AH

IMO, it could be both or either.

Maybe the bug was afraid of implanting itself on XL that first time, as WXL seemed to think.

Maybe the bug would not implant itself in XL because he had no love or affection for WXL at that point, because WXL had no love or affection for XL at that point, or both.

Maybe it was a bit of both the fear factor and the lack of love / affection factor.

In any case, I think we can safely say that XL probably did not love WXL at that point (when WXL first tried to plant the bug in him but failed), whether or not that was the reason why the bug didn't plant itself in him then, and that XL did love WXL later on when he willingly accepted the bug transfer - when the bug not only planted itself in XL, but did so very quickly.

No. Deyan is CX's 5th uncle.

Kokuto is referring to the Shaman King (referred to as the Voodoo King in Koala's translation of the novel) of Jiuli / Baili. The land where Chi Chen (XY's biological father) is from. The Shaman King is a master of poisons and related magic. He hasn't appeared in the drama yet.

A few minor points of clarification.

We never see XL get any information about the bugs in the novel, and the information that XY got about the bugs from the Shaman King in the novel was a bit different than the information that XL got from Lirong Ji in the drama.

XL sacrificed one life to kill the bugs in the novel. He sacrificed two lives to kill them in the leaked script.

In the novel, under normal circumstances the bugs could never be removed and the bug connection could never be broken. It would remain until one of the hosts died and then the bug connection would cause the other host to die at the same time.

XL was only able to break the bug connection because he had an extra life to spare to lure out and kill the bugs. In order to do so he had to perform a blood ritual that involved cutting XY's palm. But he healed her hand immediately after finishing the ritual and apart from that she was not harmed.

XL, however, had to stab himself in the heart in order to kill the bugs, in addition to sacrificing one of his extra lives. So yes, I would say it had a negative impact on him.

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Chapter 48:

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 [Cang Xuan] 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. You asked me to remove the bug and I kept telling you I can’t do it, but you didn’t believe me. But I truly didn’t lie to you, I cannot remove the bug.”

Xiang Liu picked up Xiao Yao’s hand and used his finger as a knife to slice into the flesh of her palm and his palm back and forth until he drew a blood spell. “I cannot remove the bug, but I can kill the bug!”

Xiang Liu smiled before joining his bloody palm to Xiao Yao’s bloody palm, so tightly that the blood flowing wasn’t clear whether it was his or hers. “Don’t blame me for not telling you this before, you were the one who did not ask!”

Xiang Liu started to chant the spell and with it countless glowing blue dots appeared and flew around both of them. The blue dots lit up the night sky until it was an ethereal beauty of lights in the air and reflected in the lake surface.

Xiang Liu’s hand suddenly grabbed a real dagger made from ice and he stabbed it directly into his own heart. Sir Bi gasped out loud and had to force himself to not do anything.

Xiang Liu pulled out the dagger and blood gushed from the wound in his chest. All the blue dots rushed into the wound in his chest until they all vanished inside.

After all the blue dots were gone, Xiang Liu’s face was stark white and he pressed down with one hand on his chest wound, and the other grabbed medicine but he didn’t apply it to himself and instead applied it on Xiao Yao’s hand. The cuts on her hand quickly healed until there was no sign it was ever injured.

Xiang Liu smiled sadly and said to Xiao Yao, “I broke the bug connection between us! From now on, you and I will have no connection with each other!”

Xiang Liu gently pushed the raft towards Sir Bi. “She will wake up tomorrow morning.”

Sir Bi understood what happened – the heart-and-life-connected Lover’s Bug was planted between Xiang Liu and Xiao Yao, which is why Xiang Liu could save Xiao Yao’s life earlier. Xiang Liu managed to now break the bug by using his own life as the lure to kill the bugs. It was a suicidal method, but a method that only Nine Lives Xiang Liu could use by taking one of his lives.

-----

Edit: To answer the updated version of your comment: XY knew that the bugs were Lovers Bugs and was told what that meant. Out loud it seemed like she was never willing to totally admit it what the bugs meant (in terms of the feelings between her and XL), but whether she admitted it internally or not is left up to the reader to interpret.

She did not know that XL was responsible for breaking the bug connection or that he sacrificed one of his lives to do so. She was told that the Royal Mother of Jade Mountain was the one who broke the connection / removed the bug from her.

You're welcome!

In the novel, it was very strongly implied that XY would die if XL died while the two of them were still connected by the Lovers Bugs.

Major spoilers ahead.... for that reason, XL made sure to break the bug connection between them (by sacrificing one of his extra lives to lure out the bugs and kill them) before he died on the battlefield at the end of the novel.

WXL was able to plant the bug in CX and establish some kind of connection (one that transferred WXL's pain and sensations to CX) even though CX didn't know that the bug was being planted in him or that it was being planted by WXL/XY. At that time CX had no love for WXL. Perhaps the bug would have been able to detect his love for XY and know that WXL was XY (even though CX did not). However, as we will find out later in the drama (if it follows chapter 48 of the novel and the corresponding scene in the leaked script), CX did not willingly accept the bug. So it was not "successfully" planted in the sense that it did not become a Lovers Bug that connected CX's life and heart with WXL's life and heart.

Whereas, when WXL transferred the bug from CX to XL, XL did willingly accept the bug. So it was "successfully" planted and it became a Lovers Bug that tied XL and XY's lives and hearts together. Notably, WXL was also surprised by how quickly the bug came to XL during that transfer.

When WXL first tried to plant the bug in XL and failed, WXL scolded the bug for being cowardly. My interpretation was that WXL failed to plant the bug that first time and scolded it because the bug was afraid of XL at a point in time when he did not willingly call it / accept it. The bug did not have the same concern with CX, so WXL was able to plant it in CX against CX's will (although "unsuccessfully" in the sense that it did not become a Lovers Bug).

Then when XL called the bug to his heart later, at a time when he had feelings for WXL and accepted the bug willingly, the transfer happened quickly as the bug was no longer afraid of forcibly planting itself in an unwilling XL.

Agreed on all points, including the sigh.

And yet, in S1 Ep39, XY refers to CX as the grandson of the King of Xiyan and his Queen, Xie Zu, and says that she (XY) can only be considered "half".

Which is one of the reasons why (among the other inconsistencies mentioned in the thread linked above) I think the drama (the censored and re-dubbed version at least) is trying to frame XY's mother as basically the Queen of Xiyan's neice (or similar blood relation) and disciple (who she treated as a daughter and who the former King of Xiyan recongized as a daughter when he bestowed the title of Princess General on her when she led the Xiyan army against Chi Chen and the Chenrong army) and XY as CX's second-cousin (or similar blood relation) and the former King of Xiyan's "recognized" (but not biological) granddaughter.

This is the thread Dark Angel mentioned: https://kisskh.at/discussions/lost-you-forever/120191-are-cang-xuan-and-xiao-yao-blood-relatives-in-the-drama

This is the TL;DR from that thread:

In the novel, Xiao Yao and Cang Xuan are blood-related first cousins through Xiao Yao's mother and Cang Xuan's father, who are respectively the daughter and son of the Yellow Emperor (in the drama, the King of Xiyan) and his official empress, Leizhu (in the drama, the Queen of Xiyan, Xiling Xie). After Cang Xuan's parents died, Xiao Yao's mother looked after Cang Xuan (her nephew) as if he were her own child. Cang Xuan and Xiao Yao lived together for eight years after Xiao Yao's mother's divorce, and they referred to each other as 哥哥 (Ge Ge / older brother) and 妹妹 (Mei Mei / younger sister) even before Cang Xuan's parents died.

In the drama, some details have been changed (in some cases at the last minute, in redubbing) to make it seem like Xiao Yao and Cang Xuan are perhaps still blood relatives, but, if so, only distant ones (with Xiao Yao's mother being the Queen of Xiyan's disciple and relative, but not her biological daughter) and not blood-related first cousins.

In particular, they have made changes so that Xiao Yao's mother (Xiling Heng / Ah Heng) comes from the same clan as Cang Xuan's grandmother, the Queen of Xiyan (Xiling Xie / Lady Xiezu), so the two women are likely blood-related to some degree, but Ah Heng is Xiling Xie's disciple rather than her biological daughter. We can infer that Ah Heng was probably something like Xiling Xie's niece, in which case, CX and XY's parents would be first counsins and CX and XY would be second cousins.

I would guess so?

He also uses his blood on weapons sometimes (e.g., chapter 46) and the more potent poisons he consumes the more impossible it is for anyone to create an antidote that would be able to combat his poisonous blood.

The only insight I can provide from the novel on that point is that it describes the assassination in its entirety, then it shows XL feeling the assasination and leaving the remanant army camp, then it shows CX sensing it and leaving his palace, and then it shows TSJ sensing it and the scene continues from his POV with him tracking XY and discovering her body.

Might be more of an editing choice to not intercut the assassination sequence with their reactions as they feel them?

XL uses poison to increase his powers.

It's also implied that he enjoys getting poisons that are made "just for him" from WXL/XY.

I'm not inclined to attack or write an essay.

About the last point on timing, XL was physically the furthest away from XY when her assassination happened. TSJ was the closest, had his calamity-anticipating ability, and his tracking ability. So he arrived first. CX was the second closest and he also had a similar ability - he can sense when a loved one is about to die (he anticipated both his father and his grandmother's deaths this way). So he arrived second. XL left the remnant army camp outside of QS town when he felt the assassination take place through the bug connection but had to fly overnight (if I remember correctly) to get to Shengnong Mountain, where CX's people had taken XY's body.

Sounds like you've got a basis to write a fic. ^^

I'm not sure which pairing you're referring to?

As for whether or not the dream sequence from the leaked script ends up being reflected in the final version of the drama or not, I think we just have to wait and see.

You're welcome!

This is the translation for the last few scenes in the leaked script: https://kisskh.at/discussions/lost-you-forever/110123-xl-and-xy-story-and-romance-warning-spoilers?pid=2904229&page=420#p2904229

In the novel, XY and CX are first cousins. CX has romantic feelings for XY anyway. It doesn't seem totally uncommon in this particular setting. Feng Long and Xing Yue's father married his cousin.

In the drama, XY and CX seem to still be related, but not as closely as first cousins. Possibly second cousins.

The details for both are covered at length here: https://kisskh.at/discussions/lost-you-forever/120191-are-cang-xuan-and-xiao-yao-blood-relatives-in-the-drama

The way the scene was adapted on screen, it seems like XL is quite obviously in pain in that moment. https://youtu.be/bL-ouseEPYk?si=fY2hXvAjM1-nI7xV&t=2513

For my follow-up theory to SoTreeD's theory, I don't think XL would necessarily be in constant pain. More likely the pain would only arise in those moments of heartbreak that I described and then XL would have to use his power to repress the bugs once again.

Like I was saying to blabla100, in this theory the bugs haven't lost their efficacy. The bug connection can still be used and the bugs have not yet become Heartbreak Bugs. They are backfiring and on the verge of becoming Heartbreak Bugs at times, but XL uses his power to stop it from happening.

Again, just speculation. I don't think we have enough evidence from the drama yet to know if the theory works or not.

The details included in the page that Kokuto linked to are... alot. If the link isn't working for you, Liu Shui's suggestion was right. You can find the thread by going to the MDL page for S1. It's included among the discussion threads there.

Happy to answer any specific questions here or in that thread, but it's a bit too much to reproduce everything here.