Qinghe Town

Biodata

Geography and importance

• Qinghe Town sits beside the Cypress Water River and has a shipping wharf and a well-developed water system 3 15.
• Its surrounding area is a vast grain-producing region. The town’s military importance rests in part on the protection of local granaries and shipping routes 24 51.
• A nearby army camp housed two to three thousand soldiers during the flood disaster 24.
• Shanghe Village lies seven or eight li away, near the river and the official road 46.
• According to Zhao Zhen, Qinghe Town has ancient ties to searches for immortals 76.

History

Flood and monster threats

Flooding drove refugees from the surrounding countryside toward Qinghe Town, congesting its gates. Garrison soldiers took over entry control and charged fees; grain prices rose sharply inside the town 21 24. As the disaster worsened, refugees tried to force their way through the gates. The deadliest clash reportedly left more than a hundred victims dead 29.

The town later closed its gates during a man-eating monster threat. Major trading houses drove up prices, while the grain trade remained monopolized even as the town prepared to reopen 49 50. Imperial relief grain eventually arrived 84.

Mass Grave Mound calamity

After joining the Demon-Suppressing Bureau, Qin Yan chose Qinghe Town as his post. Zhao Zhen assigned him to eliminate the evil spirits at Mass Grave Mound and recover stolen burial objects and their tomb 76 84.

Qin Yan and the master of Azure Sun Abbey discovered that the mound’s terrain had gathered death Qi for centuries, nurturing a powerful Sha beneath it. Zhao Zhen mobilized nearly all available Demon-Suppression Envoys in Youshan Prefecture, and Buddhist and Daoist experts also gathered in town 88 92.

When two powerful evil creatures emerged and an Underworld exit opened, Qin Zhu ordered the Demon-Suppressing Bureau and Green Mountain Camp to protect Qinghe’s people. Surrounding villages were evacuated toward town, where formations and a Bagua Mirror were set up against the escaping entities 104 105.

The calamity killed more than a thousand people in less than a month, with surrounding villages suffering especially badly. After the Demon-Suppressing Pagoda was established, Qin Yan remained to watch over Qinghe, and a new Cremation Site handled the bodies 109. He later reinforced the mound’s seal with a large formation powered by Spirit Crystals, preventing Yin Qi from accumulating there 322.

Qin Yan’s rule and development

Qin Yan’s influence grew through his Demon-Suppressing Bureau post, businesses, and the Infinite Martial Arts School. The emperor later made him Count of Qinghe and charged him with guarding the town in perpetuity 142 152 199. The school became a major power and suppressed County Magistrate Wen Qinsi’s influence in Qinghe 224.

After Qin Yan returned to Youshan Prefecture as marquis, the town attracted families seeking safety. He expanded industry, employed homeless people in paid land-reclamation work, and built new housing 246 248 268 273. By the time Qi Zhen and Qi Hao visited, electric streetlights illuminated a lively night market frequented by factory workers 280.

Government and security

• County administration: Qinghe is a town in name but holds county-level administrative rank and has a county yamen and magistrate 51.
• Military garrison: Soldiers guarded the area’s shipping routes and granaries and controlled the town gates during the flood disaster 24.
• Demon-Suppressing Bureau: Qin Yan served in Qinghe and was responsible for the Mass Grave Mound assignment and later supervision of remaining evil entities 76 109.
• Xiaoxuan: Qin Yan’s black cat killed evil entities in Qinghe and helped keep the town safe 225 248.
• Chen Min: As an incense-worship deity, he patrolled the town at night, reducing the workload of demon-seeking officials 253.
• Hidden Dragon Platform and Red Shadow Army: After spies targeted Qin Yan’s craftsmen, these forces carried out mass arrests using intelligence gathered with the help of Yin Gods 308.

Economy

Early in the story, Qinghe’s commercial channels were dominated by gangs and powerful families; people without connections struggled to find work or obtain fair prices for mountain goods. Around twenty gang factions operated in the town 3.

Notable locations

• Mass Grave Mound — A dangerous site associated with evil spirits and an Underworld exit. Its later defenses included the Demon-Suppressing Pagoda and Qin Yan’s reinforced formation 104 109 322.
• Abundant Harvest Tower — A business where Shopkeeper Wang bought bear paws from Qin Yan and helped promote Heavenly Pool Snowflake Salt 51 135.
• Qingfu Gambling House — A gambling house with a rear courtyard used by the Azure Blade Gang for living and martial-arts practice 21 25.
• Qingfu Leather Goods Shop — The shop run by Zhang Dangxing, one of the men connected to the killing of Qin Yan’s father 24.
• Cremation Site — Established after the mass-grave calamity to handle the dead; Qin Yan dealt with corpses that resisted cremation or threatened to reanimate 109.
• City God Temple — A center for local underworld activity; Qin Yan later visited Daoist Chen there 308 368.
• Infinite Martial Arts School — An organization under Qin Yan’s influence that expanded into surrounding counties and became a major power in Youshan Prefecture 152 224.