Xiangliu remembered the words, but seemed to have forgotten the most important line she said.

Her emphasis back then was, no matter how beautiful a view is, if there is nobody to share it with, there is no meaning to it. Xiaoliu is a person who doesn’t mind living a simple, mundane life, as long as there is someone she enjoys spending time with.

Xiaoliu, always on the defensive for any sentimental moment, decided to call it a night.
Is it a coincidence, whenever she leaves Xiangliu, she never looks back?

Xiangliu watched her leave and had a long look at his hand. Was he surprised at his own actions?

Back at the winery, Nian is panicking since it had been hours and Xuan’s wound had not stopped bleeding.

As he and his men discussed their strategies to get the antidote for his wound, Nian went to fetch Xiaoliu to consult what poison might have been used.

They also came to the conclusion only Fangfeng family has the ability to have carried out this assassination attempt, and that the Tushan family might be also involved.

Xiaoliu was woken by Nian.
She immediately realized that last night Xiangliu had tried to kill Xuan again.

Xiaoliu came and diagnosed Cang Xuan within five minutes.

To be fair, she did know exactly which symptoms were from the transference of the bug and which is the only symptom left.

To confirm their theory, we see Fangfeng Yiying telling her maid to dispose of the evidence.

Yiying also confirmed her alibi for the night before with her maid.

This time their conversation clearly showed that Yiying is actually involved with Jing’s brother.

Now that they have a plan for how to remove the poison by travelling to Tanggu, they first have to stop Xuan’s bleeding.
Xiaoliu headed off to look for Jing to obtain some Ice Crystals, even as Xuan remained unconvinced of success.

Xiaoliu had been avoiding even hearing about the topic of Fangfeng Yiying since she arrived in town, but here she was, meeting her in person, for the first time.

Xiaoliu looked all around the mansion for the wind chimes. She had thought that it would be easily in reach for her to steal one but there was none to be seen.

Jing could tell that Xiaoliu was looking for something and he asked her warmly after sending Yiying away.

In the novel, Xiaoliu was distracted by his scent and took a step backwards but Jing took her hand and held on. For drama they removed this part.

The Ice crystals worked as intended and successfully slowed down Xuan’s bleeding.

They immediately departed for Tanggu. Xiaoliu felt sadness at this unexpected parting which might be forever but she turned down Xuan’s offer to leave with him.

Xiaoliu is still friendly towards Xiangliu, considering he had made use of her for a second time to kill her Cang Xuan gege.

Xiangliu caught Xiaoliu in yet another lie, but she remained evasive in her reply.

There is a flashback to Xiangliu’s conversation with Uncle Lirong, his bug consultant.

There is some confusion here why Xiaoliu managed to plant the Couple bug on Xuan.
Xiangliu has no idea at this point, and never considered that Xiaoliu can be related to Cang Xuan.

Did familial love count? When she planted it, Xiaoliu did not even know that was her cousin Cang Xuan. It was also planted without his consent as he did not give any blood or welcome the bug, so was the planting not considered a willing ritual?

Did the bugs ‘know’ the bond and connection between Xiaoyao and Cang Xuan, and fed off those feelings?

Here the english subs falls short of describing the bug lore.
同命 连心 – sharing life and heart with the other
反噬 is backlash 危及性命 endangering their lives

If the couple can’t share their life and heart with the other, there will be backlash and endanger their lives.

So the rules seem to be, if its newly planted and not yet stable, the bug can be transferred to another, but this willing party ‘must have love in his heart’.

His friend cautioned Xiangliu, that he may have 9 lives but only 1 heart.

Jing, in his Ye Shiqi persona, dropped by again to the clinic.
To his shock and dismay, he thought Xiaoliu had left for good.

Don’t the others wonder why would Boss Yu keep sending Xiaoliu snacks and wine? haha

Xiangliu took Xiaoliu to Wushen Mountain. She looked a little forlorn at the sight of her old home.

Now that they are within the bug’s wifi connection range, she guided Xiangliu how to ‘welcome the bug’. The process went very quickly to her surprise and Xiangliu remarked at her audacity to be controlling bugs when she have no clue what she was doing. He also claimed that bug controllers can kill from thousands of miles away, so was it really necessary for them to fly all this way?
Was there even a problem with Xuan being so far from Xiaoliu’s bug for them to start to feedback if they cannot ‘connect’ with each other?

Meanwhile Cang Xuan suddenly recalled memories of him and Xiaoyao, as the bug decided to leave his body for Xiangliu, the more welcoming host.

As their activity triggered Wushen mountains’ defenses, Xiangliu took Xiaoliu to escape under the deep sea in a bubble.
Suspended inside, she could breathe and enjoy the view to her heart’s content.
He has become her Dahuang tour guide, showing her the wonders of the land.

Xiangliu seemed very pleased with the delight Xiaoliu is showing as she excitedly explored her surroundings. He even took her hand to interact with the beautiful but dangerous flowers of the sea.

Xiaoliu saw that Xiangliu is in a very good mood and smiling at her so often. She sneakily recorded him again with her magic mirror to remember this moment. These milestones with Xiangliu, the first time she pranked him and now the time he smiled at her.

Xiangliu seemed to have caught her doing it but did not stop her, as he smiled at her again.

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Once again Xiaoliu had to go to Jing to fix a situation that Xiangliu had caused for her. Again he came through for her and Cang Xuan is saved. It was interesting to see that she had no idea how far Jing would go to help her. She had not even been sure that she could fully trust him where familiar interests were concerned.

Jing had wealth and connections. Still, Xiaoliu chose to not involve him in her bug problem. She couldn’t bring herself to keep going to him for favors, since she consciously wanted to distance herself, unsuccessfully so far, from him.

Being named second on her exclusion list of those-who-shall-not-be-harmed when she should fulfill Xiangliu’s request, showed that Jing ranked right after Cang Xuan. Well done, Shiqi.

Cang Xuan’s assassination attempt prompted his sudden, unplanned departure from Qingshui. Though Xiaoliu was sad, she still turned down his offer to leave with him. She clearly did not want to return to her old life.

Is Xiangliu also aware that Xiaoliu is planning to leave? Was that the reason he made her swear the very vicious oath? Jing did not even allow Xiaoliu to joke about swearing on her life, but this may be Xiangliu’s way to make sure Xiaoliu won’t dare to go back on her word and leave him until she fulfills that oath.

When Xiangliu lured the bug to him, what were his feelings like for Xiaoliu at this point? He is fond of her and enjoyed spending time with her, but is he in love with her right now? Whatever it is, the bug seemed willing to come over to him, as long as it detected that he liked her?

The uncertainty in the bug lore adds to the story since the characters are pretty much stumbling in the dark like the audience are. This is only the beginning.

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