Meng Huai

Biodata

Feature	Value
Name	Meng Huai (孟槐)
Alias(es)	Dr. Meng, as introduced by Zhang Meimei’s father 3
Species/Race	Human 47
Gender	Male 11 26
Affiliation	Miaojiang’s Gu Masters; his enforcement duties operate under Witch Cult oversight 4 31
Occupation/Role	Gu Master responsible for punishing practitioners who use gu to harm people 4 8
Life-Bound Gu	Golden Silkworm Gu, ranked among Miaojiang’s top ten life-bound gu 4
Power Assessment	His skill is described as sufficient to qualify for Class Three; formal promotion is not stated 11
Status	Alive and opposing the Night God Church 50

Power Progression

• No formal realm promotion is documented. His recorded development consists of life-bound gu feedings and a measurable improvement in combat sensitivity 4 39 40.

Stage / Realm / Level	Chapter	Notes
Golden Silkworm Gu — first documented feeding	4	Devours the two life-bound gu belonging to Zhang Meimei’s attacker. Consuming other life-bound gu is identified as its simplest evolutionary method, although no specific transformation is shown.
Class Three-capable — skill assessment	11	His performance against Ye Zifeng establishes that his skill could qualify him for Class Three; this is an assessment, not a stated promotion.
Golden Silkworm Gu — further feeding	39	Extracts and consumes the blood-red life-bound gu sustaining the Two-Headed Corpse Gu, breaking the fusion. No new rank or form is specified.
Improved sensitivity and evasive reactions	40	Trains with Chang Yanping using air-gun drills. Their bodily sensitivity improves severalfold, enabling Meng to detect the airflow preceding Wormless Gu attacks.

Appearance

• Scruffy presentation: Described as looking “as scruffy as ever” while questioning Zhang Meimei 3.
• Usual clothing: A tank top, baggy shorts, and flip-flops; observers compare his appearance to an artist or an old street tough 7.
• Unremarkable looks: The models regard his abilities, rather than his appearance, as what makes him exceptional 7.
• Casual dress at formal events: Initially feels out of place among impeccably dressed reception guests, but enters confidently after Yun Zimo reassures him 27.

Personality

Meng Huai is irreverent, teasing, and openly resistant to ceremony. He describes himself as lazy and unwilling to meddle, preferring to handle consequences when they arrive. That attitude does not prevent him from investigating dangerous gu users or protecting people whose safety has become his responsibility 18 43.

His enforcement of gu taboos is tempered by compassion. He offers Zhang Meimei’s attacker a chance to surrender her powers before punishing her, and he welcomes Xiang Yu’s apparent repentance rather than insisting on killing him. Nevertheless, taking human lives weighs heavily on him; after executing Meimei’s attacker, he drinks himself unconscious because even a guilty person is still human 4 16.

His moral position is not a simple defense of either law or vengeance. He rejects the Night God Church’s claim that it may privately punish its victims, yet later refuses to save corrupt people from retaliation and negotiates official tolerance for an avenger. His decisions follow his conscience, the victims’ suffering, and the threat posed by the Church rather than a consistently literal application of the rules 21 32 36 50.

Meng is pragmatic about money and power. He despises wealthy clients who abuse others, but recognizes that their payments support his household and fund aid for people who need education or medical treatment. In combat, he is equally practical: throwing bottles, exploiting injured opponents, and using humiliating tricks matter less to him than winning 36 41 47.

Despite his flirtatious manner, he repeatedly affirms his devotion to Yun Zimo. He is initially slow to notice her growing affection and later becomes flustered by her tears, but refuses to abandon her during a potentially fatal confrontation 8 11 26 39.

Abilities & Skills

Gu Detection and Diagnosis

Meng identifies gu afflictions through supernatural observation, physical examination, and specialized techniques 9 13 31.

• Sees a karmic thread connected to Zhang Meimei after her treatment, indicating that the danger remains unresolved 2.
• Passes his hands over his eyes to perceive black energy associated with Shan Meirong’s gu affliction, then accurately describes her private symptoms 13.
• Uses a hand seal to expose tiny Lust Gu hidden in cake and draws them into a paper cup 9.
• Awakens gu inside Fan Yuli through a distinctive tapping rhythm, exposing her connection to the fashion-show sabotage 22.
• Initially cannot explain Chang Yanping’s condition because no physical insect is present; later identifies the same method in murder victims as Wormless Gu 31 33.

Gu Removal and Healing

He can extract parasites and repair visible injuries, but cannot undo every consequence of an attack 2 19 43.

• Removes a mass of worms from Zhang Meimei’s abdomen and saves her life, while warning that the damage may affect her ability to have children 2.
• Extracts Yun Zimo’s Lust Gu and treats the similarly afflicted models 5 7.
• Restores Qi Xiaoyun’s ruptured abdomen to its original appearance, but cannot revive her 19.
• Removes nine beetles from Liu Shourui’s neck and magically closes the wound 43.

Life-Bound Golden Silkworm Gu

Meng’s Golden Silkworm Gu is his principal life-bound gu and one of Miaojiang’s top ten. Its evolutionary method involves consuming other life-bound gu; Gu Masters may do so after punishing offenders without violating the usual taboo, earning merit instead 4.

• Internal defense: Devours two hostile life-bound gu after they burrow into his arm toward his heart 4.
• Hazard consumption: Consumes the green cloud that dissolves his summoned giant toads 17.
• Extraction: Pulls the life-bound gu out of the Two-Headed Corpse Gu and swallows it, separating Shan Meirong and Xiang Yu 39.
• Sobering: Allows him to sober himself after drinking 48.
• Risk: Against the Two-Headed Corpse Gu, he is initially unsure whether releasing it will be enough to save him and Yun Zimo 39.

Combat Gu and Summoning

Meng deploys different creatures for specific tasks rather than relying on a single uniform swarm 11 17 41.

• Uses a tiny centipede to protect Yun Zimo from a venomous snake 11.
• Summons two giant toads to extract and eat Corpse-Control Gu 17.
• Uses ants to consume Shan Meirong, Xiang Yu, and the corpses, then destroy the building 39.
• Releases maneuverable black worms and an explosive worm during his fight with Ye Yin 41.
• Applies a gum-like gu technique to Ye Zifeng’s face, tearing away both defending insects and flesh 47.
• His gu generally fight individually: strong single-creature performance comes at the cost of poor crowd coverage, especially when he must also protect someone 12.

Alcohol and Fire Techniques

Liquor serves as both a personal habit and a practical component of his gu work 2 7 11.

• Kills extracted worms with liquor before burning them 2 7.
• Drinks premium baijiu to replenish himself while removing gu from the models 7.
• Sprays alcohol over Ye Zifeng’s insects, then draws a lighter’s flame into his palm and burns them 11.
• Breathes fire after drinking to create an opening against the Two-Headed Corpse Gu and counter Ye Yin’s freezing attack 39 41.
• Refines Lust Gu into a crystal-clear aphrodisiac powder by burning them while keeping their fragrance concentrated 8.
• Sprays wine over a corpse to reveal black qi left by Wormless Gu 33.

Tracking, Surveillance, and Protection

His gu techniques support investigation and temporary safeguards as well as direct combat 4 9 31.

• Tracking Gu: Plants one on Zhang Meimei to follow her to the meeting with her attacker 4.
• Echo Gu: Secretly places one on Xiang Yu and overhears his dealings with Ye Zifeng 9 10.
• Protective gu: Gives Chang Yanping a greenbottle fly to swallow, offering at least three months of protection 31.
• Silver Snake: Summons the powerful snake that removes Xiang Yu’s gu poison. It then chooses Yun Zimo as its host, despite Meng never having successfully tamed it 15.
• The Silver Snake protects Yun from many gu insects, but does not guarantee safety against every other supernatural art 26.

Wormless Gu Countermeasures

Meng develops a defense against Wormless Gu by examining how its concentrated qi moves rather than trying to locate a nonexistent insect 40.

• Recognizes that moving qi must produce a detectable air current 40.
• Incorporates Yun Zimo’s observation that the attack cannot change direction like a living gu insect 40.
• Trains his sensitivity and reactions through air-gun drills, then pulls Chang Yanping out of an incoming attack’s path 40.
• Combines evasion, gu attacks, fire, an explosive worm, and close-range punches to overwhelm Ye Yin 41.
• The technique remains dangerous when distance opens between them; identifying its weakness does not make Meng immune 41.

Other Defenses and Limitations

• The gu called his Natal Golden Cicada Gu in one passage clears his mind when He Huaying attempts to entice him 21.
• His life-bound gu would react to genuine danger within a dream, but does not resist the harmless dream conditions that initially prevent him from casting spells at Butterfly Bar 22.
• He considers close-range military gunfire dangerous even with his life-bound gu protecting him 18.
• He cannot fly and states that a fall from the law firm’s eighteenth floor would kill him 47.
• He judges Hu Tianzhen so far above him that he could not withstand even one palm strike from her 22.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Liquor flask, bottles, and backpack — Carries alcohol for drinking, restoration, gu treatment, and fire-based attacks 18 39 41.
• Lighter — Uses ordinary flame as the starting point for burning hostile gu 7 11.
• Talisman-marked teacup — Traps the Lust Gu extracted from Yun Zimo 5.
• Refined Lust Gu powder — Keeps the aphrodisiac produced during purification, considering it commercially valuable 8.
• Fully equipped Hummer — Obtains through Qin Xiuying while investigating the Chang Corporation case 36.

Relationships

• Yun Zimo — Romantic partner and investigative companion, publicly introduced as his fiancée and later addressed as his wife. She rejects his attempts to separate for her safety, contributes crucial tactical insights, and receives the company shares he earns. Marriage registration is discussed, but completion is not shown 26 27 40 42.
• Zhang Meimei — Patient he saves from insect gu. Her refusal to identify the attacker leads him to track her and intervene when she is taken hostage 2 3 4.
• Yuan Yan / Elder Yuan — Professor who supports his supernatural diagnosis and shares his enthusiasm for liquor. Later identifies Meng as the likely person capable of helping Chang Yanping 2 28 29.
• Li Can — Asura Path cultivator and military investigator. They part respectfully after Meng declines his invitation to join the fight against the Church 18.
• Zhao Zhen — Special Affairs Bureau branch director and uneasy collaborator. Their arguments concern law, vengeance, and when to tolerate an avenger against a greater threat 33 50.
• Chang Yanping — Wealthy client whom Meng protects despite contempt for his wrongdoing. Their arrangement produces protective-gu fees, substantial charity commitments, and a one-percent company stake assigned to Yun Zimo 31 32 34 42.
• Ye Zifeng — Night God Church envoy who unsuccessfully recruits him. Meng repeatedly defeats or severely injures him, but cannot prevent his escapes 11 12 47.
• Ye Yao — Church Left Protector who operates through Fan Yuli and He Huaying substitute bodies. Meng refuses recruitment and recognizes that Ye Yao is substantially more powerful than he first assumed 25 34 42.
• Ye Yin — Bereaved avenger and Church Right Protector. Meng sympathizes with his loss but opposes his atrocities, eventually developing a counter to his Wormless Gu 32 40 41.
• Hu Tianzhen — Butterfly Bar’s owner, whose dream-domain deception initially makes Meng believe he has entered a Lawless Land. He remains wary of her overwhelming power 21 22.
• Zhao Yuejiao — Yun Zimo’s lawyer friend. Meng warns her to resign for her safety, but she stays because of her debt of gratitude to Liu Jun 43 45.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Zhang Meimei’s Gu Poisoning

• Saves Meimei by extracting, killing, and burning the worms infesting her abdomen 2.
• Follows her after she secretly leaves the hospital and discovers that she knowingly ate poisoned bread to protect the man she loves 3 4.
• Offers the attacker a chance to destroy her life-bound gu and surrender. After she takes Meimei hostage and attempts to kill him, his Golden Silkworm consumes her insects and he executes her 4.

Yun Zimo and the Fashion-Show Attack

• Meets Yun after a drunken night in which her Lust Gu-driven behavior brings them together; extracts the insect when its effects recur 5 6.
• Treats her models and identifies the sponsor’s cake as the source of the infestation 7 9.
• Uses the fiancé claim to resist Xiang Yu’s coercion, then uncovers the Night God Church through Echo Gu surveillance 9 10.
• Repels Ye Zifeng’s nighttime attack but prioritizes Yun’s safety over pursuit 11 12.

Church Investigation and Substitute Bodies

• Removes Shan Meirong’s gu affliction, defeats Xiang Yu’s counterfeit Luofu Drum, and sees the Silver Snake choose Yun as its host 13 14 15.
• Follows Xiang Yu’s information to an abandoned Church villa, survives corpse-controlled attackers and a lethal green cloud, and encounters Li Can’s military team 16 17 18.
• Investigates Qi Xiaoyun’s death and the guide He Huaying, eventually discovering that the Butterfly Bar encounter occurred in a dream 19 20 21 22.
• Exposes Ye Yao’s control through Fan Yuli, refuses recruitment, and unsuccessfully attempts to send Yun out through a blocked exit 25.
• Reconciles with Yun after suggesting separation, promising not to abandon her 26.

Chang Yanping and Wormless Gu

• Predicts Chang’s mysterious illness, then refuses involvement while Yun’s foundation remains damaged by Chang’s associates 27 28 29.
• Accepts the case after restitution, supplies temporary protection, and demands charity funding as part of his payment 31 32 34.
• Gives the bereaved attacker seven days while investigating the building-collapse grievance behind the killings 32 33.
• During the investigation, defeats Shan Meirong and Xiang Yu’s Two-Headed Corpse Gu by extracting its life-bound gu 39.
• Develops the airflow-based defense with Yun, trains for the confrontation, and beats Ye Yin in close combat. Ye Yao’s intervention and orders from above end the immediate threat without settling the larger Church conflict 40 41 42.

Law-Firm Curse and the Avenger

• Removes beetles from Liu Shourui and explains that the Blood Corpse Gu threatens both his soul and others’ safety 43 44.
• Sends the firm to Wang Taiying to draw out her protector, seeking to turn the avenger and the Night God Church against each other 45.
• Nearly destroys the injured Ye Zifeng’s cultivation, but Ye Yao’s Fan Yuli body intervenes and rescues him 47.
• Persuades Zhao Zhen to tolerate the avenger within limits and raises the possibility that the Church is connected to the Luo Fu Ghost Domain through its counterfeit drum 50.

Notable Quotes

“I'm a Gu Master, but I'm human too.” 32

“There are things I can back down on, and things I can't.” 21

“All I can do is try my hardest to make those people pay and make the world a little fairer.” 36

Trivia

• Most passages call his life-bound gu the Golden Silkworm Gu, while the scene in which he resists He Huaying’s allure uses Natal Golden Cicada Gu 4 21 39.
• Burning the worms removed from Meimei produces a stench that drives people out of the hospital and unexpectedly wakes two patients in vegetative states 2.
• Chang Yanping brings more than a hundred cases of Hengshui Laobaigan when seeking his help 30.
• His grotesque attack on Ye Zifeng makes Yun Zimo forbid him from mentioning face masks afterward 47 48.