Liu Chengfeng

Biodata

Background / History

Liu Chengfeng had a master who taught him lock-picking and warned him that people could be more frightening than ghosts. His master died while Liu was still young, after which Liu made his way through the world alone. He earned a living telling fortunes and maintained that his legitimate skills gave him no reason to use lock-picking for crime 2 29 44.

First Blood Gate: The Villa

Liu followed Ning Qiushui through the fog-shrouded villa and into a Blood Gate requiring seven newcomers to care for a bedridden elderly woman for five days. He initially claimed to be a fraudulent fortune-teller, but repeatedly attached himself to Ning and followed his instructions. He later revealed that three hexagram readings had produced two death hexagrams and only one life hexagram—the reading for Ning 1 2 3 16.

Working as the group's cook, Liu helped investigate the villa's refrigerator and discovered packaged human flesh. He and Ning withheld the discovery to avoid frightening the others further. Despite his fear, Liu accompanied Ning to the third floor, where they found rooms filled with corpses and a diary identifying the elderly woman as the housekeeper rather than the hostess's mother 8 9 10 11.

Liu gathered three bags of food for their refuge in the study. When the Red-Clothed Female Ghost caught Ning outside the doorway, Liu rushed out with the Blood Jade, forced her to release him, and dragged him to safety. Inside, Ning revealed that an anonymous letter had included Liu's photograph; its reverse described him as “A friend worth making... but a hundred thousand questions,” though Ning concealed that inscription from him 11 12.

Liu tried to contact the survivors downstairs by shouting and then swinging a notebook against their window, but both attempts failed. On the fifth night, he initially opposed using the housekeeper as a distraction. After she asked for release from her suffering, he helped Ning push her toward the feeding ghost and escape. Liu and Ning were the only two of the original seven passengers to return 12 13 14.

Between Missions

After returning to the lodge, Liu criticized Meng Jun's cooking and declared himself its new head chef. The first mission continued to disturb his sleep: he woke on the bus shouting about a ghost and later reported dreaming of the female ghost every night. Before entering his second Blood Gate, he shaved off his beard and explained his divination rules to Ning 14 16.

Second Blood Gate: Rain-Praying Village

Appearance

• Build: Tall and burly, with large hands; weighs approximately eighty kilograms 1 2 25.
• Facial hair: Initially has a full, bushy beard that contributes to his rough, thug-like appearance 1 3.
• Later appearance: Shaves before his second Blood Gate, looking cleaner and fresher while retaining a rugged air 16.
• Signs of exhaustion: Develops dark circles under his eyes after repeated nightmares following the first mission 16.

Personality

Liu is outspoken, foul-mouthed, and quick to anger. He resents people who refuse practical work or try to order others around, and reacts fiercely to betrayal and cruelty. He nevertheless accepts correction: after Bai Xiaoxiao warns him about the consequences of killing another participant, he abandons his immediate violent impulse and apologizes for getting ahead of himself 3 24 28 44.

His intimidating appearance conceals a pronounced fear of ghosts. He trembles, sweats, vomits, and sometimes tries to avoid dangerous investigations, but his loyalty can outweigh that fear. He risks his life to rescue Ning and carries him when he cannot walk, even while complaining about his recklessness 9 10 11 27.

Liu is also compassionate toward people outside his immediate team. He persists in trying to warn the villa's isolated survivors, grieves their deaths, and objects when other participants refuse to help endangered teammates. His humor and energetic complaints occasionally relieve the group's oppressive mood 6 12 13 14 47.

Abilities & Skills

Divination

Liu casts hexagrams using three Square-Hole Coins and believes in fate. Although he initially calls himself a charlatan, he later explains that Ning's life hexagram was the reason he stayed close to him 2 16.

• Documented reading: Cast three hexagrams in the first Blood Gate; two indicated death, while Ning's indicated life 16.
• Forbidden subjects: Says a practitioner must not read their own fortune, knowingly read another practitioner, or read the dead 16.
• Limits on disclosure: Claims revealing an entire reading shortens the diviner's life, while interfering in matters with far-reaching consequences risks heaven's punishment 16.
• Past events: Says those restrictions no longer apply once the predicted event has already occurred 16.

Cooking and Household Work

Liu is an experienced cook, proficient at washing, chopping, and stir-frying ingredients 3.

• Volunteers to cook and do laundry during the first mission 3.
• Recognizes the nighttime scraping as resembling a knife and fork because of his familiarity with utensils 4 5.
• Packs food in darkness using his memory of the kitchen's layout 11.

Lock-Picking

Taught by his master, Liu can shape a piece of wire into a tool and manipulate a lock with it 29.

• Opens Tang Jiao's locked room without forcing the door 29.
• Unlocks the Spirit Medium's chained gate while she is rapidly approaching 42.

Occult Knowledge

• Identifies Locust-Wood Yin Incense by scent and knows that it is used to attract evil 20.
• Understands a tradition of divination taboos and the claimed consequences of breaking them 16.

Physical Support and Limits

• Carries Ning after the attack at Fangcun Pond and helps transport Bai Xiaoxiao's body down the mountain 27 28 48 49.
• Has less endurance than Ning: the Spirit Medium's prolonged chase leaves him unable to accelerate further. At the brink of being caught, he resolves to train for long-distance running if he survives 42 43.

Equipment / Items

• Three Square-Hole Coins — Divination tools threaded with red, yellow, and blue cords respectively 16.
• Wire lock-pick — Improvised tool used on Tang Jiao's door and the Spirit Medium's exit gate 29 42.
• Blood Jade, temporarily used — Carried out of the study to rescue Ning, then rehung by the window to keep the Red-Clothed Female Ghost outside; Ning later took it from the villa 11 12 13.
• Ruan-marked wooden tag — Retrieved from the Everlasting Well and subsequently handed to Ning for safekeeping 25 26.
• Walking stick — Used as a cane on the wet, slippery mountain steps 48.

Relationships

• Ning Qiushui — Trusted companion and fellow survivor. Their partnership begins with Liu's favorable divination and develops through mutual rescues, shared investigations, and teasing 1 11 16 25 27.
• Bai Xiaoxiao — Veteran teammate in Rain-Praying Village. Saves him at the Everlasting Well, corrects his impulsiveness, and teaches him about Blood Gate rules; Liu later helps recover her body 25 28 29 48.
• Unnamed master — Taught him lock-picking and warned him about human cruelty. Died while Liu was young 29 44.
• Meng Jun — Lodge veteran whose cooking Liu criticizes. Meng's intimidating stare deters Liu from escalating their argument 14.
• Tang Jiao — Hostile participant who targets Liu's group with Ruan Clan tokens. Liu helps turn the same tactic against her 28 29.
• Skin-Shedding Female Ghost — Initially terrifies and restrains the group at Fangcun Pond; later captures the pursuing Spirit Medium after Liu delays her with a thrown stone 27 43.

Notable Quotes

“Worst case, we die together. At least we'll have company!” 9

“I'm rough around the edges, not blind!” 28