AH

Out of XY's four romantic interests, three of them have multiple names / identities ^^! But you're right, only one keeps the audience guessing for a while.

And then there's straightforward Feng Long.

For sure, they are totally different genres.

I really can't see XL making the decision to accept the bug to test a theory. I can only see him making that decision and embracing all the potential consequences (life-and-death consequences!) if he not only knew that he had feelings for XY, but also felt confident enough in those feelings and strongly enough about her to take on all the consequences of receiving the bug. If it was a test, I feel like Tong Hua would have made that clearer.

I don't think XL being a demon means that his emotional experience is totally different from a mortal human's or a deity's emotional experience, or that he would need something external like the bugs to tell him whether his feelings were really love or not. I get that, in the early episodes, XL doesn't really treat XY like one would typically expect someone to treat the person they are in love with, but that's also true after he accepts the bug. Think of how he behaves the first time he meets XY after she regains her true form (which is also after he accepts the bug and definitely knows that he loves XY). His behaviour isn't always a reliable indication of his feelings.

Spoilers from chapter 48 of the novel ahead.

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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."

I'm guessing here, but maybe they look at Go Ahead and see the intense childhood bond between the ML and FL who call each other brother and sister even though they aren't actually brother and sister. They see a long separation. They see the ML meet the FL again when they are adults, with the ML harbouring obsessive romantic feelings for the FL while she still sees him as her brother. The ML admits that he was prepared to put the FL first and just stay by her side to look after her and help raise her kids if necessary. Obviously things end up going in a different direction in Go Ahead, but up to that point there are definitely parallels with CX and XY's relationship.

Episode 15.

Okay that's good. And that last part is certainly true!

I worry I've traumatized you with too many sad spoilers.

Yes, XL dies with no extra lives remaining at the end of the novel.

Great posters! This look feels like it's half FFB, half XL ^^

^ I would point out that the bug not fully stabilizing in CX doesn't necessarily mean that CX doesn't love XY. Given that CX was able to feel XY's pain through the connection, we should assume the opposite: he does love her (he just doesn't know WXL is XY yet). The drama emphasizes CX's feelings by showing that he was dreaming of XY as the bug was transferred out of him.

But to be successfully planted, the bugs must be willingly accepted by the host. XY was able to move the bug from CX to XL because it hadn't fully stabilized in CX (as CX didn't accept it), and because XL both loved her at that point and was completely willing (to use his words from the novel, "heart and soul willing") to accept the bug and everything it entailed.

That being the case, the bug seems to stabilize in XL immediately after it is transferred (their hearts synchronize immediately - whereas it took several days for CX to start feeling XY's pain) and the walnut halves were absorbed into XL and XY's palms (they don't directly show the absorption in the drama, only that the halves disappear). In Dahuang, promises are sealed by touching palms, so I think the walnut halves entering their palms is symbolic of the promise the bugs represent. I also believe the walnut halves being absorbed / disappearing is supposed to show that the bug in XL can no longer be transferred to another person (e.g., XY couldn't transfer the bug from XL to TSJ even though TSJ would likely also meet all the necessary criteria).

The consequences of stealing the Haoling Princess away from her wedding would be severe (between XY and FL's connections, it offends just about every powerful person in Dahuang). So his identity as FFB essentially becomes unusable. There isn't much of a "how". XL changes his appearance from FFB to XL and XY asks him about FFB. XL simply says that he's dead, and XY understands what that means.

Also, to protect the remaining shreds of XY's reputation, ZX later creates a false rumour that he sent men after XY to bring her home, and that those men killed FFB.

*Beloved* Ru Shou?!? If this is Ru So from the novel... I don't think you'll be calling him that by the end of part 2!

Well put!

I'd recommend pausing where you are, reading the novel (it really provides a lot of context and makes the drama easier to understand), then continuing S1 to the end but take your time since there's no rush. And then go back and re-watch / re-read as much as you like between now and when S2 airs. It's very re-watchable and you'll catch more details.

From chapter 32 of the novel:

After an important event is interrupted, XY will be taken back to QS Town. She will meet the descendants of her previous companions from her clinic.

She spent a little over 20 years in QS Town as WXL, and she adopted her mortal orphan companions about 10 years before she left. When she returns, she recalls those adoptions and says that 90 years had passed since then. So about 80 years had passed since she left QS Town.

Her companions (including Lao Mu) had passed away by that point, but Xan Tan Er (Chuan Zi's wife who was a former prostitute and who became XY's apprentice near the end of her time in QS town) was elderly but still alive. She already had several great-grandchildren!

By the end of the novel (chapter 50) XY asks ZX to spare XL's life. ZX realizes it and asks XY if XL is FFB (although he's pretty certain of the answer) and she confirms it.

The last time FFB had been seen at that point was when he took XY away from her wedding with FL. So ZX asks XY if she's still seeing him (FFB) and she (truthfully) tells him that she and XL have cut all ties, but she still wants him to live.

In the novel he warns her about TSJ, XL and FFB multiple times at different points, but most of his warnings and concern are about TSJ.

XL's powers are much stronger than XY's, so he can control the connection and XY's ability to detect the bug. He can feel things through the connection, but he prevents XY from being able to feel anything unless he wants her to. For example, when XL shows up to offer to rescue her from Five Gods Mountain, he uses the connection to call XY. Which is why she knows to ask TSJ to walk her to the edge of the ocean (in the novel, they have to walk much further to get to the shore). But most of the time she can't feel him, even when he's close.

The novel doesn't provide details about how XL/FFB could be poisoned. We can only assume that XL must be able to allow poisons to affect him if he wants them to.

XY is more open about her feelings for TSJ, so ZX is more cautious about him. ZX warns XY not to get close to XL or to really fall for FFB several times, but she assures him he has nothing to worry about and he (mostly) believes her. With TSJ, on the other hand, he can clearly see her heartbreak over and over again. And he spends way more time with TSJ and can clearly see how devoted he is to XY. It makes sense that he'd be more worried about TSJ.

XL and the FFB we see in the story are the same person. XL met the real FFB in the North over 400 years ago when the real FFB was dying. They made a deal and XL took over his identity.

The face we see is XL's real face. The real FFB had a different face, but he was young when he left for the North and XL pretended that his face was injured in the North and healed by a doctor to explain why he might look a bit different.