Lan Shiwen

Biodata

Feature	Information
Name	Lan Shiwen (兰仕文)
Alias(es)	Lan Renwen
Species/Race	Human; natural-born Ascendant
Gender	Male
Affiliation	Yun Province authorities; Cloud Capital's Weird Event response network
Occupation/Role	Ascendant; investigator and enforcer handling Weird Events in Yun Province
Status	Alive
First Appearance	Chapter 83

Background

Lan Shiwen was born during a hospital Weird Event that killed his mother; the infant crawled from her corpse and was found, adopted, and named by Tuyu. 310

At four years old, he accompanied Tuyu, Fenwu, and Ji Bochang/Five Connections during the Millennium Massacre of 2000, when the Yin Family was nearly exterminated in its ancestral residence. This event shaped his lifelong hatred of hereditary aristocratic families. 310

He later studied Chinese literature at university and developed an exacting hand through copying ancient steles and calligraphy. 283 He became deeply embedded in Yun Province's official apparatus, gaining the personnel, intelligence, and authority needed to respond to regional Weird Events. 98 310

Appearance

Lan Shiwen is a refined-looking young man with fair skin, gentle features, and gold-rimmed prescription glasses. He usually presents himself in an impeccably tailored black Zhongshan suit. 83 343

• Pure-black Zhongshan suit, typically buttoned with meticulous precision. 83 343
• Gold-rimmed glasses with a strong prescription. 83
• Calm, gentle smile and exceptionally clear diction. 98
• Neat, upright calligraphy; even when carving messages into stone, his writing remains precise and elegant. 283

Personality

Lan Shiwen combines a polished, courteous exterior with extreme convictions. He is methodical, observant, and capable of maintaining calm under supernatural pressure, but his gentleness can vanish when hereditary families are involved. 84 98

He believes aristocratic bloodlines perpetuate privilege and corruption. His creed is not merely to punish guilty individuals, but to eradicate entire families that he considers beneficiaries of inherited power—a principle he applied to the Liu Family and to Yin Family remnants. 127 199 207

Despite this ruthlessness, he considers himself responsible for Yun Province and repeatedly risks himself to contain large-scale Weird Events. He rejects indiscriminate solutions when they conflict with his own standards, such as Ning Zhe's offer to eliminate a retired official's family to remove political resistance. 92 190

Repeated deaths and regressions have left him mentally exhausted and increasingly distrustful, though he remains capable of attachment and remorse. 250 251

Abilities & Skills

Death Regression

Lan Shiwen's true ability is Death Regression, publicly mistaken for “Predicting the Future.” Upon his death, the world resets while he retains his memories of the prior timeline. 208

• Uses deaths as reconnaissance, allowing him to identify killing conditions, test choices, and prepare countermeasures. 246 248
• His apparent predictions are deductions based on outcomes witnessed in previous loops rather than actual foresight. 208 250
• Memories and Thought Imprints carried by Lan Shiwen can persist through a regression. 251
• The ability does not make death painless or psychologically harmless; repeated deaths have pushed him toward instability and exhaustion. 213 250
• The price of commanding Death Regression has never been disclosed. 213

Public “Predicting the Future”

Most Ascendants believe Lan Shiwen can predict the future, a reputation that gives him considerable influence and makes him a priority target for hostile factions. 90 356

• He can offer seemingly impossible warnings, such as foreseeing Ning Zhe's apparent deaths or disappearance after specific choices. 95 210
• The misconception conceals the true mechanism of his information advantage: survival across reset timelines. 208 250
• His reputation for foresight contributed to the Europa families' long-term plan to hunt him. 342 356

Command of the Dead

Lan Shiwen has demonstrated power over the dead, using it during his confrontation with the conspirators gathered against him in Europa. 357

• Killed Liu Hongwen and Shen Changjiang immediately upon arriving at their meeting. 357
• Can employ supernatural force alongside conventional weapons to overwhelm Bestowed Ones and confiscate their artifacts. 358

Investigation and Strategic Planning

Lan Shiwen is an accomplished investigator with strong knowledge of Ascendant customs, Ghost rules, local history, and aristocratic networks.

• Deduced that Ji Bochang's preferred materials—chu paper and wicker—pointed toward paper mulberry trees and the location of the hidden corpse. 84
• Investigated Ye Tian's background and recognized the danger posed by his attempts to extend his life. 84
• Identified Fenwu's methods of controlling people through Taichong grubs and relayed the threat to Xia Yubing. 343
• Builds contingencies into his operations because he understands the butterfly effect created by Death Regression. 390

Equipment

• Soul-Summoning Doll, Xia Rong — Formerly Van Dyke's doll “Little Pitiful.” Lan Shiwen renamed it Xia Rong, survived its attack, and took control of it. 208 209
• Red thread — Used during his attempts to kill the person he believed was Ning Zhe. 249
• Broken blade / dagger — Carried for close combat and used in confrontations with Fenwu-linked threats. 343 474
• Firearms — Used to disarm and control Bestowed Ones. 358
• Purple Caiwei GS — His girlfriend's compact purple car, which he drives aggressively when necessary. 90

Relationships

• Ning Zhe — Initially allies of convenience during the Cloudrise Mountain crisis. Their relationship shifts into hostility when Ning Zhe targets Lan Shiwen, then returns to a tense, pragmatic cooperation against Fenwu and other threats. 91 98 247 251 377
• Tuyu — Adoptive father who found Lan Shiwen as an infant after the Weird Event surrounding his birth. 310
• Fenwu / Ye Xiuyuan — Connected to Lan Shiwen's childhood and the Yin Family massacre; Lan Shiwen eventually identifies Ye Xiuyuan as Fenwu and works to oppose him. 247 479
• An Xiaoyu — Lan Shiwen's girlfriend and intended wife. Their relationship became a vulnerability exploited during attempts on his life; Lan Shiwen is visibly shaken after nearly killing her in a confused regression loop. 248 249 251
• Ji Bochang — Former associate and later adversary. Lan Shiwen pursued Ji Bochang's hidden assets, prevented his funeral from escalating into a citywide Weird Event, and killed Ji Yunying to obtain the key to the haunted house. 91 92
• Yin Lishang — Initially targeted solely for her Yin Family connection, until Ning Zhe revealed that she was the Yin Family's Ghost rather than an ordinary descendant. 127
• Liu Family — Targets of Lan Shiwen's bloodline purge after their political conflict with him. He intended to kill all 3,527 relatives within five degrees of kinship. 199 207

Story Role / Major Arcs

Cloudrise Mountain and the Fortune God

Lan Shiwen investigates Ji Bochang's disappearance and recognizes the paper-mulberry clues hidden among Ji Bochang's belongings. 84 He obtains Ji Yunying's key by force, kills Ji Yunying, and joins Ning Zhe in entering the real haunted house holding the Fortune God's Life-Buying Money. 91

He risks his life to prevent Ji Bochang's funeral from becoming a large-scale Weird Event that would consume Yundu City. 92 Afterward, he agrees to help Ning Zhe locate a Ghost and reserve the Fortune-Character Red Coffin for him. 98

Yun Province Enforcement

During the Plague God and Sheep Pen Village crises, Lan Shiwen acts against bureaucratic delay and political interference, prioritizing containment of Weird Events over official approval. 190 191 His work and personal health are affected by the Plague God's rules, but he continues coordinating the response. 190

Purge of the Liu Family

Following the Liu Family's actions and attempts to flee abroad, Lan Shiwen begins a systematic extermination campaign against their relatives. 199 207 His killings leave no evidence linking him to the deaths, enabling him to evade legal punishment despite publicly announcing his intentions. 208

Conflict with Ning Zhe

Lan Shiwen recruits Ning Zhe to infiltrate Europa under Van Dyke's identity, recognizing the value of Ning Zhe's identity-stealing ability. 209 210 Their arrangement collapses when Ning Zhe decides Lan Shiwen is too dangerous to leave alive because of his ties to Tuyu and Fenwu. 247

Ning Zhe repeatedly kills Lan Shiwen, forcing him into regression loops. Under the pressure of these loops, Lan Shiwen mistakes An Xiaoyu for Ning Zhe and kills her before taking his own life to reset. 248 249 Ning Zhe later brands him with a Thought Imprint, leaving Lan Shiwen trapped with memories of repeated failures. 250 251

Europa Hunt

Europa's great families, Liu Hongwen, Shen Changjiang, and Ji Boying organize a long-term hunt for Lan Shiwen, seeking his supposed “Predicting the Future” rule. 342 356 Lan Shiwen turns the situation around, kills Liu Hongwen and Shen Changjiang, exposes the Bestowed Ones' dependence on artifacts, and disarms the surviving conspirators. 357 358

Fenwu and Great Haunt

Lan Shiwen becomes increasingly involved in the conflict against Fenwu, helping expose Fenwu's past identities and weaken Great Haunt's rule. 393 He learns that Fenwu's survival and manipulation of Death Regression threaten to reset the timeline and erase the efforts made against him. 410

Later, Lan Shiwen discovers that Ye Xiuyuan—whom he identifies as his adoptive father—is tied to Great Haunt and Fenwu. 473 479 Although he and Ning Zhe again stand in opposition over Great Haunt's authority, Lan Shiwen considers negotiation when direct resistance becomes impossible. 473

Notable Quotes

“I want your entire family wiped out. Your bloodline exterminated. Do you know what extermination means? So long as even one person from your family is still breathing, the slaughter will not end.” 98

“Everyone thought his ability was Predicting the Future, but that was not the case.” 208

“As the holder of [Death Regression], he regarded heaven and earth as a game, all people as NPCs, and time and space as save files.” 477

Trivia

• Lan Shiwen uses his real name rather than a Ghost codename on the Ascendant Network, and his reputation for honoring commitments is unusually strong among Ascendants. 90
• He maintains a highly regulated diet and exercise routine designed by nutritionists and trainers. 190
• His girlfriend's purple Caiwei GS is commonly viewed as a “woman's car,” a fact he jokes about. 90
• He dislikes Duan Geng calling him “Brother Wen.” 146