Dong Qianqiu

Biodata

Background / History

About a thousand years before Du Yu’s missions, Dong Qianqiu was a newly appointed assistant at the Legend Management Bureau. Horse-Face sought her help with Zhongli Chun, whose soul resisted annihilation despite repeated punishment in the Hell of the Mountain of Blades. Dong explained that Zhan Qisheng’s schedule was booked for at least another century and urged Horse-Face to release the prisoner. When she asked why Zhongli Chun refused reincarnation, Zhongli answered that she needed to cross a river spanning two thousand years to find someone 35.

After Zhan Qisheng betrayed the Bureau nine hundred years before Du Yu’s arrival, the organization lost influence and territory. Without an Operator, Dong and the staff continued trying to correct legends through voice transmissions. She described maintaining her monitoring post for hundreds of years without neglecting it 6 8 9 17.

Du Yu’s arrival restored her hope for the Bureau. She came to recognize his careful reasoning beneath his casual manner and regarded him as its chance to regain its former standing 6 16 17.

Dong lived in the Bureau for approximately a thousand years and regarded it as her home. She and He Suoyi had previously spent decades recruiting forty-five employees, contrasting with Du Yu’s much faster recruitment during the Bureau’s rebuilding 115.

Her loyalty to He Suoyi was shattered when she defied him while protecting others. According to Mei Ghost, He Suoyi claimed that Dong’s sinews, bones, flesh, and blood had been given to her by him; Dong answered that she would return them. He then broke her bones one by one, forcing them through her flesh. Dong later stated that every bone except those in her neck had been broken and that, although she had been willing to give her life for him, he had intended to torture her to death 97 115.

The Supreme Elder Lord treated her injuries, resetting her bones and restoring her meridians. An elixir from the Heavenly Worthy of the Way and Its Virtue enabled her to awaken on the fourth day, earlier than the predicted seven-day recovery. She subsequently returned to the rebuilt Bureau, initially uncertain whether it still had a place for her, and resumed working after reuniting with Xiao Qi and Du Yu 97 114 115.

Appearance

• Fair skin and glasses: She adjusts her glasses while explaining Zhan Qisheng’s involvement in the damaged legend 6 15.
• Meticulous grooming: Her hair is normally combed neatly, with every strand in place 15.
• Black work uniform: She wears it even when leaving the Bureau for coffee with Du Yu 16.
• Exhaustion while caring for Du Yu: His disappearance leaves her haggard, with disheveled hair and faint dark circles. When he awakens, she is asleep beside his bed with dried blood on her hands 15 16.
• Visible distress concealed by composure: During the search for He Suoyi, her makeup appears freshly restored, but her eyes remain red from crying even as she resumes directing the staff 69 70.
• Condition after torture: Du Yu finds her suspended naked in midair, covered in blood, with broken limb bones protruding through her skin, an open abdomen, and ribs jutting outward. Her eyes are vacant, and her body is nearly unrecognizable 96.
• Appearance after recovery: On returning to the Bureau, she remains somewhat weak and sad despite having recovered enough to resume work 115.

Personality

Dong is disciplined, reserved, and strongly attached to her responsibilities. She monitors Du Yu even while he sleeps, explaining that she must wake him immediately if danger arises. Her first outing in nearly a thousand years leaves her uneasy, as though taking time away from work were wrongdoing 17 29.

She prioritizes the lives protected by the Bureau over an individual legend character’s happiness. Although she apologizes for demanding Heng’e’s ascension, she maintains that preserving countless lives matters more than Da Yi’s feelings. Watching Du Yu struggle with that decision brings her to tears 13.

Her cool manner conceals considerable affection and concern. She blames herself for Du Yu’s injuries, carefully tends his body, and worries that repeated emotional losses in legends could eventually break him. She also gives him space to speak with Zhongli Chun in his inner world rather than interrupting his recovery 15 37.

Dong frequently answers Du Yu’s teasing with irritation. His improvised “Thousand-Autumn Divine Art” mortifies her, but she continues helping when the mission depends on it. She twice threatens to assign him the White Dragon Horse’s role in the entire Journey to the West legend 9 18 24.

Her attachment to Du Yu persists even during severe pain and delirium. While undergoing treatment, she insists that she cannot sleep because she must monitor his Grade A mission. She also regrets not having worn pretty clothes on their only outing and worries about him seeing her injured and disheveled. Her disjointed remarks about people eating her flesh include a plea that none be given to Du Yu because it would kill him; the circumstances behind those remarks are not explained in the passage 97.

Dong can maintain professional clarity through emotional upheaval. After crying over He Suoyi’s situation, she immediately organizes the technical and operations departments and assigns staff to an investigation. Following her recovery, she apologizes to Zhan Qisheng despite the painful associations his presence evokes 69 70 115.

Her concern for Du Yu eventually overrides a direct instruction. Although she supervises the destruction of the Bureau’s legend devices at his request, she secretly preserves the device recording his life, both as a repository of their memories and as a possible means of saving him. She resolves to find a way to rescue him even if she must someday become a Supreme Pivot herself 340.

Power Progression

Abilities & Skills

Legend Observation and Analysis

Dong operates the Bureau’s monitoring equipment and interprets changes in legends 6 25 29.

• Compares current events against earlier iterations, identifying Da Yi’s unclear speech as a new deviation 6.
• Researches clues and checks present-day records, including the emergence of Ba Mausoleum in an online encyclopedia 9 11.
• Uses accelerated playback to review decades between an Operator’s descents 25 26.
• Can observe the legend’s protagonist as well as Du Yu, allowing her to investigate events outside his immediate view 29.
• Provides historical and mythological briefings, including the Yan-Huang Alliance, the Battle of Banquan, and Xingtian’s continued fighting after decapitation 258.
• Notices with Du Yu that Xu Shilin is absent from the White Snake legend, indicating that its expected chain of causes and consequences has not occurred 183.
• Explains that a Flashback normally changes not only a vanished person’s existence but also the events dependent on that person. She consequently regards Du Yu’s disappearance while his achievements remain intact as an apparent impossibility 224.
• Explains that the error in Nüwa Mends the Sky originates in Gonggong’s failure to strike Mount Buzhou, leaving no catastrophe for Nüwa to repair 291.
• Shows Du Yu the ongoing legend of his own life and explains Baxia’s decision to repay Nüwa after finding Yinglong dead 339.

Voice Transmission

Dong can transmit her voice to people within a legend. During remote support, she explicitly states that she can observe and speak but cannot cast spells into that world 8.

• Distracts Nine-Infant so Da Yi can shoot another of its eyes; the monster subsequently learns to ignore her calls 8 9.
• Supplies information and warnings directly to Du Yu throughout his missions 6 12 29.
• Impersonates the Queen Mother of the West to pressure Hua into taking Zhongli Chun to Ghost Valley Mountain 25.
• Adopts that impersonation for routine legend corrections after Du Yu’s instruction, improving her success rate 38.
• Cannot resolve an army-scale confrontation through voice transmission alone 33.
• Demonstrates her ability to transmit to Mr. Dongguo when she presents herself for recruitment after recovering 114.
• Helps Du Yu establish his supposed immortal status before Liu Ling’s wife and a servant by addressing them through disembodied voice transmissions 250.
• Guides Xiao Nian through a dangerous battlefield to Shiranui Asuka’s side, using her monitoring view as an all-seeing “eye” 310.

Innate Ability and Voice Transmitter Training

Dong’s distinctive Voice Transmitter ability allows Du Yu to bring small objects into a legend. Xiao Qi explains that this capability is specific to Dong rather than a standard feature of every descent. Dong cannot transmit images, which is one of Xiao Qi’s abilities 42.

Dong created the method used to awaken Voice Transmitters’ innate abilities. After returning to the Bureau, she offers to awaken those of nine recruits and explains that she only needs to cast a spell on them. She later provides Du Yu with a written account of the current Voice Transmitters’ abilities so he can devise effective uses for them 115 116.

Immortal Body and Defensive Combat

Dong possesses an immortal body and can channel energy, physically intercept attacks, and deploy a defensive magical treasure 17 18 38.

• Catches Zhongli Chun’s punch before it strikes Bu Zudao 17.
• Summons an enormous Round Shield that initially withstands Zhongli Chun’s blows 18.
• Suffers a primordial-spirit injury when the shield shatters, temporarily losing the ability to move; she recovers by regulating her breathing and meditating 18 20.
• Cannot overpower Chi Ghost or intervene in his True Immortal-level battle with Cui Jue 38.
• Acknowledges that she and Du Yu cannot halt the confrontation among the Underworld powers by force, since even its weakest participant matches her cultivation 61.
• Takes attacks for others during the confrontation with He Suoyi, according to Mei Ghost, but is subsequently subjected to devastating torture 97.

Descent and Recall Operations

Dong prepares Du Yu’s descents, handles his physical connection to the machinery, and directs emergency recall procedures 15 22 25 34.

• Connects and removes the tubes used during soul transfer 22 25.
• Explains descent time limits and the use of inconspicuous identities to avoid disrupting other legends 22 26.
• Prepares mission supplies, including four Type 82-2 Military Grenades for the Warring States battlefield 33.
• Orders a wide-area Rapid Soul-Absorption Method when Du Yu is surrounded; warns that it would destroy the souls of everyone nearby 34.
• Stops the extraction equipment and summons the technical department after Du Yu’s unexplained transformation 35.
• Initially selects Du Yu, Medusa, and Zhan Qisheng for the White Snake mission, then accepts Du Yu’s request to substitute Shiranui Asuka 159.
• Helps select a descent point after the Battle of Zhuolu for the Xingtian mission and supplies two souls, later identified as those of an immortal and a famous historical figure. The immortal’s soul is Tuxing Sun, whose underground movement does not provide the flight Du Yu wanted 259 279.
• Orders an emergency recall of Zhan Qisheng and Yingning after Du Yu recognizes the danger posed by approaching Nüwa. Her warning reaches Zhan Qisheng only after he has already neared the rift, where an unknown force pierces his chest 323.

Bureau Administration and Immortal Consultation

• Directs departments and assigns investigation personnel, including ordering the technical department to identify a damaged legend and the operations department to print its versions 70.
• Assists Du Yu’s recruitment and accepts responsibility for staff training. The completed interviews yield fourteen Voice Transmitters, fifty Assistants, and three Props Department members 115.
• Explains that the Eastern Peak Great Emperor of Mount Tai was formerly the Haotian God, whom mortals called the Jade Emperor 58.
• Warns Du Yu against entering Elder Era legends because, if he is a Supreme Pivot originating in one of them, an alteration could “correct” him out of existence 115 116.
• Explains the Heavenly Court’s prohibition against viewing one’s own legend and discusses how Zhan Qisheng’s existence outside reincarnation prevents him from meeting another version of himself in the past 126.
• Consults assembled immortals about reversing Xu Xian’s petrification, relaying Du Yu’s request for a cure 167.
• Suggests using the prohibition against meeting oneself as protection: bringing the Shame and Guilt Brothers into a legend could deter their future selves from entering to assassinate Du Yu 202.
• Relays Sage’s request to Du Yu through Xiao Qi and coordinates consultation between Shiranui Asuka and Xie Yujiao over a gravity-altering formation 306 313.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Round Shield — An immortal defensive treasure shattered by Zhongli Chun. Its destruction also injures Dong’s primordial spirit 18.
• Underworld Constable Token — Used as identification at the Must-Sleep-to-Die hotel, where the proprietor promptly provides a superior room. She later displays it to the Eastern Peak Great Emperor of Mount Tai while asking him to restrain Shentu from attacking Du Yu 18 60.
• Phone — Used to check historical records and receive He Suoyi’s instructions while away from the Bureau 9 20.
• Legend monitoring and descent equipment — Used to observe legends, accelerate playback, and manage Operators’ descents and recalls. Dong later oversees its destruction at Du Yu’s instruction 25 26 323 340.
• Voice Transmitter ability list — A written record of the current Voice Transmitters’ abilities that she gives Du Yu after awakening the recruits’ powers 115 116.
• Recording of Cavendish’s attack — Her recording is proposed as evidence to be sent anonymously to King Arthur after Cavendish contaminates Zhan Qisheng with devil’s blood 134.
• Device displaying “The legend of the Legend Management Bureau” — Records Du Yu’s journey from his arrival to the present. Dong secretly hides it in a locked basement corner instead of destroying it, preserving it as a possible route to saving him through changes to the past 339 340.

Relationships

• Du Yu — Operator under her supervision and a growing personal attachment. Their exchanges develop from professional guidance into teasing, a coffee outing, and mutual protection; no romantic relationship is explicitly confirmed 6 9 16 18 38. During treatment, her delirious concern centers on his safety and on how he sees her, while Du Yu stays nearby and vows to protect her 97. Even after a Flashback removes him from her memories, she senses that someone important is missing 224. She later preserves his legend device against his instructions in the hope of rescuing him if necessary, and he prevents Great Dark Heaven from drawing her toward him 340 453.
• He Suoyi — Former director and superior. He oversees her work, recalls her from her outing, and discusses both Du Yu’s suitability as an Operator and her concern for him 13 20 37. Their relationship is subsequently destroyed by his torture of her after she refuses to obey him. Dong says she had been willing to die for him but recognizes that he wanted her to die slowly; after returning, she begins to call him by name rather than by his former title 97 115.
• Zhongli Chun — An acquaintance of roughly a thousand years whom Dong first encounters as a tortured prisoner. Their later meeting becomes violent, but Dong subsequently houses her in her office and mourns her sacrifice as Du Yu’s guardian ghost 18 21 35.
• Zhan Qisheng — Former Bureau Operator. Dong speaks coldly of his betrayal and warns Du Yu that his hidden involvement may threaten the mission 6. After her recovery, she apologizes for their earlier conflict. His presence reminds her of He Suoyi, but she acknowledges that Zhan was also a victim, and Du Yu helps ease the reunion 115. She later attempts to recall him from the danger near Nüwa 323.
• Fan Xiaoguo — Helps transport Dong and Du Yu and treats Zhongli Chun. Dong recognizes the Fan family’s wish to win Du Yu over through Xiaoguo and considers giving them time alone 16 17 20.
• Xie Bi’an and Fan Wujiao — Bureau associates who assist with Du Yu’s safety. They later guarantee Dong’s safety and insist that she accompany Lady Houtu’s messengers 15 18 39.
• Lady Houtu — Summons Dong through Chi Ghost and Mei Ghost. Dong initially says she does not know Houtu, then learns from her about the crisis threatening the Underworld 39 43 44. Dong remains involved in discussions surrounding Houtu’s planned retaliation and supplies information about the Eastern Peak Great Emperor’s former identity 58.
• Xiao Qi — Junior colleague who admires Dong and helps cover Du Yu’s missions during her absence 40 42. Xiao Qi tearfully embraces her on her return and later works beside her to support separate groups within a legend 115 306 323.
• Qu Xi — Meets Dong as an apparently new Voice Transmitter applicant without initially recognizing her as a senior employee 114 115. When Du Yu disappears from the world’s memories, Qu Xi seeks Dong’s help, and Dong takes her account seriously while explaining its contradiction with normal Flashback consequences 224.
• Chi Ghost and Mei Ghost — Houtu’s messengers who initially take her from the Bureau. Chi Ghost physically overpowers her, while Mei Ghost offers reassurances 38 39. Mei later attends her treatment and tells Du Yu that Dong had repeatedly protected others during the confrontation with He Suoyi 97.
• Supreme Elder Lord — Treats her extensive injuries, resetting her bones and restoring her meridians. Dong credits the Heavenly Worthy of the Way and Its Virtue’s elixir with her unexpectedly rapid awakening 97 115.
• Xie Yujiao — A colleague whose formation expertise Dong seeks during a crisis 313. Dong also observes Black Monks kneeling before Xie Yujiao and calling her “Mother,” leading her to suspect betrayal; Du Yu instead explains that Xie Yujiao is nearing the recovery of her memories and mission as You Si 310.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Yi Shoots Down Nine Suns

Dong briefs Du Yu on the damaged legend: Da Yi missed the immortal’s guidance and remained mortal, leaving him unable to shoot down the nine suns. She supports Du Yu’s investigation, helps him convince Da Yi and Heng’e that he is an immortal, and identifies signs of Zhan Qisheng’s interference 3 5 6.

After the suns are defeated, she discovers that Heng’e’s expected flight to the moon has not occurred. She warns that this failure would produce twenty-one million Supreme Pivots in the present and disrupt the events leading to Journey to the West. Her instruction to make Heng’e take the elixir forces Du Yu to choose between the couple’s happiness and preserving the wider world 13.

When Du Yu’s feed disappears, Dong tends his wounded physical body and later restarts his recall. She witnesses the legend reach the Bureau’s first recorded 100% completion rate before his soul returns 15.

Saltless Woman

Dong’s coffee outing with Du Yu leads to their confrontation with Zhongli Chun at Bitter Wait. Zhongli shatters Dong’s shield and nearly kills her, but stops when Du Yu intervenes. The incident prompts the Bureau’s investigation of Zhongli’s legend 17 18 20 21.

Dong supports Du Yu’s successive descents and helps set Zhongli on the path to becoming Guiguzi’s disciple. When the final battlefield mission becomes desperate, she prioritizes recalling Du Yu over saving the protagonist of a Grade C legend 25 26 33 34.

She discovers Zhongli’s bloodied signature at the Death Gate position of the Eight Directions Ghost Record. After grieving the sacrifice, Dong tells Du Yu that only he can now see Zhongli and that she is within his heart 35 37.

Lady Houtu’s Summons

Chi Ghost and Mei Ghost force their way into the Bureau to take Dong away. She agrees to accompany them to prevent further harm to Du Yu, but the confrontation escalates until Black and White Impermanence reveal that the summons comes from Lady Houtu 38 39.

Mei Ghost tells Du Yu that Dong will not return soon unless he helps Houtu through the Eight Great Underworld Enforcers’ legends. Du Yu interprets the arrangement as hostage-taking, and Mei acknowledges that it is close to a threat 39.

Houtu subsequently informs Dong that the King of the Wheel attempted to assassinate the Northern Yin Great Emperor on the Eastern Peak Great Emperor’s orders. Dong states that the Bureau will not take sides, while warning that Du Yu may support Cui Jue, Fan Wujiao, and Xie Bi’an because of his personal bonds 43 44.

As Du Yu questions Houtu’s retaliatory plan, Dong identifies the Eastern Peak Great Emperor of Mount Tai as the former Haotian God. This allows Du Yu to infer that his larger motive may be to unite the Underworld and challenge the Heavenly Court 58.

During the ensuing confrontation, Dong tries to protect Du Yu through her Bureau credentials and explains that she lacks the strength to stop the assembled immortals. She later voluntarily submits to questioning with Horse-Face’s whip, despite his reluctance to risk hurting her 60 61 67.

He Suoyi’s Torture and Return to the Bureau

Dong insists on joining the search for He Suoyi despite having visibly cried, then resumes organizing Bureau operations with calm precision 69 70.

Du Yu later finds her horrifically injured. Mei Ghost explains that Dong had repeatedly taken attacks for others and defied He Suoyi before he broke her bones. During the Supreme Elder Lord’s treatment, Dong alternates between screams, laughter, and delirious recollections, yet continues worrying about Du Yu’s mission and safety. Du Yu remains outside the treatment room for hours and expresses a determination to kill He Suoyi for what he has done 96 97.

After recovering, Dong returns through the Bureau’s recruitment process and demonstrates her voice transmission to Qu Xi. Her initial uncertainty about whether the rebuilt Bureau is still her home ends in an emotional reunion with Xiao Qi and Du Yu 114 115.

She helps complete recruitment, undertakes staff training, and reveals that she developed the spell for awakening Voice Transmitters’ abilities. When Du Yu explains his suspected identity as a Supreme Pivot, she finds no record of him among the Bureau’s tracked lineages and warns him against entering Elder Era legends where his existence might be altered 115 116.

Later Legend Support

Dong continues serving as an analyst, planner, and Voice Transmitter across the Bureau’s later missions 126 134 159 202.

• Chada’s past: Explains restrictions involving one’s own legend and discusses why Zhan Qisheng cannot meet a past version of himself 126.
• Cavendish’s attack: Briefs Du Yu on the devil’s blood contaminating Zhan Qisheng. Her recording of the attack is selected as evidence to send discreetly to King Arthur 134.
• Medusa and altered history: Tells Du Yu that Medusa has come to see him but does not remember his claimed rescue of her. The conflicting memories lead Zhan Qisheng to identify a Flashback 151.
• White Snake: Helps plan the descent, consults immortals for a cure when Medusa petrifies Xu Xian, and identifies the absence of Xu Shilin as evidence that the legend has not reached its proper ending 159 167 183.
• Black and White Impermanence: Briefs Du Yu on the mist-level legend and suggests bringing the Shame and Guilt Brothers to deter their future selves from appearing as assassins 202.
• War God Xingtian: Presents the historical background, helps choose the descent point after Zhuolu, and supplies souls for the mission 258 259 279.

Du Yu’s Erasure

After a Flashback removes Du Yu from the world’s memories, Dong sits watching Yi Shoots Down Nine Suns with the feeling that someone important is missing. Qu Xi tells her that the missing person is Du Yu, who recruited her, brought Zhan Qisheng back, and completed the Bureau’s difficult legends 224.

Dong believes that something is wrong but explains that an ordinary erasure should also remove all the events dependent on the erased person. She cannot reconcile Du Yu’s supposed nonexistence with the continued presence of Qu Xi, Zhan Qisheng, and the rebuilt organization. She also no longer remembers Sage when Qu Xi mentions him 224.

Nüwa, Sage, and the Legend of the Bureau

Dong identifies the two troubled legends as Gonggong Rages Against Mount Buzhou and Nüwa Mends the Sky, explaining the missing cause of the latter’s catastrophe. Du Yu realizes that the terms of his wager force him into the later, shorter-titled legend 291.

During the connected operations, Dong transmits Sage’s request for Du Yu to uncover A Can and A Kui’s origins, guides vulnerable companions through battle, and coordinates requests for formation expertise. Her observation of the Black Monks’ reverence toward Xie Yujiao prompts a warning to Du Yu, who explains that Xie Yujiao is close to remembering her mission as You Si 306 310 313.

When Sage’s arms are shattered by a devastating axe strike, Dong instinctively checks Du Yu’s physical body before remembering that the injured body belongs to Sage. Later, after receiving Xiao Qi’s warning and Du Yu’s instruction, she attempts an emergency recall of Zhan Qisheng and Yingning from Nüwa’s vicinity, but Zhan Qisheng is struck before the danger can be avoided 317 323.

Dong shows Du Yu that his life has become an ongoing legend recorded by a new device. He recognizes black interruptions in its footage as the times he encountered Time. Dong suggests that he has already done enough as a mortal, but he rejects that position 339.

At Du Yu’s request, Dong supervises the destruction of the Bureau’s devices and agrees to take its staff to safety. He insists that no device remain because Great Dark Heaven’s black-robed monks are Supreme Pivots who could exploit them. Dong nevertheless secretly preserves the device displaying The legend of the Legend Management Bureau, hiding it behind multiple locks in the basement. She regards it as a diary of Du Yu’s life and a possible last means of saving him by changing the past 339 340.

Great Dark Heaven’s Attempted Coercion

When Du Yu refuses Great Dark Heaven’s demand that he kneel, Great Dark Heaven pulls Dong toward him from afar. Du Yu counters with a movement of his own fingers, stopping her in midair before she can advance further. The Northern Emperor, who had been preparing to leave, remains after witnessing Du Yu’s ability 453.

Notable Quotes

“Compared with Da Yi’s feelings, I care more about tens of thousands of lives. I’m sorry.” 13

“It’s my duty. You’re an Operator, so I can’t let my guard down for even a moment.” 29

“In this world, you’re the only one who can see her now. If you want to talk to her, she’s deep within your heart.” 37

“Then I’ll return these sinews, bones, flesh, and blood to you!” 97

“I can’t sleep... I still have to return to the Legend Management Bureau... I still have to help Du Yu complete the legend...” 97

“For the past thousand years, I’ve lived in the Legend Management Bureau. I just don’t know whether this is still my home, or whether there’s still a place here for me.” 115

“Du Yu, I really don’t want anything to happen to you... Even if I have to become a Supreme Pivot myself one day, I’ll find a way to save you.” 340

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