Xiang Liu and Xiao Yao’s Story and Romance

in the novel The Voodoo King checks twice and says it really is Lovers bug in XY and not a Heartbreak bug and is surprised to see it because she is  there with Jing.  Unless the translation is different from the original

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."

Xiao Yao said "This I know already. What else?"

"To outsiders voodoo is considered mysterious and bad, but really its a craft and magic that the Jiu Li tribe has passed down through generations to protect and heal us. Jiu Li has lots of deadly insects, deadly plants, deadly gasses, to live here our ancestors had to learn to understand it and control it. Voodoo is seen as a harmful power but we actually mostly use it here to save lives. The Lover's Bug keeps two people's lives connected, which means when one is injured as long as the other is healthy then then injured person will survive. This is a very good thing. Even if the Lover's Bug is notoriously hard to grow, it ought to still be relatively prevalent since many people will try to grow it. So why it is so rare to see?"

Xiao Yao asked "Why?"

"All living things that have a benefit must also carry a harm. The greater the benefit then the greater the potential for harm. The Lover's Bug is exactly that. It can lead two people to be connected in life and emotions but it is just like a pair of lovers in love with each other. It is tempermental and hard to control. If the Lover's Bug turns on each other then both people will die. Which is why the Lover's Bug also has another name, the Heartbreak Bug."
Jing stared in dismay at Xiao Yao who quickly said "It can't be as scary as he makes it out to be. It's been over seventy years and I'm still just fine.

The Voodoo King's expression changed as he stared at Jing "You're not the man the other bug is planted in?"
"No."
The Voodoo King stared in shock at Xiao Yao "Can I feel the bug in you?"

Xiao Yao nodded
The Voodoo King didn't move so he was likely using a bug inside of himself to sense. He furrowed his brows and murmured "It really is a Lover's Bug! But how is this possible?
'Lovers who raise the bug produce the Lover's Bug, Not Lovers who raise the bug produce the Heartbreak Bug.' The Lover's Bug is different then other voodoo bugs and absolutely requires the couple to willingly accept the bug for it to be successfully planted. If the man you successfully planted the other bug in is not your lover, then how did you plant it in him?"
Xiao Yao said "You might not know as much as your ancestors, the bug could be more multi-facted and evolving in ways beyond your understanding.

The Voodoo King was still perplexed. But it was clear that the young man sitting beside Xiao Yao was clearly her beloved so the rest of what he wanted to say wasn't suitable for discussing at this time. He smoothed things over "Miss you are likely right, the bug inside of you is different than other bugs. Likely Miss and the other man have very unique bodily compositions.

Xiao Yao inwardly sighed in relief "He is very unique!" Since the bug was planted, only Xiang Liu could sense her but she could never sense him.

Jing anxiously asked "How to break the spell?"

The Voodoo King's face scrunched up "The Lover's Bug - either live in love or die in heartbreak. Once the Lover's Bug has been planted there is no way to break the spell. It is impossible. This is what I was trying to say earlier for why so few people raise it despite the great benefit. Only very determined girls would raise the bug but even if they successfully raise it, it's near impossible to find a man willing to accept the other bug to be planted in him.
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.

Xiao Yao smiled at him and made a joke face "Don't worry! We don't need to believe everything the Voodoo King says. Don't forget, he said that only a pair of lovers in love could the bug be successfully planted. But I don't have any relationship with Xiang Liu but we still successfully planted the bug. The Voodoo King also said the spell couldn't be broken once the bug was planted but don't forget that I planted the bug first in Zhuan Xu before Xiang Liu helped me break the spell and move the bug to himself."

Jing let out a sigh of relief "Yes! The bug was moved from Zhuan Xu!"

Xiao Yao shook Jing's hand "Don't worry, there is no absolutes in this world. If no one has broken the spell before then let me be the first." She said to the Voodoo King "Once I break it I'll pass on the knowledge to you as gratitude for your ancestor teaching me voodoo."

 chase_kayden:

Has XY never entertained the idea that XL possibly loves her? Or prolly that idea is always thrown out of the window every time XL does what he always does, being cold to her and acting like he doesn't care?

I sped read the novel, binge watched the episodes that have aired, and skipped a lot in both... so my collective knowledge is a bit patchy and mixed up. Plus this is maybe open to interpretation. That said, my sense is that XY never thought that XL was in love with her, but there were times that she thought they were genuinely friends and that he cared about her to some extent. So she still ends up feeling hurt when he intentionally acts cold and tries to create distance between them. 

In XY's defence, XL does a lot of things to make it harder for her to recognize his true feelings. He runs hot and cold, sometimes seeming soft in one moment, only to hurt her in the next. He makes deals for things that he's happy to get but that aren't his true objective (e.g., meeting one request without question / getting a mountain peak where he can bury his soldiers) to mask his real objectives. He uses their connection (he feels her pain / her dying might result in him dying) as an excuse for why he helps her. And sometimes he is even intentionally cruel to her to make sure that she misunderstands his feelings.

From what I remember, XY never found out that XL suggested transferring and willingly received the lover's bug fully knowing what the bug was (meaning, he already knew at that point that he had feelings for XY - otherwise he would be risking both their lives). She finds out that XL knew some information about the bugs before she did, but not the full extent. And she doesn't accept the idea that their bugs and their connection is just like the bugs and connection that the Voodoo King describes, because that would necessarily mean that she loved XL and XL loved her for 70+ years at that point. 

Episode 30

Xiang Liu deserves Xiao Yao's love and devotion.  He rushes from Qing Shui Town to Ziyi Mountaiin to find Xiao Yao and gets injured while breaking into the mountain.

He draws out his own blood to save Xiao Yao and spends the next 37 years with her.  

That is true love.  

 TurboMuffin:

yea the girl is able to compartmentalize and let her mind run away from actual truth.

same with her cousin being in love with her  - the selective hearing and ignoring her brother's obvious feelings.

She also tests XL/FFB - she would make flippant remarks..wait , didnt get the response quick enough or change her mind cos she didnt want to hear brutal rejection and changes topic

True. I think it all comes down to her feeling abandoned by her mom though so she does whatever she can not to feel those feelings again. 

Btw, how did XL die?

 chase_kayden:

I guess this means the medicine feeding you mentioned before won't be shown. Hopefully, they can show what happens during the 37 years and that'll be enough for me. 

Yeah, also we haven't gotten the scenes in the trailers of XY and what looks to be FFB underwater yet so I'm sure there are more happy moments between the two to come.