Old Lady Zhao

Biodata

Power Progression

• Cultivation goal: Become a Ghost Monarch, escape the instance’s restrictions, and regain the freedom to visit Tang Xiaoling. This remains an ambition rather than an achieved realm 12.
• Standing at the Amusement Park: Her Vengeful Ghost rank lets her move freely through most of the park, apart from a few forbidden areas. She believes reaching Ghost Fiend through ordinary cultivation would take her several hundred more years 8 11.

Background / History

Death and resentment

While alive, Zhao doted on her grandson, Xiao Hu, and took him to the Amusement Park. During a roller-coaster ride, her safety belt broke and she was thrown out as the car rounded an upside-down bend. She grabbed her grandson but ultimately fell to her death. Believing he had bitten her hand to make her release him, she became consumed by resentment and developed a hatred of children, especially their crying 7.

Meeting Tang Xiaoling

A century into her existence as an evil spirit, Zhao accepts Tang Xiaoling from the gatekeeper Zhou as prospective prey. She tries to steer the girl toward the roller coaster, intending to eat her after a fatal fall. When she threatens the crying child, Tiantian immobilizes her with its Sky Dog aura and privately warns that harming its young mistress will mean annihilation 6 7 11.

Zhao immediately switches to appeasement, offering money for candy and agreeing to the carousel instead. Tang Xiaoling refuses the money, following her father’s instruction not to accept things from others. At the carousel, Zhao calls the girl her granddaughter and forces the attraction’s Lesser Evil Spirits to leave so she can ride safely 7 9 10.

Learning the truth

Watching Tang Xiaoling enjoy the carousel reminds Zhao of Xiao Hu and rekindles her familial affection. The girl’s jade pendant then displays the accident as it actually happened: her ten-year-old grandson had desperately tried to hold her up, digging his fingernails into her flesh rather than biting her. Zhao realizes she had mistaken his attempt to save her for betrayal and weeps bloody tears of remorse 11.

Afterward, Zhao receives access to the Netherworld. She suspects the pendant is the legendary Karma Mirror and associates the opportunity with Tang Xiaoling. Though reluctant to leave, she decides to answer the summons, hoping cultivation there will eventually allow her to see the child again 11 12.

Protecting her granddaughter and departing

Before leaving, Zhao warns Zhou not to let anyone trouble Tang Xiaoling. When Wu Fan subsequently insults the girl and makes her cry for “Grandma,” Zhao rushes back, drags him onto the carousel, and uses his attendant rules to punish him. She spends ten thousand Spirit Coins on repeated ride requests, bites away his flesh until he dies, and gives his remains to the Lesser Evil Spirits 13 14.

Zhao cleans herself before reuniting with Tang Xiaoling so she will not frighten her. She advises the child to seek Lady Ten at the Haunted House if other players bully her, then leaves through the park gate. In the imperial palace, Tang Long orders that she receive a good Netherworld position for her future service to his daughter 14 16.

Appearance

Zhao’s actual body is severely decomposed, but Tang Xiaoling initially perceives her as a hunched, frail grandmother rather than a frightening ghost 6.

• Decomposed body: Organs and bones are faintly visible through her rotting flesh 6.
• Eyes: Eerie green eyes with maggots moving through their dirty whites 6.
• Hands and teeth: Skeletal, shriveled hands and only a few remaining teeth in her ordinary form 7 13 14.
• Enraged form: Her skin caves inward, her remaining teeth become a full mouth of fangs, and dense black fumes pour from her body 13.
• Tears: She cries blood; Tang Xiaoling sees these as ordinary tears 11.

Personality

Initially, Zhao is predatory, volatile, and intensely resentful. She regards young children as desirable food and reacts viciously to crying because it recalls her supposed betrayal. Nevertheless, being addressed as “Granny” pleases her even before Tiantian intervenes 6 7.

Her early kindness toward Tang Xiaoling is driven by fear of Tiantian. That changes into genuine affection as the girl reminds her of Xiao Hu and resolves the misunderstanding surrounding her death. Zhao becomes an attentive grandmother figure, giving practical advice about food, water, and toilets, and promising to find the child again 11 12 13.

Her tenderness toward Tang Xiaoling does not erase her brutality toward others. She suppresses violent impulses in the child’s presence, conceals Wu Fan’s punishment, and cleans away the blood afterward specifically to preserve the girl’s reassuring impression of her 9 14.

Abilities & Skills

Ghostly Aura

Zhao releases dense, chilling black energy when angered 13 14.

• Produces fumes thick enough to blot out the sky overhead 13.
• Envelops the carousel to prevent outsiders from seeing inside 14.
• Emits cold strong enough to frost the ground 14.

Physical Transformation and Combat

Her enraged form gives her sharp fangs and long nails capable of tearing through human flesh 13 14.

• Pierces Wu Fan’s shoulder with her nails and lifts him bodily 14.
• Bites through fingers and repeatedly tears away flesh 14.
• Becomes a fast-moving black shadow to reach Tang Xiaoling and seize her tormentor 13.

Authority over Lesser Spirits

Her rank and threats compel the carousel and its Lesser Evil Spirits to obey her 10 14.

• Stops the carousel’s repeated grinding of the child spirits and orders them away 10.
• Threatens soul annihilation if they spoil Tang Xiaoling’s enjoyment 10.
• Commands Lesser Evil Spirits to bring water for her cleanup 14.

Rule Exploitation and Limits

Zhao works within the Amusement Park’s restrictions rather than possessing unrestricted freedom 7 13 14.

• Cannot simply attack Tang Xiaoling at first; she attempts to influence the girl’s ride selection instead 7.
• Exploits the rule requiring carousel attendants to accompany guests on request to punish Wu Fan repeatedly 14.
• Cannot kill Zhou because the park forbids spirits from killing their own kind 13.
• Is immobilized by Tiantian’s aura and believes it can annihilate her soul 7.
• Remains bound to the instance and hopes Ghost Monarch cultivation will remove those restrictions 12.

Items

• Spirit Coins / Evil Spirit Coins — Offers Tang Xiaoling a stack for candy, which the child refuses; later spends ten thousand on repeated carousel rides to punish Wu Fan 7 9 14.
• Candy — Gives Tang Xiaoling a piece to comfort her during their farewell 12.

Relationships

• Tang Xiaoling — Intended prey who becomes her cherished honorary granddaughter. Zhao promises to protect her regardless of her powerful background and to visit her again 6 11 12.
• Xiao Hu — Her beloved grandson. Her mistaken belief that he caused her death sustains her resentment for a century before the pendant reveals his rescue attempt 7 11.
• Tiantian / Lord Sky Dog — Tang Xiaoling’s guardian and Zhao’s overwhelming superior. Its warning forces her initial change of behavior 7.
• Zhou — The gatekeeper who supplies Tang Xiaoling as prey in hopes of earning a promotion. Zhao later holds him responsible for keeping her granddaughter safe 6 13.
• Wu Fan — Carousel attendant whom she kills after he bullies Tang Xiaoling 13 14.
• Lady Ten — The female ghost Zhao recommends as a protector after her departure. Tang Xiaoling later recognizes Lady Ten from this advice 16 31.
• Ghost King Zhong — Her Amusement Park boss. Rumors suggest a further connection between them, but its nature is not established 8 11.
• Tang Long — Orders a favorable Netherworld position for Zhao so she can become useful in his daughter’s service 16.

Notable Quotes

“Besides, ‘Granny’ sounds rather nice. It’s been a long time since anyone called me that.” 6

“Xiao Hu, Grandma was wrong! Grandma should never have resented you!” 11

“It’s all right even if Grandma doesn’t come back before you leave. I’ll find you.” 12