Lao Hu

Biodata

Power Progression

• Illusion caveat: The island experiences and apparent gains are subsequently revealed to have been unreal. The advancements depicted during that sequence are therefore not confirmed lasting achievements 195.

Background / History

Hu Bayi served as an army scout before entering Gu Cheng’s expedition team. During one mission, his squad was surrounded, and his comrades died covering his escape so that he could complete the assignment. He subsequently infiltrated the enemy base alone and killed everyone there in revenge 84 183.

He had longstanding ties to Ganggang Yingzi, whose villagers welcomed him enthusiastically after years of absence. He explained that military restrictions had prevented him from visiting and that he had only recently left the service. Yingzi, whom he had taken as a younger sister, was among his old acquaintances 15 17.

At his first meeting with Gu Cheng, Hu Bayi declined to commit immediately to permanent membership but agreed to cooperate on an expedition. He borrowed seven million yuan, promising protection and repayment from his share of the proceeds. He later revealed that he had given the entire sum to his comrades and asked for it to be deducted from his earnings 14 84.

Appearance

• Has a sun-darkened face; he visibly blushes when asking Gu Cheng for the seven-million-yuan loan 14.
• Is described by Wang Kaixuan as rough-looking 17.

Personality

Hu Bayi is cautious about commitments and protective of people he knows. He initially insists on a trial expedition rather than joining Gu Cheng outright, and he worries that buying the villagers’ antiques might make them think he has returned to exploit them 14 16.

His loyalty is rooted in shared hardship. He supports Gu Cheng in dangerous fights, repeatedly protects Wang Kaixuan, and understands Zhang Qiling’s grief over fallen teammates because of his own wartime losses. He also avoids killing the hostile villagers when their condition remains unexplained 28 96 207.

Despite his usually steady manner, he readily trades jokes with Wang Kaixuan and teases Gu Cheng about Yingzi. His ambitions also expand beyond money: he explicitly identifies greater power and a longer life as goals worth pursuing 87 111.

Abilities & Skills

Feng Shui and Tomb Interpretation

Hu Bayi knows the Sixteen-Character Yin-Yang Feng Shui Secret Art and applies terrain analysis, compass readings, and astronomical observations to locate auspicious sites and interpret tomb layouts 14 132 203.

• Identifies Nine Dragons Enclosing the Jade Lotus, a mountain formation associated with a possible Liao empress dowager’s tomb 14.
• Explains that changes in terrain, vegetation, and waterways can shift a dragon vein’s location 93.
• Detects an exceptional Dragon Vein Feng Shui Site ahead of the expedition’s ship using a compass and the stars 132.
• Recognizes an inauspicious, yin-gathering chamber as a location deliberately used to cultivate an evil spirit 187.
• Identifies a temple layout corresponding to the Sixteen Earth-Penetrating Dragons, the five elements, eight trigrams, and Ju Men 203.

Military Close-Quarters Combat

His army training gives him a technical advantage over companions who rely primarily on physical strength. His dagger work combines rapid hand changes, evasive movement, and precisely timed attacks 81 82 157.

• Leads the close-range assault on the Snake Demon while Gu Cheng and Wang Kaixuan distract it 82.
• Uses the Mountain-Hugging Shoulder Strike to knock the Snake Demon into a piranha-filled river 83.
• Tackles Gu Cheng out of a giant snake’s path, then cuts a four-to-five-meter wound along its belly 102.
• Uses agility and Little Divine Edge to exploit a zombie’s stiff movements and damage its otherwise formidable defenses 108.
• Has also learned the Mohist Sword Technique, as confirmed when Gu Cheng offers him and Wang Kaixuan the use of a newly obtained blade 202.

Marksmanship and Firearms

A former scout and sharpshooter, Hu Bayi retains both shooting accuracy and weapon-handling proficiency 183.

• Rapidly disassembles and reassembles a borrowed gun before using it 183.
• Destroys every soldier puppet’s mung-bean-sized Witchcraft Spirit Stone in dim tomb lighting without missing, allowing the group to cross Yellow Springs Road 183.
• Uses a submachine gun against animated vines, although the gunfire cannot stop their continuing growth 37.

Cultivation Techniques

• Five-Animal Exercises: His documented training includes longevity-fruit-assisted cultivation and bodily cleansing. Later pill-assisted breakthroughs occur within the illusory island sequence 106 161 162 195.
• Iron Shirt: Hardens the skin through circulating energy. At advanced levels, the technique can resist blades and spears; Hu Bayi is shown learning only its first level during the island sequence 156.
• Lightness Technique: Improves overall speed and agility rather than merely lightening footsteps. During the same sequence, he crosses long gaps by leaping between a platform and an iron chain 156.

Tomb-Raiding Knowledge and Fieldcraft

• Recognizes the danger of unopened doors and warns Wang Kaixuan against triggering possible traps 99.
• Explains the layered defenses concealing Li Si’s real tomb, including hereditary guards, a sacrificially cultivated puppet, monsters, decoy treasure, and lethal ice 115.
• Proposes using a grappling claw and overhead ropeway to bypass Yellow Springs Road without touching its traps 181.
• Detects and pries open a concealed floor brick whose seams were hidden with lime and dust 188.
• Explains the use of Corpse-Suppressing Locks, including the conventional maximum of eighty-one, but cannot account for the hundreds encountered by the group 213.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Little Divine Edge — A high-grade magical dagger forged from meteoric iron, with exceptional sharpness and monster-subduing, evil-destroying properties. Gu Cheng gives it to Hu Bayi because of his military dagger training. Its short reach later makes it unsuitable for one particular evil-spirit battle 28 81 186.
• Stillwater — A supreme-grade magical Tang saber originally bestowed on General Li Jing by Emperor Li Yuan. Hu Bayi finds it while struggling with a monster in the mire and uses it to kill his attacker. Gale runes activate its wind attribute, greatly accelerating his strikes 206.
• Feng shui compass — Used alongside stellar observations to identify a Dragon Vein Feng Shui Site at sea 132.
• Mountain-Splitting Axe, temporarily wielded — Borrows Wang Kaixuan’s armor-piercing, evil-suppressing magical axe during an early confrontation 28 30.
• Entrenching shovel and firearms — Uses an entrenching shovel before receiving Little Divine Edge and carries or borrows guns when circumstances require them 37 81 183.

Relationships

• Gu Cheng — Expedition leader, benefactor, and trusted companion. Their cooperation begins with the seven-million-yuan loan and develops into a bond forged through repeated life-threatening encounters. Gu Cheng entrusts him with Little Divine Edge and returns Stillwater after identifying it 14 75 81 206.
• Wang Kaixuan / Fatty Wang — Childhood friend and sworn-like brother. Wang offers unquestioning support over the unexplained loan; the two routinely protect one another while arguing over weapons and exchanging insults 14 17 30 209.
• Yingzi — A younger sister by affection rather than stated blood relation. Hu Bayi reunites with her after seven or eight years and later jokes about becoming Gu Cheng’s brother-in-law 17 87.
• Shirley Yang — Expedition companion. Hu Bayi urges her group to heed Gu Cheng’s warnings and explains the Snow Lotus danger when she asks him for help. He later guards her and A Ning while the others fight an evil spirit 71 73 186.
• Zhang Qiling — Fellow expedition member. Zhang rescues him from the illusion-inducing passages and later treats his wounds; Hu Bayi offers quiet sympathy after Zhang loses members of his team 195 207 209.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Ganggang Yingzi Expedition

• Identifies the mountain’s feng shui formation, reconnects the team with the villagers, and helps arrange access to their antiques without wanting to exploit them 14 15 16.
• Introduces Gu Cheng and Wang Kaixuan to Yingzi while seeking a mountain guide 17.
• Searches coffins for the missing Yingzi, is caught by animated vines, and escapes after Gu Cheng cuts him free 37.

Demon Kingdom Caverns

• Follows Gu Cheng’s warning when the cave walls begin revealing living flesh, while urging the archaeological party to leave as well 71 72 73.
• Receives a share of the Demon Kingdom Snow Lotus treasures and becomes one of the companions Gu Cheng explicitly considers trustworthy enough to form a life-and-death trio 75.
• Detonates explosives against the Fire Beetles and Snake Demon, receives Little Divine Edge, and helps defeat the Snake Demon through coordinated attacks at the riverbank 81 82 83.

Li Si’s Tomb

• Helps the team escape hostile villagers without killing them and dispatches a tomb guardian by stabbing the fleshy parasite inside its head 96 99.
• Independently reaches the same suspicion as Gu Cheng that the tomb belongs to Li Si 100.
• Protects Gu Cheng during the giant snake battle, survives the encounter with a more advanced flood dragon, and cultivates with longevity fruits 102 105 106.
• Helps locate the hidden ice cellar and later reconstructs the tomb’s elaborate sequence of defenses 111 115.

Sea Voyage and Illusory Island

• Detects the exceptional feng shui site near a distant island 132.
• During the apparent island adventure, is affected by an emotion-aggravating influence, learns new combat techniques, and undergoes major apparent cultivation breakthroughs 141 156 162.
• Later explains that the group was actually unconscious in disorienting mountain passages. Zhang Qiling escaped the illusion first and rescued the scattered expedition members 195.

Jingjue Ancient City

• Disables the soldier puppets on Yellow Springs Road with precision gunfire and helps investigate concealed chambers and mechanisms 183 188 203.
• Escapes a monster in the mire after finding Stillwater, then takes the lead in clearing a path through the forest 206 207.
• Cuts down the Flower Garden’s apparent central flower, only for it to prove to be bait. Vines tear open his back and knock him unconscious; Wang Kaixuan carries him out while Zhang Qiling covers their retreat with grenades 209.
• Awakens in Queen Jingjue’s treasure hall after bandaging and an Essence-Nourishing Pill. His wounds are severe but have not damaged his bones 209.
• Warns that the extraordinary number of Corpse-Suppressing Locks indicates an exceptionally dangerous suppressed corpse entity 213.

Notable Quotes

“All right. Don't worry, Young Master Gu. I won't disgrace Little Divine Edge's name.” 81

“Stronger power and a longer life, of course.” 111

“Dust to dust, earth to earth. Let them rest here.” 207