Officiant Daoist Nun

Biodata

Background / History

Recruiting the Flower-Scatter Daoist

The Officiant Daoist Nun organized the flower-scattering performances for Fairy Qin’s procession at Courtyard No. 95. She assessed each applicant’s techniques, assigned positions, and set different fees according to their contribution. Wang Quan’s lifelike paper attendants caught her attention, prompting her to ask whether he could also produce parasol bearers, streamer carriers, and palanquin attendants 11.

At the banquet, Dream Nun introduced Wang Quan as a prospective regular helper. The Officiant Daoist Nun offered occasional earnings of twenty or thirty thousand Green Beetles and explained that most weddings and funerals occurred during daylight, leaving his nighttime cultivation undisturbed. When he accepted, she gave him the title Flower-Scatter Daoist. She subsequently paid him thirty thousand Green Beetles and promised at least half a day’s notice for future jobs 12 13.

The Fifty-Two Skeletons’ Funeral

For a dangerous funeral commission, she instructed Wang Quan to study feng shui, earth-vein, ritual, and underworld spells. She explained that cultivating a Fundamental Method beyond one’s mastery of Daoist Scriptures could lead to transformation into an anomaly after death, citing more than twenty years of observation 17.

She and Dream Nun accompanied Wang Quan into the mountains to select a burial site. Although initially doubtful about his sinister-looking choice, she accepted his explanation of its feng shui and acknowledged that his understanding exceeded hers 18 19.

During the funeral, the coffins grew heavier, fell to the ground, and released animated skeletons. The team secured a promise of six times the original fee before completing the burial of fifty-two skeletons. The Officiant Daoist Nun and Wang Quan initially credited each other with staging the disturbance, then realized neither had caused it 20 21.

The Zhao Household and Blissful Union House refused to pay the full promised amount. She transferred Wang Quan two hundred thousand Green Beetles and warned that pressing the matter could draw him into the conflict between the New and Old Cultivation Methods 22.

The Blissful Union House Anomalies

When the buried remains became anomalies, she agreed to inspect them despite Wang Quan’s refusal to work for the clients again. At the red building, she found skeletons repeating their former activities; attendants reported that they had killed spirits and eaten two Foundation Establishment cultivators 23 24.

After examining the skeletons, she negotiated a fee of three hundred thousand Green Fly Coins, receiving one hundred thousand as a deposit. She recruited Dream Nun and two cultivators skilled in ritual and underworld spells. The problem proved more serious than expected, and her later offer of one hundred thousand Green Beetles failed to persuade Wang Quan to join them 24 28.

The team could not resolve the anomaly, and the Blissful Union House was abandoned. Backed by the New Method and numerous cultivators, its owners forced the Officiant Daoist Nun and Dream Nun to pay more than five hundred thousand Green Beetles in total as compensation. The two continued their ceremonial work and asked Wang Quan to help settle the score once he had sufficient strength and allies 50.

Appearance

• Childlike appearance: Looks no older than thirteen or fourteen and is repeatedly described as resembling a little girl; her actual age is not given 11 12 18.
• Slender fingers: Described while eating at Fairy Qin’s banquet 12.

Personality

The Officiant Daoist Nun is commercially minded and quick to recognize useful talent. She recruits Wang Quan for his unusually realistic paper figures and suggests that he could also use them to harvest yin and yang essence for sale. She treats additional danger as grounds for higher fees, but remains conscious of her business’s reputation 12 19 24.

She is domineering toward workers and spirits, openly proposing that temporary workers take the blame if a job goes wrong. Nevertheless, after berating the funeral workers for demanding more money, she ultimately pays them double wages 18 21.

Her confidence in spellcraft contrasts with her caution about greater threats. She dismisses New-Method Foundation Establishment cultivators’ abilities, yet admits that her Yin Spirit is too weak to safely investigate the Second-Layer World’s upheaval. After the Blissful Union House affair, she recognizes that individual ability cannot compensate for an opponent’s numerous allies 24 39 50.

Abilities & Skills

Ceremonial Organization

• Evaluates performers, assigns procession positions, and coordinates flower-scattering through cannon signals 11 12.
• Hires mourners and ox-spirit coffin bearers, while directing music and the scattering of spirit money 20.
• Recruits specialist cultivators and negotiates fees for dangerous commissions 24.

Ritual, Feng Shui, and Anomaly Knowledge

• Has studied feng shui and earth-vein spells, though she acknowledges Wang Quan’s superior understanding when choosing the burial site 19.
• Uses an incense altar, prayers, and incantations during the skeleton burial 21.
• Examines anomalies with Inchlight Art and other spells 24.
• Knows precautions for transporting dangerous corpses, including keeping their coffins off the ground 20.
• Limit: Her team fails to clear the Blissful Union House anomalies despite initially judging them manageable 24 50.

Seven-Colored Auspicious Cloud

• Summons and dismisses a seven-colored cloud for transportation and aerial terrain surveys 18.
• The cloud can form furnishings and amenities at its owner’s command, including couches, tables, and swimming pools 19.

Other Spellcraft

• Recites a scripture over a coin pouch, causing falling Green Fly Coins to sprout wings and fly into it 18.
• Shows no apparent reaction to a New-Method Foundation Establishment cultivator’s suppressive aura 24.
• Limit: Considers her Yin Spirit insufficiently strong to enter the Second-Layer World during the reported crisis 39.

Equipment / Items

• Ritual sachet — Holds an incense table, incense burner, sandalwood incense, and other ceremonial supplies 21.
• Coin pouch — Used with a scripture recitation to collect scattered Green Fly Coins 18.
• Identity token — Used to contact coworkers and transfer Wang Quan’s payment 19 21 22 39.
• Bronze cannon — Used for genuine cannon salutes during ceremonies; positioned and loaded by Yellow Ox Spirits 12.

Relationships

• Wang Quan / Flower-Scatter Daoist — Recruited helper and regular collaborator. She gives him his working title, admires his paper figures and feng shui knowledge, and later asks for his help obtaining redress from the Blissful Union House 12 19 50.
• Dream Nun — Frequent coworker who introduces Wang Quan to her. The two share the financial loss from the failed anomaly-clearing commission 12 18 24 50.
• Fairy Qin / Qin White Lotus — The featured figure whose procession she organizes at Courtyard No. 95 11 12.
• Zhao Household and Blissful Union House — Clients who withhold promised funeral fees and subsequently pressure her team over the anomalies. Their backing makes direct retaliation impractical 22 24 28 50.
• Temporary workers and ox spirits — Hired ceremonial staff whom she directs harshly, but pays double after the dangerous skeleton funeral 20 21.

Notable Quotes

“No money, no help!” 24

“Little Brother, you need to work hard too. Learn to gather allies and form your own faction. Once you're strong enough, help us settle the score with them.” 50