I am curious, in the novel had anyone ever give credit to Jing or to CX for their part in saving XY? I know all 3 of them XY, Jing and CX at some point în the novel aknowledged that it was XL who saved her life, so I personally just take their words as they were said. I don't think that Jing getting to her first was meant to actually  prove anything beside being a plot device from TH's part to keep him dead for 37 years and not have to deal with his family's issues while XY was gone. The only thing I got from his involvement in XY's rescue was that he would rather die than having to live without XY and I belive that's what XY and CX got from it too, since that's all that's been said about Jing and the merlin's assasination. 

 nathsketch:
but how awesome it would be if it turns out that it's actually Xiang Liu who's feeling all those intense emotions. Especially considering he is not one to ever lose his cool. So this could be the one moment when he could not control his feelings of desperation.

Of course, XL was sad, devastated and heartbroken. We know how much he loves XY. All those lives and sacrifices weren't because he was masochistic. And don't forget that he felt every bit of XY's pain. Every one of those petals that pierced her flesh - he felt them. Her pain, her fear and despair. He felt them.  And feeling her life slipping away - how could he not be terrified and devastated? And crying doesn't have to be actual crying. Have you ever heard of "crying on the inside?". Are we so lacking in reading comprehension and imagination that we need everything to be written out in text before we can say, yeah, that's what's going on? Or have I been doing reading comprehension wrong all these years? 


 nathsketch:
I choose to believe it's coming from Xiang Liu because he's more powerful anyway. And there's the bug connection to make an exchange of emotions more believable than the usual power transfers we see in every drama. They never mention anything about feelings being exchanged.

Yes. In all my years watching dramas etc. feeling someone else's emotions through power transfer is not the norm. You can feel the physical quality of the power - the strength and heat/cold etc. But emotions? Nope. And XY also couldn't hear, couldn't see, couldn't feel anything. I take this to mean that she could no longer perceive things through her sense of touch. So what she was "feeling" was through the more mystical bond of the Lovers Bugs. And from a timing perspective, it makes sense to me as well. XL felt her life slipping away so he guided her heartbeat then transfered his power into her and guided her into "hibernation". By the time Jing got to her, she was already in hibernation.


 nathsketch:
I think TH chose that wording carefully so we would be thinking about Jing as the obvious source of the power, except his power is nowhere near that strong and his crying and despair don't invalidate others feeling the same about XY dying.

Did Tong Hua try to fool us into thinking it was Jing or are we overcomplicating things? And Jing's power could never be termed unending.

 nathsketch:

All this talk of power reminds me of the babe, but the babe with the power, 

the power of voodoo, 

can be no other than Xiang Liu :D :D :D 

No one else has the voodoo bugs and he's the only babe. Sorry in advance to the other dudes. Maybe next time ;)

Labyrinth?

Jennifer Connolly was a vision in that movie. 


Repeating some stuff.. 

IMO, XL never thought of having a future with XY, he was always aware that it is only a matter of time for his army to go down and same as CX's uncle did,  he never thought of being the only one to escape the fate. There is no question în my mind about that. He  was content with being the temporary companion as long as XY didn't ask for more from him.  Every time XY tried to get closer to him, he always took a step back. 

He took the bug in because in order to  protect her he had no other choice. 

The beach scene he was angry because he thought  she lied to him about everything and took him for a fool, not because of her so called rejection / confession. In the drama XL's laught is Idk, maybe a bit sad, but XL from the novel didn't give me this feeling. 

@AH,  Nathsketch, HeadInTheClouds


Agreed.

Tong Hua: expert hider of details, master of vagueness and double meanings, provocateur of multiple interpretations.


Did Tong Hua try to fool us into thinking it was Jing or are we overcomplicating things? And Jing's power could never be termed unending

TH was very good at this. The use of word to describe the power characteristics is her clue to trace the “the grass snake, line on dust”. inspect the original word . I mentioned in my post (could not put it here since i am on phone). She then deceived us by choosing the emotion which is similar to Jing’s action

 H19279:
@AH, no matter how much power that Jing gave, nothing changed.

 H19279:
the power She could not adsorb and process the power that Jing gave..

No matter how much power TSJ transferred to XY, it didn't change the fact that she wasn't breathing or the fact that her heartbeat was undetectable. But none of the details I've read suggest to me that the spiritual power that TSJ transferred to XY had no effect or that it could not be absorbed or processed by XY.


 H19279:
In any xianxie drama or novels i have encountered the patient can feel the physical properties of the power (strength, hot/cold) but no emotion. what XY felt was emotion coming along with the stresm of power. the emotion was transfer via the bug.

Although this is indicative evidence, I do not view it as determinative. Especially the lack of similar situations in other dramas, rather than novels, as it would be difficult to convey this concept on screen, so it would likely only be done if it was essential to the plot. In the case of this drama, they did not try to adapt the concept of XY sensing the emotions imbued in any of the spiritual power that was transferred to her. 


 H19279:
only XL could sense how critical her heart and her life was. He couldn’t hold up his emotion at that point thus it was transfer by the bug too (before that point he was still calm, poked to encourage her heart, thus suppressing the emotion connection)

If XL was the source of the sad and devastated spiritual power, this would indeed explain why XL was sad and devastated at the point in time when he transferred the spiritual power to XY and why did not manage to hide or hold back his emotions.

I think that it is also possible that XL was not the source of the sad and devastated spiritual power, and that TSJ found XY at the moment that her weak heartbeat was about to stop once again (after XL managed to prevent it from stopping previously by using the bug connection to goad and guide XY) and began transferring spiritual power to her at that point, preventing her very weak, undetectable heartbeat from stopping once more. We know for sure that TSJ did transfer spiritual power to her, and that he was sad, devastated and crying when he did so. 


 blabla100:

I am curious, in the novel had anyone ever give credit to Jing or to CX for their part in saving XY? I know all 3 of them XY, Jing and CX at some point în the novel aknowledged that it was XL who saved her life, so I personally just take their words as they were said. I don't think that Jing getting to her first was meant to actually  prove anything beside being a plot device from TH's part to keep him dead for 37 years and not have to deal with his family's issues while XY was gone. The only thing I got from his involvement in XY's rescue was that he would rather die than having to live without XY and I belive that's what XY and CX got from it too, since that's all that's been said about Jing and the merlin's assasination. 

 AH :
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.

..

Xiao Xiao said, “We rushed into the maze to save the Princess. When we found her, Master Jing was protecting her. If it wasn’t for Master Jing using his spiritual power to protect her body then her body would have been incinerated into ashes already. Because he kept transferring power into her, it kept a sliver of hope alive. You can say Master Jing was the real person who rescued her. But when we got there he was already unconscious and we brought them both back to Zhi Jin Summit. Master Jing’s injuries are actually not severe but he’s the one who doesn’t want to live so that is why he’s not waking up.”

[Note: If XL also transferred power to XY before Xiao Xiao discovered XY's body, Xiao Xiao obviously would not know about it, which is why I have not quoted Xiao Xiao's statement as evidence in relation to who transferred the sad and devastated spiritual power to XY.]

-----

Chapter 22:

Zhuan Xu asked Xiao Yao how Xiang Liu saved her.

Xiao Yao answered, “I was unconscious the entire time so I don’t know the specifics. Likely due to the voodoo bug connecting us, so his life was the thread that kept me alive, and then he used a certain type of voodoo blood spell and exchanged his life to continue mine.

@AH

Thank you, AH. 

I am not going into this topic, because to me, honestly, this part of the story it's not that important, as I see it more like a plot device to emphasize both the importance of the bugs and the fact that Jing would rather die than living without XY.  You guys definetely paid more attention than me to the details, but thank you for the quotes you provided. I will give credit to Jing for saving her body, but I belive it was XL who kept her alive through the bugs, the sad power she felt and everything. At the end, both got to save what they ended up having, one her body, the other her heart. 

Isn't Xiao Xiao also the one who told XY how ill Jing is when she came to see him after the robbery? When XY was ready to leave, Jing suddenly felt ill and the maid started to cry and tell her how the master been ill for years? Is she the same?  

@AH,


[Note: If XL also transferred power to XY before Xiao Xiao discovered XY's body, Xiao Xiao obviously would not know about it, which is why I have not quoted Xiao Xiao's statement as evidence in relation to who transferred the sad and devastated spiritual power to XY.]

Xiao xiao told this story to FL, didn’t she?

Jin Xuan also emphasized to process the information carefully and give Tusha. Family reasonable information which kept face for everyone and would not harm CX image from Tushan clan. What would Jing’d grandmother react if they said Jing wanted to die with her by staying there , letting himself be burnt and exhausted his power so that he could die faster. Imo, he got burn to char but eventually no serious injury that threatened his life. 

FL had to give Tushan family the story and answer. so XX’s word is the story they wanted to tell in diplomatic way. 

They also wanted to keep face and dignity for XY and Jing who engaged with another girl. Did they want to let FL know the great Wang ji had romantic relationship with his engaged close friend. And CX wanted XY to regard  FL. She stayed in FL’s residence because of that

 HeadInTheClouds:
And crying doesn't have to be actual crying. Have you ever heard of "crying on the inside?"

I agree with this and have said something to the same effect previously (although not in this latest round of discussion on this topic) in this thread. 


 HeadInTheClouds:
Are we so lacking in reading comprehension and imagination that we need everything to be written out in text before we can say, yeah, that's what's going on? Or have I been doing reading comprehension wrong all these years?

It feels a little insulting to suggest that I, or any other person who is not convinced that the sad and devastated spiritual power must have come from XL, is sorely lacking in reading comprehension.


 HeadInTheClouds:
And from a timing perspective, it makes sense to me as well. XL felt her life slipping away so he guided her heartbeat then transfered his power into her and guided her into "hibernation". By the time Jing got to her, she was already in hibernation.

I don't think there is sufficient evidence to conclude that TSJ must have gotten to XY after she locked herself up, instead of getting to her just before she locked herself up.

By the time that the sad and devastated spiritual power was transferred to XY, she had already lost the ability to see, hear and feel the spiritual power transfer, and her heartbeat was incredibly weak and on the brink of stopping again. But she had not yet locked herself up. She did that after she felt the emotions in the spiritual power that was transferred to her. When TSJ found XY, she was unresponsive (could not see, hear, or feel) and her heartbeat was undetectable. That seems consistent with her heavily weakened state when she felt the spiritual power transfer, just before she locked herself up.

 H19279:

@AH,


[Note: If XL also transferred power to XY before Xiao Xiao discovered XY's body, Xiao Xiao obviously would not know about it, which is why I have not quoted Xiao Xiao's statement as evidence in relation to who transferred the sad and devastated spiritual power to XY.]

Xiao xiao told this story to FL, didn’t she?

Jin Xuan also emphasized to process the information carefully and give Tusha. Family reasonable information which kept face for everyone and would not harm CX image from Tushan clan. What would Jing’d grandmother react if they said Jing wanted to die with her by staying there , letting himself be burnt and exhausted his power so that he could die faster. Imo, he got burn to char but eventually no serious injury that harm his life. 

FL had to give Tushan family the story and answer. so XX’s word is the story they wanted to tell in diplomatic way. 

This makes sense to me. 

 H19279:
Xiao xiao told this story to FL, didn’t she?

Correct.


 H19279:
FL had to give Tushan family the story and answer. so XX’s word is the story they wanted to tell in diplomatic way.

I agree that Xiao Xiao's description should be taken with a heavy grain of salt for this reason and because she was not aware of the bug connection, and the bug connection was obviously a key reason why XY was kept semi-alive up to that point, even if you exclude the possibility of XL using the bug connection to transfer spiritual power to XY. 

While I do think Xiao Xiao probably did intentionally phrase her remarks in the most flattering and diplomatic way she could, her description of each action lines up with how TSJ's actions are described directly in the relevant scenes.

CX also says something similar (copied below), albeit more succinctly. Unlike Xiao Xiao, CX was aware that XY's bug had been transferred to XL by that point, but he did not know that the bug linked XY's life and XL's life. So he probably would not have been aware that XL used the bug connection to help keep XY alive even before he arrived. So again, grain of salt.

I think CX said the second line (in green) to explain why XY was diligently tending to TSJ (who was still engaged to FFYY) while he was in his coma. The first line (in gold) sets up the second line, but I don't think CX would have said it (especially in XY's presence) if he didn't believe it. 

-----

Chapter 22: 

Xiao Yao smiled at Zhuan Xu, so happy for him to have gotten yet another loyal follower. She raised her cup and everyone toasted.

The four chatted and conversation turned to Jing.

Zhuan Xu said to Feng Long and Xing Yue, “I told Xiao Yao that if it wasn’t for Jing getting to her first that day, even if I got there it would have been too late. Xiao Yao is very grateful for Jing saving her and she knows some local medical knowledge so wants to take care of Jing personally.

 blabla100:
Isn't Xiao Xiao also the one who told XY how ill Jing is when she came to see him after the robbery? When XY was ready to leave, Jing suddenly felt ill and the maid started to cry and tell her how the master been ill for years? Is she the same?  

Xiao Xiao is CX's maid. 

The maid who told XY how ill TSJ was when XY came to visit TSJ in chapter 33 (after FFB took her away from her wedding with Feng Long in chapter 32), was TSJ's maid, Jing Ye. 

@AH, 

the fact that Jing’s power kept XY unburnt. Xiao Xiao could see it. but if she really thought his power was effective for XY’s injury why would she ordered other elements: spiritual energy (qi).  

Kaola translation missed and did not include all the text when XX and the guards found Jing and XY.  You may check that part. 

 AH :
It feels a little insulting to suggest that I, or any other person who is not convinced that the sad and devastated spiritual power must have come from XL, is sorely lacking in reading comprehension.

My comments to @nathsketh are about interpreting that Xiang Liu could have felt devastated, desperate and sad through reasonable extrapolation of what we know of the story. It was not about the power must be from XL. Nathsketh and I agree on that front already. If nathsketch feels that I was suggesting that she lacks reading comprehension because of my comments, I will apologise to nathsketch. 

We've been through this discussion about whose the devastating power belongs to way back when and I have no issue with how other people interpret it then or now. I disengaged from our discussion the first time because it was clear to me that we disagreed on the timeline of how things happened so I didn't see the need to belabour the point.

 AH :

Xiao Xiao is CX's maid. 

The maid who told XY how ill TSJ was when XY came to visit TSJ in chapter 33 (after FFB took her away from her wedding with Feng Long in chapter 32), was TSJ's maid, Jing Ye. 

Thank you, I keep mixing them up. 

Speaking of which, I can help but notice that Jing is using the same tactics to keep XY tied to him as his grandma uses to keep Jing tied to her wishes. The debt card, the pity card, such a gross manipulation IMO. Both XY and Jing are weak when it comes to these things, but Jing, same as his grandma, kept taking advandage of XY's weakness over and over again while being aware of XY's kind nature, he knew what he's doing.