Xiang Liu and Xiao Yao’s Story and Romance

@H19279 Koala translated part of chapter 22 as "All those threads that she tried to cut all those times finally weaved together into a web at last." Do you happen to know what the original text was for that line by any chance?

 AH :

@H19279 Koala translated part of chapter 22 as "All those threads that she tried to cut all those times finally weaved together into a web at last." Do you happen to know what the original text was for that line by any chance?

小夭俯身凝视着璟，喃喃自语：“你真为了我竟伤心到自绝生机？”小夭觉得匪夷所思，心上的硬壳却彻底碎裂了，那一丝斩了几次都没斩断的牵念，到这一刻终于织成了网。 

The thread of "牵念" that has not been cut off several times was finally woven into a net at this moment

So I think this sentence links to the sentence that XY talked in chapter 10 in your except in the post above. 

For the whole 2019 version of LYF you can check in this link: http://m.xsbiquge.la/chapters/36337

The 2013 version: https://luoxiadushu.com/changxiangsi/

I usually use following translation tool: Google translate, Bing translate, 百度翻译-200种语言互译、沟通全世界！ (baidu.com) ; dictionaries: HanBook Online Dictionary - Best Chinese online dictionary with pronunciation and translation and Chinese Dictionary: Practice Writing & Character Memorization by Inputting English, Pinyin, Or Chinese! (writtenchinese.com) 

you can play around with the text to find the exact word. And there are variation across the translation tool. I always check the meaning of the word that can have different translation using dictionary. The Han dictionary tool can translate the whole sentence too

 H19279:

For the whole 2019 version of LYF you can check in this link: http://m.xsbiquge.la/chapters/36337

The 2013 version: https://luoxiadushu.com/changxiangsi/

I usually use following translation tool: Google translate, Bing translate, 百度翻译-200种语言互译、沟通全世界！ (baidu.com) ; dictionaries: HanBook Online Dictionary - Best Chinese online dictionary with pronunciation and translation and Chinese Dictionary: Practice Writing & Character Memorization by Inputting English, Pinyin, Or Chinese! (writtenchinese.com)

you can play around with the text to find the exact word. And there are variation across the translation tool. I always check the meaning of the word that can have different translation using dictionary. The Han dictionary tool can translate the whole sentence too

Thank you for this info and links.

 Kokuto:

Part of that may be that she translated it over a few years, IIRC.

I know there are other language editions, but I wish we had official English translations of LYF and Once Promised.

The quality of the translation (official or unofficial) depends not only on the bi-langual proficiency but also understanding of background culture, especially ancient culture and literature. With complicated work with a lot of foreshadow, "snake on grass, lines on dust" that streches over miles like LYF, translation is very challenging work.

For example, Vietnamese and Chinese are very close languages. We use a lot of chinese words with more or less the same meaning (just difference pronouciation and we use latin characters for writing). We also understand many Chinese idioms and famous story in literature and used them as how they are. So it facilites the translation a lot. However, I still see a lot of reviews, posts that complained the inacurrancy of the official translation which is published as book. The official translation just means that it is translated by a qualified translator with some peered review (hopefully) and edition. 

I just want to borrow this to share some of my thoughts, @AH.

 AH :

A prison that, in the context of her trauma, complexes, and circumstances, seemed to give her some semblance of security. Or maybe hope for future security and simplicity.

A bit like the unusual feelings that TSJ and WXL had about being locked in the dragon bone prison together. WXL felt that being locked there: (1) simplified complicated things; (2) felt right; and (3) felt calming. She suggested that they never leave. TSJ felt grateful to be locked up in the prison with WXL and wished to never leave.

The one word I have for this is AVOIDANCE. AVOIDANCE. AVOIDANCE. We know that XY has "psychological deficiencies" due to her childhood trauma resulting in fear of abandonment. It's there in the text provided that you have basic reading comprehension and care enough to acknowledge it (this sentence is not directed at you AH :-)). And the author had made it explicitly clear in her interview.

Avoidance is the most commonly used coping mechanism for fears and anxiety because it works in reducing your fears. However, this is only temporary. Psychological avoidance is akin to an ostrich burying it head in the sand - ignoring the problem doesn't make it go away. Any therapist worth their salt will tell you that in the long run, avoidance perpetuates/exacerbates the problem, prevents you from living as fully as possible and eventually reduces your quality of life. The problem with avoidance is that it prevents you from facing your fears and challenges the erroneous beliefs that keep you a prisoner of those fears. 

So yes, XY chose to lock herself into the prison of her fears. It provides reprieve, but it is not a healthy way of being. Thus, Jing providing XY with a prison to trap herself in is NOT a good or loving thing to do. It is harmful to her healing.  If Jing had been less selfish, and aware and placed XY's well-being as a priority, he would not have done this. Of course, Jing couldn't do this because Jing himself is very sick and he'd made XY his reason for living. This is why when she "died" he felt into helplessness and wanted to die with her and when he was married to FFYY (and lost XY) he lost his will to live and was so ill that his lifespan was reduced to a mere 100 years. This is not a psychologically healthy person. 

What Xiao Yao needed was a strong, secure person who is steadfast in his love for her, but who doesn't need her for his existence. She needed someone who could be the anchor to stabilise her, but who could also encourage her to heal and be an independent person. Jing is not this person as he's dependent on Xiao Yao and would want her dependency on him in return. Not to mention he needs to deal with his own issues. To me, their relationship is co-dependent and unhealthy. Two people treading water (or in this case, one person treading water while the other person cling on to them) have no business saving anyone. All that will result will be two corpses.

Xiao Yao is in the contemplation stage on the change journey. She's aware that she has a problem, but she is not committed to taking action to address the problem. Choosing instead to avoid it. Jing is in the pre-contemplation stage. He's either unaware or refused to admit that he has a problem - as illustrated by his refusal to get treatment for his scars and dependency on XY - and has no intention of changing his behaviour. Change is a difficult process, people with trauma or any other mental health challenges can sometimes stay in unhealthy/limiting relationships/situations for years simply because it feels familiar and thus "safer" than what is out there. It's a case of better the devil you know. Plus, they don't know how to go about changing the situation. XY (and Jing) needs a good shrink :-).

I think Tong Hua's decision to have Jing and XY end up together makes sense in the context of the characters' sickness and motivations. It seems like she did her research into trauma and its impact. I would have liked to see my female lead be more developed and would like to see her be in a more healthy position at the end of the story.  My ideal ending would have been for XY to sail off on her own, and Jing to stay and carry out his responsibility. The door is left open for a potential reconciliation after both of them deal with their issues.  

However,  the author chose not to do that so the ending was "not a tragedy" because the characters got what they wanted most. For XY, it's a prison that feels safe, but ultimately hinders her from true healing and restricts her from a full-rich life. This is the reality for many people in the real world. I can accept that, but I cannot see it as a happy ending for XY. Just as I cannot see her relationship with Jing as it is as anything other than unhealthy. As always, YMMV.

 Kimiya78:

1) Why XY's blood is nutritious?

It's not just her blood. XY's whole body (including her blood) is unique.

When she was born, XY's body was bathed in sun-powered water from the holy Yang Valley.

Later in her childhood, XY spent 70 years living on Jade Mountain. There she consumed vast quantities of priceless bone essence and other treasures (e.g., Jade Mountain peaches) which caused her body to be filled with the heavenly essence of Jade Mountain. 

-----

Chapter 8 of Once Promised:

A'Heng lifted up her head and let out a long whistle, Lie Yang and Ah Bi came down to the sacrificial stage from the sky.

A'Heng stroke Ah Bi's head, "Chi You is sick, I need your fresh blood, is that ok?" Ah Bi grew up on the Jade Mountain, he ate the peaches, he drank the jade marrow, his whole body was filled with the heavenly essence of the Jade Mountain.

Ah Bi's head gently caressed A'Heng, as if comforting her.

A'Heng told the Witch King, "I will have to trouble you."

The Witch King used the sacrificial jade bowl and silver knife and walked to Ah Bi's side, Ah Bi kindly lifted up one of his front legs, the Witch King quickly made a slash with the silver knife, the fresh blood gushed out, a sweet smell wafted to their noses.

A'Heng turned her back to them, she cut both Chi You and her palms, their palms entwined, she placed Chi You's blood which contained poison into her own body.

The Witch King brought a full bowl of blood over, A'Heng let him feed the blood to Chi You, "This blood cannot cure the poison, but it can slow the pace of the poison. Every day, you take a bowl of Ah Bi's blood to feed him. I have to leave for a while, a few days later Lie Yang will bring back the antidote."

...

A'Heng met Mi Duo's mother. Because of her long illness, she has been tortured till there was only a thin layer of skin wrapping her bones, she could not even speak a whole sentence.

A'Heng asked Mi Duo if a tribe witch had seen to her mother's illness, Mi Duo said a year ago Jin Dan and a few brothers of the mountain village carried her mother to Chi You Village, the head tribe witch said that no mortal would be able to save her mother, one can only follow heaven's will.

 A'Heng understood that there were illnesses that could not be cured in this world, the Yan Emperor's medical skills were the best in the realm, but still he could not save his daughter Princess Yao.

 Because her mood was not good, she ran to the mountain peak where there were very few people to see Ah Bi and Lie Yang. These two fellow had totally messed up her bag, A'Heng tidied it up again and saw that there was a packet of unripe peaches.

 These were the unripe peaches she had sunned on Jade Mountain, these were supposed to be snacks for Ah Bi and Lie Yang, but Ah Bi and Lie Yang had eaten them for ten plus years, and were already sick of it, so they weren't willing to even touch it.

 A'Heng picked a few pieces of unripe peach, casually placed it in her mouth, she ate them, suddenly she jumped up, and rushed down the mountain.

 A'Heng decided to use these peaches to save Mi Duo's mother, remembering the example of Ah Bi. Still, she did not dare to give these straight to Mi Duo's mother, she took a small piece to boil water, and gave the boiled water to Mi Duo's mother to drink.

 On the first day, A'Heng was very worried, there was no good reaction from Mi Duo's mother, on the second day, Mi Duo's mother actually started to say she was hungry and started to eat. Mi Duo was so shocked she wanted to cry and laugh, because her mother had not wanted to eat for four to five years.

Seeing that there was a good reaction, A'Heng directly used the unripe peaches to boil water.

After drinking it for three days, Mi Duo's mother started to eat normally, although she could not sit up, there was clearly an upward trend, she just needed to slowly take care of herself, sooner or later she would be able to walk.

...

 The news that A'Heng had cured Mi Duo's mother's illness spread through the mountain village, all the seriously ill patients in the mountain village started to come and find A'Heng for their sickness.

 A'Heng's heart was worried, but since she had drank everyone's wine in the mountain village, ate everyone's food in the mountain village, she could not refuse. She just continued to use the unripe peaches to boil water. As she boiled, she called on the Emperor Mother, hoping that her flowers that only blossomed every thousand years, the thousand year peaches were as powerful as were rumoured in the great wilderness.

 As A'Heng nervously continued, the people that drank the water, even if their illnesses did not recover, their pain was greatly lessened, at least they could peacefully receive death.

-----

Chapter 3 of LYF:

Xiang Liu didn’t use his hands and instead used his mouth. He bit down hard on Xiao Liu’s neck and sucked his blood. Xiao Liu closed his eyes and this wasn’t like last time, meant as a warning. Xiang Liu really was drinking his blood.

After some time he released Xiao Liu but his lips remained on his bite mark. “Scared?”

“Scared!”

“Liar!”

Xiao Liu candidly said, “That night I knew you discovered the secret with my body. I thought you would think of ways to eat me, but tonight you came and all you want is my blood. I’m not scared anymore.”

Xiang Liu said with a half-smile, “Maybe I currently want your blood, but one Winter I may want to stew you to nourish myself fully.”

Xiao Liu laughed and opened his hands. “I belong to my lord already. My lord can do whatever you want with me.”

“You’re lying again!”

Xiao Liu looked at Xiang Liu – tonight he seemed different. His white hair was still not a strand out of place, his white robe was still spotless but appeared not as perfect as before. “You’re hurt.”

Xiang Liu stroked Xiao Liu’s neck as if picking a spot to bite next. “What exactly did you eat to grow up? If demons were to discover that your blood was more powerful in healing than even the most magical of medicinal pills, you’ll get eaten until nothing is left.”

Xiao Liu laughed but didn’t respond to Xiang Liu’s words and instead asked, “What brings my lord here so late tonight?”

-----

Chapter 5 of LYF:

“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.

-----

Chapter 6 of LYF:

Xiao Liu’s body was very unique so wounds healed faster than most.

-----

Chapter 7 of LYF:

“Anything dark will disappear in the light. Use sun-powered water from the holy Yang Valley. It cleanses anything.” “The water from the holy Yang Valley is hard to obtain and the batch we have is used up. The Valley is thousands of miles away, rushing there the bleeding will get worse and Master won’t even make it there alive.”

-----

Chapter 9 of LYF:

“Dad and Grandfather made a proclamation to the world looking for me. Many people started looking for me. Some wanted to bring me in for the reward, others wanted to kill me. I saw a little girl my age get killed. Some demons wanted to eat me because rumor was that I was bathed in the holy Yang Valley water when I was born, and lived in Jade Mountain for 70 years. The Royal Mother was very harsh with my training but generous with her bounty and I ate whatever treasures were there willy nilly. So rumor was that eating me would increase their power multiple folds. I was afraid and started running and hiding. One time I hid with beggars but the people chasing me had us cornered. I was so scared and dreamed that if I could change my looks, if I was covered with the pox, my eyes crooked, my nose flat, my forehead without the birthmark, then they wouldn’t recognize me. They checked all the kids and when they got to me, I thought I was a goner but they looked at my face and let me go. I didn’t know why until I got to the river and discovered that I changed my face. I transformed into exactly the face I was thinking of. And after trying it time and again, I learned that I not only could change my face, I could change my gender as well. After learning I had this ability, I was rarely in danger.”

-----

Chapter 12 of LYF:

The Royal Mother replied, “Who put it in you doesn’t matter. You need only care that I can help you now. Your body may be unique but your powers are weak now so in the future you will need this to keep your face from aging faster than the other goddesses. The Face Forming Flower remaining in your body won’t have any harm.”

-----

Chapter 44 of LYF:

Xiao Yao knew an agreement was reached and asked Left Ear “Do you have medicine on you?”

Left Ear took out two bottles. “Miao Pu gave these to me.” Left Ear was a slave for so long he was accustomed to carrying nothing, so even these two items he only kept on him because Miao Pu forced him to take it.

One bottle had thousand year old bone essence from Jade Mountain, the other a small piece of godly wood that burned without being ignited. Xiao Yao laughed. “Miao Pu is certainly generous, giving you these priceless items.”

Xiao Yao handed the bone essence back to Left Ear “Keep this safe, at the critical moment it can extend your life.” Bone essence was no use to Xiao Yao since she drank so much of it living on Jade Mountain, but for Left Ear it could keep him alive, and only by him staying alive could she hope to make it out.

-----

XY's body and blood had unique properties when she escaped from Jade Mountain.

After that, she was captured by the nine-tailed fox, who used medicine to draw XY's high spiritual power into her blood to maximize the amount of power that he would gain when he ate her. That might have also contributed to the special properties of XY's blood. 

-----

Chapter 4 of LYF:

Xiang Liu softly chuckled. “Interesting. And the fox?”

“I killed it.”

“You’re that powerful?”

“He should have killed me the moment he caught me. But he was consumed by hatred and greed. He used various special creatures to feed to me, forcing me to eat many disgusting things, all so that he could make me nice and plump before eating me. He intended to use my mythical blood to help him recover his lost powers……Oh, I forgot to tell you, he wasn’t a Nine-tailed fox by then, just an eight tail since he got a tail cut off so his powers were severely depleted. He raised me for thirty years and right when he was about to partake of the victory, one day he accidentally got drunk in front of me.”

...

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.

 H19279:

@H19279 Koala translated part of chapter 22 as "All those threads that she tried to cut all those times finally weaved together into a web at last." Do you happen to know what the original text was for that line by any chance?

小夭俯身凝视着璟，喃喃自语：“你真为了我竟伤心到自绝生机？”小夭觉得匪夷所思，心上的硬壳却彻底碎裂了，那一丝斩了几次都没斩断的牵念，到这一刻终于织成了网。

The thread of "牵念" that has not been cut off several times was finally woven into a net at this moment

My translation of this whole passage is this:

Xiao Yao bent over to gaze at Jing, murmuring quietly to herself,
'For me, you were profoundly saddened to the point of severing your life?'
Xiao Yao couldn't believe it—it's unthinkable. Suddenly, the hard shell around her heart cracked open. The threads she had tried to cut off several times couldn't sever her worry. In that moment, they wove into a web.

ChatGPT version: Xiao Yao bent over to gaze at Jing, murmuring quietly to herself, "You truly, unexpectedly, for me, are saddened to the extent of cutting off all hope?" Xiao Yao finds it unimaginable, yet the hard shell around her heart completely shattered. The threads of concern she had tried to sever multiple times, at this moment, finally woven into a web. 

In my version, I accentuate the XY's disbelief. I feel that the AI version just doesn't have the same amount of surprise. I actually prefer the AI version of  "completely shattered". AI still translated XY's question as Jing losing hope.

The Chinese words actually means cutting of one's life, and in Hmong, it translates to the same exact sentence. In Hmong culture, cutting off one's life comes with the idea of losing hope and therefore, no point in living. But I think just saying 'losing hope' in English doesn't carry the severity of that the phrase.

 Kimiya78:

1) Why XY's blood is nutritious?

When the Nine / Eight Tailed fox demon imprisoned her in the cage for 30 years, he fed her special herbs and drugs to push her spiritual power into her blood, so when he ate her, he would get the more if not all her spirit power.

 Kimiya78:

2) The time when XY was transfering the bug to XL' body how come the walnut disappeared after the transfer? And why XY said that she had a strange feeling? ANOTHER Question regarding this scene is that XL then kinda asked why she manipulated the bugs, what was the purport of that? I mean I don't get the meaning of XL's Question.

The walnut disappeared because it was a SUCCESSFUL implantation of the Love Bug.  It didn't plant successfully with CX.  Since it worked, and connected her fully with XL, I'm guessing it felt different.

He was just pointing out that her control was poor, as a Bug Master, like the Voodoo King, I assume, could control bugs from great distances.

 Kimiya78:

3) Can you guys give me an excerpt philosophy about the poison bugs? All of its aspects.

LOL!  I bet a third of this thread is discussing / arguing the details of the Love Poison Bug both in the drama and the book.

 Kimiya78:

4) At the end of episod 24 I suppose, XL came to XY's room scene, Did he kill someone? If yes who he killed?

Yes.  The Xiyan guards.  He was there to steal a map to hidden provisions, I believe, that was in one of the Uncle Prince's study, IIRC.

 Kimiya78:

5) Since I haven't read the novel completely and somehow I ignore every single spoil about the things that have to do with beyond S1 of the drama, I still didn't get XY's true father identity. Is she Hao Ling's daughter or not?

No.  She's actually the child of Chi Yo, who some of us have been discussing.  Her mother was married to Daddy Emperor, however, at the time, so he claimed XY.

 Kimiya78:

6) I somehow have some guesses for this q, why FFYY and TH insist on TJ marrying FFYY, if they love each other? (which I truly donnot buy TH loving FFYY, I guess he's just using her in persuit of reaching his own goals) Does it have to do with revenge issue TH been having with TJ?

Tushan Hou is married for most of Season 1, so it's not like he can marry FFYY.  Plus, Jing is the Clan Leader, so being married to him will give her more power.  I haven't read enough of the two, but I kind of doubt Tushan Hou actually loves her.  Could be wrong, though.