Mao Feiyang

Biodata

Power Progression

Appearance

• Build and complexion: Dark-skinned, thin, and scrawny; his physique contrasts sharply with the door-panel-sized Canvas Greatsword he later carries 97 644.
• Early clothing: Wears a yellow knit sweater while crossing the stone bridge to the Art Building 97.
• Art Student clothing: Later wears a dark-green, hooded Art Student robe 233 700.
• Faceless appearance: During the Cicada Shedding Plan, his reflection loses its face as he suppresses his identity 233.
• Supernatural body: Beneath his flesh are a golden skeletal body and traces of a glazed body, exposed during the Stargazing Platform operation 649.

Personality

Mao Feiyang is sarcastic, vulgar, and habitually provocative. He needles Mu Daxian even while depending on him, bargains shamelessly with Night Watchman-02, and regularly trades insults with his roommates. He acknowledges that his obnoxiousness is part of his nature 214 230 559 563.

His early fear is pronounced: sculptures leave him stammering, and he repeatedly relies on Mu Daxian’s protection. Later, Lin Yi recognizes a calm, practiced cunning beneath the same scrawny exterior. When another student attempts to push him out of a safe light, Mao Feiyang sidesteps and trips the attacker instead 196 207 556.

He enjoys showing off but can remain professional when the plan demands it. Tian Bufan restrains his attempts to flaunt his strength on Campus, then permits him to confront the Burial Body. Despite his excitement, Mao Feiyang coordinates the operation and explicitly asks Wei Shan to leave the main work to him 707 709.

His irreverence does not exclude attachment or grief. He listens soberly to Lao Mo’s history, recognizes the sacrifices behind the Cafeteria’s defenses, and worries that his own death would leave Wei Liang grieving. Conversely, Lin Yi considers his boundaries between good and evil unusually vague 218 219 651 727.

Abilities & Skills

Art and Overwriting

Mao Feiyang uses artistic expression to alter perceived and layered reality, progressing from improvised warmth to elaborate spatial constructions 210 211 649 710.

• Air painting: Produces light and heat without touching a drawing board. His initial creation flickers when he doubts it 210 211.
• Apparent foresight: His storm-shrouded Clock Tower sketch resembles the scene that subsequently develops overhead; Lin Yi interprets the resemblance as possible foreknowledge 103.
• Layered defensive imagery: Treats the void as a canvas, placing images over one another to meet an incoming attack 649.
• False-reality construction: Paints a substitute reality around the High-Rank Alien Angel’s connection, then cuts out that reality rather than directly severing the underlying connection 710.
• Door editing: Manipulates an ordinary door within the Star Prison to summon the Principal’s Office from infinite possibilities 654.

Perception

His Art Department Perception supports threat detection, rapid reactions, and a higher-order slow-motion state 216 229 564.

• Detects hostile intent from Impersonator Art Students 229.
• Uses Advanced Perception to move while Old Cowboy appears almost motionless, allowing him to find a sharp implement and sever the attacker’s leg muscles 564.
• Briefly becomes insubstantial and shifts a body’s width to avoid a shovel strike 564.
• Advanced Perception does not automatically overcome an opponent’s strength: he cannot pull Old Cowboy’s shovel from his grip 564.

Identity Manipulation and Deception

Mao Feiyang exploits identity, cognition, and the wording of rules rather than relying solely on force 233 556 560.

• Faceless survival: Avoids anchoring himself as Mao Feiyang while an Impersonator uses that identity. Reclaiming it prematurely risks drawing the Grinning Angels’ attention 233.
• Invented familiarity: Confuses a newly born Impersonator by naming it Zhang Lang and asserting a shared memory 556.
• Messenger identity: Treats himself as Night Watchman-02’s Messenger, allowing him to approach Gallery restrictions under a different role. His conviction and the Night Watchman’s lack of denial sustain the identity 560 562.
• Bai Fangshuo identity: Uses Bai Fangshuo’s Student ID as part of the planned route out of the Art Building 548 684.
• Threat-assisted passage: Deliberately lures a Grinning Angel behind him, causing Night-Walking Species to flee and Impersonator Sculptures to remain still 557.

Layer Navigation

He guides companions through the Art Building’s overlapping layers and identifies the Gallery as its greatest concentration of portals 562 686.

• Uses the Feather Sculpture to protect himself during Layer Leaps and reach the Little Girl’s Bedroom 563 566.
• Leaves a “back door” during the Bedroom visit for a later return 673.
• Repeated crossings strain both his body and Cognition; difficult transitions nearly exhaust him even with the Feather Sculpture 559 563.
• His navigation is not infallible: Angel Contamination disrupts the Gallery route, and he falls into a void, severing his connection to Lin Yi 686.

Will Body and Supernatural Sustenance

Mao Feiyang can operate outside his Original Body and replenish himself through supernatural matter 649 650.

• Egg-fried-rice defense: Divides an incoming Night Watchman strike among numerous fragments, weakening and absorbing it. Surviving fragments later reassemble into his human appearance 649 650.
• Severe cost: The defense leaves his Will Body substantially faded; he admits that a stronger strike would have killed him 650.
• Night-Walking Species consumption: Collects their remains with a banner and consumes the usable matter after harmful portions are removed, restoring his power 650.
• Tomato consumption: Later tears the Green Apron Chef’s beating tomato from its chest and eats it 707.
• Early vulnerability: Grinning Angels drain his Supernatural Power, while excessive absorption of contaminated rain threatens to turn him into a sculpture 207 208.

Combat and Spatial Restraint

His later combat combines artistic constructs, borrowed power, and direct physical intervention 645 689 710.

• Knocks an insubstantial Fanatic leader into a wall with a painted runic greatsword 645.
• Converts stone-carved symbols into weapons, replacing them as their power erodes during the Stargazing Platform’s defense 650.
• Catches a white Giant Bear’s attacking paws barehanded to protect Lin Yi 689.
• Freezes the Burial Body’s attacking limbs as though drawing them into a flat plane 709.
• Resists the Burial Body’s layer distortion, though he concedes that physical attacks might still cause injuries 710.
• Kills a Grinning Angel by pinning it to a bookshelf with a paper slip; it petrifies and crumbles afterward 712.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Student Commemorative Coin — Associated with his Art Student identity. It draws in contaminating starlight and diverts it to Lin Yi, Tian Bufan, Wei Shan, and Kuai Hongji 101 233.
• Drawing board / Canvas Greatsword — Functions as both art equipment and a weapon; mechanically unfolds into a greatsword whose canvas accepts painted symbols 231 644 645.
• Feather Sculpture — Obtained from Night Watchman-02. Its protective field deters hostile Gallery artworks and assists Layer Leaps, but it demands substantial energy and disintegrates during a difficult crossing 559 562 564 566.
• Notebook — Used as a powerful source of contamination to disrupt an Angel’s pursuing Perception across layers 654.
• Bronze Key — Held while he remains in the Principal’s Office. The afterword identifies it as part of a contingency for resetting the Timeline at the Library’s Clock Tower 662 766.
• Bai Fangshuo’s Student ID — Delivered by Kuai Hongji to provide the identity required for his departure from the Art Building 684.
• World Tree’s Tender Branch — A branch-like weapon that assumes a lightning-bearing spear form. He uses it to extract the Burial Body’s roots from multiple layers and as a paintbrush for reality editing 710.
• Mystical Runes Big Steel Saw — Temporarily formed by drawing on the power of Lin Yi’s runes; used to cut out the false reality concealing the Alien Angel’s connection 710.

Relationships

• Lin Yi — Roommate and close collaborator. Lin Yi observes his experiences through dreams, later communicates with him telepathically, shares Perception, and takes control of his body when their operation requires Lin Yi’s attributes 87 556 564 645 646.
• Mu Daxian — Senior, protector, and principal art mentor. Teaches him about contamination and Overwriting, shields him from hostile entities, and draws six Grinning Angels onto himself when the Impersonator substitute fails 194 196 211 234 235.
• Yan Jinming — Senior Art Student who looks after him at Mu Daxian’s request. Protects him in the Castle stairwell and protests when he walks into the Fanatics’ ranks 276 645.
• Tian Bufan — Planner and coordinator. Organizes his escape identity, directs the Principal’s Notebook operation, and checks his tendency to show off when it might compromise the group 548 643 707.
• Kuai Hongji — Roommate and extraction partner. Takes the Dorm Supervisor pathway, brings Bai Fangshuo’s Student ID, and escorts him out under that identity 548 684.
• Wei Liang — Roommate and frequent partner in banter. Mao Feiyang worries that dying would leave Wei Liang mourning him, and the two resume their joking exchange after reuniting 651 722.
• Wei Shan — Companion who helps keep his behavior in check and accompanies him during the Burial Body operation 707 709.
• Night Watchman-02 — Powerful contact whom Mao Feiyang repeatedly irritates while seeking assistance. Supplies the Feather Sculpture and the “Mission Must Be Accomplished” blessing 559 564.
• Lao Mo — Heals his contaminated arm. Hearing Lao Mo’s history turns Mao Feiyang’s initial fear into solemn respect 217 218 219.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Separation and Enrollment

Mao Feiyang arrives with the group participating in the school’s paid seven-day trial. When enrollment begins, he sees only a wall where Lin Yi sees the Teachers’ Office. Following a noticeboard rule, he descends the stairwell alone 3 5.

After wandering the distorted stairs, he follows the rule to leave upon encountering a sculpture and discovers an exit. A Dorm Supervisor subsequently rescues him from entities in the fog, conducts rounds with him, and takes him toward the Art Teacher. He becomes an Art Student before obtaining an Experience Student ID 89 91 94 96.

Mu Daxian and the Gray Fog Invasion

His unusual capacity for absorbing starlight attracts Mu Daxian’s attention. Lin Yi discovers that Mao Feiyang is sharing contamination with four companions and resolves to rescue him 101.

Under Mu Daxian’s protection, he learns the dangers of supernatural power, cognitive contamination, and the Art Student pathway. During the invasion, he creates warmth through Overwriting. Mu Daxian’s subsequent Cicada Shedding Plan uses an Impersonator bearing Mao Feiyang’s identity to divert Grinning Angels; when the substitute collapses, Mu Daxian draws their feeding onto himself and creates an opportunity to escape 196 201 210 232 233 234 235.

Dream Boundary and the Bedroom Search

Once Lin Yi establishes telepathic communication through the Dream Boundary, Mao Feiyang insists on receiving only immediately useful instructions rather than information about his future. He obtains help from Night Watchman-02, adopts the Messenger identity, and traverses the Gallery’s portals toward the Little Girl’s Bedroom 556 559 560 562.

The journey reveals Advanced Perception and his growing command of the layers. At the Bedroom, the iron door’s guardian nearly kills him, but an unseen force pulls him inside. He and Lin Yi search for the Principal’s Office before the Feather Sculpture loses its remaining power 564 566.

Principal’s Notebook Operation and Escape

Working with Lin Yi and Tian Bufan, Mao Feiyang passes through the Fanatics’ gathering and reaches the Stargazing Platform. There, he holds off a Night Watchman strike and attacking Night-Walking Species while Lin Yi synchronizes with The Starry Night. He later edits a door within the Star Prison to access the Principal’s Office 643 645 649 650 654.

Kuai Hongji retrieves him using the Dorm Supervisor pathway and supplies Bai Fangshuo’s Student ID. Mao Feiyang follows him through the passage under the new identity, emerging at 2:53 a.m. on May 12, Year X023 684.

Return to Campus

After surviving the disrupted Gallery passage and the Cemetery Layer’s collapse, Mao Feiyang reunites with his companions on Campus. His later feats include dismantling the Burial Body, preserving a sculpted carapace intended for Lao Mo, and casually killing a Grinning Angel in the Library 686 689 701 710 712.

He continues contributing to the group’s investigation of causal loops and Between the Sins. He is later present during the Layer Ark expedition, where the Astrology Master identifies him as Lin Yi’s “Fragment Brother” 728 758.

Notable Quotes

“As they say, when you’re out in the world, your identity is whatever you give yourself.” 560

“Whatever you encountered, don’t tell me. This is my first time here, and I have my own way of doing things.” 557

“The world might never know we existed, but Wei Liang will.” 651

Trivia

• His borrowed identity leads Li Huiyuan to misunderstand his name as “Mao Bai Fangshuo.” He corrects her to Bai Fangshuo and invites her to call him Maozi 722.
• The afterword explains that, had the plan failed, Mao Feiyang would have used the Bronze Key at the Library’s Clock Tower to return the Timeline to a save point. Countless prior failures had already occurred; this reset is not enacted in the successful narrative 766.