Xiaoqing

Biodata

Feature	Details
Name	Xiaoqing (小青)
Alias(es)	Miss Xiaoqing; Su Qingli 46
Species/Race	Identified by Ren Youyang as a human cultivator of the Celestial Maiden Sect, though her apparent white-snake form remains unexplained 16 46
Gender	Female
Age	Sixteen 46
Affiliation	Celestial Maiden Sect; Tianyang Guildhall 40 46
Occupation/Role	Ding Songyan's storytelling patron, confidante, and occasional investigator
Status	Active during the Zhen Estate conflict 49
First Appearance	Chapter 8, as the girl in white attending Ding Songyan's storytelling 8

Background & Identity

Xiaoqing first appears at Dangkang Temple as an exceptionally beautiful, well-off young woman who becomes engrossed in Ding Songyan's Legend of the White Snake. After learning he had been attacked, she offers him a way to find her at Tianyang Guildhall and gives him candied hawthorns. She adopts—or presents—herself under the name “Xiaoqing,” matching the green snake companion in Ding's tale. 8

Her fascination with the story proves personal. She secretly visits Ding at night to demand further installments and startles him by revealing a huge white-scaled snake tail. She later admits that she used a transformation technique to frighten him for falsely claiming that his story and song were established works. 15 16

Her supposed identity as a snake demon becomes doubtful. Her maid notes that true human-transforming snake demons should not exist in the current age, while Xiaoqing herself states that freely maintaining human form and selectively showing a snake tail should require Celestial-Human Realm cultivation. Ren Youyang later identifies her as Su Qingli, the biological younger sister of Su Yunzhang and a young Celestial Maiden Sect cultivator who has not completed body tempering or qi refinement. Ding remains unsure whether the tails he saw were hers, an illusion, or protection arranged by her elders. 16 46

Xiaoqing came to Dingjiang Prefecture with her Second Uncle, Su Chongxiao, to broaden her experience of the martial world. She and her party become involved with Zhen Estate while pursuing their own unclear objective. 40 46

Appearance

Xiaoqing is repeatedly described as a strikingly beautiful young woman whose appearance immediately draws attention. She is usually seen in refined, light-colored clothing, though she can change her look completely when necessary. 7 20 29

• Often wears a plain white short jacket with a white or silk-yellow skirt. 20 39
• Has worn purple, crimson, green, and lake-blue martial outfits on different occasions. 16 31 41 46
• Uses pearl-and-gold or golden hairpins; her hair is variously tied loosely, arranged in twin hanging buns, or concealed in a married woman's style. 20 29 39
• Can use Disguise Art to appear as an ordinary woman with a plain face and thorn hairpins. 29
• Once appeared with a large white-scaled snake tail; whether this was her true body or an illusion is unresolved. 15 16 46

Personality

Xiaoqing is lively, teasing, and impulsive. She frightens Ding in retaliation for his deception, threatens to tie him up if he fails to finish his story before she leaves the prefecture, and becomes visibly impatient whenever he ends an installment at a dramatic point. 16 20

Beneath this mischief, she is compassionate and strongly drawn to chivalry. While listening to Legend of the White Snake, she reacts emotionally to Lady White's suffering and wishes to punish evildoers, aid the weak, and uphold justice herself. 14 20

Although Ding initially considers her innocent and inexperienced, she proves adept at inference. By piecing together his fragmented answers, she deduces that Yan Changqing is hidden within Zhen Estate despite not belonging to the family or its attendants. 40 She is also sincere toward Ding, offering help when she recognizes that he is burdened by secrets he cannot speak aloud. 43

Abilities & Skills

Formless Whip

Xiaoqing wields the invisible Celestial Maiden Formless Whip.

• Repelled an ambusher in a dark alley without revealing any visible whip shadow. 40
• Left intersecting marks in a brick wall, including one deep enough to split stone. 40
• Forced her attacker to retreat, though he escaped before she could identify him. 40
• Admits that she is not suited to direct combat between Martial Grandmasters and avoids the battle at Zhen Estate. 49

Disguise and Illusion

Xiaoqing can conceal her identity and alter her outward appearance.

• Disguised herself as an ordinary married woman while investigating whether Ding Songyan was being followed. 29
• Previously posed as a female martial artist for the same purpose. 31
• Used a transformation or illusion involving a white snake tail to frighten Ding Songyan. 16
• Her affiliation's arts include the Myriad Transformations All-Beguiling Demonic Art and the Twelve Paths of Grand Void, though the extent of her personal mastery is not confirmed. 46

Martial and Supernatural Knowledge

Xiaoqing is an important source of information for Ding Songyan.

• Explains sect inheritances, including the Xiaoming Sect's lost foundational arts and surviving sword formations. 20
• Describes the risks and benefits of consuming divine beasts or strange creatures for temporary power. 31
• Recommends Kui Ox essence as compatible with thunder-based Divine Firmament Sect cultivation. 31
• Identifies Ding's sightings as netherworld scenery and suggests that he may possess unusual Yin-Yang Eyes. 21
• Identifies his verdigris-covered coin as a Yin-Yang Coin used for summoning spirits and purchasing safe passage through dangerous Netherworld regions. 41

Relationships

• Ding Songyan — Begins as an enthusiastic audience member of his storytelling, then becomes his nighttime reader, confidante, and first genuine jianghu friend. She offers to help him find a suitable martial sect in Gan State. 8 16 43
• Su Chongxiao — Her Second Uncle and traveling guardian. He is protective of her, investigates the danger around Ding, and restricts her from visiting Ding alone at night. 40 46
• Su Yunzhang — Her biological elder brother, known as the “Dust-Free Young Master.” 46
• Unnamed maid — Her cautious attendant and companion. The maid worries about Xiaoqing exposing their identities, while Xiaoqing often dismisses those concerns playfully. 16 40
• Ren Youyang — An acquaintance connected to the Zhen Estate gathering. Xiaoqing helps him flee through the estate when the conflict escalates. 46 49
• Yan Changqing — A hidden threat tied to Zhen Estate. Xiaoqing helps Ding infer Yan's presence and reports the matter to Su Chongxiao. 40

Story Role / Major Arcs

Patron of *Legend of the White Snake*

Xiaoqing becomes Ding Songyan's most devoted listener after attending his first public performance. Her emotional responses, questions, and impatience for new installments encourage him to continue and expand the story. 8 14 20

She also serves as his informal martial-world adviser. Ding disguises his questions about sects, cultivation, and divine creatures as requests for help writing Xu Shilin's future adventures. 20 31

Investigation of Ding Songyan's Danger

After Ding reveals that he is being watched, Xiaoqing uses disguises to investigate the followers around him. She discovers that Mr. Yu of Zhen Estate is surveilling him, while later attempts to trace the wider threat lead to an ambush. 29 40

Her deduction from Ding's restricted answers reveals that Yan Changqing is hidden inside Zhen Estate. She brings this information to Su Chongxiao, establishing that the danger surrounding Ding is connected to the Moth God Sect and the estate's concealed prisoner. 40

Zhen Estate Crisis

Before the Zhen Estate banquet, Xiaoqing accepts Ding's warning that unrest is likely and promises to consult her Second Uncle. She also offers Ding a possible future outside Dingjiang Prefecture by helping him enter a martial sect in Gan State. 43

She enters Zhen Estate with Su Chongxiao during the gathering over the Huai Fruit. When conflict erupts, she avoids the Martial Grandmaster-level battle, hides with Ren Youyang, and helps him escape through the estate. 46 49

Trivia

• Xiaoqing shares her name with the green snake companion in Ding Songyan's adaptation of Legend of the White Snake. 8 16
• Ding initially assumes “Xiaoqing” should refer to her blue-green-clothed maid rather than the white-clad girl herself. 16
• She jokingly threatens to tie Ding up and force him to narrate the entire story if he does not finish it before her departure from Dingjiang Prefecture. 16