Capital

Biodata

Background / History

Luo Capital was originally the capital of the Fengyang Kingdom, one of the kingdoms on Cloud Continent before Great Qian’s unification. The local opera Youthful Journey supposedly recounts Great Qian’s founding emperor arriving there as an unknown youth, fighting corrupt officials, and slaying demons before becoming a figure who shook Fengyang 34.

Zhou Yi reached the city after wandering from Hengyang in search of work. Unable to find employment even as a servant, he joined the Demon-Slaying Bureau as an executioner to avoid starvation. He spent ten years in its underground prison before becoming a clerk and beginning to explore the city 18 40.

Geography

• Luo River: Encircles the city on three sides and gives Luo Capital its name 18.
• Southern mountains: Shelter the city’s southern side; together with the river, they form a feng shui configuration described as being of the highest order 18.
• South City: Contains the Demon-Slaying Bureau on its outskirts, with its underground prison extending to Martial Saint Mountain 18.
• Surrounding countryside: Includes Verdant Peak Mountain, where Zhou Yi obtains spiritual water from Refreshing Spring 26 27.
• Distance from Hengyang: More than ten thousand li; travel outside the capital is substantially more dangerous than life within it 40.

Notable Locations

Government and Security

Imperial Institutions

• Capital Yamen: Receives reports against suspected demons, including Feng Zhen’s denunciation of Hu Jiu-Niang and Feng Ling’er 11.
• Six Gates: A formal enforcement agency whose constables hold official ranks, unlike temporary local yamen runners. Its chief is a second-rank court official 24.
• Night patrols: Include experts in official robes tasked with protecting residents from demons and evil spirits 18.
• Capital appointments: Only elite Demon-Slaying Commandants are transferred to the city. Even unranked Ministry of Works clerks are difficult to offend because their positions imply strength or connections 47.
• Major executions: Li Shan’s public execution is supervised by four Spirit Refining masters representing the Demon-Slaying Bureau, Immortal Stipend Bureau, Palace Attendants Bureau, and Dragon-Guarding Bureau 38.

Divine Administration

• City God: A first-rank Orthodox God who has administered the capital’s underworld for centuries. Titled King of Bright Spirits, he holds the rank of an imperial prince and commands Great Qian’s other City Gods 10 49.
• Underworld officials: Include four second-rank judges and the heads of twenty-four offices, with more than thirty officials belonging to the top three divine ranks 10.
• Land God: After more than two hundred years of incense cultivation, his strength rivals the City God’s. His support for the court contributes to friction between their administrations 10.
• Rainfall authorization: Bringing rain without a yellow register is a capital offense, preventing the city’s deities from relieving drought on their own authority 10.

Demons and Political Protection

• Legal distinction: Great Qian law does not require killing demons that have harmed no one 21.
• Powerful patrons: Institutional backing can discourage the bureau from acting. Hu Yue’s protection at Spring Breeze Pavilion depends on avoiding direct violations of the Great Qian Code 21 23.
• Limits of security: Despite its guards and resident masters, the capital shelters hundreds of concealed demons and suffers Hu Jiuying’s attack on an imperial residence 13 30.

Economy and Culture

Cost of Living

• Prosperity: The city’s comfortable living conditions contrast sharply with ruined villages, refugees, and demon attacks elsewhere in Great Qian 41 47.
• Clerical perks: Ministry of Works clerks supplement their salaries by selling defective pills and inferior meat through a merchant with powerful backing 20.
• Lantern Festival: Streets fill with shoppers, decorated storefronts, unusually shaped lanterns, riddles, and verses. The capital has no curfew 18.
• Courtship: Young couples openly hold hands or link arms; Confucian restrictions on women are comparatively light 18.
• Publishing: Bookshops cluster together, selling writing supplies as well as printing books. Top Scholar Hall provides free paper and brushes to scholars arriving for the examinations 25.
• Entertainment: Pleasure houses feature poetry, dancing, drinking, and local opera 20 34.
• Food: Same Fortune Inn’s fried chicken becomes popular enough for the Great Shun Restaurant and White Tower to offer competing versions 31.
• News: Inns and taverns rapidly circulate reports of military victories and other current events 23.

Major Events