AH

Agreed. In addition to the hand-beating not being lethal and TSJ being with XY, there were at least two other reasons that might have factored into XL not going to her even though they showed XL feeling XY's pain on screen.

(1) XY rejected XL's offer to try to rescue her when her leg was broken (a more serious injury) in the previous episode.

(2) Reaching the shore of Five Gods Mountain from the ocean and rescuing XY from ZX's men there would have been difficult. XY thought it would be a death sentence. Rescuing XY from inside the Grand Emperor of Haoling's court would be even more impossible. Trying to do so might cause XY more harm than good.

It's also worth noting that showing XL's reaction to the broken leg and hand-beating on screen was created for the drama. Those scenes aren't included in the novel - he just shows up to offer to rescue XY after her leg is broken and doesn't show up when her hands are beaten. He also didn't call TSJ useless.

Just because it wasn't shown on screen doesn't mean that XL didn't feel XY's pain or emotions when the beasts attacked and when her foot was stabbed, or that he didn't have any reaction to XY's pain / emotions in those moments. Maybe the director felt showing his reaction to those moments every time would break the flow of the scene. XL has probably gotten pretty good at hiding his outward reactions to XY's pain too, so it might be difficult to convey his reactions to those attacks on screen. Showing his reaction to the last attack was the most important, because that attack was deadly and prompted XL to drop everything and run to her.

The first time XY dies, XL spends 37 years reviving her with monthly transfusions of his essential blood. That part is all described from XY's POV in chapter 22 (and in chapter 26 XY mentions that this process also involved XL giving one of his lives to save her).

At the beginning of the healing process XY had no ability to feel, hear or see anything. When she starts to be able to feel things, she feels XL embrace her (while healing her), caress her cheek and touch her forehead in greeting, but never describes feeling him kiss her. She describes XL's blood flowing into her as warmth, but never specifies where / how his blood flows into her.

The only time the novel mentions blood from XL's tongue (or delivering that blood to XY via a kiss) is in chapter 48 when XY poisons herself to death and XL saves her a second time. That time XL bit his tongue and fed XY his essential blood only once (instead of monthly for 37 years) via a kiss. XY was "completely fine" after "some time" and the whole process was witnessed by LY and Sir Bi.

So the two revivals are clearly different. The tongue blood / kiss may still feature when XL brings XY back from death the second time.

Regarding the tongue bit, I'm not sure they actually made a change in the drama. Details from the novel are under the spoiler tag below.

The waiting on Jade Mountain happened when XY was a child after she was separated from ZX but before she wandered in the mountains, was captured by the 8-tailed fox, and later became WXL.

Yes, he became FFB before XY was even born about 480 years before XY meets FFB. It's covered in chapter 18.

It's relatively short, but not that short. 15 years is less than half of the time that XL spends reviving XY (37 years). But more than double the total amount of time TSJ and XY spent together in QS town (6 years).

In the novel they said that TSJ did not play the zither for 20 years before XY asked him to play for her. The novel also says he spends half a year "teaching" her the zither. So the time between TSJ's disappearance and XY's assassination is at least 20.5 years. TSJ disappeared for three years and stayed with XY for 6 years before his identity was revealed, and XY made the promise sometime after that. So minus 9 years. So when XY is assassinated it has been something close to 11.5 years since she made the 15 year promise.

For additional context, the novel says that FFB taught XY archery for more than ten years and XY and FFB buying the new bow together happened after FFB had been teaching her archery for four years already.

After the archery teaching, zither teaching, and assassination, XY goes into the clam shell for 37 years (and TSJ remains in a coma), so the 15 year promise has definitely expired by the time she returns and TSJ wakes up.

When TSJ becomes clan leader after XY's resurrection and XY meets FFB again, 40 years had passed since FFB and XY visited the gambling den and made a bet about which of them could give a demon slave death-match fighter hope (the bet that FFB won). So they made that bet a little less than 3 years before XY's assassination.

It is impossible to remove the bugs, and trying could kill both hosts. XL doesn't lie to XY when he says he also doesn't know how to remove the bugs.

But he does know how to kill the bugs, which will sever the connection between XY and XL without killing XY. He uses one of his nine lives and stabs himself in the heart in order to do so, and is heavily weakened in the process.

Some TSJ fans will be furious to read your comment and not realize you are directly quoting XL (when he gets annoyed in episode 15 after A Nian has XY's hands beaten). Although he doesn't say that line in the novel.

But to be fair, as the other comments noted, TSJ, ZX and ZX's attendants played an important role in making sure that XY was in a state where XL could still save her when he arrived.

From what I remember, the novel doesn't include any detailed scenes with XL and Gong Gong, but they have a longstanding relationship of deep loyalty. Albeit one of adoptive father and adoptive son. XL also has his loyal condor. And in the novel, XY and FFB become genuinely close friends for years.

On top of that, as FFB, there are plenty of people he could socialize with, and as XL he could drink and celebrate the new year with his fellow soldiers. But he chooses not to, and holds himself apart from them. Maybe because he can't be close with anyone who only knows FFB and not XL. Or with the mortal soldiers, maybe to avoid greater pain when they die, or the discomfort they may have with being casual around a snake demon (despite the respect they have for him). Or maybe it's just his personality.

But overall, one of the tragedies of XL is that his isolation is at least partly a choice he makes, rather than a wholly unavoidable circumstance that he has to resign himself to.

Major spoilers obviously.

XY loves CX / ZX, but as a brother only. She does not end up with him.

XY falls in love with and ultimately marries TSJ / YSQ. She ends up with him.

XY's relationship with XL is the most complicated of the three... XL is initially violent and cruel to her, but they bond over shared trauma. XL falls for XY surprisingly quickly, which is demonstrated when he successfully accepts the transfer of XY's lovers' bug into his heart. So XL definitely loves XY from early on, but he always knew his ending would be death on the battlefield, not a happy ending with a lover. That becomes even clearer after XY's true identity is revealed. So XL chooses to play a different role in XY's life. He helps and protects her (and still occasionally uses her blood to heal his injuries), but he never lets her become aware of his true feelings and doesn't let her know the full extent of the sacrifices he makes for her. In turn, XY definitely cares about XL, but doesn't allow herself to fall in love with him. When she comes close to falling for him, XL intentionally pushes her away. They do not end up together.

I was thinking about the ways in which each love interest loves XY and it occurred to me...

At first, TSJ seems like he's prepared to accept XY having a relationship with other men. He doesn't say anything when he thinks the marks on XY's neck are hickeys from XL. But then he asks XY to promise to save her heart for him and to not fall for another man, even though he knows he won't be able to break his engagement quickly.

ZX also seems like he accepts that XY will marry someone else and is okay with it as long as she remains his "sister". But ultimately his jealousy drives him to kill TSJ.

And then there's XL. Even though he is the one who takes XY away from her first wedding (at TSJ's request) and always seems to enjoy making TSJ and ZX jealous, he knows from early on (perhaps from the moment XY explained why she refused his gift-of-air kiss) that they are not going to end up together in any capacity. Instead, he saves TSJ's life specifically so that TSJ can be with XY. And he makes sure that XY doesn't fall for him or understand his true feelings for her.

All three of them are obsessed and intensely devoted to her in their own ways, but IMO XL's love ends up being the most selfless.

XY sees XL's true demon form in chapter 43 of the novel.

In the novel, XY mentions (in chapter 26) that XL used one of his lives when he revived her (in addition to all the essential blood transfusions) but doesn't specify when it was used. I assumed it was used when he did the last healing session and finally woke her up (since that session was different from all the others). But the novel doesn't cover XL's journey when he rushed to XY after her assassination. It only mentions XL leaving the army camp in the mountains outside QS town and then his arrival at ZJ Summit. It's possible that the formation he used in the drama while on his way to XY was meant to depict him using that life.

XL does not give 37 years of one of his lives to XY. The first time XY dies, XL spends 37 years reviving XY. He does so using a transfusion of his essential blood on every full moon (this is covered in chapter 22 of the novel) as well as one of his lives (which XY mentions in chapter 26 of the novel).

Although XL can't give up his cause or stop being enemies with ZX for XY's sake, at least his cause is noble. Abandoning it would make him a less admirable person. I found it easier to understand his position when I thought of real-world examples. Like Japan's past occupation of Korea. Or Russia's current attempts to invade and annex Ukraine. Or China's threats to annex Taiwan in the future. If you dedicated yourself to fight for the freedom and independence of one of those countries, but then betrayed that cause to be with the granddaughter / daughter / sister of the occupying power's leader? That would be shameless and despicable.

Also, TSJ wants to give up everything for XY, but in reality he can't. He is unable to break his engagement for a very long time, and going along with an engagement to one woman while being in love with another sometimes puts him in a position that makes him a less admirable person, even though his intentions are always good. The difference between the two fo them is not so black and white.

And I'd point out that XL does prioritize XY over his cause / army / fight against ZX when it really matters. When she needs him, he goes to her and helps her for as long as it takes. Even if it takes 37 years. And he expects nothing from her in return. Instead of hoping that she'll return his feelings, he makes sure to hide his feelings and keep distance between them in order to protect her. If he makes a deal related to his help, it's mostly for show to hide his true feelings and intentions. Even in the beginning he could've used the bug connection between XY and ZX against ZX. Instead, he offered to transfer the bug into himself to protect XY, knowing he could never take back that decision.

In any case, what would happen if XL did give up his cause and stopped being enemies with ZX? As a demon with no money or family connections, would he be able to marry the first princess of Haoling? Would ZX and the emperors allow that? Would their people accept it? Would XY leave ZX behind in order to elope with XL? Would XY still respect XL after he made that choice? And would she definitely accept + return his feelings? Even though she already told him she was afraid of even accidentally allowing him into her romantic dreams? Even though she promised TSJ to not let anyone else into her heart for 15 years? The impossibility of a happy ending between XL and XY goes way beyond XL's inability to stop being ZX's enemy.

I think she initially accepts FFB's offer for a bunch of reasons. Some of those reasons are directly mentioned in the novel. First, she is curious about FFB. She perceives him as a possible enemy, or at least someone with dubious intentions, and isn't sure whether he is XL or not, so she wants to know more about his identity and his intentions. Second, the possibility of learning high-quality archery despite her low spirit power is very appealing. At that point she really only has her poisons. Archery would be a very helpful tool that she could use to protect herself and the people she cares about (with the attack on ZX fresh in her mind). Third, part of her (an understandable part driven by her insecurities) wants TSJ to know that she is out spending time with another man. I don't think XY would seek someone out specifically for that purpose, but when FFB makes his offer that is a factor in her acceptance. FFB is a relatively "safe" option for that role because realistically he's not husband material (due to his playboy reputation and concubine-born status), she already thinks he's a playboy and has guarded her feelings accordingly - so she feels less vulnerable, and (something she only consciously realizes when FFB's identity is finally confirmed) he always felt like someone familiar to her.

I think she continues to spend time with him because (to her surprise) she ends up genuinely appreciating his mentorship and companionship.

Regarding the gender comment, I think being in a man's body when she was WXL provided XY with a layer of physical and emotional protection from the (presumably) straight men around her. She thought that it wouldn't be possible for them to have romantic feelings for her in that body, and she expected that her true body would likely be ugly, so romance was just off the table.

TSJ revealing that he knows she's a woman at the same time that he makes his confession shifts the balance - suddenly romance between them is more of a possibility. But she doesn't know if she can get back to her true form, and she expects that her true form could be ugly. When she regains her true form (which, of course, ended up not being ugly), the balance shifted again: romance was suddenly a real possibility. But that possibility also came with greater physical and emotional vulnerability, and that vulnerability was a driver behind the boundaries she drew with XL (with her explanation for refusing the air kiss and her insistence on using her wrist instead of her neck).

I could go on about XY and TSJ both completely ignoring the possibility of romantic feelings between men, but that's a whole other topic.

XL should've felt XY being stabbed in the foot, but that kind of pain / wound wouldn't necessarily prompt him to abandon his army and run to her. But he should at least notice it and be concerned about it, or be irritated with the people around her who are supposed to protect her (as he was when ZX had XY's leg broken -- and yes he did go to her when her leg was broken, but the circumstances were different at that point).

It's possible that all of that (XL feeling XY's foot being stabbed and reacting to it) happened without being shown on screen to avoid interrupting the flow of the assassination scene. A lot had to be covered between XY getting attacked and the three male leads realizing something terrible was happening.

Her feelings toward FFB when she first meets him (mainly skepticism and suspicion) change quite a bit later on when she seems to genuinely appreciate his talents, teachings and companionship. We know she thinks XL and FFB are objectively handsome, and she does seems to have moments of vulnerability and closeness with FFB. Does she feel romantic attraction towards him that isn't undercut by skepticism (her default defence mechanism)? It's hard to say. I think yes, but I don't think that's what makes her decide to spend time with FFB.