Xiang Liu and Xiao Yao’s Story and Romance

 blabla100:

I don't know, I still don't think everything is as literal as it might look. The only clear answer we get în the novel regarding these bugs is from XL, chapter 7, when he tells XY that the bugs only share pain, not life and death. Moreover, I highly doubt XL would have tried to kill CX if he knew that that's going to get XY killed too.

This is another point that's been covered in this thread before. I'm afraid I have a different interpretation of XL's comments in chapter 7. If I remember correctly, liddi and I had the same interpretation. 

We the readers know that, even if XL didn't know everything about the bugs in chapter 5, by chapter 7 he definitely knows a good amount of information (and perhaps everything he knows in chapter 48) at this point.

(1) He knows enough about the bugs to suggest that XY transfer the bug to him from CX.

(3) He knows that the bug cannot be transferred from CX to "just any person". He knows what the requirements are for who the bug can be transferred to, and that he meets those requirements, but doesn't want to tell XY what they are. 

(3) He knows that the bugs are rare and what they're called (Lovers' Bugs), but realizes that XY doesn't know their name.

If he knows all of the information listed above, that means he almost certainly knows how the bugs work. He knows that they do more than just transfer pain. He knows that they link the hosts' lives together. 

So the first comments from XL that I highlighted below? He's 100% pretending in front of XY. Because we know that at this point he is aware that he meets the criteria for XY to transfer the bug to him. He is aware that he loves her. So when XY says that XL wouldn't even hesitate to kill her in order to kill CX through the bug connection and XL agrees? We know he must be bluffing and intentionally keeping XY in the dark, because we know he would not kill her in order to kill CX through the bug connection. 

-----

Chapter 7:

Xiang Liu fell backwards and laid on the surface of the water. Xiao Liu's whole body was still aching so he couldn’t move and could only lie on top of Xiang Liu.

Xiang Liu pulled Xiao Liu's arm. "Does it hurt?"

"He will be in great pain."

Xiang Liu laughed. “This voodoo bug is decent but not good enough.”

“If it was a life-linked voodoo bug, you wouldn’t even hesitate and would kill me, right?”

“Yup, too bad it just shares pain.” Xiang Liu’s voice shared his regret.

Xiao Liu closed his eyes and felt them rocking on the waves. The water supported everything so there was no need to use any strength and it was quite relaxing.

Xiang Liu asked, “Since he’s so precious to you, why not remove the bug?”

Xiao Liu didn’t answer and thought for a long time. Since he was a demon, and demons and creatures and monsters were all in the same world, perhaps he might know something. “It’s not that I don’t want to remove the bug, it’s that I can’t. Last time I was injured, you used all sorts of weird medicines on me. The bug had some type of transformation. He asked me to remove the bug and I lied that I’ll do it when he leaves. Recently I’ve been trying all sorts of ways to coax the bug out of him but nothing works.”

Xiang Liu thought about it. “If you don’t want to die, then don’t try calling it back. The only solution is to find a way to transfer the bug to another person.”

Xiao Liu sincerely said “The only person I want to make miserable is you.”

Xiang Liu softly laughed. “Then put the bug inside me.” Xiao Liu scoffed, “Like you would be so nice.”

...

Xiang Liu asked. “What you are thinking?”

“How to remove that voodoo bug. Xuan’s follower came by once to ask.” With Xuan’s real identity, that bug might not hurt him, but it was more likely one day it’ll kill Xiao Liu since so many people wanted to kill Xuan. Xiao Liu also didn’t want people to use him anymore against Xuan so was genuinely racking his brains for how to remove it.

Xiang Liu said, “I told you, find another person and plant the bug there.”

‘”Who would be willing? Maybe one of Xuan’s men?”

Xiang Liu very casually said “It can’t be just any person.”

“Why?”

“You raised the bug, you don’t know?”

“I…..I don’t know.” Xiao Liu confessed.

“Where did you get the bug?”

“Many years ago, I met an old lady from the Jiu Li tribe. You know that the legendary most fearless, vicious, cruel demon of all time Qi Yo was from the Jiu Li tribe. After he was killed by the Yellow Emperor, the entire Jiu Li tribe was demoted to slave status. The men and women were born into slavery. That old woman was a slave that no one wanted anymore. She was smelly and dirty, laying close to death in a pile of dirt. I found her very pitiful so I asked her what her final wish was before she died. She asked for a bath so she could go see her lover clean and pretty. I took her to the river and helped her bathe, then brushed her hair into the hairstyle of a Jiu Li woman. She gave me a blackened shriveled walnut, saying that she had nothing on her except this pair of voodoo bugs. She gave it to me as thanks. She told me to leave and then she died. Her body immediately attracted a lot of insects and was immediately devoured clean. Later on, when I didn’t know how to deal with you, I suddenly remembered this walnut I carried with me for a long time. I used it to raise the two voodoo bugs according to the magic of Jiu Li. I fed it pieces of my own flesh and blood, then one bug chose me, and then other was meant for you but instead I planted it in Xuan.”

“How did you learn how to raise a voodoo bug?”

Xiao Liu’s eyes twirled “That old woman told me!” Xiang Liu coldly laughed “You’re full of shit. 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?”

Xiao Liu knew what he said was contradictory so just went with it “Why do you care how I know how to raise voodoo bugs. I just do.”

Xiang Liu said “The pair of voodoo bugs you have is very rare. If you want to remove it, the only way is to find another person and lure the bug into that person.”

“What are the requirements for that person?”

Xiang Liu said nothing, and after a moment, he stiffly barked “I don’t know!”

Xiao Liu didn’t believe him, yet he didn’t know why Xiang Liu wouldn’t come out and tell him. So he tried asking “Do you fit the requirement?”

Xiang Liu didn’t answer so Xiao Liu asked more “You are a nine-headed demon. Luring a voodoo bug into you, that can’t be a problem, right?”

Xiang Liu didn’t deny it so Xiao Liu took that as a tacit confirmation. Xiao Liu got all excited “You said with your nine-heads, even if my body hurt then it wouldn’t hurt you much, right? So can I lure the bug over into your body?”

Xiang Liu stood there with his hands behind his back, staring at the moon, saying nothing. After a few moments he said, “I can help you lure the bug into me, but you have to promise that in the future you will do one thing for me. If I ask, you will do it.”

-----

Chapter 37:

Xiao Yao laughed back. “I just came back from a trip to Jiu Li. The Voodoo King told me all the specifics about the bug inside our bodies. I don’t remember any of the specifics of what he said but the one thing I do remember clearly is that the two bugs live and die together. Which means our lives are connected. If I’m in trouble then you’re not going to get off scot free!”

Xiang Liu smiled at Xiao Yao and didn’t seem surprised at all.

Xiao Yao was shocked and asked, “You’ve known all along since the beginning what kind of bug this was, right?”

“What if I did?”

“The Voodoo King said ‘the doves don’t fly alone in the sky, the pair of mandarin ducks in the water die together’. If I die then how can you live?”

“Why don’t you ask the question in reverse – if I die, then how can you live?”

Xiao Yao tried to stay calm and plead with him. “I don’t know who dies and who lives so that’s why I’m asking you. Tell me!”

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?”

Xiao Yao was so frustrated by him she was nearly hopping up and down in fury “You broke the spell on Zhuan Xu so how could you not want to break the spell between us?”

Xiang Liu smiled until his eyes were slits, “I don’t want to know!”

Xiao Yao wearily asked “What do you want then?”

Xiang Liu’s body was slowly sinking into the water “Other than checking on how my wares are doing in your body, what else do you think I want?”

“Hey! Don’t go!”

Xiao Yao flipped over the railing ready to dive into the water to chase after Xiang Liu but a pair of hands grabbed her hard and pulled her back on deck.

-----

Chapter 48:

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. 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. But I….I was heart and soul willing, so the bug successfully planted in me."

 windiaaa041293:

Maybe I think Xiaoyao doesn't really want to get rid of that bug.

Our interpretations may not be that different. 

I think XY made a real effort to try to find a way to remove the bugs, but she was motivated to do so because of other people. She didn't want her heartache and pain to keep bothering XL. And she didn't want TSJ and CX to worry about the bug connection / her connection with XL. So she tried for their sake. But when she couldn't come up with a solution to remove the bugs, she wasn't too worried. Because by that point the bug had been in XY for 80 years without a problem. 

@AH

"So when XY says that XL wouldn't even hesitate to kill her in order to kill CX through the bug connection and XL agrees? We know he must be bluffing and intentionally keeping XY in the dark, because we know he would not kill her in order to kill CX through the bug connection. "

I would have think that he is bluffing as well, if not for the fact that he did try to kill CX. I think his bluffing comes în regards to" you wouldn’t even hesitate and would kill me, right?” and not în regards to "If it was a life-linked voodoo bug", especially because before that he said "“This voodoo bug is decent but not good enough", and that part didn't sound as a bluff. 

 blabla100:

@AH

"So when XY says that XL wouldn't even hesitate to kill her in order to kill CX through the bug connection and XL agrees? We know he must be bluffing and intentionally keeping XY in the dark, because we know he would not kill her in order to kill CX through the bug connection. "

I would have think that he is bluffing as well, if not for the fact that he did try to kill CX. I think his bluffing comes în regards to" you wouldn’t even hesitate and would kill me, right?” and not în regards to "If it was a life-linked voodoo bug", especially because before that he said "“This voodoo bug is decent but not good enough", and that part didn't sound as a bluff. 

I personally think he was bluffing about all of it. 

Liddi and I have a few theories about how that could still work with XL's attempts to kill CX. If you go through the links I included one page back, the last three cover some of our theories. 

 blabla100:

I am just taking a guess here, but I am also not very convinced that XY would have tried to kill herself if she belived that by doing so XL would get injured too. That is a bit against her character, through out the whole novel we only see her protecting him, even în chapter 46, when there were more things at stake (FLong's death, her being very scared of how close she was of losing CX) she couldn't really harm him, so I am not so sure that she wouldn't consider him if she belived that. Obviously he was still present în her mind, giving that her first thought after waking up was that XL saved her again. It's true that at that point în time she thought that XL didn't care much about her, but still, would that be enough for her not to consider him?  I don't know, perhaps she thought that XL losing one of his life isn't that much of a deal, but as I said, I am just guessing here. 

Her lack of consideration for XL seems pretty clear in chapter 43. I agree, it seems out of character and it made me quite disappointed in her. 

-----

Chapter 43:

After finishing the soup Xiao Yao said, “Thank you!”

Xiang Liu coldly replied, “No need! This is the payment for your blood.”

Xiao Yao pouted. “Am I worth so little?”

“What do you want then?”

Xiao Yao said, “My thank you was for saving me! You haven’t forgotten why you were injured in the first place, right?”

Xiang Liu furrowed his brows. “It’s not that I wanted to save you, I simply have no interest to use my own life to confirm the words of the Voodoo King.”

Oh! Right, the Lover’s Bug! The Lover’s Bug does not live alone, if she died then likely Xiang Liu would die. Xiao Yao smiled sadly. “No matter what, thank you for saving me.”

Xiang Liu asked, “Why were you imprisoned in the ocean?”

“Someone wanted to kill me.”

Xiang Liu stared in disgust at Xiao Yao. “Someone wanted to kill you, so you let yourself get imprisoned?”

Xiao Yao stared at the fire and said nothing.

Xiang Liu pressed on. “Why didn’t you fight back?”

Xiao Yao said in a low voice, “Jing……disappeared.”

...

Xiang Liu said, “I happen to have free time, I can accompany you to go look for Miao Pu.”

“When did you become so nice?”

“Of course there is a price.”

“I only have one head, so I can't outthink your nine heads. I don’t think this deal is going to be good.”

Xiang Liu vaulted into the ocean without a care about Xiao Yao’s reverse psychology negotiating tactics. Xiao Yao anxiously jumped into the ocean after him and grabbed a lock of his flowing white hair.

Xiang Liu turned around and glared at her, so Xiao Yao let go with a smile. “You help me find the seagull demon and I'll agree to your price.” The seagull demon chose to let the whirlpool swallow her up forever, clearly she knew this ocean expanse very well. Only with Xiang Liu’s help could Xiao Yao hope to find her quickly.

Xiang Liu rose up from the ocean to stand on the waves. His white hair like the clouds, his white robe like the snow, the silver moonlight made him look even more noble and ethereal, except his expression looking down at Xiao Yao was filled with an evil smirk. “Any price I want?”

Xiao Yao stood up on the waves and raised her chin to look at Xiang Liu. “As long as it has nothing to do with Zhuan Xu, then any price is fine!” For Miao Pu, even if she had to make a real deal with the devil she would do it. At this point what else did she have left to lose?

Xiang Liu said, “The price is for you to stay alive. Even if Tu Shan Jing is really dead, you have to stay alive!”

Xiao Yao stared dumbstruck at Xiang Liu before her eyes went beyond him to stare at the limitless ocean horizon. A life that was long, a longing that had no end in sight……if she didn’t give up and stayed alive, what would that feel like? Probably like a dark night with no sunrise. Xiao Yao didn’t understand why Xiang Liu cared about her life or death.

Xiang Liu coldly said, “I just don’t have any interest in dying with you. If you want to give up, then first find the way to break the voodoo bug link.”

Right! Her life was connected to Xiang Liu. She really did need to find the solution to break the spell. Xiao Yao said, “I accept your price, so take me to find the seagull demon!”

@AH

"Her lack of consideration for XL seems pretty clear in chapter 43. I agree, it seems out of character and it made me quite disappointed in her."

I am not really bothered by chapter 43, I was reffering to chapter 48, if I am not mistaken. În chapter 43 she did put herself into a dangerous situation, but she wasn't the one to  actually pull the trigger, so to say. She even thanked XL for saving her, so obviously she didn't plan for that to happen. 

"Oh! Right, the Lover’s Bug! The Lover’s Bug does not live alone, if she died then likely Xiang Liu would die. Xiao Yao smiled sadly. “No matter what, thank you for saving me.”

 I don't interpret this as her not being aware of XL, but I think she wasn't expecting this answer from him, his motivation in saving her took her by surprised, hence why she smiled sadly. 

@AH dan @blabla100

Ada yang mengatakan bahwa sebelum Tonghua menyelesaikan buku ketiganya, dia sakit dan dirawat di rumah sakit selama beberapa waktu, dan penggemar bukunya mengatakan ada yang aneh dengan plot di buku ketiganya. Mungkin dia sedang terburu-buru untuk menyelesaikannya dan idenya berubah. kita tidak tahu

@AH

I had read your theories on the CX killing part  but honestly I am still inclined to belive that the bugs only share pain, not injuries, thus I don't take the "both of them will die" as literal. Their porpose IMO is to save lifes, hence they've been only used as a means for that throughout the whole novel and if I am not mistaken even Voodoo king refers to them  as a blessing, not a curse. The only way that these bugs can become literally deadly is through the heartbreak bugs. 

Also why I don't think XL was bluffing in regards to the life-linked connection, even if he knew that the bug wasn't well planted inside CX, since the receiver has to accept the bugs willingly (altough I personally still find this to be risky / far fetched), at that point în time he wasn't aware of XY not knowing much about the bugs, so I can't really assume that he was bluffing her in that regard. It was not until later that he finds out  that XY didn't even know their names or how to remove them, the  requirements for that etc, so I tend to think that the bluff was in regards to the " you wouldn’t even hesitate and would kill me, right?” part.