Lu Ming

Biodata

Feature	Value
Name	Lu Ming (鹿鸣)
Species/Race	Deer spirit; capable of assuming human form 5 83
Gender	Male
Age	237 at the time of his first Heavenly Court interview 3
Affiliation	Heavenly Court, Thunder Department; later assigned to its Mortal Realm Office 15 174
Occupation/Role	Initially responsible for copying and proofreading documents; later Wen Ning’s assistant and bathhouse worker. Also assists with recruitment interviews 15 174 201 251
Residence	Has a cave dwelling on Mount Tai; later occupies a room at Wen Ning’s shop 12 221 251
First Appearance	Heavenly Court civil service examination 2

Background / History

Childhood on Mount Tai and in the Underworld

Lu Ming is a descendant of the Lord of Mount Tai. As a child, he frequently visited the Underworld and became acquainted with Meng Jiang. His appetite and poor control of magic caused several embarrassing incidents: after drinking mung bean soup made with River of Forgetfulness water, he forgot he was a deer for three days and spent much of that time running on all fours and headbutting people 3 16.

On another visit, he tried to demonstrate a new spell but transformed himself into a tree beside the Bridge of Helplessness. Meng Jiang hung a “Construction ahead” sign on him, and Meng Po eventually restored him. His ancestor grounded him for three months, but he returned to the Underworld as soon as the punishment ended 16.

An attempted apology to Meng Jiang also failed. Lu Ming ate almost all the immortal peaches intended for her, then offered the final peach’s pit while claiming it would grow into a new variety. When it failed to sprout, she nearly removed his antlers 16.

Heavenly Court Recruitment

Lu Ming meets Wen Ning and Bai Lu while waiting for a Heavenly Court civil service interview. He immediately recognizes the importance of Wen Ning’s connection to Wen Zhong, the Thunder Department’s chief deity 2.

His own interview begins confidently but collapses when the examiners demand knowledge of volume three—the appendix—of the Mount Tai Fengshan Ritual Code. They also challenge his promise of impartial enforcement by asking whether he would fine the Jade Emperor’s brother-in-law. His suggestion of a reprimand instead earns an accusation of inconsistency, and a Heavenly Official recommends several more centuries of cultivation 3.

The Lord of Mount Tai intervenes personally. Lu Ming’s second interview consists only of his name, age, and the month in which he sheds his velvet. Even his inability to answer the last question is excused after his ancestor coughs. He subsequently joins the Thunder Department 5 15.

Thunder Department Service

Wen Zhong assigns Lu Ming to copy and proofread documents. His first reporting ceremony is marred by the admission that he ate both thousand-year-old lingzhi mushrooms prepared as gifts for his new superior 15.

Lu Ming welcomes Wen Ning into the department’s social circle and guides him around the Imperial Garden. His office work is less successful: paperwork accumulates on his desk, and one funding report is returned three times because he used a mortal-world document format 17 40.

At the Peach Banquet, he tries to conceal a failed internal assessment. While copying Bai Lu’s answers, he mixed up the lines and submitted seventy-two methods of brewing tea instead of the Seventy-Two Transformations. He also loses another drinking contest to Nezha, passing out while Nezha pokes his exposed antlers 82 83.

Despite these embarrassments, Lu Ming helps Wen Ning search for the Queen Mother’s missing Spirit Swallow. His contacts, including Little Gray and Uncle Li, help the investigation proceed; Wen Ning explicitly thanks him for those introductions 86 90.

Transfer to the Mortal Realm Office

Lu Ming arrives at Wen Ning’s shop in tears after being posted out of the Heavenly Court. He believes the punishment was for entering the Thunder Department office with his left foot first, and feels betrayed when the Lord of Mount Tai endorses the transfer 174.

Wen Zhong later explains that the supposed etiquette violation was a pretext. Lu Ming needs practical experience, while Wen Ning needs a well-informed, well-connected assistant. The Lord of Mount Tai helped arrange the posting so that service beside Wen Ning—whose previous-life identity is significant—could earn Lu Ming merit and improve his future prospects 176.

At the shop, Lu Ming proves more useful than his complaints suggest. He moves stock, mops thoroughly, and spends forty minutes bathing Big Yellow before offering to trim the dog’s claws. Zhang Siyu judges that, apart from excessive talking, there is little wrong with him 175.

Fieldwork and Recruitment Interviews

Lu Ming accompanies Wen Ning on the investigation of a monster occupying a Dragon King Temple. He later helps transport the bound snake Xuan Yin to the Thunder Department and gleefully explains why complaining about Wen Zhong to Wen Zhong’s godson is futile. Although Xuan Yin is sentenced as the impersonator, Wen Ning subsequently admits that the actual impostor was another snake 176 184 185 186.

His gossip eventually attracts Wen Zhong’s direct attention. After Lu Ming circulates a story about the origin of Wen Zhong’s third eye, the deity warns that another offense will cost him both antlers 186 187.

Lu Ming later sits beside Wen Ning as a recruitment interviewer. He repeats the same obscure appendix question that once distressed him: he relents with one struggling candidate, but deliberately unsettles another until Wen Ning intervenes. The threat of being assigned to the understaffed Misfortune Department curbs his enthusiasm for rejecting applicants 201 202.

He also helps obtain Feng Dema’s Millennium Lingzhi for Wen Ning. Feng Dema openly exposes the exchange, forcing Wen Ning to invent a quarantine regulation to explain why the gift has been taken 204.

Later Assignments and Shop Duties

Lu Ming accompanies Wen Ning into Lin Dagang’s dream, where he is visibly moved by a childhood scene involving Lin’s grandmother. He also travels to Mount Li, nearly buckling under Qin Shi Huang’s presence and panicking when the emperor jokes about eating him 210 212 227 228.

After Zhang Siyu leaves the shop, Lu Ming takes over bathing its small spirit customers. His forceful scrubbing of Squirrel Spirit exposes a gap between his back-scrubbing experience and the gentler handling these customers require 251.

During an undercover assignment at Master Jin’s stronghold, he is assigned firewood chopping and eventually complains that the work has become endlessly exhausting. His complaint prompts Wen Ning to approach Master Jin, who reveals that he already knows their Heavenly Court identities 257 261.

Lu Ming continues working at the shop alongside Feng Dema. When Feng Dema impulsively offers employment to a visiting young woman, Lu Ming corrects him and politely explains that the shop is not hiring temporary workers 282.

Appearance

Lu Ming’s human form is a chubby young man with round eyes and conspicuous antlers; he can also revert to his deer form 5 83 174.

• Expressive antlers: Droop when he is distressed, perk up with renewed confidence, and quiver when he becomes excited or frightened. They even change color when Meng Jiang intimidates him 3 5 15.
• Antler bells: Small golden bells jingle as he moves and repeatedly accompany his emotional reactions 5 17.
• Peach Banquet clothing: Wears a golden silkworm silk robe with sunrise-over-Mount-Tai embroidery on its cuffs, designed and selected by his ancestor. Meng Jiang and Wen Zhong compare the outfit to a rice dumpling 81.

Personality

Lu Ming is excitable, talkative, and quick to turn ordinary setbacks into personal catastrophes. He nearly cries after his first interview, treats his transfer as the loss of his family’s protection, and habitually seeks shelter behind friends when intimidated. His drinking boasts similarly exceed his courage and tolerance 3 15 83 174 187.

Gossip is both his favorite pastime and a practical asset. Within three days of joining the shop, he has told Wen Ning about eight immortals’ promotions, twelve family disputes, and nineteen secret crushes. He proudly claims responsibility for nearly every Heavenly Court rumor, but also invents stories to save face, including a false claim that Meng Jiang’s pursuit drove him to request an outside posting 127 175 186.

His appetite and spending habits frequently embarrass him. He eats intended gifts, tries to borrow merit points for an expensive bathrobe, and is repeatedly teased for avoiding the cost of treating friends. Nevertheless, he contributes duck snacks to the department’s celebration and performs shop chores conscientiously when given clear instructions 15 30 145 175.

Beneath his bluster, Lu Ming can be sympathetic. He briefly softens toward an interview candidate whose experience resembles his own and struggles to hide his tears during Lin Dagang’s dream. His judgment remains inconsistent, however: another candidate’s appearance is enough to provoke petty, deliberately harsh questioning 201 202 212.

Abilities & Skills

Spirit Transformation and Cultivation

Lu Ming possesses spiritual power and can take human form, though the supplied events do not establish a cultivation realm or a documented breakthrough 12 16 210.

• Can revert to deer form after excessive drinking 83.
• Once accidentally transformed himself into a tree after losing control of a spell; Meng Po had to restore him 16.
• Recognizes an unusual living aura in Wen Ning’s weapon tattoo that Zhang Siyu cannot perceive 192.
• Does not know Spirit Roaming and Qi Control and has never practiced leaving his body when Wen Ning offers to guide him 210.

Information Gathering and Navigation

His knowledge of divine society and extensive contacts make him useful as Wen Ning’s assistant 174 176.

• Guides Wen Ning through cloud seas and a concealed barrier to Spirit Mountain, explaining its rules along the way 127.
• Supplies local introductions during the Spirit Swallow investigation 90.
• Explains the distinction between assuming human form and fully containing demonic aura 12.
• His supernatural diagnoses are not always reliable: during the household-spirit case, he proposes a Screw Spirit or Broom Spirit 9.

Back-Scrubbing and Practical Work

Lu Ming has polished back-scrubbing technique and is quick with routine manual tasks 29 175.

• Coordinates two towels with Wen Ning’s four arms during a scrubbing contest and occasionally presses acupoints 29.
• Moves inventory, cleans shelves and floors, and bathes Big Yellow without complaint 175 176.
• Handles small spirit customers too roughly when replacing Zhang Siyu, prompting Squirrel Spirit’s protest 251.

Equipment / Items

• Lu Shu Bell — His bonded treasure. He refuses Wen Ning’s request to borrow it, and Yang Jian supports his right to protect a bonded item. Its specific powers are not described in the supplied passage 249.
• Golden silkworm silk robe — Special Peach Banquet attire featuring a Mount Tai sunrise design created by his ancestor 81.
• Mount Tai dried lingzhi — Hundred-year-old lingzhi slices bestowed by the Lord of Mount Tai; a single slice sells for dozens of merit points in the Heavenly Court 86 88.

Relationships

• Wen Ning — Close friend, colleague, and later direct superior. Their teasing friendship includes mutual cover stories, joint investigations, and Wen Ning’s reassurance during frightening encounters 86 127 174 227 228.
• Lord of Mount Tai — Ancestor and patron. Secures his second interview, disciplines his childhood mistakes, and helps arrange the mortal-realm posting as an opportunity rather than abandonment 5 16 176.
• Wen Zhong — Department chief and intimidating superior. Assigns his work, arranges his transfer, and threatens his antlers over further rumor-spreading 15 176 187.
• Meng Jiang — Longtime companion and frequent antagonist in their banter. Lu Ming fears her reprisals, uses her as a shield, and falsely claims she is romantically pursuing him; she explicitly disputes that story 16 186 187.
• Bai Lu — Thunder Department colleague. Explains his embarrassing history, corrects his account of his failed assessment, and teases him about stinginess 16 82 145.
• Zhang Siyu — Shop coworker who directs his chores and monitors his diet. Appreciates his practical work despite his incessant talking 174 175 221.
• Nezha — Drinking rival who repeatedly defeats him and mocks his claims of superior tolerance 83.
• Feng Dema — Recruitment candidate and later shop coworker. Exposes Lu Ming’s handling of the lingzhi gift; later receives reminders from him to keep working and not promise unauthorized employment 204 271 282.

Notable Quotes

“Volume three! That's the appendix! The appendix! What self-respecting immortal reads that stuff?” 3

“Of course. I'm responsible for pretty much every rumor in the Heavenly Court, big or small.” 127

“I make my living with my body, not divine abilities.” 210