Wei Xun

Biodata

Power Progression

Background / History

Old Chen, also known as Chen Shigu and the Mound-Raiding General, bought Wei Xun as a child and forced him to learn tomb raiding. His upbringing included repeated beatings; Wei Xun later jokes that he developed his lightness skills to run fast enough to escape his master. Despite being younger than most of the disciples, his exceptional martial ability established him as their eldest senior brother 3 4 35 36.

When Chen Shigu died, he passed his mantle to his second disciple. Wei Xun showed no interest in inheriting it and departed alone with his protective dagger. Thirteenth Son, the youngest disciple, caught up with him and insisted on following him to keep watch during his raids 3.

Wei Xun’s years of searching ancient graves were driven by his congenital cold affliction rather than a desire for riches. He sought a legendary elixir formula but never found it. Having lost hope, he decided to abandon tomb raiding, accept his approaching death, and make Princess Wanshou’s tomb his final venture 3 34.

Appearance

Wei Xun is a young, lean man whose plain clothing contrasts with his sharp eyes and unrestrained bearing 5 8.

• Build: Upright and graceful, with a narrow waist and nimble, leopard-like movements rather than the heavy build of Baozhu’s former guards 8.
• Eyes: Long, narrow, and piercing; described as shining like lightning 5 36.
• Clothing: Often wears inexpensive green or blue-green cloth, which gives rise to his Green-Robed Wanderer epithet 8 14.
• Complexion and temperature: Frequently pale, with an unnaturally cold body and ice-cold wrists 35 36 45.

Personality

Wei Xun is irreverent, proud, and resistant to authority. He openly criticizes the emperor, disregards aristocratic formalities, and dismisses ghosts and gods. His caution does not prevent him from investigating things others fear: inside Wanshou’s tomb, he restrains his anger at the human sacrifices long enough to examine their arrangement before opening her coffin 4 5.

His usual manner is teasing and easygoing, but he becomes cold and threatening when confronting enemies. He takes pride in his lightness skills and refuses to let a grudge survive overnight. Wealth rarely interests him: he ignores priceless grave goods, rejects lucrative offers from fellow tomb raiders, and refuses Qiao Shi’s horses 4 9 14 28 30.

Initially oblivious to romance, Wei Xun develops an attachment to Baozhu that unsettles his confidence. Discovering that he injured her while unconscious leaves him frightened and remorseful. He cannot bring himself to abandon her, and her safety repeatedly takes precedence over pursuing enemies or reclaiming his independence 34 37 50.

Abilities & Skills

Mirage Step and Lightness Skills

Wei Xun’s Mirage Step supports exceptionally fast, precise movement, including in complete darkness 9.

• Carries the exhausted princess away from Zhongnan Mountain without audible footsteps 4.
• Penetrates the guards around the twenty-zhang Many-Treasures Pagoda 30.
• Crosses rooftops so quickly and silently that he accidentally loses pursuers during a planned diversion 37.
• Carries Baozhu to a second-floor window while supporting their combined weight with one hand hooked beneath the eaves 37.
• Avoids carrying a longsword because it would obstruct running and jumping; he also states that he does not know how to use one 48.

Internal Power and Acupoint Techniques

His internal power is exceptionally profound, and he practices the Mysterious Qi Primordial Art 27 31.

• Circulates qi to clear cold-paralysis blockages from his meridians during recovery 27.
• Sustains Baozhu’s remaining breath after rescuing her from the tomb 5.
• Seals servants’ sleep acupoints and immobilizes Huo Qilang with an acupoint strike 28 34.
• Controls his pulse to bewilder visiting doctors 32.
• Carves writing into a wooden tabletop with his finger while reproducing memorized stroke order 31.

Close Combat and Dagger Work

Chen Shigu’s lineage trains to kill an enemy in a single stroke. Wei Xun is acknowledged as its strongest martial disciple 12 32.

• Uses his dagger with extraordinary speed and precision, whether preparing food or killing an opponent 12 39.
• Delivers a palm strike that leaves Tuoba Sanniang’s blood and qi in turmoil even after she receives only half its force 50.
• Detects a throwing knife by sound and intercepts it with a bronze mirror before it reaches Baozhu 50.
• Teaches Baozhu to use a stick because her archery alone cannot protect her once an attacker closes the distance 14.

Tomb Raiding and Investigation

Wei Xun combines burial knowledge, spatial calculation, stealth, and close observation 4 30 35.

• Infiltrates the imperial craftsmen to learn Wanshou’s burial chamber’s exact shape and position, then tunnels upward into it 4.
• Uses thrown stones and echoes to assess the chamber and locate its crossbow traps 4.
• Recognizes the servants’ bodies as a deliberate ritual formation based on the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches 4.
• Reads qi to pinpoint burial sites, an ability his fellow raiders try to recruit him to use 9.
• Reconstructs a killing from blood patterns and traces on a ceiling beam, helping expose Luo Chengye’s staged death 30.
• Tracks matching hemp paper to the craftsmen’s camp and notices that a supposed funeral lacks genuine mourning 35 36.

Literacy and Practical Skills

Wei Xun can read but initially cannot write. Baozhu offers writing lessons in exchange for instruction in Spring Code Cant 28.

• Memorizes a poem’s stroke order after watching Baozhu write it 31.
• Understands literary passages quickly despite lacking a formal education 47.
• Has read medical texts and learned enough principles to exploit physicians’ expectations 32.
• Melts identifiable imperial jewelry into gold, keeps meticulous purchase accounts, and selects a bow suited to Baozhu’s dimensions and strength 8 19.
• Mends Baozhu’s torn clothing 44.

Cold Affliction

• Origin: Congenital; Wei Xun has suffered attacks throughout his life 34.
• Symptoms: Extreme cold, agonizing pain, numb limbs, paralysis, and unconsciousness 25 27 34.
• Worsening condition: The interval between attacks has shortened, forcing him into hiding before he can finish addressing threats to his companions 27.
• Danger during unconsciousness: His defensive reflexes can injure anyone who touches him. When Baozhu checks his forehead, he seizes her wrist; Thirteenth Son deflects enough force to prevent damage to her bones and tendons 25 34.
• Temporary relief: Warmth, qi circulation, and Baozhu’s pepper-heavy porridge assist his recovery. By the doctors’ visit, his power has returned to seventy or eighty percent 27 28 32.
• Sought cure: He searches for the legendary Penglai Elixir formula. Thirteenth Son later suggests that Baozhu may be the Phoenix Embryo needed to cure him, but no cure is confirmed, and Wei Xun recoils from treating a living person as medicine 34.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Ancient dagger — A roughly eight-inch, gray-black blade with flowing patterns, a rhinoceros-horn hilt, and a bronze-script inscription. Chen Shigu excavated it from a Spring and Autumn or Warring States tomb and shortened the original sword by three inches. Wei Xun describes it as meteoric iron capable of slicing gold and severing jade; its ancient identity remains unconfirmed 7 12 34.
• Dieliexie Belt — A broad leather belt with hanging straps, rings, and clasps for his dagger, handkerchief, flint pouch, and other necessities 8.
• Tomb-working tools — Uses an iron or steel rod for probing and levering, along with a fire striker and candle for underground exploration 4.
• Ancient bamboo and wooden slips — Keeps a collection filling half a room at Green Micro Temple, estimated by Baozhu to weigh over a thousand jin. He leaves it behind when they depart 8.
• Separate eating knife — Purchased at Baozhu’s insistence so he will stop using his killing dagger to prepare meals 48.
• Groomsman’s clothes — New silk garments supplied by Pang Liangji for his wedding 45.

Relationships

• Baozhu / Princess Wanshou — The princess he rescues and escorts toward Youzhou. Their quarrels develop into trust and affection: she helps treat his illness, forgives his accidental injury to her wrist, and stands ready with her bow to cover his escape during the prison break 4 7 27 37.
• Thirteenth Son — Youngest fellow disciple and loyal companion. Follows Wei Xun after their master’s death, keeps watch during raids, cares for him during illness, and mediates his reconciliation with Baozhu 3 25 34.
• Chen Shigu / Old Chen — Deceased master who bought and trained him, subjected him to beatings, and gave him his dagger 3 4 12 36.
• Huo Qilang / Huo Qi — Seventh fellow disciple. Helps investigate the paper trail and free Xiagui’s prisoners; Wei Xun is openly impatient with her teasing 34 35 37.
• Yang Xingjian — Initially mistakes him for a wicked servant abducting Baozhu. Wei Xun later acknowledges Yang’s loyalty and thanks him for protecting her, though their mutual dislike and class differences persist 21 29.
• Pang Liangji — Expelled former sixth disciple and an old acquaintance. Calls in an unspecified debt to secure Wei Xun’s service as his groomsman 44 45.
• Tuoba Sanniang — Third senior sister, known as the Pipa-Tone Demon. Attacks him and Baozhu; Wei Xun explicitly denies any romantic history and describes their relationship as enmity 50.
• Liu Mao — Xiagui underworld leader who accuses him of stealing the pearl. Wei Xun holds him responsible for reporting the accusation to the authorities 19 28.
• Bao Lang — An enemy who threatens Baozhu and the party. Wei Xun ultimately kills and decapitates him 35 39.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Rescue at Zhongnan Mountain

• Enters Princess Wanshou’s tomb seeking a mysterious object, but abandons the search upon discovering that she is alive 4.
• Carries her to Green Micro Temple and nurses her back to consciousness 4 5.
• Retrieves her after guards assault her at Anhua Gate. His provocative talk with Thirteenth Son helps interrupt her resolve to kill herself 6.
• Agrees to escort her to her elder brother in Youzhou, arranges supplies, and leaves his collection of ancient slips behind 7 8.

Journey through Guanzhong

• Arranges checkpoint passage without requiring Baozhu to accept a slave identity 10.
• Helps expose the staged haunting at Fang Family Mansion and pursues the thief responsible 10 12 13.
• Rejects Qiao Shi’s gifts and begins teaching Baozhu practical close-range defense 14.

Xiagui Pearl-Theft Case

• Disappears during an attack of his cold affliction and is falsely implicated in the pearl theft and Luo Chengye’s apparent murder 18 19 25.
• Returns after recovering enough strength, then investigates the pagoda and murder scene with Baozhu 27 30.
• Locates Luo Chengye alive at Lotus Flower Temple and helps uncover his murder of Monk Miaoxing and staged death 32.
• Traces the theft’s paper trail to Chen Yu and the craftsmen’s camp 34 35 36.
• Frees Thirteenth Son and the other prisoners with Huo Qi, using painted white snakes and a rooftop spectacle to divert the authorities 37.
• Kills Bao Lang, then leaves Xiagui with the party. He gives Baozhu the craftsmen’s lacquer box and crushes the supposed luminous pearl to reveal its counterfeit glass core 39 40.

Lingbao and Jade City

• Reunites with Pang Liangji and agrees to serve as his groomsman in repayment of an old favor 44 45.
• Enjoys hunting with Baozhu and Thirteenth Son, visiting a tomb for pleasure rather than planning to rob it 48.
• Fights Tuoba Sanniang and intercepts a knife aimed at Baozhu. Rather than pursue the fleeing attacker, he stays to reassure the terrified princess 50.

Notable Quotes

“Robbing tombs already carries a death sentence. I have no parents or family for him to punish along with me. What can he do, kill me twice?” 5

“I wear green because green cloth is cheapest. I spend every day burrowing through grave dirt and drinking dead people's wine. What's pure about that?” 14

“If rescuing one person won't do, we'll simply release every prisoner. Stir up such a huge mess that they won't have time to worry about anyone.” 35