Fang Xian

Biodata

Background and History

Fang Xian inherited the Uncanny Tales Society after following a flyer to Office 404 in his university’s Red Building. With it came the Urban Legend Compendium, a phone app that tracks supernatural encounters and missions. The app listed his remaining lifespan at −6,001.1 days, a debt inherited from its previous user, the mysterious figure called “She” 2 3.

His first capture was Liu Changgui, Yao Hui’s stalker. Fang Xian intervened in the stalking case and helped the police arrest Liu, gaining the reflected Stalking trait and a small lifespan return. He told investigating officers that he could sense auras and near-term fortune, but privately checked the Compendium as soon as he left the station 1 2 3.

The Going Home mission led Fang Xian to the disappearance of seven-year-old Li Wan. He questioned her parents and a former teacher’s widow, then followed the Compendium’s clues into a flooded culvert, where he found Li Wan’s remains. Someone tried to seal the pipe while he was inside. After Fang Xian reported the discovery and Li Wan was returned to her family, he captured her wandering spirit and named her Xiao Jiu 11 12 13 14 15.

At Changzhao Reservoir, Fang Xian and He Qi used tracker-equipped bait to pursue a Human-Faced Fish. Xiao Jiu’s Spirit Separation briefly stunned it, allowing Fang Xian to capture it with his fire axe. He also captured No One Calling after answering a dead man’s phone. The Compendium then unlocked Conversion, which can turn captured legends into lifespan or Urban Legend Factor 32 33 34 35.

During a typhoon, Fang Xian confronted the Hang-Neck Ghost possessing fellow student Xu Wanyi. He refused to abandon her despite the Compendium’s warning, used his captured legends to suppress the spirit, and struck it after Xiao Jiu stunned it. Xu survived, but the Compendium identified the defeated ghost as an uncapturable fragment controlled by someone else 45 48 49.

Appearance

Fang Xian is a handsome, lean young man with unusually pale skin and an unhealthy-looking complexion 3 18 50.

• His slight build conceals enough strength to fight with a fire axe 18 33.
• His pallor is noticeable enough that the Changzhao guesthouse innkeeper mistakes it for fear 25.

Personality

Fang Xian is observant and quick to improvise a convincing cover story. He poses as a tenant or journalism student to question witnesses, checks rooms for cameras, and retreats when a situation becomes unfavorable 10 11 12 25. His confidence often comes with dry jokes and exaggerated self-praise, even when he is frightened or injured 11 14 26.

His conduct is uneven. He used Liu Changgui’s legend to frighten Lü Yaoyao after she insulted him, yet risked his life to find Li Wan and later chose to save Xu Wanyi rather than accept the Compendium’s advice to give up 5 6 14 48. He grows affectionate toward Xiao Jiu, while setting rules after she uses a dangerous ability without permission 16 18 20.

Abilities and Skills

Urban Legend Compendium

The app identifies legends, offers searches and missions, records captures, and tracks Fang Xian’s lifespan. Searching for a legend costs one day of life; using legends can also carry a cost or backlash 2 3 21.

• Capturing legends can restore lifespan. Completing Going Home awarded Fang Xian sixty days 15.
• After his third capture, Conversion became available, allowing captured legends to be converted into lifespan or Urban Legend Factor 35.
• Captured legends can weaken over time; Fang Xian observes the Human-Faced Fish becoming increasingly ordinary after its capture 34 41.

Stalking and Illusion

Fang Xian gains Stalking from Liu Changgui’s captured legend. Following someone of the opposite sex becomes slightly less likely to draw notice, but detection remains possible 1 7.

• He can project Liu’s frightening illusion without physically moving the target. He uses it to scare Lü Yaoyao 6.
• He later activates Stalking while following Xu Wanyi during the Hang-Neck Ghost investigation 46 47.

Captured Legends

• Xiao Jiu — Li Wan’s captured spirit can scout, affect objects to some extent, and use Interference or Spirit Separation. Spirit Separation briefly stuns a person or legend, though its duration depends on the target’s willpower 15 16 18 32.
• No One Calling — operates through phones and can frighten a target without physically harming them. Fang Xian also finds its strong signal useful at the reservoir; its cost remains unclear to him 35 39 40.
• Human-Faced Fish — a captured Insect Beast that had been dangerous in the water. Fang Xian notices its supernatural appearance fading afterward 26 33 34 41.

Equipment and Items

• Fire axe — Fang Xian’s usual weapon and field tool; he carries it on hunts and uses it against the Human-Faced Fish and Hang-Neck Ghost 7 25 33 49.
• Soothing Necklace — recovered near Li Wan’s remains; it can calm Obsession-type legends and make them less costly to use. Fang Xian later gives it to Xiao Jiu 14 20.
• Assembled Paper Figure — taken after he drives a Paper Figure from the guesthouse. It can attract folklore legends, strengthen or evolve legends, or be converted into lifespan 37.
• Pest Spray — a one-use item recovered from Zhu Shuang’s belongings that greatly reduces attacks by wild legends below the Heart-Pounding level 41.
• Incomplete Vengeful Ghost Stone — obtained after the Hang-Neck Ghost encounter; it can temporarily change the form of certain ghost stories 49.
• Expedition backpack — typically packed with food, water, a phone power bank, lollipops for Xiao Jiu, and other supplies 7 20.

Relationships

• Xiao Jiu / Li Wan — Fang Xian captures and renames her spirit after finding her remains. She becomes his close companion and helps him investigate and fight legends 14 15 16 32 49.
• Song Yizhou — a fellow student whose contact with Fang Xian grows after a shared walk in the rain. She warns him when she spots a child following him near Changzhao Reservoir; he warns her away from dangerous areas 19 20 30 35.
• Yao Hui — a campus-hospital doctor whom Fang Xian saves from her stalker. She remains grateful and repeatedly tries to contact or thank him 2 10 22 41.
• He Qi — a student and skilled angler whom Fang Xian recruits at Changzhao Reservoir. He Qi devises tracker bait and helps pursue the Human-Faced Fish 30 32 33.
• Chen Lin — a police officer initially skeptical of Fang Xian’s claimed powers. After his involvement in two cases, she raises the possibility of his helping with the Rainy Night Murder Case 2 14 15.
• Wang Dashan, Chen Kang, and Zhang Yuhang — Fang Xian’s roommates, who share his campus life but cannot see Xiao Jiu 5 16.
• Hong Ye — a student with an unspoken attraction to Fang Xian. After witnessing his confrontation with the Hang-Neck Ghost, her fascination takes a disturbing turn 47 50.