MengXiang:
@AH
XL didn't ask XY to run away with him again, and that made him different from Chi You. But if he had, for much of her story XY couldn't leave or betray CX in order to be with XL. Somewhat similar to how Ah Heng couldn't leave or betray her brothers, her mother and her people to be with Chi You before the war ended.
I was thinking... If XL did ask her seriously to run away with him and he was willing, I think it shouldn't be a hard decision. It wouldn't really be a betrayal to CX as she is taking XL from the resistance army and XL was what made the army so difficult so in a way her leaving with him would be beneficial to CX.
In one sense, yes it wouldn't be a betrayal of CX (or Xuan Yuan) if XY took XL away from the remanant army (in some bizarre AU scenario where he would be willing to abandon the remnant army...).
But in another sense, running away with XL and leaving CX behind would be a betrayal of her childhood vow.
And leaving CX behind forever in that context (where CX didn't betray XY) would be very painful for both XY and CX.
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Chapter 10:
Zhuan Xu’s teasing faded and he got serious “You’ve been whatever goes for so long, but I know you won’t be able to sit back and watch me without getting involved. Once I go back to Xuan Yuan, whatever I do will clearly impact you. The people who want to get rid of me will try and harm you. So why should I act like you won’t get involved? Rather than vowing not to get you involved, I’d rather tell you up front so you are better prepared.”
Xiao Yao patted Zhuan Xu’s hand to indicate that she understood. She said, “Zhuan Xu, do you remember? When grandmother was about to die, she grabbed both our hands and said that we were poor children and that we needed to stick to each other from then on and take care of each other.”
“I remember.” It was long engraved in his heart, how could he forget? Zhuan Xu vividly remembered their grandmother’s dying request. Because his parents died so tragically, he grew up very young and he solemnly promised grandmother that he would protect his sister for life. Xiao Yao didn’t understand at that time so she merely copied him and promised to protect her Gege for life.
“I thought grandmother was senile back then since you may be a poor orphaned kid but I wasn’t. Look at us now! Grandmother likely already predicted what would have happened to us.”
Zhuan Xu said softly, “Back then the laughter and joy blanketed the entire Cao Yuan Court – and now it’s only the two of us left!”
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Chapter 47:
Xiao Yao ate a flower. “When Grandmother died, we vowed before my mom, your mom, Auntie Ju Li, we promised them that we would always take care of each other, together and never apart. I did it, but you didn’t! Gege, you didn’t do it!”
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Chapter 49:
Zhuan Xu stared hard at Jing one last time before silently walking past Xiao Yao and heading down the cliffs. His guards surrounded him but everyone kept their distance, making his lone figure seem even more isolated.
Xiao Yao’s eyes followed Zhuan Xu until his form disappeared from sight, as if watching the most important and precious part of her life vanish forever. Her body trembled and ached from the pain in her heart so she grabbed her chest with one hand as she leaned on Jing’s body for support.
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Chapter 50:
Xiao Yao grew silent as she plucked the weeds and slowly her tears began to fall. Since she was a child, every trip to the graves was with Zhuan Xu. With someone beside her to help share in the pain, even sorrow seemed less heavy. This was her first trip here solo and so many memories from the past came flooding back……
When her grandmother was dying, her mother and her eldest aunt sat beside the bed day and night. Auntie Ju Li had her sleep on the same pallet as Zhuan Xu so she could watch them more conveniently. Xiao Yao had a vague understanding of death but she had never experienced it in person before so didn’t have any feelings about it. But Zhuan Xu had seen his mother commit suicide right in front of him, and he was raised beside his grandmother since he was born, so his sadness was far greater than hers. He was always afraid that grandmother would be dead when he was sleeping so he couldn’t sleep soundly. Sometimes he woke up unconsciously, other times deliberately, and Xiao Yao would wake with him and got used to it. Every time he woke up, she would do as her mother did with her and comfort Zhuan Xu to go back to sleep. She would embrace him and softly pat his back, croon a lullaby to him even as her eyes were closed because she was so tired.
That night Zhuan Xu woke up again and got dressed before waking Xiao Yao. “Grandmother is near death.” He got her robe to dress her.
Xiao Yao was so sleepy she curled into the blanket. “It’s just a nightmare, I’ll sing to you.”
Zhuan Xu said, “Xiao Yao, be good! Stop sleeping and get dressed to go see Grandmother one last time so she doesn’t worry. In the future……” Zhuan Xu started crying.
Xiao Yao scrambled up and got dressed. “Don’t cry, don’t cry, I’m up now.” Xiao Yao brushed the tears from Zhuan Xu’s face. “Look at you, such a crybaby. I never cry!”
Zhuan Xu awkwardly turned his head and Xiao Yao quickly added, “Only you know, I know, the sky knows, and the ground knows. I will never tell anyone else!”
Just as Xiao Yao got dressed Auntie Ju Li rushed into the room intending to wake the kids and was shocked to see them standing hand-in-hand by the door. She didn’t think more of it and grabbed them both. “We need to see Her Highness the Empress. Remember, whatever she says to you both, listen carefully and remember always.”
As they entered the room, her mom and her big aunt each picked one child up and placed them beside their grandmother.
Grandmother took the two kids hands and put them together. “You both are such good kids, but also such tragic fated kids. No matter how the world treats you, you will forever be each other’s closest and dearest person. No matter what happens, you will never leave or abandon each other. You must always take care of each other. As long as there is one person to rely on, then, no matter how hard the road ahead is, you can get over it.”
After speaking their grandmother started to violently cough and her hand tightened around Zhuan Xu and Xiao Yao’s hands. Xiao Yao thought that death was just going to sleep and never waking up, which meant her grandmother would not be able to read stories to her or help her when Zhuan Xu was being mean to her…… Xiao Yao’s tears fell and she murmured “Grandmother, I don’t want you to die, I don’t want you to die……..”
Zhuan Xu had no tears and was like an adult as he said, “I will remember what Grandmother said.”
Her grandmother stared at Xiao Yao waiting for her response but Xiao Yao didn’t really even understand what her grandmother said and kept crying. “I don’t want you to die, I don’t want you to die……..”
Her grandmother wanted to repeat it again but she couldn’t talk with all the coughing. Zhuan Xu anxiously wrenched Xiao Yao’s ear which hurt so bad she stopped crying. Zhuan Xu stared at Xiao Yao and repeated each word carefully. “Grandmother said we both are such good kids, but also such tragic fated kids. No matter how the world treats us, we will forever be each other’s closest and dearest person. No matter what happens, we will never leave or abandon each other. We must always take care of each other. Do you remember all of this?”
Xiao Yao held her tears in and nodded her head.
Zhuan Xu said, “Repeat it to Grandmother.”
Xiao Yao repeated Zhuan Xu’s words to her grandmother who continued to hold their hands tightly as if she had millions more things to say to them, but in the end she said through her coughs directly to Zhuan Xu. “Zhuan Xu, in the future do not let anyone be mean to Xiao Yao. You have to protect her.”
Zhuan Xu solemnly vowed, “I will remember and protect my little sister!”
Xiao Yao huffed, Zhuan Xu couldn’t even beat her in a fight, she would be the one who took care of Zhuan Xu and made sure no one was mean to him!
Grandmother gestured to Auntie Ju Li to take the kids out and let her speak with Xiao Yao’s mom and their big aunt.
Xiao Yao and Zhuan Xu stood outside for a while until they heard their eldest aunt sobbing. Zhuan Xu held Xiao Yao’s hand and ran back inside and they saw their grandmother with her eyes closed in peace.
Zhuan Xu kneeled down silently with no tears as he bit down hard on his lips.
Xiao Yao called out for her grandmother but got no response and started wailing…….
Hrm, I watched the scene where she woke up from her nightmare and didn't see see her clutching her heart. She did clutch her heart after she learned of his death.solarlunareclipse:
Her hand was over her heart when she woke up from the nightmare, an indication that her heart was bothering her.liddi:
After XY wakes up from the nightmare, she goes to sit outside. A short time later, TSJ comes out and covers her with an outer robe and XY explians what happened to him.AH :
----
TSJ: Why are you still up?
XY: I just had a nightmare. Suddenly my heart palpitated and I couldn't fall back asleep.
Thanks, I watched the scene again and caught both her hand over her heart when she wakes up and her telling TSJ about her heart palpitation causing her to wake up.
Kokuto:
I'm not EXACTLY sure what this guy is saying, but I'm guessing he is taking XY to task about letting XL die, given the words 37 years, and Tushan Jing are mentioned. lol
https://x.com/AST90CHENGYI/status/1820303246889787403
IIRC, this was the guy last year, who made a video, where he whipped out a TV in front of Jing's chieftan ceremony, and showed everyone what Tushan Hou and FFYY where doing behind closed doors. lol
Hahaha, thanks for sharing. The guy is doing a great job guilt tripping XY over everything XL did for her including accompanying her for 37 years under the sea and feeding her his essential soul blood drop by drop. For her, XL even had to use one of his spare lives to save TSJ (which is inaccurate), and had to use another life to kill the lovers bugs (which is also inaccurate because he used two). XL used 3 lives to save her. Xiang Liu's love was never possessive, it was about fulfilling and letting go.
I don't think Lirong Ji's words are meant to mean that mostly women raise the bugs with the objective that the bugs will kill the hosts if the man who is the lover of the woman who raised the bugs (or the woman herself) develops any amount of romantic love for another person. As if the bugs would be monitoring the hosts' hearts for traces of such romantic feelings and would be triggered to retliate by them... instead of monitoring for feelings of heartbreak and betrayal and being triggered by those feelings.
I think Lirong Ji is saying that the people who choose to undertake the difficult task of raising such bugs are usually women who hope for a love where both parties are willing to tie their hearts and lives together and to live and die together. In other words, these women are hoping for a life-long love with a man who is willing to risk dying if he were to cause her heartbreak (e.g., the kind of heartbreak a woman might feel if her lover left her, if her husband married a second wife, or if her lover otherwise betrayed her) and who is willing to die with her when she dies.
Let me see if I understand your point. Are you saying that only feelings of heartbreak and betrayal will cause the PLBs to retaliate? So if the husband loves and marries a second wife, as long as the first wife with the PLB doesn't feel heartbroken or betrayed, then retaliation will not occur? That seems plausible to me given what we've seen in the drama. It would explain why XY could have "romantic" interludes with TSJ and not cause the PLBs to backfire (because XL was able to suppress his feelings of heartbreak and betrayal).
I was then thinking if it would be possible for one partner to cheat on the other partner, without the other partner knowing, and not have the bugs retaliate, but then I remembered the 3-way neck-biting with XL, WXL, CX and the 3-way kiss with XY, TSJ, XL. I guess it would be pretty difficult to cheat without the other person knowing.
I do think that a separate requirement must be that the two hosts must continue to love each other, given that it is a requirement for the initial planting. If one of them falls out of love with the other, I think the bugs will retaliate, regardless of whether there are any feelings of betrayal or heartbreak involved.
"Happiness or sorrow, it’s all relative. If a person had only one biscuit a day but then saw beggars frozen on the street, he would feel happy because he wasn’t as bad off. But if he saw all his friends get rich then he would feel sorry that his life was terrible"blabla100:
This is why I believe XL went to greath lenghts not to reveal his feellings to her. She would have never been able to be happy with jing, had she known or taste XL's love.
Haha, very good point. It'd be like being content eating a tuna sandwich that had been left in the refrigerator for two weeks absorbing all the smells, after having a taste of Beluga caviar.
Do you think XY would go with XL if he responded to her crystal ball and would that be a betrayal of their childhood promise, given at that point CX has all least ascended the throne.
In the novel, the mermaid in the shell is reaching her hand to the merman outside the shell. Two different ways to interpret this are (1) the mermaid wants the merman to join her inside the shell (XY wants for her and XL to both leave everything behind to be together) (2) the mermaid just wants the merman to reach out and take her extended hand (XY is willing to leave everything behind and join XL in his world).
In the drama, there are two shells--driving home the idea of two completely different worlds. I think this is goes even further than the novel and XY is asking XL to join her in her world, without her necessarily giving anything up.
Based on my interpretation of the meaning behind the crystal ball, I lean towards the interpretation that XY would view it as a betrayal of her childhood promise to CX to be together with someone who opposed him, regardless of whether CX was on the throne or not. Ironically, before CX was on the throne, he and XL were not in direct opposition of each other, but after he ascended the throne, they were destined to have to fight each other to the death.
Thus, even with the crystal ball confession, I think a prerequisite for XY to go with XL is that he leaves the army and stops opposing CX.
I'm not EXACTLY sure what this guy is saying, but I'm guessing he is taking XY to task about letting XL die, given the words 37 years, and Tushan Jing are mentioned. lol
https://x.com/AST90CHENGYI/status/1820303246889787403
IIRC, this was the guy last year, who made a video, where he whipped out a TV in front of Jing's chieftan ceremony, and showed everyone what Tushan Hou and FFYY where doing behind closed doors. lol
hahahahahah hahahahah how this man be Asian dad lecturing her. hahahahahhahahaha
Do you think XY would go with XL if he responded to her crystal ball and would that be a betrayal of their childhood promise, given at that point CX has all least ascended the throne.
XY is fickleminded. I feel like she will leave with XL, and make XL feel guilty asf for still staying with the army, and eventually, he will have to let get go, again.
XY also doesn't think about the consequences of her actions. She decides to go back home to help CX, but beyond appealing to his supporters, XY didn't understood what this meant. She literally just threw her name around like some weapon, using her status as shield and for me is just kind of pathetic. And this is just one example of XY lacknof awareness of the bigger picture. She thi ks so small and for a logical and pragmatic woman, it's not convincing. Logical and pragmatic women think long term and weighs in all the pros an cons, and map out a road to that success, veibg active players in thier game plan. XY set her parameters and sat around like a fisher man waiting for a fish to catch on.
Svetlanchik89:
Dear Liddi, is there any information about Ghost Fang Clan.
In the novell they made a very interesting gift for the CX wedding: 9 herbs for soul reincarnation.
Once Promised only describes the Guifang clan as one of the Four Noble Families.
In LYF, there is a passage that talks about the individual characteristics of the ancestor of the different families through the opera that was performed. While this is Cang Xuan's way of propagating the belief in a united Great Wilderness, it was based on, it also gives some idea of the origins of the Guifang clan.
Since there were too many people, the secret guards could only park the ox cart outside. Xiao Yao stood on the cart, stretching her neck to look inside. It turned out that a fangxiang opera were being performed within. Fang Xiang 方相氏 was an ancient deity. It was said that he was extremely adept in changing his appearance, being able to transform into a thousand faces in a single day. He was exactly like a woman when he appeared as one; and was exactly a man when he took on the appearance of one. After his death, he transformed into a mask. Anyone who wore it could change their appearance at will. No one had ever seen the real fangxiang mask, but people crafted various masks with their skilled hands. By wearing different masks, they could play different roles, singing and dancing in the process. Over time, this practice evolved into what was now known as fangxiang opera.
To put in simply, the mask was a representation; putting on a mask is like possessing Fang Xiang’s transformation powers, allowing one to become that person and enact their story.
Fangxiang opera was popular among the people, featuring legendary tales of heroes and beauties that are loved by both adults and children. Tonight’s performance of fangxiang opera was already more than halfway through, likely starting with the story of Great Emperor Pan Gu, who was said to have split open the heavens and the earth. The story included the wise and passionate Hua Xu, the loyal and brave Shen Nong, the suave and elegant Gao Xin, the learned and talented Xi Ling, the sly and money-loving nine-tailed fox Tu Shan, the physically frail but wise and cunning Gui Fang, Chi Shui who was adept in water control, and Jin Tian who was skilled in metalwork... Together with Great Emperor Pan Gu, they eradicated demons and monsters to establish the Great Wilderness. At that time, the Great Wilderness was a unified world and there was no Shen'nong royal family, no Gaoxin royal family, and especially no Xuanyuan royal family.
The adults and children watching the play would sometimes burst into hearty laughter at the sly, money-loving nine-tailed fox Tu Shan; sometimes wipe away tears for the frail but wise and cunning Gui Fang. Sometimes, they would cheer for the loyal, brave Shen Nong, and sigh for the wise and passionate Hua Xu. When they saw the suave, elegant Gao Xin giving up the rich and prosperous Central Plains for the sake of the peace of the Great Wilderness, choosing to protect the remote, desolate Tang Gorge, they would even joined together in enthusiastic applause and loud cheers.
-- Vol 3 Ch6 (Chapter 39)
What I find even more fascinating is the correlation of the fangxiang 方相 opera with the title of the LYF prequel 千方相. I had previously translated the title of the prequel literally as "Thousands of Directions", but I believe I missed the nuances between the title, fangxiang(shi) and the Guifang clan.
The word 方相 fangxiang from the title could be very much related to fangxiang(shi), which among its interpretations include "one who conjures visions". Historically, fangxiang(shi) was a Chinese ritual exorcist who conducted Nuo rituals to exorcise demons and spirits. In the present day, the fangxiangshi is a masked character in Chinese Nuo opera (also known as 鬼戏 ghost opera), and its Japanese equivalent is the hososhi exorcist in Shinto ceremonies.
Correspondingly, the name of the Guifang clan 鬼方 literally means “ghost direction". The LYF prequel itself was meant to feature the Guifang clan, the King of the Underworld, and themes of life and death.
The reference to the fangxiang mask in LYF reminds me also of the mask of the Guifang clan leader in the rumoured 2nd epilogue.
The title of the prequel might correlate to how the passage in LYF describes Fang Xiang as one who has the ability to transform into a thousand faces in a day. So perhaps the title should have been translated literally as "A Thousand Fang Xiang" or "A Thousand Conjured Faces/Visions".
We also know from the leaked excerpt that Xiang Liu was featured in the prequel. Xiang Liu himself was rumoured to have 81 transformations, and he wore a silver mask as Xiang Liu. Is there a relation somewhere?
Not for the first time, I wish Tong Hua would revisit that prequel, if only for more of Xiang Liu, and greater insight into the lore that drives that story.
Let me see if I understand your point. Are you saying that only feelings of heartbreak and betraying will cause the PLBs to retaliate?
I am generally wary of absolutes like "only" (especially in the case of bugs that are described as alive and unpredictable), but that's more or less what I got from the Shaman King and Lirong Ji's explanations.
Heartbreak / feeling betrayed / the two hearts being separate or divided instead of unified and in harmony. Those seem to be the things that cause the bugs to retaliate and turn into Heartbreak Bugs as a general rule.
So in the husband loves and marries a second wife, as long as the first wife with the PLB doesn't feel heartbroken or betrayed, then retaliation will not occur? That seems plausible to me given what we've seen in the drama. It would explain why XY could have "romantic" interludes with TSJ and not cause the PLBs to backfire (because XL was able to suppress his feelings of heartbreak and betrayal).
Yes, although I would assume there would be a limit to how far that could conceivabely go.
The hosts have to be in love, and how much can even the most tolerant and magnanimous partner accept in terms of that kind of behaviour from their beloved before feeling heartbroken or betrayed? Perhaps a woman brought up in a certain society could accept the man she loved marrying a second wife and even having some romantic feelings for that second wife without feeling heartbroken and betrayed. But I can't imagine that being the norm.
XL accepted the fact that XY hugged TSJ, kissed TSJ, played with TSJ's hair, and agreed to marry TSJ. He even played a major role in saving TSJ's life and pushing XY towards TSJ so they could be together. But even with that acceptance, XL must have felt some heartbreak. Hence the need for him to suppress the bugs when they tried to retaliate so that they wouldn't turn into Heartbreak Bugs.
I was then thinking if it would be possible for one partner to cheat on the other partner, without the other partner knowing, and not have the bugs retaliate, but then I remembered the 3-way neck-biting with XL, WXL, CX and the 3-way kiss with XY, TSJ, XL. I guess it would be pretty difficult to cheat without the other person knowing.
Ugh I hate thinking about XL having to endure that.
But yes, in normal circumstances where both hosts could feel each other's hearts and sensations it would presumably be pretty much impossible for either host to cheat on the other without them knowing about it.
I do think that a separate requirement must be that the two hosts must continue to love each other, given that it is a requirement for planting. If one of them falls out of love with the other, I do think the bugs will retaliate, regardless of whether there are any feelings of betrayal or heartbreak involved.
I feel like it would be a pretty unusual situation if one host completely fell out of love with the other host and there were no feelings of heartbrokeness or betrayal on either side.
But in that case I assume "要么同心而生，要么离心而死" would probably still apply and the couple's hearts would be considered to be 离 rather than 同, so both hosts would 死 together.
I feel like it would be a pretty unusual situation if one host completely fell out of love with the other host and there were no feelings of heartbrokeness or betrayal on either side.
I agree that it would be pretty unusual for one host to completely fall out of love with the other host without there being feelings of heartbreak and betrayal. That said, we've seen that YaoLiu is pretty adept at hiding their true feelings. I don't think the bugs would tolerate love being faked on either side.
But in that case I assume "要么同心而生，要么离心而死" would probably still apply and the couple's hearts would be considered to be 离 rather than 同, so both hosts would 死 together.
Impressive use of Chinglish! So are we in agreement that the following two conditions could cause the bugs to retaliate?
- 有情人养情人蛊，断肠人成断肠蛊 - If heartbreak occurs, the bugs will retaliate.
- 要么同心而生，要么离心而死 - If the couple is no longer single-hearted (someone falls out of love with the other person), the bugs will retaliate.
The main reason is that Xuan Yuan was dominant at that time and they could defeat Shen nong soon. And Yellow emperor's ultimate target was to unify Dai Huang. Gaoxin was weaker than both Shen-nong and Xuan Yuan. Maintaining the 3 kingdoms was better for Gaoxin's future. At that time he also conducted some change in Gaoxin to improve its power and society to make the old styled country better and more more progressive. He already saw the drawback of the system and society in Gaoxin. When informing the matter to Chi Chen, he already knew he would lose A Heng forever. He also predicted that Chi Chen would help A Heng on his own for a few individuals (her brother) but would not change the outcome of that battle.H19279:
Yes. Xuan Yuan was the more powerful nation since Shen Nong had lost their king and were practically leaderless. He could not afford to assist Xuan Yuan defeat Shen Nong, which would bring them one step closer to conquering Gao Xin next. If he withheld military support, he hoped that both Shen Nong and Xuan Yuan would suffer losses, which would keep Gao Xin safe for that much longer. However, he never wanted Zhong Yi to die. He did not think that Zhong Yi would refuse to leave even when he knew about the fire formation, nor that Chang Pu would decide to follow her husband in death when she was such a strong woman.
Also, I don't recall him considering that Chi Chen's assistance would not change the outcome of the battle. Where was this mentioned?
But yes, he knew when he sent the letter, that A Heng would be lost to him because he was opening the doors for her to reunite with Chi Chen. And when he saw Chi Chen comforting A Heng after Zhong Yi's funeral and her severing ties with him with the symbolic cutting of her skirt that he held on when she walked past him, it drove home what it cost him to protect his people:
The xuan bird carried him and soared high into the sky. The moon was dim tonight and the stars bright, each one resembling a light of a lantern. As he gazed up at the starry sky, he suddenly burst into wild laughter, laughing so hard as if he would topple over.
The tens of thousands of lights on Gao Xin River were safe, but the last light that was his had completely extinguished!
-- Once Promised Vol 2 Ch11 (originally Chapter 14)
His reference to the lights on Gao Xin river was significant because it harks back to the time he brought the Xiling Young Master (who was A Heng in disguise) up on the xuan bird to look down at the breathtaking sight of lanterns floating on Gao Xin river during the Lantern Festival, as if the land of Gao Xin had transformed into a sky full of stars, and he explained what it personally meant to him:
Shao Hao said, "I believe these lights are stars."
"They are stars?"
Shao Hao smiled a bit embarassedly, "My mother died when I was born. The old nanny who raised me often pointed to the stars in the sky and told me that my mother had never left. She had turned into stars and was always watching over me. At first, I truly believed her words and would earnestly confide in the stars, whether I was happy or sad, as if my mother could hear everything. But one time, I was deeply wronged. My younger brother had his mother’s protection, but I had nothing and could only be bullied. I told the old nanny that I no longer believed in her nonsense—there were never any guardian stars! The old nanny was very upset and took me out to see lanterns being released. Just like tonight, the entire land of Gao Xin seemed to transform into a sky filled with stars. The old nanny said, 'Do you see it? These are all guardian stars!'"
Xiling gazed at the stars beneath her feet and understood what Shao Hao meant. These lights were lanterns lit by countless young women, brave warriors, mothers, and sons. The light from these lanterns were their hearts protecting their loved ones, so they were guardian stars.
-- Once Promised Vol 1 Ch11
That said, we've seen that YaoLiu is pretty adept at hiding their true feelings. I don't think the bugs would tolerate love being faked on either side.
YaoLiu love being faked? I don't follow.
Impressive use of Chinglish!
Lol. Sometimes I feel like it's better to use the original word if it doesn't have a perfect direct translation in English or if there are multiple potential translations. Just to avoid losing nuance where nuance is important.
So are we in agreement that the following two conditions could cause the bugs to retaliate?
有情人养情人蛊，断肠人成断肠蛊 - If heartbreak occurs, the bugs will retaliate.
要么同心而生，要么离心而死 - If the couple is no longer single-hearted (someone falls out of love with the other person), the bugs will retaliate.
For the most part, yes.
"有情人养情人蛊，断肠人成断肠蛊" and "。。。可情人蛊就像相恋的恋人，脾气多变，非常难驾驭，蛊虫极易反噬，一旦发作，两人俱亡，所以情人蛊还有个名字，叫断肠蛊。" together seem pretty straightforward. If the lovers become heartbroken their Lovers Bugs will retaliate and become Heartbreak Bugs that will kill them both.
"要么同心而生，要么离心而死" seems a bit more nebulous. I think falling out of love would probably qualify for 要么离心而死. But I'm not sure what the full range of things might be that would be caught by 同心 vs. 离心. And I feel like we the readers can't really know with certainty. We can only speculate about what might or might not be covered by each concept.
Hahaha, thanks for sharing. The guy is doing a great job guilt tripping XY over everything XL did for her including accompanying her for 37 years under the sea and feeding her his essential soul blood drop by drop. For her, XL even had to use one of his spare lives to save TSJ (which is inaccurate), and had to use another life to kill the lovers bugs (which is also inaccurate because he used two). XL used 3 lives to save her. Xiang Liu's love was never possessive, it was about fulfilling and letting go.
plor20:
hahahahahah hahahahah how this man be Asian dad lecturing her. hahahahahhahahaha
I'm glad I wasn't too far off in my interpretation of the video. Asian dad sounds about right. lol
I may have to post this in the 'Fun and Meme's' topic with your explanations.
Do you think XY would go with XL if he responded to her crystal ball and would that be a betrayal of their childhood promise, given at that point CX has all least ascended the throne.
XL did respond to her crystal ball, when he committed the wedding robbery... it just wasn't the exact manner of response she wanted. ;p
But I think the clue to her reaction is still there, even had XL showed up on that beach where she was waiting. As some of us have pointed out, her sending the crystal ball was half-a$$ed and hedging her bets, because she included a message that said she was marrying and this was the last poison she would send him. IF she had been sincere in leaving with XL, she wouldn't have sent the crystal ball with that message. Likewise, when he showed up at the wedding, she would have leaped off that stage and into his arms, happy to leave -- but she did not, and was mad at him. She even had a third opportunity to go with XL, when he asked her 'who she wanted to spend her life with?' that she botched and refused to answer.
So, while I feel in her heart she wanted to be with XL, she still couldn't conquer her fear, and actually take the step to do so. And given how difficult their relationship would have been, XL wasn't going to force her to choose.
People claim XL made the decision for both of them, but I've always thought, he was only doing as she said she wanted. But up to the point of the wedding robbery, I felt he was hoping for her to change her mind, which is why he kept answering her questions with a question, like "Who do you want me to be?"
I feel like it would be a pretty unusual situation if one host completely fell out of love with the other host and there were no feelings of heartbrokeness or betrayal on either side.
That said, we've seen that YaoLiu is pretty adept at hiding their true feelings. I don't think the bugs would tolerate love being faked on either side.
YaoLiu love being faked? I don't follow.
My thinking here is if it would be possible for one host to fall out of love with the other host, but still fake being in love with the other host, so as not to trigger feelings of heartbreak and trigger retaliation from the bugs. Along the same lines, would it be possible for both hosts to grow apart and fall out of love with each other, but not trigger feelings of heartbreak and betrayal, thereby not causing the bugs to retaliate. In my eyes, the answer to both questions is no. I think that the hosts must remain in love with each other in order for the bugs not to retaliate. Thus, I think the couple being in love is a separate and necessary condition, apart from neither host feeling heartbroken, in order to keep the bugs from retaliating.
Another interesting description of the bugs is:
"它能让有情人心意相通、命脉相连" - They can let lovers connect their emotions and link their lives together.
I wonder to what extent we can interpret "心意相通" to mean that the minds of the hosts are somehow connected. This condition may make it impossible for hosts to try to fool each other under normal circumstances (unless you happen to be XL).
In the book, there seems to be a multiple instances where YaoLiu was able to communicate via the bug connection, including:
- XL telling XY that the shell was not tasty after they planted the bugs
- XL telling XY not to give up during the plum forest assassination
- XY signaling to XL through the bugs that she wanted to see him at Cang Xuan’s wedding
- XL telling XY not to look at his demon form when he was saving her from the vortex
- XL smiling when XY thought about him taking her to the flower demon shop on the ship with Left Ear
- XY telling XL that she wanted to see him at the gourd-shaped lake when she went to avenge Feng Long’s assassination
Yes. Xuan Yuan was the more powerful nation since Shen Nong had lost their king and were practically leaderless. He could not afford to assist Xuan Yuan defeat Shen Nong, which would bring them one step closer to conquering Gao Xin next. If he withheld military support, he hoped that both Shen Nong and Xuan Yuan would suffer losses, which would keep Gao Xin safe for that much longer.
That makes a lot of sense. Thanks for the explanation.
But yes, he knew when he sent the letter, that A Heng would be lost to him because he was opening the doors for her to reunite with Chi Chen. And when he saw Chi Chen comforting A Heng after Zhong Yi's funeral and her severing ties with him with the symbolic cutting of her skirt that he held on when she walked past him, it drove home what it cost him to protect his people:
The xuan bird carried him and soared high into the sky. The moon was dim tonight and the stars bright, each one resembling a light of a lantern. As he gazed up at the starry sky, he suddenly burst into wild laughter, laughing so hard as if he would topple over.
The tens of thousands of lights on Gao Xin River were safe, but the last light that was his had completely extinguished!
-- Once Promised Vol 2 Ch11 (originally Chapter 14)
This is heartbreaking. Poor Shao Hao!
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