Zhang Yucheng
With a Fox Immortal, I Subdue a Hundred Ghosts
Biodata
| Feature | Value |
|---|---|
| Name | Zhang Yucheng (张玉成) |
| Species/Race | Human 42 45 |
| Gender | Male 45 |
| Age | In his fifties 45 |
| Affiliation | Zhang Family; Dragon Gathering Group 32 39 |
| Occupation/Role | Founder and chairman of the Dragon Gathering Group 32 39 |
| Residence | Longtime Yanbei local; also maintains the family’s old residence in Yongfeng County 32 43 |
| Family | Son: Zhang Yunliang; daughter: Zhang Yunyao 39 |
| Wealth | Net worth of at least several billion yuan 39 |
| Health | High blood pressure, with episodes of severe dizziness and collapse 40 43 |
| Status | Alive; freed from ghost possession but left severely weakened 46 |
| First Appearance | Chapter 32, “Business Came Knocking” 32 |
Background / History
Zhang Yucheng inherited a family business whose prosperity was attributed to an auspicious ancestral burial ground in Yongfeng County. During the late Qing dynasty, a Zhang ancestor saved a starving Taoist by giving him his only two steamed cornmeal buns. In gratitude, the Taoist selected a burial site and prescribed the orientations of the graves, promising wealth and standing for several generations 39.
The family subsequently produced a magnate with businesses throughout the country during the Republican era. Although its fortunes later declined, inherited assets helped Zhang Yucheng’s father rebuild the family’s wealth. Under Yucheng, the business reached its peak: he founded the Dragon Gathering Group, which became one of Yanbei’s largest companies 39.
According to Zhang Yunyao, her father’s business responsibilities left him little time to discipline Zhang Yunliang during childhood. By the time of the ancestral-grave crisis, father and son frequently clashed over Yunliang’s behavior 43.
Appearance
- Clothing: Wears an expensive suit during the investigation of the ancestral graves 42.
- While possessed: Has thick white face powder and bright red lipstick, speaks in a woman’s voice, and adopts graceful, feminine gestures while combing his hair at a dressing table. These behaviors belong to the possessing spirit rather than his ordinary demeanor 44 45.
Personality
Zhang Yucheng is courteous toward the specialists he approaches for help. He initially greets Wu Jie politely, expresses confidence in him as Li Xuantong’s disciple, and offers whatever payment is necessary. He describes himself as a businessman who values harmony and treats others politely, though this is his own account rather than an independently established explanation of the family’s enemies 32 41.
His concern for his children can turn into furious anger at his son. When Yunliang insults Wu Jie, Yucheng slaps him and chases him with a shovel, then repeatedly apologizes to Wu. He is also dangerously impatient: his eagerness to inspect a ritual box leads him to open it despite Wu’s warning. After nearly dying, he admits his mistake and agrees to follow Wu’s instructions 40 41 42 43.
Story Role / Major Arcs
Seeking Help
A friend refers Zhang Yucheng to Li Xuantong, but he arrives with Zhang Yunyao after the master has left on a year-long trip. He asks Wu Jie to take the case, offering unrestricted payment and pointing out that his daughter attends the same school. Wu refuses because his master has forbidden him from taking his first job in Yanbei 32.
Yunyao later secures Wu’s agreement after clarifying that the troubled ancestral graves are in Yongfeng County, hundreds of kilometers outside Yanbei. She gives Wu a bank card containing 100,000 yuan, and Yucheng collects Wu and Huzi in his Rolls-Royce the following morning 38 39.
Sabotage of the Ancestral Graves
Yucheng reports that the cemetery’s pines and cypresses withered overnight, his only son began dreaming repeatedly of jumping off a building, and an attempted grave relocation uncovered bloody water. Several previous feng shui practitioners had failed to resolve the problem 39.
Despite Yunliang’s hostile reception, Yucheng persuades Wu to continue investigating. He directs workers to dig where Wu indicates and offers extra pay when they become frightened. The excavation reveals three objects used to sabotage the burial ground 40 41 42:
| Ritual object | Contents | Significance |
|---|---|---|
| Black wooden box | Mutilated, decomposing cat corpse | Part of the formation damaging the ancestral feng shui 41 42 |
| Red wooden box | Nine decapitated snakes | Another component of the formation 41 42 |
| White wooden box | Fresh human skull fragment bearing tiny talismanic inscriptions—the grudge bone | Key object in the formation; releases potentially lethal baleful qi when opened 41 42 |
Yucheng opens the white box before Wu can stop him. Black vapor strikes his face, leaving him rigid, ashen, and apparently unable to breathe. Wu inserts a silver needle into his Shanzhong Acupoint and releases black blood, restoring his breathing. Yucheng then vomits black liquid and learns that the formation is intended not merely to ruin the family’s fortune, but to kill its members 41 42.
Grave Relocation and Possession
Yucheng accepts Wu’s plan to burn the ritual objects, exhume every coffin at midnight, keep them at home for three days, and rebury the ancestors at a suitable site. A blood-pressure episode prevents him from attending, so he sends both children and orders Yunliang to cooperate. He doubles the workers’ wages to persuade them to return 43.
While resting at the old residence, Yucheng is possessed by a resentful female ghost associated with the grudge bone. Wu and Yunyao interrupt the exhumation to return home, where they find him wearing makeup and speaking in a woman’s voice. Wu drives the ghost out with a Cloud Thunder Talisman; it transfers into Steward Wang. An Evil-Warding Talisman placed over Yucheng’s heart prevents it from possessing him again 44 45 46.
After waking, Yucheng remembers sensing a woman beside his bed before losing consciousness, but recalls nothing of the possession. He insists that he has not recently offended anyone, particularly a woman, and Wu considers his denial apparently sincere. When he learns that Yunliang has resumed digging against instructions, he tries to accompany Wu back to the cemetery but is too weak to stand 46.
Equipment / Property
- Rolls-Royce — Used to collect Wu Jie and Huzi and transport them to Yongfeng County 39.
- Renovated ancestral residence — A spacious old family house in Yongfeng County, with a courtyard large enough to accommodate his car 43.
- Blood-pressure medicine — Administered by Yunyao after he collapses during his confrontation with Yunliang 40.
- Evil-Warding Talisman — Applied over his heart by Wu Jie after the exorcism to prevent renewed possession 45.
Relationships
- Zhang Yunyao — Daughter. Accompanies his initial request for help, persuades Wu to accept the case, administers her father’s medicine, and brings Wu back when he becomes possessed 32 38 40 44.
- Zhang Yunliang — Only son and Yunyao’s older brother. Yucheng urgently seeks help for his nightmares, but repeatedly clashes with him over his insults and refusal to cooperate 39 40 43 46.
- Wu Jie — Hired feng shui practitioner and rescuer. Saves Yucheng from the grudge bone’s baleful qi and subsequently expels the ghost possessing him 39 41 45.
- Li Xuantong — The Feng Shui King whom Yucheng originally hopes to consult. Yunyao says she and her father visited several times without managing to meet him 32 36.
- Steward Wang / Housekeeper Wang — Household employee. Remains with Yucheng during the nighttime exhumation, alerts Yunyao to his condition, and becomes the ghost’s next host after it leaves Yucheng 44 45 46.