windiaaa041293:
@blabla100
I'm sure I'm not wrong, from start to finish he was XL, he said XL was just an escape for XY, but what I saw was the opposite.
Exposing lies by hiding the truth
Exposing lies by hiding the truth, well said. Thank you again for the articles you posted, I do find them very well presented, especially the "Sauvignon Blanc" ones. As I said before, they do raise some very good points and it is obviously that the person who wrote them knows a lot more about chinese culture and the flow of LYF than I do.
People are entitled to interpret this story as they please, some of them only watched the drama, some others have both watched the drama and read the novel, some of us are westerns, while others have chinese roots and perhaps they have been following this novel since its earliest days. It shouldn't matter if they are right or wrong, you shouldn't let other people's views change your take on the story, but If you want to hear some confirmation, than let me tell you that there are a lot of people who share the same opinion as you.
Personally I always thought that, romance wise, lyf tells the story of XL and XY and to a much lesser degree the story of XY and Jing. The main focus IMO is how XL and XY tried to fight fate în order to re-write the ending, an ending that otherwise would have been doomed for the both of them or in other words HE was the right person, but the wrong time. Regarding Jing, I always thought it is the opposite, wrong person, but the right time.
Perhaps I've missed something, but why do people belive that both the host and the recipient are bond to die if one does? And I mean phisically dying and not because of the heartbreak of losing the other half. I understand that the bug îs replicating the pain that the host if felling to the recipient, but where în the novel did the host also ever feel the psihically pain that the recipient felt? Can't this go only one way? I mean if it goes for both the host and the recipient, than why XY didn't feel the arrow that struck CX nor the pain he was feeling afterwards, while bleeding to death?blabla100:
The Voodoo King tells XY in chapter 37 that if one host dies, the other will die. In chapter 48, XL quotes the same ballad and says the same thing.
Regarding whether the transfer of pain between the hosts is one-way or two ways, we discussed this (and CX getting shot by the arrow specifically) earlier in this thread:
We also discussed whether XY would've died if CX was killed while the bug was in him, and whether XL thought at the time that the bugs would kill XY in those circumstances:
https://mydramalist.com/discussions/lost-you-forever/110123-xl-and-xy-story-and-romance-warning-spoilers?pid=2749595&page=82#p2749595 (your comment ^^)
And about the ballad, honestly I have never seen it as a death sentence per se. My interpretation is different, I see it as a sad ballad that sings about 2 people who form a whole and if one of them (takes the decision to) die, the other half can't keep on living by him/herself. And I say willingly taking the decision to die, because according to the Voodoo king, he can be saved by the other half, as long as the other half is healthy.
XL quotes the ballad before using one of his lives to sever the bug connection. It seems like an explanation. He has to sever the connection to protect XY from dying when he dies.
More importantly for addressing your interpretation, the Voodoo King quotes the ballad specifically in answer to TSJ's question: if one host dies, what happens to the other host? TSJ and the Voodoo King make no distinction between a host dying by choice and a host dying for any other reason.
-----
Chapter 37:
Jing was stunned and after a moment of silence he slowly asked “What happens if one person who has the Lover’s Bug dies? What happens to the other person?”
The Voodoo King sighed, “Our Jiu Li folk ballad sings ‘The twisted roots of the parasol tree entwine on land, the doves do not fly alone in the sky, the pair of mandarin ducks in the water always die together.'”
Jing stared at Xiao Yao and tightly grabbed her hand.
-----
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.
-----
Chapter 48:
“I don’t know what special things happened to Xiao Yao these years but her body now…” The Royal Mother stopped herself, sensing that Zhuan Xu did not know. Whether Xiao Yao didn’t want to tell him, or she didn’t know either, Royal Mother didn’t want to say any more. “I can’t say for certain but I know that Xiao Yao’s body is not afraid of water. Xiao Yao has stopped breathing, if it wasn’t for this special sea shell then her heart would have also stopped. Putting her in the lake will only do her good.”
...
Xiang Liu tightly embraced Xiao Yao in his arms and sat down cross legged on the seashell. He bit down on his own tongue to draw blood and then kissed Xiao Yao, feeding her his essential blood. The Lover’s Bug connected the hearts of lovers. As long as one breath remained, then life could be extended if essential blood was transfused.
...
Xiang Liu sat down next to the raft and stared at the sleeping Xiao Yao before softly saying, “The tree grows old on land together, the mandarin ducks die together in the water – the Lover’s Bug connects heart to heart and our lives, and there truly is no way to remove the bug..."
Xiang Liu picked up Xiao Yao’s hand and used his finger as a knife to slice into the flesh of her palm and his palm back and forth until he drew a blood spell. “I cannot remove the bug, but I can kill the bug!”
Like why is he relieved? What could have been worse? Jing is dead, so what could have been worse if XY picked XL instead of Jing? Worse case scenario XL would have died too, but SirBi says he îs relieved, so ofc I am thinking that something worse than what happened when Jing died would have happened to XY if she would have picked XL. Going against her family? I doubt, not even her mom went against her family, so I don't belive that is the reason for him to feel relieved.
The tragedy of XY's mother was not that she went against her family. It's the opposite really. Because of her family, she couldn't be with the person she loved or openly tell the world who she loved. After loving Qi Yo (Chi Chen) for hundreds of years, she only openly announced her love for him right before their final battle. Time after time she had to choose her family over Qi Yo. And in the final battle they were prepared to kill each other because they each could not turn their backs on other things that they held sacred. Qi Yo could not abandon his vows to protect Sheng Nong and everything that was built by the Flame Emperor and Yu Wang. A Heng couldn't turn her back on the Xuan Yuan soldiers (who came through and fought to try to save her brother) or the people of Xuan Yuan. As far as the world knows, they died together on the battlefield. In reality, Ah Heng suffered as the desert beast for 400 years with Qi Yo's spirit before she could finally die and be with him in death.
-----
Once Promised Volume 2 Chapter 18:
Ah Heng walked into the valley and saw the blooming peach blossoms but there were no young men singing songs to the young women. Where did everyone go? A soft singing reached Ah Heng and she followed the voice to see a white haired old woman humming a tune under the peach blossom tree.
The old woman asked “You’re an outsider, right? Are you here for our peach blossom festival? Come back in a few years, all the men have gone to war and they will be back in a few years.”
Ah Heng asked “How long have you been waiting for your lover?”
“Sixteen years.”
Ah Heng was silent, the dead bodies turned into white bones in the battlefield remained lovers to the women waiting for their return. Day in and day out, the corpses turned to dust on the field as the women’s hair turned white waiting for their return.
The woman saw Ah Heng staring at her with pity and yelled “He will be back! He will be back……” Her voice gradually got smaller “The war will end, the war will end! The Sheng Nong and Xuan Yuan war will end and then he will be back………”
Ah Heng’s heart broke, this desolation was caused by them! The common folks didn’t care who won, they just wanted the war to end as soon as possible so they could resume their ordinary happy life.
She made a solemn vow to the old woman. “Yes, the war will end.”
...
As Ah Heng turned to the front door, she suddenly looked back. “You have Sheng Nong behind you, the brothers in arms fighting to the death for you. You have the Flame Emperor and Yu Wang. Behind me is Xuan Yuan, all those orphans and widows, my brothers and nephews. I will give it my all so don’t go easy on me, that will only make me hate myself more.”
“You know I won’t.” Qi Yo sat up with his red robe hanging from the waist and his hair of black and white falling behind him. There was stark pain in his eyes but his smile was still as fearless as ever.
...
In a split second Ah Heng made up her mind and honestly replied, “I do have a relationship with Qi Yo.” Her voice wasn’t loud so everyone who heard it was in such shock they wondered if they heard it wrong. Even Qi Yo wondered if he heard it wrong to finally hear something he waited hundreds of years to hear.
“I’ve been in love with Qi Yo for the past hundreds of years!” Ah Heng said it again and louder this time as if she wanted to proclaim it to the entire world.
The two sides were tossed into stunned silence as if the world just turned upside down. Shao Hao worriedly stared at Ah Heng as things spun out of control.
...
Ah Heng blushed red and shot an angry glance at Qi Yo before turning to Ying Long and Li Yuan “I know you want me to explain and apologize but I don’t believe I did anything wrong. I don’t need your understanding and forgiveness. The only person I need to ask forgiveness from is Qi Yo. In the past hundreds of years, for my own mother, for my brothers, even for my daughter, I have sacrificed him time and time again. Three years ago when my mom passed she gave me permission to marry Qi Yo. I promised Qi Yo that I would be with him for my entire life. But I once again broke my promise, for my tribesman I not only didn’t go to him, I led you guys here to kill him. From the beginning until now I have fulfilled my duty as the Xuan Yuan Princess and never did a single thing wrong to Xuan Yuan. But I’ve wronged Qi Yo over and over again. If you guys believe me then I will continue to lead the troops. If not then I will immediately hand over authority to Ying Long.”
...
Ah Heng stared at Chi, Mei, Wang, Liang. “You guys have followed Qi Yo for the past hundreds of years. You know what he’s like and you’re still questioning him? if he wanted to sell you out then Xuan Yuan would have defeated Sheng Nong by now. He is willing to shoulder the bad reputation and for the entire world to hate him, did he do it for himself? It’s a shame he treated you guys like real brothers!” Her voice shook with her pride in Qi Yo and her desolation at their fate. Whether it was the Xuan Yuan or the Sheng Nong troops, everyone present felt the sadness and impossibility of life.
-----
Once Promised Volume 2 Chapter 19:
Shao Hao’s heart thundered. He knew how deeply Ah Heng loved Qi Yo, yet she just gave the order to kill on sight and was so calm about it. Worry bubbled forth and he quickly asked, “Are you sure? You know Qi Yo is like a mountain peak, either he stands proudly and strong or else he completely topples. He will never kneel down and surrender. Do you have the determination to kill Qi Yo? Once this battle starts there is no going back.”
“If the battle doesn’t start, is there another way to go?”
Shao Hao had no answer, for each day the Yellow Emperor was alive he would never give up his ambition to conquer the Middle Plains. And if Qi Yo was alive then he would never allow the Yellow Emperor to conquer Sheng Nong and destroy what Yu Wang built.
...
Qi Yo did everything he possibly could already and had nothing to feel sorry about or regretful for. He lived up to the promise he made that day to the Flame Emperor and Yu Wang and he never let down the eighty-one brothers-in-arms who swore the blood oath with him that day to protect Sheng Nong.
-----
XY and XL are not exactly the same as Ah Heng and Qi Yo for many reasons. Two of the biggest reasons being that XY is not a soldier and her loyalty mainly belongs to CX rather than to the people of Xuan Yuan as a whole. But that doesn't seem to stop Sir Bi (or the Grand Emperor) from worrying about the parallels. When Sir Bi looks at XY, he sees her as an extension of her mother. When Sir Bi and the Grand Emperor look at XL, they see someone who reminds them of Qi Yo.
Sir Bi sees XY picking a man like TSJ (even if he's dead) as a relief if it meant that she didn't pick XL, who, in the eyes of Sir Bi and the Grand Emperor, was too much like Qi Yo. They both feared that XY would repeat her parents' tragedy.
-----
Chapter 12:
Lie Yang looked at Xiao Yao’s face carefully and sighed inside. Xiao Yao didn’t look the least bit like Ah Heng, but her eyes were just like that big beast. But in her eyes, there was clarity like a baby, but looking deep showed a coldness.
Xiao Yao said “I know you are my mom’s friends and she asked you both to watch over me. But I’m grown now so you don’t need to be held to that promise. Go do what you want to do.”
Ah Bi looked at Xiao Yao and raised his paw. She grabbed it and there were tears in her eyes. In the epic final battle at Yi Province between Xuan Yuan and Sheng Nong, Ah Bi was gravely injured. When the Grand Emperor sent him to Jade Mountain, he was in a coma and looked like a burned shriveled up fox jerky. The Royal Mother used a ten thousand year old peach leaf to wrap him and soaked him in the deepest pool of bone essence. Only after 50 years did Ah Bi wake up. Xiao Yao knew how close both of them were with her mother and she knew they saw her as an extension of her mother’s life. But she wasn’t her mother, and she never ever wanted to be her mother.
-----
Chapter 24:
The Grand Emperor asked “Is he Nine-lives Xiang Liu? This time, he was the one who saved you?”
Xiao Liu answered in a low voice “Yes.”
The Grand Emperor covered the mirror with his hand and the image of Xiang Liu disappeared.
The Grand Emperor said “Xiao Yao, I don’t restrict your freedom but as your father I beg of you – do not have any relationship with him. He’s exactly on the opposite side of Zhuan Xu and your blood line has already made the choice for you.” The Grand Emperor had already seen one tragedy before, he didn’t want to see the same tragedy with Xiao Yao.
Xiao Yao took the mirror back and smiled “Dad, what are you thinking about? My interactions with him have always been a transaction. He saved me because he made a deal with Zhuan Xu.”
The Grand Emperor sighed “You need to remember this well, I would rather have the entire world vilify and castigate me for eliminating the entire Fang Feng family if that is what it takes to snatch that Tu Shan clan’s little fox for you. That is preferable than you having anything to do with Xiang Liu.”
-----
Chapter 48:
Sir Bi stared at Xiang Liu and looked truly conflicted, like he was looking at Xiang Liu but seeing another great man from long ago. “It’s not that you’re not good……..it’s just that…….for Xiao Yao……” Sir Bi sighed loudly. “Even if Tu Shan Jing is dead, I’m still relieved that the guy Xiao Yao picked was him.”
@AH
I always thought that ballad is a metaphor for losing the will to live without the other half, I can't take it literally. I belive the bugs only share pain, not injuries.
Thank you for the once promised part, was an interesting read!
My interpretation is that the ballad means exactly what it says - because the two people are bound by the lover's bug, which shares lives and hearts, they will live or die together - it is not a matter of choice or will.
Jing was stunned, and after a long while, he slowly asked, "If one person with the lover's bug dies, what will happen to the other person?"
The shaman king sighed. "Our Jiu Li folk ballad sings, 'The sycamore trees on the ground will grow old intertwined, the jian birds in the sky will not fly alone, the mandarin ducks in the water will die together.'"
It means that should one die, the other will definitely die (re the jian bird which only has 1 eye and 1 wing - only as a pair can they survive; the mandarin ducks dying together). By the same token, because their lives are intertwined, should one be at the edge of death, it is possible for that person to be kept alive if the other is strong enough (re the sycamore trees growing old intertwined).
And if you believe the leaked script to be true, this interpretation is confirmed in S2 Ep20:
As dawn broke, the Royal Mother and A Nian stood by the banks of the lake waiting as Xiang Liu trod the waves and approached with Xiao Yao in his arms.
AN (uncomprehending): What exactly did Xiang Liu do just now? Why does it look like he killed two of himself?
RM: Xiao Yao and Xiang Liu have shared fate bugs. If one person dies, the other will definitely die too. Once the bug is planted, it is impossible to remove it. Xiang Liu used his life to lure the bugs, then sacrificed two lives to perish together with the bugs. (sigh) Such a method of removing the bug could only have been possible with Nine Lives Xiang Liu.
Thank you for the once promised part, was an interesting read!
You're welcome! ^^ I'm still hoping the whole novel will be translated someday.
I belive the bugs only share pain, not injuries.
I agree that Voodoo King's comments about injuries seems to be incorrect.
When XY was assassinated in chapter 21, the bugs clearly did not cause XL to have the same injuries. They only transferred XY's pain.
When XL was injured in chapter 43 (and at other points in the story after the bug was transferred to him and before the connection was broken, like chapter 17 and chapter 46), the bugs clearly did not cause XY to have the same injuries.
-----
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 life and emotions connected. If one hurts then the other will hurt. If one is injured then the other will also be injured.”
-----
I think maybe what those lines are (not very successfully) trying to get at is that the bugs will transfer both emotional pain and pain caused by physical injuries.
My interpretation is that the ballad means exactly what it says - because the two people are bound by the lover's bug, which shares lives and hearts, they will live or die together - it is not a matter of choice or will.liddi:
By the same token, because their lives are intertwined, should one be at the edge of death, it is possible for that person to be kept alive if the other is strong enough (re the sycamore trees growing old intertwined).
I agree with this.
For the second part, I'd add that if one host (Host A) is at the edge of death then it's sometimes possible for the other host (Host B) to keep Host A alive if Host B is strong enough and a couple other factors are met.
We know that XL was strong enough to save XY in chapters 21 - 22, but if XY's body hadn't been maintained with sufficient spiritual power before XL got to her, then even he wouldn't have been able to save her. And it took 37 years of essential blood transfusions plus one of his extra lives (which most bug hosts would not have) to save her.
And if XL's shell hadn't been used to maintain XY's heartbeat in chapter 48, it seems like he might not have been able to save her in that case too.
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