Guo Yi

Biodata

Appearance

• Build: Small, thin, and wiry 3 12.
• Eyes: Quick and shrewd 3.
• Usual accessory: A small wooden case carried on his back, containing his investigative tools 3.
• Undercover clothing: Simple blue robes worn during the investigation in Longyou County and the Ghost Market 14.

Personality

Guo Yi is clinical and unflinching during examinations. He handles mutilated bodies with an expressionless face and even tastes material recovered from an assassin’s stomach to identify a food clue. His willingness to perform such unpleasant work earns Yu Qian’s admiration, despite Yu Qian’s disgust at his bare-handed handling of organs 1 13 14.

His detachment does not mean disrespect for the dead. After examining the assassins, he returns their organs, stitches their torsos closed, and covers them with white cloth. He similarly repairs Kong Xing’s body after the autopsy 14 23.

He distinguishes evidence from speculation. When Yu Qian blames the Green Garment Gang for the assassination attempt, Guo Yi considers alternative explanations and refuses to reach a firm conclusion without further investigation. He also questions how conveniently the Hundred Affairs Tower supplies a culprit 11 18.

Outside work, he joins his colleagues’ dry humor and openly prefers older women. At Yu Qian’s welcome banquet, he asks the Red Sleeve House’s madam about an overnight booking, accepts her refusal without argument, and becomes the subject of the group’s teasing 6 12.

Abilities & Skills

Spirit-Communing Art

Guo Yi uses the Spirit-Communing Art to distinguish the auras and residual energy of demons and ghosts 1 41.

• Uses a hand seal and blue vapor to expose ghost energy remaining inside a corpse 1.
• Tracks low-level ghosts by scent and confirms when a ghost’s soul has scattered 6.
• Checks investigation sites for supernatural traces, including the assassins’ rented courtyard 15.
• His stated scent-tracking capability applies to low-level ghosts that are poor at concealing their presence 6.
• The art requires aptitude; Sun Shoucheng identifies Guo Yi as someone able to grasp it relatively quickly because of his talent as a Spirit Inspector 15.

Forensic Examination

Guo Yi reconstructs deaths and identifies investigative leads through wounds, bodily changes, and internal examination 11 14.

• Wound analysis: Identifies a precise throat thrust into a yang meridian, two overlapping abdominal stabs, and a cleanly broken neck 11.
• Training indicators: Recognizes calluses associated with prolonged reverse-grip knife practice, while noting that these do not conclusively prove military service 14.
• Drug exposure: Identifies hardened black liver spots caused by long-term use of inferior Body-Tempering Pills, linking the assassins to a product circulating mainly through the Ghost Market 14.
• Dietary clues: Identifies seahead grass in stomach contents, establishing that the assassins likely spent time in Longyou County before the attack—not necessarily that they originated there 14.
• Identity verification: Examines Kong Xing’s facial bones and skull and uses golden needles to check for disguise 22.
• Cause-of-death verification: Confirms Kong Xing’s severed heart meridians and finds no external injuries, poison, spellwork, or demonic arts 23.

Supernatural Crime Analysis

• Identifies a Feather-Robed Ghost through bluish ghost fluid, residual energy, and the injuries at a murder scene 1.
• Tests ghost fluid on a burning paper talisman; the flame turns green and releases a foul smell 1.
• Explains that weak ghosts generally haunt a fixed area, often the last place they stayed while alive 6.
• Assesses the Feather-Robed Ghost as relatively weak from the energy left inside its victim 1.

Portrait Drawing

• Produces detailed, lifelike portraits of the two assassins from their corpses. The portraits enable Longyou’s county office to locate their former residence 14.

Equipment / Items

• Wooden investigative case — Carried on his back and kept with him even during social outings; contains tools and other investigative supplies 3 13.
• Paper talismans — Used to test suspected ghost residue 1.
• Golden needles — Used during Kong Xing’s identity examination 22.
• Sharp boning knife — Used to open bodies for internal examination 22.
• Tweezers — Used to sift through stomach contents 14.

Background / History

Feather-Robed Ghost Case

Guo Yi first appears examining a scholar’s corpse in Clear Water Lane. He determines that the victim was suffocated, identifies ghost involvement, and names the culprit as a Feather-Robed Ghost. During the subsequent hunt, he detects its trail by scent, tells the inexperienced Yu Qian to remain out of combat, and later confirms that the ghost’s soul has scattered after Yu Qian destroys it 1 6.

Yu Qian’s Assassination Case

After Yu Qian reports an assassination attempt, Guo Yi helps exhume the two attackers from beneath the courtyard’s mulberry tree. His initial examination reveals unusually practiced killing techniques, but he cautions that the bodies alone cannot establish who hired them 10 11.

A fuller mortuary examination produces leads to Longyou County and the Ghost Market. Guo Yi draws the assassins’ portraits, searches their emptied residence, and accompanies Yu Qian, Shi Da, and Sun Shoucheng to the Hundred Affairs Tower. The Tower names Kong Xing of the Green Garment Gang as the employer, though Guo Yi finds the investigation’s smooth progress suspicious 13 14 15 17 18.

Ghost Market Rescue

While staying near the Ghost Market, Guo Yi responds with his companions to another Court officer’s distress signal. During the ambush, he warns Yu Qian to protect himself rather than overextend. On returning to the office, he reports the encounter and credits Shi Da with driving off the attackers. All four receive commendations of 200 merit points each 19 21.

Kong Xing’s Death and the Case’s Aftermath

Assigned to pursue Kong Xing with Yu Qian, Guo Yi visits the Green Garment Gang’s hall with Shi Da as backup. Wang Kaitian presents Kong Xing’s corpse and an alleged suicide note. Guo Yi verifies the body’s identity and confirms death by severed heart meridians, but the examination does not resolve the suspicious circumstances surrounding the confession 21 22 23.

When Yu Qian accepts the gang’s account and demands compensation, Guo Yi requests a thousand taels for himself and Shi Da. He subsequently warns that closing the case is Ji Cheng’s decision, not Yu Qian’s; Ji Cheng then reopens the confrontation 23 24.

Later, Guo Yi suggests that Kong Xing’s foolishness and Yu Qian’s bad luck may explain the affair. His concern about the Jia and Yi Divisions’ larger investigation persists: after the raid on a White Lotus Cult hideout, he asks Yan Sheng what case could justify both the earlier Ghost Market operation and the new large-scale deployment 26 32.

Relationships

• Yu Qian — Colleague and the victim in his assassination investigation. Guo Yi explains supernatural evidence to him, cautions him during dangerous encounters, and earns his respect through painstaking forensic work 1 6 14 19.
• Ji Cheng — Office chief and superior. Guo Yi reports findings to him and understands that his forceful temperament can override a subordinate’s wish to let a case rest 1 21 24.
• Shi Da — Investigative escort and combat backup. Guo Yi asks him to accompany the visit to the Green Garment Gang and explicitly credits him for repelling the Ghost Market attackers 21 22.
• Sun Shoucheng — Fellow officer and investigation companion. They share jokes about Ji Cheng’s brothel visit and work together during the Ghost Market investigation and rescue 6 14 19.

Notable Quotes

“When it comes to cleanliness, nothing in this world is cleaner than the dead.” 14

“We have too little information at present. We’ll have to investigate further before drawing any conclusions.” 11

“This case doesn’t close just because you want it to. That depends on the chief.” 24