Yuan Chengfang

Biodata

Feature	Value
Name	Yuan Chengfang (袁成芳)
Alias(es)	Captain Yuan; Lady Yuan 2 15
Gender	Female 2
Affiliation	Yuanyang City Investigation Department, South District branch 2
Occupation/Role	Level-One Investigator; captain and head of the South District branch 2 25
Power Rank	Advanced Danger Rank, also described as high-level dangerous tier 7 15
Status	Alive; remains in command of her squad after the dismemberment case 44
First Appearance	Chapter 2 2

Appearance

Yuan is introduced as a burly, middle-aged woman whose hair seems to gleam silver 2.

• Supernatural aura: Through the Ghost Eye, Li Feng sees her enveloped in moonlight, with red-and-white mist and a lingering trail of similarly colored power 31.
• Combat transformation: Her finishing attack against the dismemberment-case demon uses a silver-furred claw 43.

Personality

Yuan is hearty, informal, and fond of teasing newcomers. She welcomes Li Feng with a joke and repeatedly tells him that her position could someday be his—an encouragement Wu Cheng recognizes from his own recruitment. Her relaxed manner makes Li Feng feel that working under her will not be stifling 2 5.

Her demeanor changes sharply on assignments: she becomes composed, authoritative, and cautious even when a case appears minor. Despite her friendliness toward investigators, ordinary staff immediately disperse when she sternly interrupts their gathering around Li Feng’s Ghost Cat 7 19.

Yuan takes pride in talented subordinates without treating their potential as expendable. She celebrates Li Feng’s progress, respects his refusal to change cultivation methods, and repeatedly warns him against overtraining, supernatural corruption, and unnecessary combat. She also gives her team credit for victories rather than claiming that her strength alone secured them 12 21 25 43.

Abilities & Skills

Strength and Speed

Yuan’s advanced Danger Rank places her far above Li Feng during his early cultivation 7 15.

• Reaches the branch within three minutes of its alarm despite having been several li away, arriving without visible exertion 15.
• Causes sharp pain with a gentle squeeze of Li Feng’s arm even after he reaches major skin refinement 20.
• Kills a badly weakened advanced-danger demon with one silver-furred claw strike, tearing through its hair barrier 43.
• Explicitly denies having achieved a new breakthrough when Xu Han questions her apparent strength after that battle 43.

Crescent Light Wave

Yuan uses a Crescent Light Wave as a powerful ranged attack during the dismemberment case 42.

• Badly injures the disguised demon and forces its true bluish-gray, white-haired form to emerge 42.
• Sends attacks through Li Feng’s mirror passages; through multiple mirror fragments, they become a barrage of tiny crescents that repeatedly wound the target 42.
• Supplies the squad’s strongest offensive strikes during the mirror-space assault 42 43.

Supernatural Tracking

Yuan combines a Tracking Compass, departmental records, and Ghost Eye power to identify and pursue supernatural targets 7 8 39.

• Collects residual energy from rooms and corpses, allowing the compass to display traces of a culprit’s form 7.
• Photographs supernatural residue and compares it against departmental records to identify the Wedding-Dress Bride 8.
• Uses a hand seal to feed Ghost Eye power into the compass, producing a map that locates the dismemberment-case demon 39.
• Her advanced tracking method minimizes stimulation of the Ghost Eye, reducing backlash risk; it requires substantial cultivation and control 39.
• Needs sufficient evidence: she acknowledges that a single faint trace might not have been enough to locate the demon had it fled and concealed itself immediately 39.

Cultivation and Supernatural Knowledge

Yuan provides practical instruction on cultivation, investigative procedures, and the risks of using supernatural powers 3 4 6.

• Explains how spiritual energy and rule-based powers temper practitioners, including why another person’s power can transform the recipient toward its source 6.
• Recognizes visible skin-tempering breakthroughs, though she cannot detect Li Feng’s hidden mind-space or soul advances 12 21.
• Explains institutional power: collective belief in rules and order that constrains wraiths, but contains loopholes and can be overcome 8.
• Warns that controlling ghosts and supernatural entities together can cause conflicting powers, bodily collapse, or transformation into a Ghost Servant 25.
• Teaches that the Ghost Eye is primarily for examining residual traces; looking directly at powerful people can cause backlash or be interpreted as provocation 32.

Leadership and Field Judgment

• Uses supervised cases to train newcomers, then assigns Li Feng a solo investigation once she judges his cultivation and ghost servants sufficient 7 21.
• Coordinates with Public Security personnel to secure crime scenes and seal off a residential complex containing a demon 7 40.
• Restores staff composure when they become distracted by the Delivery Ghost’s alluring food 16.
• Recognizes when Li Feng’s mirror prison is failing and prepares an outside ambush rather than continuing an unsustainable assault 43.

Equipment / Items

• Tracking Compass — Collects and analyzes supernatural residue, indicates a target’s direction, and supports advanced Ghost Eye tracking. Yuan retrieves it by brushing her right hand over her left wrist; the storage mechanism is not named 7 8 39.
• Phone and departmental records access — Used to photograph residue and compare possible supernatural culprits against recorded cases 8.
• Spectral Candle — Present in her darkened office when she evaluates the Delivery Ghost; its power provides a test of the newly tamed ghost’s obedience 15.

Relationships

• Li Feng — Direct subordinate and cultivation mentee. Yuan guides his training, arranges early access to a Ghost Eye, celebrates his first solo case, and defends his place in the Investigation Department against recruitment by the Response Department 2 25 29 43.
• Wu Cheng — Subordinate accustomed to her welcoming jokes. Yuan challenges his complacency and corrects his assumption that she could have killed the advanced-danger demon without the team’s preparatory work 2 17 43.
• Zhao Fei — Investigator under her command; participates in her cultivation discussions and the dismemberment-case investigation 12 17 39.
• Chang Sheng / Old Chang — Veteran South District driver. Yuan relies on him for field transport and sends him with Li Feng on his first solo assignment 2 7 21.
• Wang Jianfeng — Department chief and superior. He approves Yuan’s request for Li Feng’s Ghost Eye fusion and entrusts her with his continuing guidance 29 31.
• Zhou Xing — Headquarters Personnel Office director. He describes Yuan as having high standards despite her carefree manner and joins her in recognizing Li Feng’s ghost-cultivation aptitude 29 30.
• Captain Liu — Public Security collaborator during the investigation of Luo Hua’s death 7 8.
• Xu Han — Response Department colleague whose attempt to recruit Li Feng provokes Yuan’s sharp refusal. Their exchange reflects departmental rivalry rather than a breakdown in cooperation 43.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Li Feng’s Recruitment and Early Training

Yuan becomes Li Feng’s direct superior when he is assigned to the South District. She explains the city’s district structure, supernatural ranks, recruitment requirements, and the investigator’s duty to gather information and report threats rather than engage them unnecessarily 2 3.

She reinforces that approach after his first successful anomaly report. As his cultivation accelerates, she recommends stronger methods but accepts his decision to continue the Human Body Tempering Art 5 6 12.

Wedding-Dress Bride Investigation

Yuan leads Li Feng and Wu Cheng to investigate Luo Hua’s blood-drained corpse at Golden Bell Residential Complex. Her compass and record comparisons identify the Wedding-Dress Bride despite its recent destruction. She follows its residual trail until it ends, then reports the likely reappearance area to the authorities 7 8.

Ghost Servants, the Weird Mirror, and Ghost Eye Access

When Li Feng’s ghostly energy triggers the branch’s defenses, Yuan arrives quickly and orders them deactivated. She evaluates his Delivery Ghost, encourages ghost cultivation, and helps register its power so it will no longer trigger alarms 15 16.

After his first solo case, she balances praise with warnings about the Weird Mirror’s corrosion risks and treats the group to dinner at Aroma Pavilion. She subsequently obtains permission for Li Feng to receive a Ghost Eye before becoming a full Investigator and explains its precautions after the fusion 25 29 31 32.

Dismemberment Case

Yuan leads the investigation of murders at Fengle Residential Complex, where dismembered victims are missing their hearts. By combining residue from multiple crime scenes, she locates the demon at Lihua Residential Complex 39.

During the confrontation, Li Feng’s Weird Mirror enables remote attacks and containment while Yuan repeatedly wounds the demon. When the mirror space begins breaking, they reposition the target outside, where she delivers the killing strike. Yuan credits the coordinated tactics, rejects Xu Han’s recruitment attempt, and announces that Li Feng will be promoted 42 43.

Afterward, she warns Li Feng that the apparent glory of frontline Demon-Subduing Guards conceals the greater danger of their work. The squad receives commendations, and Wang Jianfeng approves Li Feng’s promotion 44.

Notable Quotes

“Good. Stay safe! Remember, we're Investigators, not soldiers!” 21

“Get lost! He belongs to our Investigation Department. Once we get back, he'll be promoted to a full investigator...” 43