Shopkeeper Lu

Biodata

Background / History

Lu first hires Qin Geng to take him to Osmanthus Fragrance Studio. Impressed by Qin’s fast, steady handling, he offers five silver dollars for a discreet return trip from Bell Mountain. Lu emerges from the mountain pursued by hopping corpses, and Qin carries him safely back. Lu pays as promised and explains that diligent work in any trade can lead to extraordinary abilities 3 6.

On their next trip, Lu is badly injured by creatures that imitate human speech. Zheng Tonghe keeps him alive using Paper Effigy Skinning while Qin races him to Hundred Herb Hall. After treatment, Lu pays Qin ten silver dollars and offers thirty for another expedition, conditional on Qin reaching the third tier of his rickshaw-pulling abilities 10 11.

Lu later tests Qin’s new danger sense and martial strength at Osmanthus Fragrance Studio. He recruits Qin for the Bell Mountain investigation, where Qin’s navigation skill helps the group escape and identify a clue concerning the corpses. Lu pays the promised thirty silver dollars and gives Qin a letter introducing him to Master Ye 22 23 24 35 36 40.

Lu’s relationship with Qin develops into that of a senior martial brother and mentor. He is one of Ye Lanzen’s senior disciples and is identified as Qin’s Seventh Senior Brother. Although Lu initially offers to teach Qin himself if the introduction to Master Ye fails, he ultimately helps Qin enter the Ye School through his recommendation 24 68 80 90.

Lu assists Qin with the funeral of Master Zhu Xin. He arranges the paper offerings, musicians, attendants, funeral supplies, and mourning clothes, and explains the customs governing the burial procession. His Paper Effigy Maker and Netherworld Office knowledge helps Qin give Zhu a dignified funeral 73 74 80.

After the Bell Mountain investigation, Lu explains that the supernatural creature had followed the soul-thought attached to one of his paper scouts and injured him. He also uses forty-nine Substitute Paper Persons, a Thousand Yin Soul-Locking Formation, and the Rebirth Mantra to pacify and send away the resentful soul of a Water Cultivator 35 87.

Lu later becomes an official of the Dragon-Guard Office, serving as Earth Official Chief in its Geomancy Division. His new authority covers geomancy and related trades, and he can recruit subordinates. He encourages Qin to join the Office because official merit can be exchanged for rare medicines, treasures, manuscripts, and ritual implements 95 98 99 100.

When Qin asks to learn paper-effigy making and feng shui, Lu teaches him the basics of paper construction and lends him several geomancy classics. Qin proves unable to produce a proper paper effigy or understand the feng shui texts, and Lu concludes that Qin’s powerful martial aura and flourishing fortune repel the yin forces needed for those crafts 101.

Lu warns Qin that foreigners have spread a rumor that Qin Xiu possesses one of the nine artifacts anchoring the Dragon Vein. He recalls the earlier Jiazi Lost Arts disaster and urges Qin to protect his aunt during the Su Family patriarch’s birthday gathering 101. At the banquet, Lu helps Qin interpret the political significance of the foreign officials, concession directors, rival court factions, and Su Loutai’s foreign connections 108 110.

At a later Ye School meeting, Lu reacts angrily to the revelation that the Dragon Vein binds Great Xin’s cultivators to imperial fortune. Despite his official position and knowledge of the crisis, he follows Ye Lanzen’s practical counsel to preserve the school and avoid turning against fellow disciples 135.

Appearance

Lu initially appears in a black robe and small round dark glasses. For the later Bell Mountain expedition, he wears a close-fitting black jacket and thick-soled boots 3 6 30.

• Distinguishing features — Small round dark glasses; a sharp, appraising gaze 6 22.
• Working attire — Bound cuffs and quick boots for travel in the mountain 30.
• Ordinary attire — A loose gray or long cloth gown when working at Osmanthus Fragrance Studio or handling funeral affairs 35 73 80.
• Fieldwork appearance — His geomancy work can leave him covered in yellow mud and exhausted from searching difficult terrain 137.

Abilities & Skills

Paper-effigy craft

Lu’s cosmetics storefront conceals a workshop of lifelike paper figures. His animated Boy Paper Doll attacks with great speed and a hardened arm; when Qin punches it, the doll disperses the force and lands unharmed 22 23.

• Makes paper figures detailed enough to earn him the name “Paper Effigy Lu” 14 30.
• Uses a paper doll to test Qin’s fighting ability 22 23.
• Practices the Flying Brush and Paper Effigy Craft, combining martial techniques with paper constructs 23 24.
• Uses paper scouts whose attached soul-thoughts can observe or help navigate dangerous places 35.
• Can deploy Substitute Paper Persons and form a Thousand Yin Soul-Locking Formation to contain resentful spirits 87.
• Produces funeral paper offerings and other Netherworld Office materials for burial rites 73 74.

Martial appraisal and cultivation knowledge

Lu recognizes Qin’s third-tier Step-Sensing Danger and identifies the force behind his punch as Dragon Spine Through the Back. He explains trade-based cultivation tiers to Qin, though his belief that Qin’s martial talent is innate does not match what Qin knows about the Book of a Hundred Trades 11 22 23.

• Describes the first two rickshaw-puller tiers as Wind-Fire Wheel and Ever-Burning Lamp 11.
• Identifies Step-Sensing Danger and Old Horse Knows the Way as third-tier abilities needed for safe travel through Bell Mountain 11.
• Tests Qin’s reflexes by throwing a cinnabar-stained brush at his head 22.
• Recognizes Dragon Tendon, Tiger Bone, and Dragon Spine Through the Back, and explains their importance to martial talent 23.
• Understands the danger of training without a formal master and recommends Qin to Master Ye 24 36.

Geomancy and Netherworld Office knowledge

Lu is a practitioner of geomancy and related Netherworld Office crafts. His official work includes investigating terrain, earth veins, feng shui, and supernatural disturbances 95 98 100 137.

• Lends Qin feng shui classics and attempts to teach him the basics of paper-effigy making and geomancy 101.
• Understands the connection between supernatural formations, Earth Veins, soul-thoughts, and dangerous mountain terrain 35 87.
• Organizes funeral rites, paper offerings, musicians, attendants, burial clothing, and other Netherworld Office arrangements 73 74.
• Provides Qin with historical and political context concerning the Dragon Vein, the Jiazi Lost Arts disaster, and foreign attempts to provoke conflict around the Su Family 101.
• Serves as Earth Official Chief of the Dragon-Guard Office’s Geomancy Division and possesses authority over related practitioners and trades 98 100.

Investigation and strategic judgment

Lu understands the hidden relationships among supernatural practitioners, foreign agents, criminal societies, and official factions. He warns Qin to keep dangerous information secret and repeatedly emphasizes the importance of preparation, connections, and official protection 6 23 35 81 101.

• Identifies the danger posed by foreign activity and the Dragon King Society’s corpse-related operations 34 35.
• Urges the group to conceal the Bell Mountain investigation so that they do not alert the enemy 35.
• Recognizes that official rank can provide protection from gangs, martial factions, and concession authorities 23 24.
• Helps Qin interpret the changing balance of power around the Dragon Vein and the Su Family 101 108 110 135.

Power Progression

Equipment / Items

• Paper figures and black wooden case — Carries finely made figures for the Bell Mountain expedition 30.
• Cinnabar-stained brush — Used in his sudden test of Qin’s danger sense 22.
• Substitute Paper Persons — Burns forty-nine of them while performing a soul-sealing rite 87.
• Medicinal Dragon Well tea — Offers Qin a restorative bowl before the expedition 24.
• Feng shui classics — Lends Qin books on geomancy and Earth Veins 101.
• Jade lotus petal — Carries a translucent jade-carved lotus petal concealed beneath his clothing; its purpose remains undisclosed 6.
• Letter of recommendation — Introduces Qin to Master Ye 36 40.

Relationships

• Qin Geng — Hires him as a driver, teaches him about trade-based cultivation, tests his abilities, and later supports his search for a martial master. Qin saves Lu’s life, guides his investigative group out of Bell Mountain, and becomes his junior martial brother at the Ye School 6 11 24 35 36 40 68 80 90.
• Zheng Tonghe — Lu’s senior martial brother and fellow disciple of Ye Lanzen. Zheng treats Lu’s injuries with Paper Effigy Skinning, oversees Qin’s medicine and martial training, and later serves with Lu in the Dragon-Guard Office 11 36 80 90 98 100.
• Master Ye Lanzen — Lu’s martial master and the head of the Ye School. Lu recommends Qin to him and remains one of Ye’s senior disciples 40 80 90.
• Third Master Cao and Daoist Miaoxuan — Fellow members of the Bell Mountain investigative group and later associates within the wider Ye School network 30 35 80.
• Master Zhu Xin — Qin’s mentor whose funeral Lu helps organize, using his Netherworld Office knowledge and professional connections 73 74 80.
• Abacus Song — Lu demands that Song compensate Qin for an earlier armed clash before discussing the Dragon King Society investigation 50.
• Ye School senior brothers — Lu is Qin’s Seventh Senior Brother and works alongside Zheng Tonghe, Chu Xing, Li Tingyun, and the other disciples in the Dragon-Guard Office and the Dragon Vein crisis 90 98 100 135.
• Qin Xiu and the Su Family — Warns Qin about the rumor surrounding Qin Xiu and the Dragon Vein artifact, then helps him understand the political dangers surrounding the Su Family’s birthday gathering 101 108 110.

Notable Quotes

“Master a trade through diligence, and you can commune with ghosts and gods.” 6

“In our line of work, if you don't stay alert every moment, your head will be gone before you know it.” 22

“And if it really doesn't work out... I'll teach you myself!” 24