Zhang Fang

Biodata

Background / History

Robbery at Happiness Residential Community

Zhang Fang and Xu Nan attacked Jiang Mingran while their blond-haired accomplice ambushed Shao Lan. Their plan assigned Zhang Fang, the gang’s biggest and strongest member, to help subdue Jiang Mingran, whom they considered the greater physical threat. Zhang Fang hacked into Jiang Mingran’s existing wound, snapped his fingers, and forced his hand onto the payment screen to spend his remaining balance on food and liquor 19.

When the attack on Shao Lan went badly, Zhang Fang entered Room 802 with a cleaver. He later saved Xu Nan from Shao Lan’s dagger strike and took over the Nail Gun. During the pursuit into the dark corridor, Shao Lan endured a nail shot without reacting, making himself appear to be a decoy before stabbing Zhang Fang in the shoulder 19 20.

Despite being badly wounded, Shao Lan forced Zhang Fang against the elevator button, committing both men to an instance. Zhang Fang tried to flee and protested that he had only touched the button because Shao Lan shoved him. The Property Manager nevertheless required him to enter and discard both weapons. Xu Nan was also compelled to join through an invitation 20.

Infection at Xu Family Village

In [Nether God Sacrifice], Zhang Fang was assigned the identity of Xu Jiaojiao’s boyfriend visiting her hometown. Shortly after arrival, Shao Lan threw a roast duck toward him to divert a crowd of eyeless children. Zhang Fang caught it, coating his hand in grease; the children swarmed him and bit his hand. Xu Jiaojiao then escorted him to the Health Station 21 22 26.

The medicine applied there contained Blind Fish Fry, which entered through his wounds. His bandages subsequently gleamed, his eyes became abnormal, and he began pacing the guesthouse corridor while repeatedly singing the Sacrificial Song. Shao Lan initially suspected the children’s bites, but later identified the medicine as the source 23 24 39.

Xu Jiawei attempted to silence him by pouring boiling water down his throat, but Xu Nan intervened. During the investigation into Song Liru’s disappearance, Zhang Fang was ruled out because witnesses placed him on the third floor during the relevant period, with no opportunity to meet her 26 28.

Severe Contamination

At lunch, Zhang Fang ate seven bowls of supposed seafood rice noodles, unaware that they were threadlike creatures covered in glittering scales. He then complained that he could not breathe and ran toward the sea, insisting that he had to “go back.” Shao Lan caught him, and Qin Ning knocked him unconscious before he could enter the water 31 32.

Shao Lan and Qin Ning restrained and gagged him in the Moon-Viewing room. They concluded that contamination had made him believe he was a fish, although his body was still human and entering the sea would drown him. Pain no longer restored his awareness. Shao Lan kept him alive to study the instance’s contamination rather than out of concern for his welfare 32.

Zhang Fang later disappeared from the room. Xu Jiawei arranged for Xu Nan to leave so that he could be blamed for the disappearance, concealing the Xu faction’s plan to deliver Zhang Fang as a sacrifice 35 36.

Rejected Sacrifice and Death

As Zhang Fang’s condition worsened, scales appeared on his arms and neck, and his mouth began opening and closing like a fish’s. Xu Zijian and Xu Jiaojiao fought over who would receive credit for offering him. Qin Ning attacked during their confrontation, secretly destroying Zhang Fang’s eyes with two narrow, precise cuts. Xu Jiaojiao then killed Xu Zijian and delivered Zhang Fang to the Village Chief and elders 41 42.

The villagers sent Zhang Fang out to sea on a wooden board, but the waves returned him. The elders discovered his ruined eyes and declared him unsuitable as an offering. Blaming Xu Jiaojiao, they sent her into the sea as a replacement sacrifice 42.

Zhang Fang’s death is confirmed after Shao Lan returns to the residential community, though its exact circumstances are not described in the provided passages 50.

Appearance

• Build: Tall, hulking, and immensely strong; the largest member of his robbery gang 19 20 24.
• Early contamination: A heavily bandaged bitten arm, with medicine that gleamed in the dim corridor 23.
• Eyes: Widely dilated, unfocused pupils and a blank, unblinking expression 25 28.
• Advanced contamination: Scales on his arms, neck, and eventually face; fishlike mouth movements and occasional mucus discharge 41 42.

Personality

Zhang Fang is brutal and intimidating toward vulnerable people. He tortures Jiang Mingran to complete the robbery, threatens Shao Lan after the children attack him, and verbally abuses Xu Jiaojiao over her name and appearance. His aggression leaves her afraid to challenge him 19 22.

His confidence in fighting humans contrasts sharply with his fear of supernatural threats. He desperately resists re-entering an instance and screams the loudest when corpse hands tear open the elevator. The narration explicitly distinguishes his lack of fear of people from his terror of the inhuman dangers inside instances 20 21.

Abilities & Skills

Close-Quarters Combat

• A trained fighter with extensive combat experience, rather than someone relying only on physical fitness 20.
• Reacts quickly enough to knock Xu Nan clear of Shao Lan’s dagger attack 20.
• Combines cleaver attacks with Nail Gun fire, switching the gun to his left hand to wield both weapons 20.
• His strength makes a cleaver strike potentially lethal, but Shao Lan defeats him through deception and use of the elevator rules 20.

Sacrificial Song

• After infection, involuntarily sings a song praising Mother Ming 24 25.
• The song causes outsiders to hallucinate and gradually descend into madness; members of the Xu Family Village faction are unaffected 25 39 42.
• Pain can clear the lesser contamination experienced by listeners, but cannot restore Zhang Fang once his direct infection becomes severe 25 32.

Contamination Effects

• Blind Fish Fry enter his body through contaminated wound medicine; consuming the rice-noodle servings pushes the infection beyond its limit 39.
• He loses awareness, compulsively overeats, and believes he belongs in the sea before developing visible fishlike features 31 32 41.
• These changes are an affliction, not a demonstrated controllable power 32 39.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Cleaver — Used against Jiang Mingran and Shao Lan; discarded before entering the instance 19 20.
• Nail Gun — Passed to him by Xu Nan during the fight; used to shoot Shao Lan in the corridor and surrendered at the elevator 20.
• Medicated bandages — Applied after the children’s attack; the medicine introduces Blind Fish Fry through his wounds 22 23 39.

Relationships

• Xu Nan — Gang leader and robbery partner. Zhang Fang protects him in combat, while Xu Nan calls Zhang Fang his “brother” when defending him from Xu Jiawei. Shao Lan questions the depth of their bond, noting that Xu Nan had not risked himself to prevent Zhang Fang’s forced entry into the instance 19 20 26.
• Shao Lan — Robbery target and enemy. Shao Lan forces him into the instance, later uses him to investigate contamination, and commissions the destruction of his eyes to sabotage the sacrifice 20 32 42.
• Jiang Mingran — Victim whom Zhang Fang tortures and robs of his remaining balance 19.
• Xu Jiaojiao — Assigned girlfriend and roommate in the Listening Wind Pavilion. He abuses her verbally; she later kills Xu Zijian to claim him as her offering 22 24 26 41.
• Xu Jiawei — Fellow participant who attempts to scald him mute and later helps conceal the Xu faction’s sacrifice scheme 26 36.
• Qin Ning — Stops his attempted rush into the sea, then secretly blinds him at Shao Lan’s request 32 42.
• Xu Zijian — Attempts to claim Zhang Fang as a sacrifice and intervenes during Qin Ning’s attack, failing to recognize that she has already destroyed his eyes 41 42.