Yun Niang

Biodata

Feature	Value
Name	Yun Niang (云娘)
Original Name	Li Yun 37
Species/Race	Human; mortal 112
Gender	Female 37
Age	Nearly forty when introduced 37
Affiliation	Fortune-Life Martial Hall; previously supported by the Fuyang Chamber of Commerce 37 112
Occupation/Role	Martial hall caretaker; formerly mended clothes at Black River Martial Arts Hall 33 112
Family	Wife of Ren Shanshi; stepmother of Ren Qing; elder sister of Li Jing; aunt of Li Yao 37 79 139
Status	Alive and pregnant with a daughter; caring for Li Jing’s two daughters 136 148 150
First Appearance	Mentioned in Ren Shanshi’s marriage discussion 27; appears with him 33

Power Progression

Stage / Realm / Level	Chapter	Notes
Passive sensory improvement; no named realm	43	Benefits indirectly from Ren Qing’s Staff Dissolution, although the event initially causes her to collapse.
Improved eyesight	75	Her eyesight improves, and her speech becomes more coherent and talkative. The improvement is incomplete: her vision remains blurry during later journeys 137 150.
Mortal; no cultivation practiced	135	Ren Qing explicitly observes that she has never cultivated. Her earlier improvements do not establish a cultivation rank.

Background / History

Early Life

Yun Niang suffered from poor eyesight from childhood. A childhood fever also damaged her soul; her family’s former prosperity helped her survive and grow up safely. With few opportunities to go outside and no childhood playmates, she spent much of her time with the family’s civet cat 37 40.

Her family later declined. She survived through support from the Fuyang Chamber of Commerce, whose manager was her distant cousin, and spent more than ten years at Black River Martial Arts Hall. Still unmarried at nearly forty, she met Ren Shanshi through an introduction arranged by the Chamber’s accountant and Matchmaker Wang 37 98.

Joining the Ren Household

While working as a clothes-mender, Yun Niang helped Ren Shanshi with his injuries and suggested that he and Ren Qing move into the martial hall. Ren Shanshi declined because the coffin shop remained their livelihood 33.

After detecting a Bear Man at the martial hall and finding herself without accommodation when the hall closed, she accepted a vacant room at the Blessed Life Coffin Shop. The shop gave her a sense of safety that she did not find around the increasingly dangerous Fuyang Escort Agency 37 38 40.

Marriage and Life at Fortune-Life Martial Hall

Ren Shanshi sought Ren Qing’s approval to marry Yun Niang. Li Yao supplied a substantial dowry, and the wedding took place at Fortune-Life Martial Hall with red decorations, the customary betrothal gifts, bows before memorial tablets, and two tables of banquet dishes 70 75 79.

Yun Niang took care of the household through sewing, laundry, cleaning, and hospitality. She treated the Half-Demon apprentices as dull but ordinary martial students, offering them tea and brushing dust from their bodies without recognizing their supernatural nature 41 76 92 101.

Pregnancy and Return to Salt Township

Ren Qing discovered that Yun Niang was pregnant with a daughter before she told Ren Shanshi. He arranged attendants, calming scriptures, and medicinal support for her and the unborn child 136 137. When she later raised the possibility of pregnancy with Ren Shanshi, he was stunned and delighted 141.

She agreed to return to Salt Township to visit her parents’ graves and hoped to see Li Jing, whom she had not met in more than a decade. Concerned that travel might worsen Ren Qing’s supposed mental illness, she and Ren Shanshi initially planned to leave him under Su Huo’s care 136 137.

During the journey, talking Mouse Children and Sparrow Fairy revealed that Ren Qing had sent them to protect her and was following nearby. Her chief relief was that A-Qing was safe and did not suffer from the madness she had feared 137.

At the Li Residence, she reunited emotionally with Li Jing and introduced Ren Shanshi as his brother-in-law. The reunion was interrupted by the Ghost Infant crisis, during which Ren Shanshi protected the family. Yun Niang detected an unusual sound and summoned Sparrow Fairy as the danger escalated 139 140.

Badu and the Prince’s Residence

After settling in Badu, Yun Niang worried that a visitor claiming to serve the Pang Household might be connected to Li Jing 143. When Ren Shanshi brought home two Half-Demon girls, she welcomed them but noticed that their fine clothing contradicted his story that they were abandoned street children. He admitted that they were Li Jing’s daughters and that their father was in trouble 148.

When Ren Shanshi failed to return the following morning, she entered Primordial Beginning Temple with the girls to seek Ren Qing’s help. There she witnessed the Mouse Children tending medicinal fields, Sparrow Fairy’s giant form, Frog Immortal Lord’s immense body, and Fish Immortal’s True Dragon form. Her earlier memories of the talking animals had temporarily been forgotten because Ren Qing had altered everyone’s memories 150.

Yun Niang accepted that Ren Qing truly was an immortal. After he assured her that Ren Shanshi and Li Jing were not in mortal danger, she returned to the martial hall to care for her nieces 150.

Appearance

Yun Niang has a kindly face and chronically blurred vision. For her wedding preparations, she wore new clothes, neatly combed hair, and a simple silver hairpin 75 112.

• Uses a blind cane to check the ground and locate steps 37.
• Wears a red veil during her wedding ceremony 79.
• Her pregnancy later slows her walking pace 150.

Personality

Yun Niang is gentle, hospitable, and strongly maternal. She worries about Ren Qing’s isolation, plans warm clothing for him, and defends his character when his behavior unsettles others. Her affection affects Ren Qing’s Dao heart even when he finds the attention uncomfortable 40 57 79.

Her kindness extends beyond her immediate family. Mistaking Ling Weizi for a homeless child, she offers food, clean clothes, and shelter, then anxiously searches for her when she wanders away. This unsolicited care reminds Ling Weizi of her mother 112 113.

She is not wholly naïve or fragile. Years in a martial hall have made her practical about danger: she suggests quietly burying an attacker’s corpse if reporting it would cause trouble. She also recognizes Ren Shanshi’s attempts to lie and questions him when the details do not fit 98 148.

Despite living among supernatural beings, she long interprets Ren Qing’s conduct as illness and his companions as ordinary animals. When the truth becomes clear, her concerns remain domestic—his safety, his happiness, and whether she can find him a wife 75 136 137 150.

Abilities & Skills

Exceptional Hearing

• Detects the Bear Man’s voice despite being unable to see clearly 38.
• Hears unsettling activity around the Fuyang Escort Agency, describing the impression of wild beasts watching from hiding 40.
• Li Jing recognizes her hearing as extraordinary and expects her to notice unusual movements during the Buddha Infant crisis 140.
• No named hearing technique or trained supernatural perception is established; she has never cultivated 135.

Sewing and Household Care

• Mends clothes for Black River Martial Arts Hall and weaves a cape decorated with Daoist patterns remembered from Wish-Fulfillment Abbey 33 41.
• Handles laundry, cleaning, refreshments, and care for visitors at Fortune-Life Martial Hall 92 101 112 123.
• Bandages Ren Shanshi’s wounds after he returns injured 57.
• Recognizes quality fabric and stitching, allowing her to question the supposed origins of Li Jing’s daughters 148.

Equipment / Items

• Blind cane — Used to confirm the path ahead while walking 37.
• Silver needle — Used in her sewing work 41.
• Silver hairpin — A simple, elegant accessory worn during wedding preparations 75.
• Nourishing Essence Pills — Refined by Ling Weizi and delivered for Yun Niang’s pregnancy; intended to nourish blood and qi and stabilize the unborn child’s body and soul 137.

Relationships

• Ren Shanshi — Husband. He assists her mobility, offers her a home, and prioritizes her safety during travel and pregnancy. She tends his injuries and readily sees through his evasions 37 38 57 79 143 148.
• Ren Qing / A-Qing — Stepson. She treats him with maternal concern, initially believing him mentally ill. He secretly protects her pregnancy and later invites her to visit his temple 40 136 137 150.
• Li Yao / Yao’er — Niece and close family supporter. Li Yao provides the wedding dowry, arranges the return journey, and prepares a comfortable carriage for her pregnant aunt 37 75 136.
• Li Jing — Younger brother. Their reunion follows more than a decade apart; she worries about his safety and takes responsibility for his daughters during his captivity 137 139 148 150.
• Li Jing’s two daughters — Half-Demon nieces whom she shelters and cares for at the martial hall 148 150.
• Ling Weizi — Mistaken for a lost child whom Yun Niang calls “Yinyin.” Yun Niang’s sincere care evokes memories of Ling Weizi’s mother 112 113.
• Sparrow Fairy — Companion and protector during pregnancy. Uses moonlight to calm and nourish her, explains Ren Qing’s protective arrangements, and carries her through the temple 136 137 150.
• Mouse Children — Assigned by Ren Qing to attend her and recite calming scriptures as prenatal education 136 137 150.

Notable Quotes

“Ah Qing has a somewhat strange temperament, but he really isn't a bad person.” 79

“You really don't know how to lie. Whenever you try to deceive someone, you keep swallowing...” 148

“So our A-Qing really is an immortal. Finding him a wife will probably be difficult now.” 150