Huzi

Biodata

Background / History

Service to Li Xuantong

Li Xuantong once saved Huzi’s life. In gratitude, Huzi remained by his side, running errands and attending to him. Wu Jie knows little else about Huzi’s earlier life, but describes his loyalty as so strong that his master could not drive him away even if he tried 34.

Raising Wu Jie

When Wu Jie arrives in Yanbei at nine years old, Huzi feeds him and prepares him for the discipleship ceremony. He spends several hours teaching the child the procedure, quietly prompts his forgotten lines, and supplies the written pledge, ceremonial gifts, and tea. Afterward, he takes Wu Jie to his room to rest 30.

Huzi also handles Wu Jie’s elementary-school enrollment and turns away most visitors seeking Li Xuantong’s services, following his master’s instructions. He remains in the household throughout Wu Jie’s eight years of training 31.

Financial Hardship and the Banquet

Before Li Xuantong leaves for a year, Huzi asks him to provide living expenses. The pouch he receives contains only approximately 860–870 yuan and thirty-five fen. Although Huzi introduces Wu Jie to prospective clients, the restriction against taking a first job in Yanbei forces them to reject local business 31 32.

By the sixteenth day, they have only ten yuan left and share a bowl of noodles. Their encounter with Wang Chaoyang leads to an expensive restaurant meal, but Wu Jie leaves Huzi to work off the bill. Huzi returns around midnight after washing more than eight hundred dishes 33 34.

They subsequently attend Wang Chaoyang’s university-admission banquet. Huzi’s voracious eating astonishes the other guests, and he secretly packs food to cover the following day’s meals 34 35 37.

The Zhang Family Burial Ground

Zhang Yunyao’s hundred-thousand-yuan deposit ends their immediate money shortage. Huzi nevertheless questions whether accepting the case violates Li Xuantong’s rules. Wu Jie explains that the ancestral graves are in Yongfeng County, outside Yanbei; after verifying the deposit, he gives Huzi ten thousand yuan for expenses 38 39.

Huzi accompanies Wu Jie to the graves and supplies silver needles when Zhang Yucheng is struck by baleful qi. When Wu Jie leaves to investigate Zhang Yucheng’s possession, he places Huzi in charge of ensuring that excavation remains suspended 39 41 44.

Zhang Yunliang refuses to wait and orders the workers to resume digging. Huzi argues and gets into a scuffle with him, but cannot stop the excavation, so he telephones Wu Jie. Despite the Eight-Tailed Fox’s warning against returning, Wu Jie insists on going because Huzi is family to him. On arrival, Wu Jie and Zhang Yunyao find the burial ground deserted; Huzi’s whereabouts are not established at that point 46 47.

Personality

Huzi is loyal and fiercely protective of Wu Jie. He nearly attacks Wang Chaoyang for belittling him and becomes angry again when classmates mock his protection talisman. At the Zhang burial ground, he is willing to abandon the job rather than tolerate Zhang Yunliang calling Wu Jie a fraud 34 35 40.

His concern for practical matters contrasts with Wu Jie’s confidence: he tracks their dwindling funds, suggests cheaper food, and worries about arriving at a banquet without a gift. Despite his enormous appetite, he offers Wu Jie the larger share of their noodles because the boy is still growing 33 34.

Huzi also enjoys teasing Wu Jie. After Wu Jie’s private conversation with Zhang Yunyao, he jokes about her flushed face and accidentally mentions a young widow from Li Xuantong’s past, then hastily changes the subject 38.

Abilities & Skills

Fighting Ability

• Wu Jie considers Huzi genuinely skilled and fears that he could kill Wang Chaoyang if allowed to start throwing punches 34.
• No named technique or cultivation rank is established in the provided passages.

Ceremony and Household Administration

• Guides Wu Jie through the discipleship pledge, handprint, gift presentation, bows, and tea offering 30.
• Handles school enrollment, screens visitors, and introduces Wu Jie as Li Xuantong’s sole direct disciple 31 32.
• Manages their living-expense funds and assesses how long their remaining money will last 32 33.

Field Assistance

• Accompanies Wu Jie during the burial-ground inspection and brings him a bundle of silver needles for emergency treatment 40 41.
• Attempts to enforce the halt on excavation and reports Zhang Yunliang’s defiance by telephone 44 46.

Relationships

• Li Xuantong — His rescuer and master. Huzi’s service began after Li saved his life; he also believes the master’s restrictions have deeper purposes, even when he cannot explain them 34 39.
• Wu Jie — Addresses him as “young master,” while Wu Jie calls him “Uncle Huzi.” Having watched Wu Jie grow up, Huzi is regarded as family rather than merely an attendant 30 32 47.
• Wang Chaoyang — His insults toward Wu Jie provoke Huzi to the brink of violence 34.
• Zhang Yunliang — Clashes with Huzi over both his treatment of Wu Jie and his decision to resume the dangerous grave excavation 40 46.

Trivia

• Huzi can eat eight steamed buns in one sitting. Wu Jie estimates that his appetite exceeds that of Wu Jie and Li Xuantong combined by more than twofold, accounting for well over half their initial living expenses 33.