that is why I chose to be Wen Xiao Liu in Qing Shui Town. If my lord will allow, I wish that I could be Wen Xiao Liu for the rest of my life.”
Xiang Liu stared at him and Xiao Liu didn’t dare to move but the beads of cold sweat came down and there where unshed tears in his eyes because the hard protective shell placed in the last tens of years got forcibly peeled open. (chapter 2)
========
Xiang Liu didn’t answer and Furball descended until he was right up against the ocean surface. Xiang Liu got off the back of the condor and instead of falling in the water he was standing on the surface like it was land. He reached out his hand to Xiao Liu and he immediately grabbed it and slid off the condor. Furball was actually scared of water and immediately rose back into the air.
Xiang Liu strolled along the waves with Xiao Liu. There wasn’t a sliver of light, the ocean was pitch black, there was nothing ahead of them, there was nothing behind them. The world was so vast and Xiao Liu felt so miniscule as if a wave could swallow him at any time. He grabbed Xiang Liu’s hand tightly.
Xiang Liu suddenly stopped and Xiao Liu didn’t know why but he didn’t ask any questions. He inched closer to Xiang Liu and kept him company staring out towards the East. After some time, a moon rose from the edge of the ocean and the quiet beauty was so powerful that Xiao Liu felt the hard shell around his heart soften. In the sound of the ocean waves, Xiang Liu’s voice spoke “As long as there are such sights in this world, then life is very precious.”
Xiao Liu nattered “The most precious of sights will get old after seeing it too much. Only if someone views it with me. Views are dead, only if a person can appreciate it then the view has meaning.
And when she was back to Gaoxin becoming princess. She still thought of him when she swam, she still missed him because no one can try/taste her poison (she still made it. Is that for XL or for herself for protection) and she smiled, looking at the mirror with his images inside. On the beach, she said she was afraid of that if she did not pay attention, he might enter into her dream. This actually is her confession of he was already inside her heart.
So, in my opinion, WXL already love XL. They have mutual love. And this fulilled the condition to (plant) raise/develop the bugs in their body. The bug never turned into heartbreaking bug because they always love each other.
Unless Chang Yi and Chang Pu were buried in one grave together as a married couple and Qing Yang and Yu Xang were buried in one grave together as a married couple, with Ju Li / Zhu Yu in a separate grave beside themAH :
For sure that Chang Pu fell into Chang Yi tomb. They share the same grave.
She wasn’t sure what was in her eldest uncle’s grave and only saw dogwood flowers growing all over his grave site. Her eldest aunt was married to her eldest uncle but she was also the Sheng Nong Kingdom’s eldest princess. When the Sheng Nong Kingdom fell, she incinerated herself and left no corpse behind so what was buried in her grave was her wedding dress when she married into Xuan Yuan.
The 6 graves are: Lei Zhu (grand mom). Qing Yang, Yuxang, 2nd uncle, Chang Yi and his wife in 1 grave, Ah Heng.
When he got to their eldest uncle’s grave, Zhuan Xu bowed an extra three times and said about the dogwood flowers growing all over, “This should be the manifestation of Auntie Zhu Yu who was a dogwood wood spirit who gained human form after thousands of years. She chose to kill herself to destroy the demon soul and remove all her god powers. I was at Gao Xing by then and didn’t understand why but Master told me not to be sad. He said Auntie Zhu Yu got what she wanted and passed in peace to be with our Eldest Uncle.
There is no separate grave for Zuyu. She died and transformed to the flower plant next to Qing Yang's grave (cover his grave also?). She was maid, I don't think she was entitled to have grave next to royal family members' graves. Also, by the time she committed suicide, no one close to her such as CX was living in Xuan Yuan. I checked the translation in my language, it was not mentioned as Zuyu's grave as in your excerpt.
I found this kind of censorship irrelevant for ancient works. In the past, people did not have knowledge gene deficiency due to close blooded marriage. It was common in the past (both Eastern and Western world) that close cousins could get married each other. How can such classic as "Dream of the Red Chamber" be regarded now? All main characters in that novel and drama are close cousin.
You know, the rules are specific to the countries where they apply. And conditions for applying censorship doesn't need to be relevant or to make sense in absolute terms...
I don't know the real reason why it has been modified like this. I just took a guess but I didn't have the same reason as you in mind. It seems to me that, in Chinese dramas, it is of the uttmost importance to preserve the dignity of highest political authorities and to show them at their best, especially if it's the ML. In this case, Emperor's ML isn't the endgame, so it would be awkward if his childhood sweetheart promise to but doesn't end up with him.
Maybe someone better informed could enlighten us on this particular case and maybe it's not even due to censorship issues ?
@AH
I don't know, but I personally always belived that she was able to raise the bugs because she had already fallen for XL, otherwise no matter the magic behind them, she wouldn't been able to. The Voodoo king even says that if a girl wants to raise the bugs, her determination its what makes the difference, he didn't really insisted or even mentioned the spells needed, as if that it's not the most important thing in their succese rate. We know XY was very determined to poison XL, but what exactly does this "I'm going to poison you" stands for? We know it's not used in the literal meaning, because obviously she didn't actually want to kill him, so could it be that it has a methaporical meaning, maybe something along the lines of "I am going to make it to your heart eventually? I don't know exactly how to describe the picture I have în my mind about this whole lover's bug subject, especially în a different language, but the thing is XL and XY are extremely similar, so there is no question în my mind that if XL accepted the bug out of love for her, XY has been able to raise the bug for the same reason, either she was aware of that at that time or not. If she didn't love him, I honestly doubt that the bugs could have grown just by incantations.
I do think XY happened to have love in her heart for XL by the time the bug is transferred from CX to XL.
I'm not so sure about her feelings when she was cultivating the bugs.
And I don't think the text supports the idea that love was needed to cultivate the bugs.
The Voodoo king even says that if a girl wants to raise the bugs, her determination its what makes the difference, he didn't really insisted or even mentioned the spells needed, as if that it's not the most important thing in their succese rate.
The Voodoo King says:
The Voodoo King’s face scrunched up. “The Lover’s Bug – either live in love or die in heartbreak. Once the Lover’s Bug has been planted there is no way to break the spell. It is impossible. This is what I was trying to say earlier for why so few people raise it despite the great benefit. Only very determined girls would raise the bug but even if they successfully raise it, it’s near impossible to find a man willing to accept the other bug to be planted in him.”
I read this as the Voodoo King basically saying: "Once established, the Lovers' Bug connection is for life. It can't be undone. Which is daunting. Most people would not accept irreversibly tying their life and emotions to another person's life and emotions like that. So if a person knew that the bugs were Lovers' Bugs (XY didn't), and they still decided to go ahead and raise the bugs, knowing that it would be very difficult (nearly impossible) to find someone who would willingly accept the bug, then that decision reflects a certain amount of determination."
I don't see it as the Voodoo King saying that it would not be possible to raise the bugs without love or determination.
And he says that even if someone successfully raises the bug, they may never find someone willing to receive it. Which suggests that the bugs can be raised successfully without a particular recipient in mind.
We know XY was very determined to poison XL, but what exactly does this "I'm going to poison you" stands for? We know it's not used in the literal meaning, because obviously she didn't actually want to kill him, so could it be that it has a methaporical meaning, maybe something along the lines of "I am going to make it to your heart eventually?
Initially, I do believe XY really wanted to poison XL.
XY figured out pretty early on that the poisons she makes for XL make him stronger. I think there was still a long period where she still wanted to find a poison that could affect XL (as a point of pride and also as a means of defending herself), but I don't think she ever believed that any of her poisons would really kill him. Even if the poison was deadly on its own, I'm sure she would have had the antidote. Plus she knows that XL has nine lives. If she really killed him once, he'd still have plenty more lives and would presumably not be very happy with her.
And over time her poison-making slowly turned into an outlet for her feelings. When she first figured out that XL was consuming her poisons for his own benefit, she put in effort to make them taste awful. But by chapter 16 she puts her feelings into them and put a lot of effort into making them beautiful. And by chapter 19 she has mastered creating incredible tastes and scents, in addition to making her poisons beautiful.
-----
Chapter 2:
“I’m not scared of him. I don’t believe there is a poison in this world that won’t fell him. When I create that poison one day, I will…” Xiao Liu used his hand to make a fist crushing something.
...
Except occasionally a mall-white condor would come find Xiao Liu, bringing something and taking away something. Xiao Liu made the poison for Xiang Liu but always held something back. Each poison was beyond deadly and it fit his requirement, but then it would have an odd color or smell. Whatever the reason, it was impossible to use it to kill a powerful person under tight protection.
Xiao Liu thought that, as time passed, Xiang Liu would come and raise a fuss but Xiang Liu appeared to not care about “color, smell, and taste” and as long as the poison met his specifications he accepted it all.
Xiao Liu used his haphazard medical and poison skills to deduce that Xiang Liu was a very unique being and his power came from using poison to train. All the poison that Xiao Liu produced was likely consumed by him.
After he figured it out, Xiao Liu breathed a sigh of relief, and then proceeded to make the most horrible tasting poison ever.
...
After Ma Zi’s wedding, Nine Lives Xiang Liu would occasionally come and sit in the clinic courtyard and drink a few cups of Xiao Liu’s wine and nibble on a few of Xiao Liu’s snacks. When he left his face never even changed expressions and his heartbeat never once skipped a beat. Xiang Liu’s very attitude of not taking Xiao Liu seriously is exactly what pissed Xiao Liu off.
When Xiao Liu entered the medical profession, it all began with the wrong intentions. He wanted to learn to kill someone and not to learn to save someone. Yet here was Xiang Liu eating his poison like candy! Xiao Liu thought and thought and decided to keep on learning, learning how to kill someone. He vowed to keep walking down the wrong path with the goal of poisoning this big demon sooner or later!
-----
Chapter 16:
Xiao Yao started spending more time developing her poisons. Late into the night, she would lay on the pallet playing with her poisons and thinking of how to make it even better in terms of prettier and not necessarily more poisonous.
She had memorized the Sheng Nong Herb Manuel left by the Flame Emperor, who the entire world regarded as the progenitor of medicine. She also flipped through all the Gao Xing and Xuan Yuan medical books. She didn’t doubt her poison's ability to be deadly, she just wanted to make it look pretty. She stared at the phoenix flower and researched a few days and worked a few nights and finally created a perfect replica of the small red phoenix flower with the same intoxicating fragrance. She made the poison layered on it like the morning dew.
Every one of her poisons was one of her longing, one of her missing, one of her feelings. She created it and watched it come to life in her hands, and then carefully put it away to send out.
Xiao Yao wondered what Xiang Liu would think when he saw the poisons? Would he call her a weirdo pervert?
Xiao Yao put the finished poisons in boxes and went to the messenger service run by the Tu Shan clan and handed it to them. “Deliver this to the Qing Shui Town brothel.”
Xiao Yao paid the expensive price to deliver it to the edge of Xuan Yuan and didn’t blink an eye since it wasn’t her money.
This was Xiao Yao’s solution to deal with Xiang Liu. The entire world was covered with the Tu Shan messenger network so if Xiao Yao had money then she could send it to Qing Shui Town. She had been sending him poisons every 3-4 months, the last time sent from Gao Xing. She wondered if Xiang Liu got it? He ought to, otherwise with his petty personality, no matter how busy he was he would find time to cause her trouble.
-----
Chapter 19:
Zhi Jin Peak, a bright and glorious morning.
Xiao Yao was tending to the fire pit and her face was bright red with sweat dotting her forehead.
She felt the time was right and put on her gloves before opening the cover of the pot to take out the mold. She put it inside a pail of ice water until the mold solidified. Xiao Yao poured the mold out and individual mold pieces tumbled on the table, some pink, others green, and even yellow.
Zhuan Xu walked into this “medicine making room” and saw Xiao Yao intent on her work. He said nothing and stood in the corner to watch quietly. There were colorful molds strewn all over the table but the shapes were odd. Some looked like flower petals, others like leaves, he really couldn’t figure out what she was making.
Xiao Yao took out a rectangular glass plate, it was dark on both ends and white in the middle like the backdrop of an ink portrait with nothing on it.
Xiao Yao used a brush and covered the white part once with a liquid.
Xiao Yao washed her hands and then put it in the ice water for some time before wiping it with a clean cloth. She then picked up the molds from earlier and used a small paring knife to start carving the molds. She finished one and would put it on the plate as if she was painting on it.
Zhuan Xu was curious so walked over and he saw Xiao Yao’s slender fingers expertly at work and gradually the white plate was covered with a green lily frond and there was dew on it that appeared like it was about to slide off. A pink lily appeared and the yellow nectar inside formed. Within the lilies two salmon peeked out from under the water shyly.
The entire morning passed and an entire salmon frolicking in a lily pond tableau was created. Other than having no sound, everything was there, even the scent of the lilies.
Xiao Yao stared at it intently and then smiled in satisfaction.
Zhuan Xu clapped. “Scent, visuals, and taste – it’s all there. Makes me want to take a bite.”
Xiao Yao made a face at him. “It’s all poison.”
Zhuan Xu shook his head. “Can’t figure out what this weird hobby of yours is. Who makes poisons into a delicacy. Your poison making room is pretty much a kitchen.”
Xiao Yao carefully picked up the plate and put it inside a box before shutting it and wrapping it up in a cloth.
Zhuan Xu asked warily, “You can’t be giving that to someone?”
Xiao Yao laughed. “Secret.”
Zhuan Xu sighed. “I can’t decide if you like this person, or hate this person.”
After a morning of sitting Xiao Yao’s back ached and she rubbed her back and asked, “How come you have time to come watch me make poisons?”
...
Xiao Yao smiled and placed a white wrapped box in front of Fang Feng Bei.
Bei glanced over it and drawled, “What’s that?”
Xiao Yao said, “You open it.”
Bei shook his cup, “I’m drinking right now.”
Xiao Yao clenched her fist – be patient, be patient, be patient! She released her fist and opened the cloth cover over the box.
Bei was still uninterested and continued drinking his wine and watching the dancer dancing.
Xiao Yao had no choice but to open the box herself. When she made it, to create the scent of the lilies she spent a lot of time on it. Right now the scent of the lilies were lost in the pungent odor of the food and the perfumes around them so it wasn’t noticeable anymore.
Xiao Yao rushed here excitedly with a whole bellyful of things she wanted to say to him. She wanted to boast about how she made the poison lilies, how she made the leaf covers, but now the entire salmon frolicking in the lilies tableau turned dim and she didn’t feel like saying anything anymore. She picked up her wine and started drinking and pouting.
Bei finally turned his gaze from the dancer to the table and checked out the tableau on the glass plate. It was delicate and full of life, the colors vibrant and the items exquisitely rendered.
Bei stared for some time before picking up a chopstick and eating a lily frond.
One bite after another, one lily frond, one salmon, one lily…..slowly he ate the entire salmon frolicking in lilies tableau.
Xiao Yao gaped at him “You….don’t stuff yourself silly.”
Bei shot her a look and she immediately shut up.
Bei ate the final bite and put down his chopstick. He took a sip of wine and casually said, “Not bad.”
Xiao Yao stared at the empty plate and her heart soared. “The only person who can make poisons this tasty in the entire world is me!”
Bei laughed back, “And the only person in the entire world who can appreciate your great “cooking” talents is me!”
Xiao Yao sassed back, “It’s enough to have a true zhiji.”
Bei gave her a half-smile but said nothing.
Xiao Yao asked, “Can you continue teaching me archery now?” What she really meant to ask was – are you not angry at me anymore?
Bei finished his wine. “I need to leave for a bit, wait for me to come back.”
Xiao Yao figured he was going back to Qing Shui town. Even if there was no active warfare, he was still the General of the Sheng Nong resistance army and there was much he had to do.
Xiao Yao couldn’t help it and sighed loudly and murmured, “If only you can forever be Fang Feng Bei, that would be so great.”
Bei appeared not to have heard her as he set down his wine cup and got up to leave, his form disappearing in the layers of curtains.
There is no separate grave for Zuyu. She died and transformed to the flower plant next to Qing Yang's grave (cover his grave also?). She was maid, I don't think she was entitled to have grave next to royal family members' graves. Also, by the time she committed suicide, no one close to her such as CX was living in Xuan Yuan. I checked the translation in my language, it was not mentioned as Zuyu's grave as in your excerpt.
So are you saying that when ZX/CX bows to Ju Li's grave beside Qing Yang's grave in chapter 50, he is just bowing to the dogwood flowers and not an actual grave?
Or in the Vietnamese version of chapter 50, does it say that the grave beside Qing Yang's grave belongs to Yu Xang instead of Ju Li? Or does it not mention ZX/CX bowing to a separate grave beside Qing Yang's at all?
-----
Chapter 50:
Zhuan Xu turned his head and walked over to their Eldest Uncle’s grave and bowed three times. He also bowed three times to Auntie Ju Li’s grave beside it. He then cleared the weeds and Xiao Yao wiped her tears and walked over to join him. After bowing three times she started wiping down the tombs.
Each did their tasks silently, though Xiao Yao snuck a few peeks at Zhuan Xu but he never once glanced over at her.
After finishing the graves of their eldest uncle and eldest aunt, they went to clean their second uncle’s grave.
opened for discussion,:)windiaaa041293:
I found your analysis very convincing.
The only loophole of the Lovers' bugs theory is that the bug didn't react (change to heart-breaking bug). when XY had feeling, itimacy with Jing. It is a kind of unfaithfullness. Why the bugs did not back-fire.
So The voodoo said "Only very determined girls would raise the bug but even if they successfully raise it, it’s near impossible to find a man willing to accept the other bug to be planted in him.". So the girl wanted her lover to absolutely committed to her but then she herself still had room for a kind of unfaithfullness.
Also this
"If she told you how to raise the bugs, how could she not have told you what the name of this particular voodoo bug was?”
I am not saying XY knew what type of bugs these are, because I don't belive so, but I belive what XL is implying here is that the way these bugs are raised is connected to their name, as in if you know how to raise them, how can you possible not know / figure it out their names?
I don't interpret it that way. XY clearly knew how to raise the bugs (thanks to the Jiu Li Poison Manual) and did not know that the bugs were Lovers' Bugs. She tells CX about the Jiu Li Poison Manual in chapter 22 and she is surprised to learn that her bugs are Lovers' Bugs in chapter 26.
I read XL's comments as basically saying, "If that old lady went to the trouble of telling you how to raise these bugs, surely she would have told you what they were called? Since you clearly don't know what they're called, I don't believe that the old lady told you how to raise them. You must have gotten that knowledge from another source." Which is true. XY told CX in chapter 22 that she got her knowledge of how to raise the bugs from the Jiu Li Poison Manual, not from the old lady who gave her the walnut.
So are you saying that when ZX/CX bows to Ju Li's grave beside Qing Yang's grave in chapter 50, he is just bowing to the dogwood flowers and not an actual grave
He bowed to the plant.
. When he got to their eldest uncle’s grave, Zhuan Xu bowed an extra three times and said about the dogwood flowers growing all over, “This should be the manifestation of Auntie Zhu Yu who was a dogwood wood spirit who gained human form after thousands of years.
He did extra 3 times when he bowed to his Eldest uncle because the plant (Zuyu) covered his grave (in chapter 15) it was clear that there was no grave for Zuyu
I think you were confused because of the part in chapter 50. Below is that part in vietnamese version translated by google translate
CX turned away, went to his eldest uncle's grave, knelt down, bowed three times, then turned to bow three times to Aunt Zuyu. After that, he continued to diligently removing the weed. XY wiped away her tears, she walked over, knelt down to worship, then turned around to clean the tombstone.
P/s: Zu Yu is the name of that flower, too (in chinise).
So The voodoo said "Only very determined girls would raise the bug but even if they successfully raise it, it’s near impossible to find a man willing to accept the other bug to be planted in him.". So the girl wanted her lover to absolutely committed to her but then she herself still had room for a kind of unfaithfullness.
I don't see how you're arriving at that conclusion based on the Voodoo King's words.
When it comes to what would cause the bugs to turn on each other, there's no indication that the rules apply differently to the cultivator vs. the recipient.
He did extra 3 times when he bowed to his Eldest uncle because the plant (Zuyu) covered his grave.
I think you were confused because of the part in chapter 50. Below is that part in vietnamese version translated by google translate
CX turned away, went to his eldest uncle's grave, knelt down, bowed three times, then turned to bow three times to Aunt Zuyu. After that, he continued to diligently removing the weed. XY wiped away her tears, she walked over, knelt down to worship, then turned around to clean the tombstone.
P/s: Zu Yu is the name of that flower, too (in chinise).
Thank you for this! That clarifies it.
Koala's translation specifically mentions a separate grave for Zhu Yu / Ju Li. Maybe she added that extra word thinking it would add clarity when it instead created confusion.
I don't see how you're arriving at that conclusion based on the Voodoo King's words.
When it comes to what would cause the bugs to turn on each other, there's no indication that the rules apply differently to the cultivator vs. the recipient.
What I mean here is that how is planted, works on XY-XL is very clear and reasonable. The only loophole of the bugs is when XY had feeling for other man (Jing). Why is there no consequence? I try to figure a logical answer for that? I don't care if her feeling for Jing is romatic or plantonic love , I believe there is a strong feeling between her and Jing. Does the bug still allow multiple love on the host? Then it's strange. Because when girl wanted to plant it to her lover, both wanted that they were loyal in love for each other till the end
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