Chu Qingjiu

Biodata

Feature	Details
Name	Chu Qingjiu (楚清酒)
Alias(es)	The Puppeteer; Little Puppet Master Chu 3 100
Gender	Male
Species/Race	Human during his player phase; previously existed as a nonhuman dungeon boss 28
Affiliation	Subordinate of the Person in Charge; stays with the Mutual Aid Society through Qi Wu 31 33 53
Occupation/Role	Puppet Master; hidden final boss of the game's hardest instance; player and first skill-system Closed Beta test subject 3 26
Age	Four years older than Qi Wu 33
Status	Wins freedom to enter and leave the dungeon alongside Qi Wu at the main story's end 97
First Appearance	Chapter 1, “From Big Boss to Player” 1

Power Progression

Stage / Realm / Level	Chapter	Notes
Original Puppeteer — ten Puppet Threads	3	Controls ten Dungeon Bosses from a concealed Throne beneath the players' starting point.
Weakened player — all ten threads severed	1 2 3	Qi Wu's sword damages his soul by severing its threads. His replacement control skill initially permits one target and requires sufficient affection; recovering threads expands control and lowers the requirement.
First Puppet Thread recovered	10 11	Reclaims the thread hidden beneath Xu Zhicheng's skin. His breathing and coughing improve noticeably.
Simultaneous control of two ghosts demonstrated	25	Directs the Red-Robed Vengeful Ghost and Lin Xueru together to defeat the Underworld Walker and complete the instance.
Qi Wu bound as an Empathic Puppet	33 48	Prepares a wooden doll bearing Qi Wu's birth details, then establishes the bond during the confrontation with the Gu Ghost Woman.
Eight Puppet Threads recovered	53	After months of instance runs, has recovered eight threads. Instances below four stars allow at most two threads; four-star and higher instances allow five.
Ninth Soul Puppet Thread obtained	84 85	Extracts a new thread from Lin Ran's soul after his voluntary death in a reunion dream. Creating it consumes substantial Yang Qi and leaves Chu severely weakened.
Final original thread remains inaccessible	85	Qi Wu has fused it into his body. Chu refuses to remove it because extraction would kill him.
Return to the Throne	87	Resumes controlling the bosses of ten instances. The account does not state that he extracted Qi Wu's embedded thread.

Background / History

Childhood and apprenticeship

Chu Qingjiu was an orphan found in infancy by a wandering Puppet Master surnamed Chu. Frail from birth and able to see ghosts, he traveled with his guardian until they settled in the capital when he was six. His master taught him to carve wooden puppets and imprison ghosts inside them; Chu showed exceptional talent, eventually becoming known among wealthy clients as “Little Puppet Master Chu” 100.

His master was his only family. Although reserved with outsiders, Chu was playful and affectionate with him. When the old man became bedridden, Chu took leave from school and stayed beside him until his death. His master died when Chu was fourteen, without the resentment needed to become a ghost, leaving Chu unable to preserve him as a companion 26 100.

Chu arranged a grand funeral despite his master's request for a simple burial. He subsequently returned to school and performed well on his entrance examinations, but chose to pursue Puppet Soul-Locking rather than accept a private school's tuition waiver and stipend 101.

Death and recruitment

As a working puppeteer, Chu created wooden bodies for ghosts and established contracts between them and clients. His customers' motives were often disturbing, including attempts to silence murdered relatives or dead parents. These encounters reinforced his distrust of people 26.

After years of declining health, Chu developed late-stage lung cancer and died by suicide. He donated his money before his death. The person operating the dungeons offered him health and power in exchange for controlling Dungeon Bosses and tormenting players 26 27.

The promised power became another form of confinement: Chu could not freely leave his ornate Throne. Isolation and resentment contributed to his cruelty toward players, whose opinions he learned through operator updates and player forums 26.

Appearance

• Eyes: Uncanny violet irises, visible even when his face is masked 1 97.
• Hair: Thick, waist-length black hair, worn loose, tied at the nape, or pinned up with a hairpin 1 33 50.
• Build: Slender frame, narrow waist, straight back, and delicate hands 28 50 97.
• Boss attire: A gold half-mask and elaborate formal clothing; the clothing is an instance requirement rather than his preference 1 4.
• Everyday clothing: Favors uncomplicated outfits, including a white T-shirt with black trousers and a black high-necked thermal shirt 4 33.
• Wrist injuries: Retains the healed cuts from his original suicide because injuries predating the game are not repaired upon leaving an instance 26.

Personality

Chu is outwardly polite, quiet, and aloof. His sickly appearance encourages others to underestimate him, while he studies their reactions and withholds information that might benefit them. He dislikes noisy company and prefers silent puppets because liveliness interferes with his concentration 1 4 23.

He is calculating and willing to use coercion. He threatens Mozhu to force Xu Zhicheng to speak, withholds warnings about banquet taboos, and treats ghosts as instruments for completing objectives. His apparent helplessness can also be deliberate: he feigns a medical crisis to obtain Qi Wu's yang energy 10 13 22 25.

His emotional reserve conceals loneliness and a strong capacity for attachment. He cared devotedly for his master, and Qi Wu's persistent company gradually becomes something he cannot bear to lose. Romantic attention initially makes him retreat, while embarrassment often appears through reddening ears rather than an open change in expression 28 31 87 100.

Chu recognizes his own selfishness. He believes people should not abandon themselves for love, yet wants to remain central to Qi Wu's life even through hatred or grief. His protectiveness therefore coexists with deception and possession: he fears coercion could destroy genuine affection, but still binds Qi Wu as his puppet 44 48 52 64 83.

Abilities & Skills

Puppet Craft and Soul-Locking

A craft learned from his master before entering the game 26 100.

• Carves articulated wooden puppets and seals ghosts inside them 100.
• Creates contracts in which a client supplies yang energy and commands the housed ghost in return 26.
• Animates ordinary wooden puppets for household tasks, including cleaning and operating lights 26 50.
• Considers his hands, rather than the threads alone, a Puppeteer's most important asset 3.

Puppet Threads and Soul Puppet Threads

Soul-nurtured threads that allow Chu to control people, ghosts, and Dungeon Bosses 2 3.

• Originally operates ten Dungeon Bosses from his Throne 3.
• Traps and destroys the Ghost Courtesan's soul inside his own possessed body 16.
• Uses threads offensively to pierce the gu insect sustaining the Gu Ghost Woman's body 48.
• Controls and kills his supernatural double in Happy Community 64.
• Can expend limited opportunities to control targets regardless of affection; two such opportunities remain at one point in Happy Community 75.
• Severing the threads damages his soul. Creating new Soul Puppet Threads consumes Yang Qi and requires powerful emotions; their control suppresses the target's emotions 2 85.
• Usage is restricted by instance difficulty: two threads below four stars and five in four-star or higher instances 53.

Affection-Based Control System

The personal skill system introduced when Chu becomes a player 3.

• Displays other people's affection or favorability toward him 1 3.
• Initially restricts control to one person whose affection meets the required threshold. Recovering threads increases capacity and lowers that threshold 3.
• Lin Ran and Zhang Yaoyao are eligible targets when both have scores of 65 5.
• By the Gu instance, Chu plans to raise A Xue's affinity to 30 to obtain control and compel her to provide an antidote 39.
• Qi Wu's persistently zero score causes Chu to misinterpret his affection. Chu eventually accepts Qi Wu's sincerity despite the reading 3 23 38.

Empathic Puppet

A blood-linked puppet bond prepared through a wooden doll bearing Qi Wu's Birth Eight Characters 23 33 44.

• Shares feelings and allows Chu to perceive Qi Wu's genuine emotional state 33 67.
• Distinguishes the real Qi Wu from doubles because impostors lack Chu's blood bond 66.
• Lets Chu directly control Qi Wu's body and cut off his perception of the outside world 48.
• Gives Chu authority over Qi Wu's survival: Qi Wu cannot die unless Chu allows it 52 97.
• Creates a conflict between care and domination; Chu hides the completed bond from Qi Wu 48 66.

Paper Effigies and Transference

An alternative vessel-based technique, less familiar to Chu than wooden puppetry 25 73.

• Claims to control the Red-Robed Vengeful Ghost through a paper effigy, explaining her independent actions as imperfect control 25.
• Uses a paper figure to transfer contamination away from Zhang Shan 73.
• Suffers backlash because the paper vessel's yin energy interferes with the process; paper requires greater precision than wood 73.
• Houses a ghost in a paper figure to transport her to another apartment 78.
• Gives Lin Ran a damaged paper figure containing part of Zhao Yang's soul, enabling their fatal dream reunion 84.

Supernatural Perception and Investigation

Chu combines lifelong ghost sight with practical knowledge of possession, puppetry, and ritual hazards 4 13 100.

• Recognizes signs of puppet control in Xu Zhijie and identifies his own threads beneath Xu Zhicheng's skin 4 10.
• Identifies red cords and offering food as Ghost Festival dangers 13.
• Notices supernatural surveillance that Qi Wu cannot detect 59.
• Deduces Happy Community's pattern of victims punishing their abusers 81.

Physical Limitations

• Late-stage lung cancer persists after his return to reality, producing severe coughing and occasional bleeding 26 32 33.
• Soul damage and game-imposed restrictions contribute to his weakness during the player phase 2 3.
• Excessive yin energy leaves his hands and feet cold and makes possession dangerous 13 16 28.
• Qi Wu's yang-rich blood and energy counter yin accumulation and ease his symptoms, but are not established as a permanent cancer cure 13 16 32 33.
• Clearing instances gradually reverses his cancer's effects; this improvement can still be offset by backlash or the cost of creating threads 33 73 85.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Gold half-mask — Worn in his identity as the Puppeteer on the Throne 1 97.
• Throne — His dungeon-bound seat and operating position for controlling other instance bosses 3 26 87.
• Two wooden puppets — Faceless, finely crafted, articulated, and foldable; clean his abandoned home and accompany him to the Mutual Aid Society 26 28.
• Qi Wu wooden doll — Palm-sized puppet marked with Qi Wu's Birth Eight Characters, used to prepare the Empathic Puppet bond 33 48.
• Paper figures — Vessels for ghost housing, transference, and soul-related techniques 73 78 84.
• Qi Wu's protective talismans — Borrowed defenses that prevent enemies from approaching while Chu directs the Red-Robed Vengeful Ghost 25.
• Instance supplies — Packs clothing, compressed biscuits, and water; eats his own biscuits rather than risk A Xue's cooking 33 43.

Relationships

• Qi Wu — Former enemy, boyfriend, and Empathic Puppet. Qi Wu severs his original threads; Chu initially seeks revenge, later accepts his courtship, and secretly binds him. Their relationship survives hidden identities, separation, and Chu's killing of Qi Wu for the final wager 1 32 48 55 85 97.
• Puppet Master Chu — Guardian, teacher, and father figure. Raises Chu, teaches him his craft, and provides for his future before dying when Chu is fourteen 26 100 101.
• Person in Charge / Overseer — Employer and captor. Recruits Chu after his death, confines him to the Throne, and makes him the control-system test subject. Eventually grants him and Qi Wu freedom after losing their wager 1 3 26 97.
• Lin Ran — Initially treats Chu kindly. Later knowingly accepts a fatal dream reunion with Zhao Yang, after which Chu obtains his ninth Soul Puppet Thread from Lin Ran's soul 1 84 85.
• Red-Robed Vengeful Ghost — Negotiating partner and controlled weapon. Helps Chu enter Ghost City, capture Wang Peiling, and kill the Underworld Walker 19 22 25.
• Lin Xueru — Ghost informant possessing Xu Zhijie. Chu later controls her alongside the Red-Robed Vengeful Ghost to complete the Xu family's soul-return mission 9 10 25.
• Xu Zhicheng — Possesses Chu's first recovered thread. Chu reclaims it and threatens his beloved servant Mozhu to force a confession 10 11.
• Auntie Wang — Happy Community resident who helps and warns Chu because he resembles Li Zihao's former, withdrawn self 69 81.
• Zhang Shan — Observant fellow player who notices Chu's Puppet Thread and later uses knowledge of his powers to demand rescue 48 73.
• Fortune Teller — Mutual Aid Society figure whose predictions influence Qi Wu's dangerous instance runs and decision to accompany Chu into Happy Community 53.
• Han Xi — Friendly Mutual Aid Society acquaintance. His apparent flirting consists of internet memes and admiration rather than a genuine romantic pursuit 32.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Demotion and Hundred Ghosts Night Parade

After Qi Wu discovers his hiding place and severs his threads, Chu is demoted to a player tasked with collecting repair energy through instance clearances. He enters “Hundred Ghosts Night Parade” as an apparently inexperienced, sickly newcomer and immediately recognizes Qi Wu beneath the alias “Wu Qi” 1 3.

Chu recovers his first thread from Xu Zhicheng and investigates the Xu family's haunting. To retrieve Wang Peiling, he negotiates a temporary “living dead” state that permits entry into Ghost City, then secretly takes control of the Red-Robed Vengeful Ghost 10 19 22.

At the Ancestral Hall, he directs two ghosts against the Underworld Walker and forces Wang Peiling into contact with Xu Zhijie, completing the soul-return objective. He chooses to exit into the room where he originally died 25.

Return to Reality and Courtship

Chu returns to a home abandoned for two years, with no money or functioning utilities. Qi Wu tracks him there, admits his real name, and offers accommodation at the Mutual Aid Society 26 27.

Qi Wu's care relieves both Chu's illness and isolation. Chu agrees to try a relationship, but distrust of the affection meter and fear of exposing his Puppeteer identity lead him to prepare an Empathic Puppet as a safeguard 32 33.

Xiangxi: Heart-Losing Gu

During the two-star Gu instance, Chu confronts Qi Wu about their possible status as enemies. He gradually accepts that Qi Wu's affection is sincere even though the meter remains at zero 33 35 38.

When the clan leader tortures Qi Wu and plans to wear Chu's skin, Chu completes the puppet bond, pierces the gu insect sustaining her, and clears the instance. He prevents Qi Wu from seeing the threads by controlling his body and lowering his head 48.

Happy Community

By the five-star “Happy Community” instance, Chu has recovered eight threads. He openly identifies Qi Wu as his boyfriend, but continues concealing his powers and expectation that he must eventually return to the Throne 53 55 64.

The instance strains their relationship through doubles, suspicion, and Qi Wu's inexplicable murderous impulse. Chu uses the Empathic Puppet bond to identify the real Qi Wu, but the emotions he senses leave him deeply hurt. He postpones any final decision about their relationship until they are outside the instance 66 67.

Chu obtains his ninth thread through Lin Ran's fatal reunion dream. He also learns that Qi Wu has fused the last original thread into himself to prevent Chu's departure. Although Qi Wu accepts his identity, Chu insists that neither can defy the Person in Charge 84 85.

Return to the Throne and Final Wager

Separated from Qi Wu, Chu discovers how intolerable his former loneliness has become. He accepts the Person in Charge's offer to bring Qi Wu to him despite knowing it could cost Qi Wu his life or freedom 87.

The agreement becomes a wager: if Qi Wu still chooses Chu after learning that Chu killed him, both will gain freedom to enter and leave the dungeon. Qi Wu refuses rebirth without his memories and accepts Chu's direct confession. Declared the winner, Chu welcomes him back to the Throne 97.

Birthday Extra

Chu accompanies Qi Wu to the Qi family's capital residence for his twenty-first birthday. There, Qi Wu says that his love at first sight dates back nine years, rather than only to their encounters in the game 103.

Past-Life Extras

Detail	Past-life account
Identity	Seventeen-year-old grandson of Yan's Grand Preceptor Chu; his mother died during childbirth 104.
Health	Gravely ill, often confined indoors, and uncertain he will survive until a renowned physician arrives 104 105.
Meeting Qi Wu	Finds him starving in the snow while investigating wartime living conditions in disguise. Warms and feeds him, verifies his background, and takes him into the household 104.
Their bond	Treats Qi Wu as a younger brother rather than a slave and invites him to call him “elder brother” 105.
Mo Dong	Chu's attendant, who tests Qi Wu's martial ability and later feels displaced by his growing closeness with Chu 104 105.
Grandfather	Deeply affectionate toward Chu and distressed by his suggestion that the family nurture Qi Wu as a successor 105.
Plum blossoms	Chu's question about living to see them conceals his hope of surviving until the kingdoms' wars end. Qi Wu gives him a handmade plum-blossom hairpin and persuades him to wait for the physician 105.

Notable Quotes

“I won't die.” 3

“Qi Wu, my puppet.” 48

“He's not my little brother. He's my boyfriend.” 55

“I'm under someone else's control too. Neither of us has the power to defy them, so we can only obey. Qi Wu, we have no other choice.” 85

“Welcome back to my side, Qi Wu.” 97

Trivia

• His drinking-loving master initially considered naming him Chu Jiu, then added “Qing” in the hope that he would have a peaceful life. Another extra connects the name to a verse about a flask of clear wine 100 102.
• His long hair began with his master's wish to braid it and experience having both a son and a daughter 100.
• Despite his name's association with wine, Chu rarely drinks and dislikes its harsh taste 101.
• He introduces his real-world occupation simply as a “craftsman,” allowing players to infer a supernatural trade without revealing his identity 5.