Reading between the lines here and decyphering the text through the "lens of truth"...blimarch:
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.
Although I don't read that particular line as XL indirectly admitting that he has never been in love before, I do think XY is his first love.
But it's more my hope / wishful thinking than something that I think is firmly supported by anything in the text. I'm just partial to the idea of a one life, one love male character.
I even went so far as to wonder if it might be possible to come up with a scenario where:
(1) younger XY met younger XL during the ~160 years that XY spent wandering before settling in QS town;
(2) both XY and XL were using false forms with different faces, and perhaps they were even both gender swapped (like the boat scene they added in the drama);
(3) XY was feeling particularly lonely and curious and wanted... to try having an adult experience;
(4) by fate or by chance, the two of them spent the night together before parting ways**; and
(5) although they each didn't know the other's true identity*, they both never forgot that one night.
* Or maybe, just maybe, XY would say something on one of her excursions with FFB that would make XL realize that he had met her once before. And the beauty of that scenario would be that it would mirror Ah Heng and Chi You's relationship. Ah Heng was not aware that her "first encounter" with Chi You was actually a reunion. Only Chi You knew that they had encountered each other once before.
** To make this even more like Ah Heng and Chi You's first encounter, this scenario could even involve XL and XY parting ways because danger was following XL, and he didn't want that danger to threaten XY, so he deliberately led the danger away from her. And when he tried to find her again she was gone.
I can't write smut and I think it would be too out of character for them anyways, but you can see the extent of my wishful thinking. ^^
windiaaa041293:
"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.
No. XY is recalling an interaction with Jing from chapter 14.
-----
Chapter 14:
Xiao Yao smiled. “You have fifteen years, Jing. What are you planning to do?”
“I don’t know, but I know I will come back to you. I’ve promised to listen to you for the rest of my life…..” Jing’s forehead rested on Xiao Yao’s forehead and he prayed, “Please keep your heart for me.”
Xiao Yao’s hands sank into his hair and she grabbed it. “I can tell you’re a sneaky one, even if I want to forget it, you’ll find ways to keep reminding. You say you don’t dare hope, but then you don’t let go either.”
Jing’s voice conveyed his torment, “I….I just cannot…..I know you deserve better, but I cannot…..I’m sorry…..”
Xiao Yao quickly said, “I understand, I understand.”
Jing said in a low voice, “You don’t understand.”
Xiao Yao was honest. “I don’t understand, but I have to try and reassure you.”
Jing laughed and then sighed. “They are coming back.”
Xiao Yao looked up “It’s almost sunrise, they ought to be back.”
Jing looked at Xiao Yao and wanted to put the hat on her but she held his hand and wouldn’t let him. She bit her lips and closed her eyes. Jing tenderly kissed her on the forehead, until the very last minute when he lifted his head and put the hat on her.
Xiao Yao ran to the back of the boat to fix her clothes and hair. She heard Xing Yue, Zhuan Xu, and Feng Long talking. She looked up and saw Jing’s hair was a mess from her raking her fingers through it. It was too late to tell him and her face darkened with worry. Then she saw Jing stand up and release the band tying his hair up and sent his hair flying in the sea breeze. He leaned against the railing and looked up at the sunrise.
Xiao Yao’s heart leaped to her chest like a little deer lost. Zhuan Xu had to call her a few times to get her attention. He pushed her softly “What are you thinking?”
Xiao Yao quickly said, “Oh, you guys are back.” Her face was bright red but thankfully it was covered by the veil so no one could see it. Zhuan Xu seemed to understand something and concern flitted across his eyes.
-----
Chapter 26:
Xiao Yao hadn’t seen Jing in over a year and seeing him like this, Xiao Yao maintained her smile and quietly stood next to the Xi Ling clan leader. She remembered in the ocean when he let his hair loose, the stirring in her heart. She remembered twining his hair around her fingers, each strand was a longing. Everything felt like yesterday but it was already black hair turned white and all longing severed.
@AH
"I even went so far as to wonder if it might be possible to come up with a scenario where:"
More material for another fanfic ^^ This story is designed to make us elaborate on "ifs", that's part of TH's great plan :D
Tong Hua even sets it up so well by confirming that XY visited a brothel at some point before she opened the medical clinic in QS town. Although the fic I imagined wouldn't be a story that XY would likely want to share with her father. ^^"
-----
Chapter 10:
That night Xiao Liu talked to the Grand Emperor all night on the stone steps of the pavilion. She felt like she had so many stories to tell her dad – the first time she killed a tiger, when she stole the snake demon’s egg, when she went to a brothel, when she opened a medical clinic, the farm wife who took her in and taught her to cook, the Lao Mu she brought home, the Chuan Zi and Ma Zi she rescued…..so many things, so many people, she wanted to share it all so her dad would know.
She wanted her dad to know that the last few hundred years wasn’t all pain, there was a lot of fun things and happy times. Not everyone she met was bad, she met some really good people too. All these amazing adventures made her feel like she couldn’t live a right and proper life as a Princess, and in fact she felt like the life she did lead was the one she was meant to live. She didn’t want her dad to feel bad, to feel guilty anymore.
Xiao Liu forgot where she had gotten with her stories when she fell asleep like she used to when she was small, right in her dad’s lap. In the morning, Xiao Liu came out of her room stretching like a cat, wandering the courtyard before leaning on a tree and staring at the sunlight in contentment.
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.AH :
The text says thus:
巫王咳嗽了一声，郑重地说：“情人蛊，顾名思义有一对雌雄蛊虫，中蛊的男女命脉相连、心意相通，一人痛，另一人也会痛，一人伤，另一人也会伤。”
The shaman king coughed and solemnly said, "The lover's bug, as the name suggests, has a pair of male and female bugs. The man and woman who have planted the bug will have their lives intertwined, be in tune with each other emotionally. If one is hurt, the other will also feel the pain. If one is in emotional pain, the other will also feel emotional pain."
The term 心意相通 is tricky to translate. It basically means two people who are so attuned in terms of emotions and minds that they are aware of what the other person is feeling and thinking e.g. just by an action, look or expression, a person is able to express their love and the other person is able to understand it.
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.
Great catch, which I agree with. As Fangfeng Bei, he had no shortage of women but his heart was always intact until he met Xiao Liu and he fell in love for the very first time, a love that would last a lifetime. It is heartbreaking that he would consciously keep her in the dark about the extent of his love, refusing to let that love be a burden to her and influence her decisions, knowing that he could never promise and give her what she wanted - someone who would accompany her without abandoning her for life.
The text says thus:liddi:
巫王咳嗽了一声，郑重地说：“情人蛊，顾名思义有一对雌雄蛊虫，中蛊的男女命脉相连、心意相通，一人痛，另一人也会痛，一人伤，另一人也会伤。”
The shaman king coughed and solemnly said, "The lover's bug, as the name suggests, has a pair of male and female bugs. The man and woman who have planted the bug will have their lives intertwined, be in tune with each other emotionally. If one is hurt, the other will also feel the pain. If one is in emotional pain, the other will also feel emotional pain."
The term 心意相通 is tricky to translate. It basically means two people who are so attuned in terms of emotions and minds that they are aware of what the other person is feeling and thinking e.g. just by an action, look or expression, a person is able to express their love and the other person is able to understand it.
Thanks for another helpful and clarifying translation liddi! That sounds very similar to what HeadInTheClouds was saying.
So do you read, "The man and woman who have planted the bug will have their lives intertwined, be in tune with each other emotionally. If one is hurt, the other will also feel the pain. If one is in emotional pain, the other will also feel emotional pain." as saying that the bug connection causes the couple to become in tune with each other emotionally? If so, would that be because of the transfer of physical and emotional pain between them via the bug connection, or do you think it's a separate thing?
Look at the description, slowly. is there anything hidden there?
She looked up and saw Jing’s hair was a mess from her raking her fingers through it. It was too late to tell him and her face darkened with worry. Then she saw Jing stand up and release the band tying his hair up and sent his hair flying in the sea breeze. He leaned against the railing and looked up at the sunrise.
Xiao Yao’s heart leaped to her chest like a little deer lost.
"Is what we can see with our naked eyes really the truth?"
who did xiaoyao really see?
That's what Tonghua writing means, on the surface it seems like we're talking about A, even though we're talking about B. 2 stories can run together.
She remembered in the ocean when he let his hair loose, the stirring in her heart. She remembered twining his hair around her fingers, each strand was a longing.
At Lirong's house, Xiaoyao was finally able to hold Xiangliu's white hair.
That also includes when Xiaoyao washes Jing's hair. The instructions are everywhere.
The term 心意相通 is tricky to translate. It basically means two people who are so attuned in terms of emotions and minds that they are aware of what the other person is feeling and thinking e.g. just by an action, look or expression, a person is able to express their love and the other person is able to understand it.
This sounds akin to Zhiji, which we yet another relationship they share, and actually acknowledge. But it's also why I said XL is secure in his love for XY. Because of the Love Bug, and what they share through it, and because they are Zhiji, he knows XY loves him.
Likewise, the Love Bug allows him to, as AH said, thread the needle, as far as keeping their love from turning into the Heartbreak Bug.
Look at the description, slowly. is there anything hidden there?
She looked up and saw Jing’s hair was a mess from her raking her fingers through it. It was too late to tell him and her face darkened with worry. Then she saw Jing stand up and release the band tying his hair up and sent his hair flying in the sea breeze. He leaned against the railing and looked up at the sunrise.
Xiao Yao’s heart leaped to her chest like a little deer lost.
"Is what we can see with our naked eyes really the truth?"
who did xiaoyao really see?
She saw TSJ. I'm all for reading between the lines, but I really don't see any connection with XL here.
The novel never describes XY seeing XL's hair untied. In chapter 43 (29 chapters after this scene), XY sees XL's hair "fanned out" and protecting her from the whirlpool, but his hair is not described as untied. In chapter 27 (13 chapters after this scene), XY has a dream where FFB's hair flies in the breeze, but again it's not described as loose or untied. And she hasn't even met FFB by chapter 14. She sees him for the first time in chapter 15.
Yes, a sea breeze is mentioned, because they are on a boat. I really don't think that's intended to be a reference to XL.
And I can't think of any connection between XL and sunrises.
@AH
Tong Hua even sets it up so well by confirming that XY visited a brothel at some point before she opened the medical clinic in QS town. Although the fic I imagined wouldn't be a story that XY would likely want to share with her father. ^^"
I'd love to know the stories behind her several years in casinos!
Yes! Five whole years!
-----
Chapter 16:
Fang Feng Bei took Xiao Yao to the dice table first and she spent five years in a casino before so she kept on winning as did Fang Feng Bei, though both knew when to stop and not upset the house.
@liddi
The term 心意相通 is tricky to translate. It basically means two people who are so attuned in terms of emotions and minds that they are aware of what the other person is feeling and thinking e.g. just by an action, look or expression, a person is able to express their love and the other person is able to understand it.
That's telling because at several occasions, we see that XL knows what's going on XY's mind. For exemple:
Chapter 7
Xiang Liu said with resignation “Get on my back, I’ll carry you.” Xiao Liu bit down on his lip to keep from laughing. That would mean he was treating Xiang Liu like his personal ride. Xiang Liu appeared to read his mind and glared “Back to Qing Shui Town.” He turned and swam North.
Xiao Liu immediately grabbed him tightly around the waist “I promise to stop thinking nonsense.”
That scene is right before the bug is transferred from CX to XL, if I remember correctly? So it shows that XL could read XY before the bug was planted in him. ^^
That reminds me of this scene from chapter 4:
-----
Furball flew lower and Xiang Liu reached out his hand. Xiao Liu grabbed his hand and vaulted on the back of the condor before they were suddenly in the clouds. Xiao Liu pressed against the condor’s back and looked down. Furball was flying low so Xiao Liu could see the view on land until they flew over the ocean. Furball was so happy he was crowing and twirling in the air. Xiao Liu’s spiritual powers were quite low so he gripped the back tightly with his face ashen. He said to Xiang Liu “I would rather you killed me by sucking all my blood dry than by falling to my death.”
Xiang Liu asked, “Why are your spiritual powers so low?”
“That evil fox wanted to not waste my powers so he used medicine to suck it out of me and then slowly drip it through my blood so its better when he eats me.”
Xiang Liu laughed. “I heard the pain of getting the powers sucked out is like having one’s bones stripped. Looks like those 40 lashes were too soft, I need to find a new torture method.”
Xiao Liu’s face was white. “Do you think it’s like singing, one gets better with more practice? Because it was so painful back then, that is why I’m more afraid of any pain than anyone!”
Xiang Liu patted Furball who immediately stopped teasing and started flying properly. Xiao Liu let out a sigh of relief and went back to sitting properly. Furball was flying slow and evenly while Xiang Liu looked out at the horizon, his face like the still water, without any emotion. Xiao Liu asked “You’re in a bad mood?”
That scene is right before the bug is transferred from CX to XL, if I remember correctly? So it shows that XL could read XY before the bug was planted in him. ^^
Yes! And also right after planting the bug:
"A huge sea conch with brilliant hued shell, Xiao Liu tapped it wondering what its meat tasted like and Xiang Liu said “It’s not tasty.”"
@windiaaa041293, are you talking about this description of XL's hair?
Chapter 2
The man ignored him as he changed his robe and sat down at his desk to review doc.u.ments. It was then that Xiao Liu finally saw his face clearly. White hair like the clouds that wasn’t tied into a bun but instead a jade-colored rope was used to tie it neatly back to let it fall behind his head. His face was so beautifully handsome it bordered on surreal. His entire body was so spotlessly clean it was eerie.
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