Miao Yue
I Said Explain the Occult, Not Catch Ghosts on Livestream!
Biodata
| Feature | Details |
|---|---|
| Name | Miao Yue (苗玥) |
| Alias(es) | Yueyue, used by her father; “My blade is sharp,” her messaging handle 208 272 |
| Gender | Female 72 |
| Age | Approximately eighteen or nineteen at her introduction 72 |
| Affiliation | Anomalous Affairs Bureau; Investigating the Strange 83 272 |
| Occupation/Role | Anomalous Affairs Officer; Miao Dao and Gu practitioner; variety-show guest; fashion-shop owner 83 98 243 270 |
| Family | Miao Jianye, father; Yue Nanxing, mother; Lin Hanzhi, informal adoptive father 72 272 |
| Status | Alive; exhausted and evacuated during the confrontation with Cunning Ghost 272 |
| First Appearance | Chapter 72 72 |
Background / History
Miao Yue is the daughter of Miao Jianye, a Miao Dao inheritor, and Yue Nanxing, a Miao Gu practitioner celebrated for her beauty within the Anomalous Affairs Bureau. Both parents worked with Lin Hanzhi. Miao Yue inherited her father's blade and her mother's Gu insects, which had also served as a token of her parents' relationship 98 143.
Her parents died when she was twelve, reportedly during a mission involving a mountain ghost. Lin Hanzhi, then eighteen and newly specially recruited into the Bureau, had been close to them and took on parental responsibilities toward her. Their relationship developed into an informal father-daughter bond 72.
Miao Yue later joined the Bureau to carry on her parents' wishes. This gave her access to their sealed mission files: an assignment classified as C-rank had proved to be A-rank, killing both parents while a third teammate survived. The survivor continued visiting her out of guilt and had offered to adopt her, but Lin Hanzhi had already taken her in 272.
Appearance
Miao Yue has a sweet face, round eyes, and two noticeable dimples; her slight-looking build conceals well-defined muscles 72 83 88.
- Hair: Wears her hair in two buns during her debut on Investigating the Strange 83.
- Clothing: Favors hanfu, Lolita dresses, Japanese school uniforms, and pretty skirts. Her first appearance features an elaborate pink Lolita dress 72 83.
- Physique: Has defined arm muscles and visible abdominal muscles 88 117.
- Signature accessory: Carries a long, narrow Miao Dao on her back or rests it upright beside her 72 83.
Personality
Miao Yue's sugary voice and charming smile contrast with her blunt threats and forceful fighting style. She can subdue someone while still speaking sweetly, and her claim to be “very easygoing” comes immediately after frightening Weasel with the prospect of being eaten 87 88.
She prefers direct action over complicated investigations. Before Huai Shui Village, her usual assignments allowed her to draw her blade and fight; when told Bai Yu was concealing supernatural abilities, her immediate suggestion was to kill her. Nevertheless, she is perceptive rather than unintelligent, quickly grasping the village's division between two hostile supernatural forces 93 97.
Her teasing often conceals serious concern. She angrily confronts Lin Hanzhi over his repeated near-fatal riverbed missions because she fears losing him. She initially opposes Sang Ma's dangerous assignment, but ultimately turns to gathering protective tools when she accepts that her friend will not abandon it 72 146.
An avid reader familiar with romance plots, Miao Yue recognizes Lin Hanzhi's interest in Qi Gu early and repeatedly helps them spend time together. Her encouragement is partly rooted in noticing that Qi Gu makes Lin Hanzhi seem genuinely connected to life rather than ready to leave it behind 72 98 171 208.
Abilities & Skills
Miao Dao Combat
Miao Yue combines saber techniques with exceptional strength, speed, and close-quarters control 83 87 114.
- Moves quickly enough to stop a farmer from striking his head against a hidden glass shard, despite carrying her heavy blade 83.
- Restrains Village Chief Xu and the disguised Qian Chunhua, then knocks out the transformed weasel's sharpest teeth with her weapon's hilt 87.
- Cuts through attacking vines and Water Corpse limbs while defending Qi Gu's formation 114.
- Defeats half-bodied ghosts with little difficulty, including cutting one into a smaller piece before capturing it 160 163.
- Limits: Her saber barely marks the banyan's thick branches and cannot cut the fused Empress Dowager and Regent Prince's skin 109 175.
Gu Insects
Her inherited Gu insects can enter bodies through the mouth, nostrils, or ears and control their movements. She stores them inside her Miao Dao's hollow hilt 98.
- Corpse control: Immobilizes the Water Corpses surrounding the group's shelter, allowing everyone to leave safely 98.
- Searches: Sends her insects through the General's Mansion to check for remaining ghosts 176.
- Covert deployment: Secretly implants Gu in the brains of everyone in the Bureau because she cannot initially distinguish its hidden Water Corpses from other personnel 271.
- Mass control: On Qi Gu's signal, simultaneously activates more than a thousand implanted insects, stopping Water Corpses from attacking civilians across the Safe Zones 271.
- Duration limit: During Huai Shui Village, states that she can maintain control for only half an hour before the insects can no longer endure it 98.
- Physical cost: Controlling thousands at once leaves her unable to defend herself against Cunning Ghost 272.
- Environmental uncertainty: Proposes using Gu against Man-Faced Conches but admits she has never exposed the insects to seawater and does not know whether they can adapt 215.
Strength and Mobility
- Spins a millstone rapidly after Mu Xingchen struggles to move it 95.
- Lifts Fang Yuanwang with one hand and carries him over her shoulder 100.
- Carries Pubu Gesang while running and later handles him and a struggling half-bodied ghost at the same time 97 164.
- Conceals her presence to follow the synchronized Water Corpses from the graveyard 97.
Photography
- Takes photographs for Lin Hanzhi to send to Qi Gu and advises him to send a long shot, medium shot, and close-up in sequence 136.
- Is entrusted with selecting nine bracelet photographs from the hundreds Lin Hanzhi takes after becoming Qi Gu's boyfriend 211.
Equipment / Weapons / Items
- Miao Dao — A roughly meter-long blade inherited from her father. Its hollow, unscrewable hilt houses her Gu insects 72 98.
- Inherited Gu insects — Her mother's keepsake and one of her most treasured possessions. Pubu Gesang develops an immobilizing chant partly because he worries that her repeated use of the insects near their time limit will shorten their lives 98 109.
- Mini Purple-Gold Gourd — A small copy of Qi Gu's gourd, used to capture defeated ghosts 160 163.
- Soul-Hooking Lock — Temporarily uses the genuine lock supplied by Qi Gu to restrain villagers affected by the banyan 108 116.
Relationships
- Lin Hanzhi — Informal adoptive father, Bureau superior, and frequent target of her sarcasm. She rescues him from the river, challenges his disregard for his safety, and enthusiastically supports his relationship with Qi Gu 72 171 208.
- Qi Gu — Trusted teammate whom she calls “Brother Qi.” She readily follows his instructions and helps him recognize that his feelings for Lin Hanzhi are romantic 87 171.
- Miao Jianye — Her father and the source of her Miao Dao inheritance. His death was later revealed to have resulted from Cunning Ghost's experiment 98 272.
- Yue Nanxing — Her mother and the source of her Gu inheritance. Miao Yue carefully protects the insects she left behind 98 109 272.
- Pubu Gesang — Fellow member of Lin Hanzhi's makeshift family and regular mission partner. Their teasing coexists with practical support: she carries him when necessary, while he learns crowd control to reduce the burden on her Gu 97 109 214.
- Mu Xingchen — Teammate she repeatedly distracts or restrains to give Qi Gu and Lin Hanzhi private time. Despite teasing his romantic obliviousness, she also helps carry his filming equipment 89 178 214.
- Sang Ma — Close friend. After failing to dissuade her from a dangerous mission, Miao Yue plans to provide Gu insects and obtain additional life-saving implements for her 146.
- Yue Yuan — Supervised her while Lin Hanzhi was away on missions and shared stories about Lin Hanzhi's childhood. She later uses those memories to reassure Lin Hanzhi that Yue Yuan loved him as a son 146.
Story Role / Major Arcs
| Arc / Event | Miao Yue's Role |
|---|---|
| Lin Hanzhi's hospitalization | Visits after personally dragging him out of the river. Demands an explanation for his monthly near-fatal suppression missions, then notices his unusual interest in Qi Gu 72. |
| Huai Shui Village investigation | Joins Investigating the Strange as a new guest. Stops a farmer from injuring himself, subdues the village chief and Weasel, finds Fang Yuanwang's lesson-planning notebook, and follows the walking corpses from the graveyard 83 87 92 97. |
| Water Sacrifice confrontation | Retrieves affected villagers, interrupts a child's sacrifice, and guards Qi Gu while he prepares the Life-Protection Formation. After the banyan is saved, she returns for the restrained villagers, intending to remove its assimilating influence 108 109 113 114 116. |
| Shanyin City mission | Accompanies Lin Hanzhi on the Skinning Ghost hunt. After he kills it, she photographs him for Qi Gu; Lin Hanzhi promises her a fashion shop if the photographs turn out well 136. |
| General's Mansion investigation | Helps uncover tourists disguised as opera performers, escorts civilians toward the east gate, captures a half-bodied ghost, and tells the livestream audience about Jiang Haojie's animal abuse 153 156 160. |
| Battle against the fused ghosts | Fights alongside Zeng Qinghuan and Pubu Gesang to stall the fused Empress Dowager and Regent Prince while Qi Gu prepares to separate them. Afterwards, her insects search the mansion for remaining ghosts 175 176. |
| Qi Gu and Lin Hanzhi's courtship | Supports their developing relationship through deliberate distractions, photography, and a food guide encouraging Qi Gu to remain in the capital. After they become boyfriends, she helps Lin Hanzhi choose photographs for his bracelet post 89 136 171 181 211. |
| Sea Lord investigation | Accompanies the expedition, considers using Gu against the Man-Faced Conches, and identifies the Sea Lord's location beneath the waves before Qi Gu and Lin Hanzhi dive 215 226 236. |
| Bai Yu's escape | Discovers the real Ma Shu unconscious in a wardrobe after Bai Yu impersonates her and abducts Fang Yuanwang 256. |
| Defense of Bureau headquarters | Guards headquarters against Cunning Ghost and executes the mass-Gu countermeasure that prevents hidden Water Corpses from killing civilians 270 271. |
Cunning Ghost and Her Parents' Deaths
- Her parents' fatal mission was actually an experiment conducted by Cunning Ghost to test a Water Corpse. The surviving teammate had briefly lost consciousness after the situation appeared controlled, awakening to find Miao Jianye and Yue Nanxing dead 272.
- After Miao Yue thwarts the Water Corpses, Cunning Ghost attacks her while she is exhausted. A Bureau officer deflects his first strike with a Copper Coin Sword 272.
- Qi Gu and Lin Hanzhi arrive through a Teleportation Array before Cunning Ghost's next attack reaches her. Qi Gu later orders the officer to carry her away as the confrontation escalates into the Asura Ghost's manifestation 272.
Notable Quotes
“If you've still got someone you like, if you've still got worldly desires, take better care of yourself. Don't go getting yourself killed.” 72
“Originally, I couldn't, so I secretly implanted Gu insects in the brains of everyone in the Anomalous Affairs Bureau. But now... haven't you already identified them for me?” 271