Uncle Mute

Biodata

Feature	Value
Name	Uncle Mute (哑叔)
Alias(es)	Lei Jie; Hall Master Lei
Gender	Male
Affiliation	Peace Sect; Vermilion Bird Tower
Occupation/Role	Peace Sect Grand Elder; disguised swill-hauling odd-job worker; martial hall master under the identity of Lei Jie
Status	Alive
First Appearance	Chapter 4

Background

Uncle Mute masquerades as a silent, low-profile odd-job worker in Vermilion Bird Tower’s rear kitchen. The original worker was reportedly an old bachelor from the outer city whose family died in wartime; the shopkeeper employed him out of pity, and he worked hauling swill for twenty years. Yang Xiao concludes that the genuine Uncle Mute is likely dead and that the present one is an impostor. 4

His true identity is the Grand Elder of the Peace Sect, a defector who fled with the sect’s sacred object. In his youth, he endured the Peace Sect’s Yellow Turban Warrior training: drinking talisman water and surviving repeated beatings that escalated from wooden clubs to bronze and iron weapons. After twenty years, he became one of the few survivors accepted as a formal Yellow Turban Warrior. 5

Despite his senior position, he betrayed the Peace Sect. Yang Xiao infers that the sect’s brutal, dehumanizing training left him deeply hateful toward it. 5 He remains hidden at Vermilion Bird Tower while apparently recovering from injuries and pursuing an undisclosed plan connected to the Grandmasters’ Dao Debate. 11 13

Appearance

In his Uncle Mute disguise, he appears as a short, elderly swill-hauling laborer who sleeps on straw amid the kitchen’s refuse. Wanted notices based on his appearance depict an old odd-job worker of roughly sixty and under five feet tall. 4 32

• Silent and taciturn in his public persona. 4
• Usually found in Vermilion Bird Tower’s rear kitchen courtyard. 4 32
• His eyes can become cold, aged, and menacing when his disguise slips. 4 32
• As Lei Jie, he presents himself as a burly middle-aged martial hall master. 11

Personality

Uncle Mute is secretive, suspicious, and ruthlessly pragmatic. When he notices Yang Xiao repeatedly watching him, he immediately considers killing him rather than risking exposure. 12 He is nevertheless willing to suppress his killing intent when circumstances make violence inconvenient, such as before the Grandmasters’ Dao Debate. 12

He is fiercely protective of his concealment and reacts with extreme anger to being framed through wanted notices resembling his false identity. 32 39 He treats subordinates as expendable tools, sparing his middle-aged disciple only because he still needs outside eyes and ears. 32

Abilities & Skills

Yellow Heaven Body-Forging Scripture

Uncle Mute possesses decades of experience in the Peace Sect’s body-tempering art, having survived its Warrior Chapter training.

• Endured twenty years of ritualized beatings and talisman-water treatment to become a Yellow Turban Warrior. 5
• Could withstand a saber strike without injury, breaking the weapon instead. 5
• His cultivation experience enables the formation and advancement of the scripture’s phantom-based body-tempering process. 9
• Yang Xiao believes the art leaves violent qi within the meridians and that the Peace Sect may possess a method to suppress it. 16

Martial Prowess

Uncle Mute is a formidable blood-exchange martial artist whose apparent level as Lei Jie is among the stronger Two-Blood experts.

• His identity as Lei Jie manifests golden light that Yang Xiao attributes primarily to the Peace Sect sacred object rather than his ordinary cultivation. 11 13
• Yang Xiao assesses his apparent martial level as Second Blood, while suspecting his former peak may have reached Third Blood before his flight and injuries. 13
• He can silently approach Yang Xiao without detection. 12
• His aura can distort the surrounding space and nearly shred a subordinate’s flesh and blood. 32
• He can instantly reheat a cold soup dumpling with a turn of his palm. 4

Disguise and Infiltration

Uncle Mute maintains multiple identities inside Vermilion Bird Tower.

• Hid for years as a mute swill-hauling odd-job worker. 4
• Secretly impersonates Lei Jie, the martial hall master who publicly lectures on martial arts. 11
• Uses his low-status kitchen identity to avoid attention while remaining within the tower. 4 11

Relationships

• Yang Xiao — Yang Xiao uncovers his Peace Sect identity and Lei Jie disguise, then deceives and extorts him by posing as Zhang Long. Uncle Mute initially intends to kill Yang Xiao but delays action due to the approaching Dao Debate. 5 11 12
• Song Qingshan — Disciple and external contact. Song Qingshan publicly serves as a Peace Sect hall master and reports to Uncle Mute while disguised as a swill-hauling worker. 12 34
• Middle-aged odd-job worker — Disciple and informant who brings him intelligence and wanted notices; Uncle Mute threatens his life when he asks about the sacred object. 12 32
• Song Que — Peace Sect capital-branch helmsman searching for the defecting Grand Elder; Uncle Mute later appears alongside him in public as Lei Jie. 6 23
• Fairy Bai — Peace Sect holy maiden tasked with pursuing the defecting Grand Elder, though the two are later seen conversing amicably in public. 5 23

Story Role / Major Arcs

Hidden Expert in Vermilion Bird Tower

Yang Xiao first identifies Uncle Mute as an anomalous expert hiding among the kitchen workers, noting that swill around him mysteriously decreases. 4 A later observation reveals his Yellow Turban Warrior past and identifies him as a Peace Sect Grand Elder. 5

Lei Jie Revelation

Yang Xiao discovers that Uncle Mute is also Lei Jie, Vermilion Bird Tower’s martial hall master. Under this identity, he gives a lecture discussing paths beyond blood-qi martial arts and the possible existence of immortals. 11

Confrontation with Yang Xiao

After observing Yang Xiao’s repeated visits to the rear kitchen, Uncle Mute confronts him and prepares to kill him. Yang Xiao impersonates Zhang Long, claims protection from Young Master Wang Yulang, and convinces Uncle Mute that he was merely investigating missing swill. Uncle Mute pays him silver and allows him to leave. 12

Wanted Notices and Isolation

Yang Xiao later leaves clues framing Uncle Mute for murder, resulting in wanted notices that resemble his disguise. Uncle Mute becomes increasingly alarmed, withdraws from public activity, and chooses to remain in the rear kitchen rather than continue appearing as Lei Jie. 32 39

Trivia

• Uncle Mute is not actually mute; his silence is part of his odd-job-worker disguise. 4 12
• He consumes swill in secret, though the exact reason is unknown. 4
• Yang Xiao’s qi-observation ability can recognize Uncle Mute despite his Lei Jie disguise. 11