nathsketch:
And he has to dye it every time, right?

He chooses to dye it every time, yes. 

 blimarch:
I wonder when XL came up with this idea to get rid of the poisonous bugs. Maybe he could already kill the bugs long ago, even at the time of this discussion above...?

His words in chapter 48 made it sound like he always knew how to break the connection by killing the bugs. But he didn't want to do so until right before his death, when the connection would no longer help him protect XY and would instead pose a threat to her life. 

 AH :

His words in chapter 48 made it sound like he always knew how to break the connection by killing the bugs. But he didn't want to do so until right before his death, when the connection would no longer help him protect XY and would instead pose a threat to her life. 

Oh right, that makes sense.

 blabla100:
 Yes, I wasn't sure if he was hitting at XY and Jing's interactions or if he was implying that XY feels some passion for XL. 

Seems pretty clear that XL's telling TSJ that he's felt all the passionate moments that XY has had with TSJ. Which... is a weird thing to barb TSJ with. Between the two of them, it seems like even TSJ would realize who's better off in that case. Even if TSJ might be upset to find out about it. 

 liddi:

I think he probably figured out how to get rid of it, but never did it because their connection enabled him to protect her, despite how difficult it was for him, being able to sense every single thing she felt, including her romantic moments with another man. The only reason he finally made the extreme decision to destroy the bug at the cost of his own life was because he knew that his end was near, and that was the last thing he could do to protect her from his death.

Yes, I read it that way too. 

 blimarch:
"Xiang Liu smiled until his eyes were slits “I don’t want to know!” " > So, he certainly knew...

In chapter 48 he clearly distinguishes between removing the bugs and killing the bugs. He was never able to remove the bugs. He didn't know how to, because it wasn't possible to do. And he didn't want to know how to remove them.

But he did know how to kill the bugs (something only he, a person with multiple lives, could do), which would break the connection in a way that would hurt him but not XY. He says that he never lied to XY about not knowing how to remove the bugs, and that XY can't blame him for her not asking the right question (i.e., not asking him if he knew how to kill the bugs instead of knowing how to remove them). 

From reading all these changes, it seems to me like they're giving the XL fans all the angst and suffering with nothing to relieve our pain. Almost all those tender moments between XY and XL are gone. Plus, aside from Ro Shou, Left Ear is the only supporting character I liked. They removed him too.

I hate this world and I want to get out. Hate, hate, hate.


 Elise:
Almost all those tender moments between XY and XL are gone.

I'm feeling all those arrows, y'all.

Don't mind me, I just finally figured out how to post gifs and I need to share with the world how much hate I have inside of me lolololol

But yeah, all those precious little YaoLiu moments. That's below the belt. Can't we get just one small win? My health insurance doesn't cover this kind of illness.


 liddi:

The way the scene is rewritten, it gives Xiang Liu part of the credit by enabling Xiao Yao to understand what truly happened with her parents, but takes away all of Xiao Yao's tender behaviour towards Xiang Liu. Instead, it shows Jing being the one to point out what Xiang Liu transcribed on the lantern to her and comforting her in the end. 

All the tender moments removed from YaoLiu and given to YaoJing instead...

Elise, are you feeling dizzy? I am, I need to go outside for a bit.

 liddi:
HJ (gently): We are Chenrong citizens. Fighting to the last man is our duty, but you need not join us in facing certain death. Everything you have done for the Chenrong remnant army has long made up for the kindness I showed you. You...
XL: Foster father.

Xiang Liu interupted Hong Jiang's words and quietly looked at him. Hong Jiang locked eyes with him, and knowing that he could not persuade him to leave, patted his arm in gratitude and regret.

HJ: Alright then. It is only death, nothing to it.

Is he stupid? No, seriously, is he stupid?? All those heads and zero brains??

 liddi:
A man stepped forward and asked to buy the lantern.

 liddi:
A snowflake gently fell on Xiao Yao's forehead. She clasped her forehead in shock and opened her eyes, but there was no one there. Instead, the lantern she saw earlier was on the ground.
In anger, Xiao Yao picked up the lantern and happened upon the 5th picture - amid roaring winds, Xuan Yuan princess and Chi Chen, one wielding a sword, the other a sabre, in a deadly battle.
In grief and anger, Xiao Yao threw the lantern to the ground. Just as it was about to hit the ground, it suddenly hovered in the air. Tushan Jing entered the door and drew the lantern into his hand.

XY (angrily): What are you doing?

Tushan Jing walked up to her and lit the lantern.

 liddi:
Xiao Yao turned aside in anger, unwilling to look. However, the lantern hovered in front of her.

 liddi:
TSJ (gently): Xiao Yao, take a closer look.

Finding his behaviour strange, she looked up. The lantern was spinning, revealing all 6 pictures. At first she was angry, but when she continued to look, her expression changed. The pictures were still the same, but now there was a sentence with each picture, providing a different context to it.


 liddi:
Xiao Yao stared at the last picture - Xuan Yuan princess stabbing Chi Chen in the chest, and collapsing in pain, her spiritual power spent. The accompanying words: 不负苍生不负卿 Not betraying the common people, Not betraying the one they love

Xiao Yao's tears fell in torrents.

TSJ (sincerely): I believe that what Xiang Liu surmised is the truth. Your father never betrayed your mother, nor did your mother betray him. It is just that one is the Shen Nong great general, the other is the great Xuan Yuan princess. Their lives were not their own in such troubled times.

Xiao Yao continued to look at the spinning lantern, crying and laughing, relieved yet resentful.

 liddi:
XY (crying): They died, not betraying the common people or each other. But what about me? Since they gave birth to me, why didn't they raise me? Did they ever think of me when they died? Did they not worry that people would try to kill me, that I would have no home to go to, that I would be caged up by the Nine-tailed fox and tortured...

So if I'm understanding this sequence correctly, XL buys the lantern after XY cannot bear to continue looking at it? And at some point (when XY is asleep? or before they start speaking...) he adds words to go along with each picture. The last picture and set of words in particular are the most important. Her parents did not betray one another, but they also did not betray the common people. 

In addition to comforting XY, is the hidden / secondary implication that XL will also never betray XY? But that he also won't betray his comrades in the Sheng Nong remnant army? And he will also die in battle, like her parents supposedly did. Leaving XY behind. But in this case, with a place that she can go (and a means of protecting herself and a person to rely on...).