AH

ZX when he feels XL bite XY through the poisonous bug connection:

"Xuan was laying on the pallet and suddenly bolted upright and touched his neck. Xiao Liu was still alive!

In the beginning there was a sharp pain like teeth biting through the flesh. But gradually, the pain transformed into something odd. In the pain there was a sensation of numbness, a shivering feeling of bliss, as if someone was sucking, and licking, and lightly kissing.

Xuan felt his mouth turn dry and was suddenly very angry. With such severe injuries, was that guy crazy or what the heck was he doing?"


And then the scene switches back to XY and XL:

“Xiang Liu raised his head and stared at Xiao Liu, blood staining his lips, his eyes darkened, his breath slightly labored. Xiao Liu was initially sitting sprawled like a man but suddenly he slid down and unconsciously wanted to cover his chest, but he immediately stopped himself and continued to sit sprawled open.

Xiang Liu’s hand moved down from his neck, tracing his jawline, down his clavicle…”


And later, when XY talks with ZX:

“Xuan got up and left, and when he arrived at the door, he suddenly turned around “When you have time, you can come drink with me at the shop.” Xiao Liu smiled “Sure.” Xuan raised his eyebrow and smirked “And when you’re hurt, you might want to restrain your urges!” ”

Way more so in the novel. They really changed it in the drama.

That confusing scene when XY is in the healing pool (after she realizes ZX's identity and saves his life) where XL bites her and then they have that conversation about XY being a woman vs a man? In the novel XL definitely isn't questioning if she's a woman. He already concluded that she was a woman when they first met. When XY insists that she's a man, XL smiles and asks if she's a man, how did she lure out the Jiu Jiu (Fei Fei in the drama)?

So what was actually going on there? All signs indicated that XL was turned on. And based on ZX's reaction to what he was feeling through the poisonous bug connection, he really thought XY was also enjoying some horizontal fun time.

And most of the bite scenes have descriptions of XL's lips on XY's neck, and make a point of specifying that, after the first moment of the bite, XY is feeling blissful sucking and kissing sensations, not pain.

I mean this sincerely and not as a diss - prepare your heart for disappointment. Everything I've seen so far suggests that the drama is going to follow at least the general outline of the novel ending. Better to be prepared now so you can hopefully appreciate some parts of the ending when it airs.

XL is my favourite character and I have (mostly) come to peace with his ending. It's heartbreaking, but very well written and fairly satisfying in its own bittersweet way.

FFB shows up right in the middle of the ceremony and very publicly asks XY to come with him. Because he invokes her promise, she has to go with him. FL's guards try to stop them, but the humiliation for FL is already bad enough without causing even more of a scene. If XY is willing to walk away from their wedding, FL is not going to try to stop her and look even more pathetic. So he orders his guards to let her go (and plots to kill her later....).

Visually, DFC and XL are perfect opposites, like Yin and Yang. Black and white. Blue and red. Fire and ice. But in other aspects they are pretty similar. https://youtube.com/shorts/JW4oAw-Llzo?feature=share. I wish this also included DFC's full-moon appreciation scene!

The novel never specifies how many lives XL has left at any given time. We don't know if he lost any lives when he was a slave in the death match arena, if he lost any lives when he wandered in the North before joining Gong Gong, or if he lost any lives on the battlefield before the drama begins. He's over 600 years old and not exactly the type to worry about health and safety, so there's a good chance he probably lost at least one at some point.

He uses one life to bring XY back from the dead in chapter 22 of the novel, which is referenced in both chapter 22 and chapter 26 of the novel. That's the revival you're referring to that's been shown in the drama.

He also definitely uses up at least one more life later in the story (something related to the poisonous bugs that hasn't been shown yet). That's confirmed in the novel.

He might also use one or two more lives to help bring two people back from the dead, but that's not confirmed in the novel. It's only speculated because XL had to use a life when he revived XY in the scene you mentioned.

So by the final battle he has definitely used up at least two lives for things that are covered in the novel. And might have used up two more on things that are covered in the novel.

And in his final battle, given the circumstances (XL starts out heavily injured with no means to heal himself, faces insane odds, and doesn't want to survive the battle) XL might lose several lives in short succession.

TSJ knows that XY doesn't care about his injuries at all, and at that point in the drama he had the means to greatly reduce the appearance of his old injuries if he wanted to. But he chooses not too. His injuries used to make him feel inferior, but I don't think that's what he's thinking about in this scene.

He says FFB would be better for her than him because of all his complicated family matters that keep getting in the way of him being able to be with XY openly the way she wants and deserves. The engagement he can't escape, the torture-happy brother he always has to watch his back for, the clan that won't allow him to marry someone with XY's position (as Kali_01 said, they refuse to be seen as "taking sides")... Although FFB is a concubine-born second son from a lesser clan with no money or connections, he doesn't have the constraints that TSJ has. And after 10 years he proved to be very good at keeping XY company and enjoying a care-free lifestyle with her.

I wouldn't say "mad". She attributes the heartache to XL (thinking that he is causing it, which he might be) and wants him to stop.

The poisonous bugs themselves never give heartache, so there is nothing that would "trigger" them to do so. They only provide a connection between XY and XL, so that's one's heartache (among other things) can be felt by the other. And XL can control that connection, so that XY won't feel things through it unless he wants her to (or he momentarily loses control of the connection).

When XY's heart hurts when she looks at TSJ after they separate, she blames XL. But she can't know for sure that XL is causing her heartache in that moment. XY's feelings for TSJ are strong enough to cause her to fall ill, which definitely has nothing to do with the poisonous bug connection, so her feelings could certainly cause her intense heartache - with no need for XL to interfere. It's possible she's wrongly blaming XL in that moment.

If she's right, and XL did intentionally cause her heartache through the connection in that moment, it seemed like the heartache was inflicted to create a romantic moment between XY and TSJ. XL spends much of the rest of the story working to ensure that XY ends up with TSJ (not because XL doesn't love XY - but because he loves her selflessly, and wants her to be with someone like TSJ).

In episode 34, it's not just the heartache scene that gives TSJ an opportunity to treat and be close to XY. XL takes XY to the death matches with the intent of inspiring XY to continue believing in the possibility of a happy ending with TSJ, despite his current circumstances. At the end of their evening together, he scares XY - making her back up and making TSJ move to protect her. XL's efforts are a success - XY ends the night with TSJ, inspired to keep believing in the possibility of their future.

Jing telling XL/FFB that XY is getting married and XL being surprised is a worrying change from the novel.

In the novel, XL knew about the engagement for a long time and wasn't surprised by it (or at least, he wasn't in front of XY), but when they got engaged XY and Feng Long didn't discuss a wedding date. So it didn't feel all that final.

When they finally do discuss setting a wedding date years later, XY takes a piece of poisonous ice essence and carves it into an ice crystal ball with a beautiful scene inside, depicting a mermaid reaching her hand out to a merman who is stoically looking out of the ball. It takes four years to seal it. She ends up sending the ice crystal ball (wrapped in a demon bear pelt) and a letter to XL to tell him that her wedding will take place in two months.

There is another scene where XL overhears people gossiping about XY's upcoming wedding in a brothel. XL leaves and walks out into the misting rain to a riverbank, and stares at the river for a long time before looking down at the ice crystal ball in his hand. He takes a finger and touches it to the mermaid's outstretched hand. But the crystal separates them - they are from two separate worlds, and can never truly be together.

I don't see how they can keep the original parts from the novel and also have Jing be the person who first tells XL about XY's marriage. And the ice crystal ball is important. It features in the epilogue.

XY was devastated when she found out about XL's death in the novel. But she was not aware of many of the biggest things that XL did for her. Of the things she knew about, XL did his best to make her believe they were only transactions. Things he did to receive a benefit. But she still cared about him anyway. And she was very upset when she discovered that he erased her memories of him from her mirror before he died.

Yes, XL was able to receive XY's poisonous bug from ZX because he already had feelings for XY at that point. XL can control the connection because his spiritual power is much higher than XY's.

That scene from episode 19 where XL watches TSJ carry XY out of the ocean and XL clutches his heart is not included in the novel from XL's perspective. It only depicts TSJ carrying XY out of the ocean, with no mention of XL.

So I can't tell you how the novel explains why XL felt heartache in that scene (I'm sure it's XL's heartache, not XY's). But I can hazard a guess. XY has just told XL that she is afraid of letting him into her (romantic) dreams, and that he is in no way the type to be in a girl's dream. XL knows that he wants to die in battle and that he will never betray Gong Gong, but before his end, he may have dreamed of having something with XY. At the very least, he was willing to tie his life and his heart to hers irrevocably by accepting XY's poisonous bug. But then he finds out about her identity (she is the daughter, granddaughter and cousin of his greatest enemies), she explains her fear of letting him into her dreams, and he sees her in the arms of a man who she is willing to let into her dreams. And he can feel her heart when she's with TSJ. All of that together must drive home that heartbreaking sentiment of "She can love someone, but not you."

Edit: Okay I've re-watched the scene. I forgot that they weirdly had the poisonous bug in his heart glow when he felt heartache in that scene, and also had XL clearly use his power to try to suppress the effects. Again, the bugs themselves shouldn't be causing the hosts pain before they die unless the lovers turn on each other. So here's my best guess at what the drama writers might be trying to show with that part of the new scene:

(1) This is showing XL using his power to control the connection so XY won't feel his heartache (this matches closest with content that is already in the novel, but I don't think it's what the writers were most likely going for).

(2) This is showing that the "lovers bugs" are at risk of becoming "heartbreak bugs" because something has changed between the two hosts. It could be that XL's feelings are shaken, or that XY's feelings are shaken.

To be honest, I don't think that part was a good add by the writers. It's confusing and doesn't seem to fit with the novel.

Thank you for asking. Feel free to share it.

10+ years of precious companionship as FFB.

A big-bellied laughing doll containing XY's ice crystal ball and XL's heartfelt wishes.

A jewel containing a map of the sea.

The man she can rely on for the rest of her life.

XY says that if she could've been the person to save XL from the death arena, she would make him FFB and have him be free of all debts, duties and obligations. The unsaid part: then he would never have to go back to the Chenrong remnant army. He could just be her care-free companion for life.

XL was clearly deeply touched by XY's words, but then something makes him change. First he is aloof and asks if she is worthy of being the person who saved him. Then he becomes aggressive. In the novel "Bei appeared to don a full armor, wrapping himself tightly in a deadly aura." (chapter 23).

What marks the change? In the novel, in the moment between withdrawing his hand and turning aloof, XL glances behind XY. "Bei reached out his hand as if to caress Xiao Yao's cheek but the moment he touched her, he jerked his hand back. He glanced behind Xiao Yao and then smirked "Based on you right now wanting to save me? Are you worthy?" "

Since the author made a point of saying that XL glances behind XY right before the shift, we can infer that he sees TSJ, which reminds XL of what he has resolved to do.

In episode 34, check 28:35 - 28:39 in this version: https://youtu.be/4_w29fyTtfI?si=7DASjyZlQPiMHZPk&t=1715. It's *very* subtle (it really just looks like he's collecting his emotions), but with the context from the novel that seems to be the moment when XL looks past XY and sees TSJ. The screen shows XY for a moment and then XL again, and you can see him shift into a different persona and don a sardonic smile.

He then asks XY if she is worthy in a way that creates coldness and distance between them, after that intense warmth and intimacy they just had.

And then he turns aggressive (and dons his metaphorical armor and wraps himself in a deadly aura) to make her step away from him, and to prompt TSJ to move forward. Since XY knows that FFB is XL, she pulls TSJ away rather than let him confront XL, and they literally run away together, leaving XL behind. Then XL walks a well-lit path alone, in a different direction, through a gate and into darkness.

The whole scene is an intense bit of foreshadowing. When XY gets too close to XL, he will create coldness and distance between them. Then he will push her away from him, into TSJ's arms (because TSJ is a man she can rely on for her whole life, and that's one of the things XL wants for her according to the wishes he spells out in his epilogue). Then XY and TSJ will run away together, and XL will follow his own path, alone, to the dark fate that he chose for himself.

Edit: Updated to include a youtube link to the scene and to match the timestamp to that version.

Someone asked below about why the demon eyes made an appearance in episode 34 when they did. I'm reposting my response here because there is an important detail that is clear in the novel but extremely easy to miss in the drama. And it's crucial to understanding the scene.

It's a good thing, even though XY isn't thrilled about it in the moment.

"Why" he does that could be answered with paragraphs, but the short answer is that XY didn't love the man she was marrying. He couldn't give her lasting happiness.

If XL accepts the poisonous bug then one day XL can ask XY to do something and she must immediately do it, no matter what it is, as long as it does not involve harming TSJ, ZX or the emperors.

So he can use that promise to ask her to leave her wedding with him in the middle of the ceremony, and she must do it immediately.

Yes, XL is Xiang Liu the snake demon with nine heads and nine lives. XY is the female lead, Xiao Yao.

I kind of love it? In a glutton-for-heartbreaking-emotional-punishment kind of way.

But I really wish they made the glance detail more clear in the drama. It's so missable, even if you're looking for it. And without that detail it's so easy to misunderstand the whole scene. His reaction has nothing to do with Gong Gong (Hong Jiang in the drama).