Yan Household

Biodata

Organization

Leadership and Members

Authority rested with Great-Uncle rather than the nominal stronghold chief 37.

Disciples and Insignia

• Disciples wore white hemp clothing, with a large “Yan” character enclosed in a circle on the back; those inspecting the coffins also wore white hemp kerchiefs 4 37.
• Hundreds of disciples participated in the seasonal transfer of hanging coffins 34.
• Martial training began in childhood. Yan Ji and Yan Fei demonstrated coordinated attacks and substantial combat experience against Yuan Bai 18.
• The stronghold used bronze bells and wooden clappers to raise alarms and summon defenders 30 53.

History

Rise Among the Four Households

The Yan Household accumulated its corpse-refining inheritance over more than a century. Guidance from the mysterious old Daoist of the Nameless Temple—particularly his advice concerning feng shui and yin and yang—helped it develop rapidly and surpass the Chen, Sun, and Wu households 40 54 61.

Yan Hui’s admission to the Zhongnan Sword Sect’s lower court further strengthened its position. Although the other three households resented its growing dominance, they publicly cooperated with it 56.

The household also pursued an alleged immortal opportunity at Corpse-Nurturing Cliff. An expert had declared that whoever obtained it, human or corpse, could attain the Dao and become an immortal. Great-Uncle’s life-bound corpse therefore received the cliff’s best position each year. Supporting his hoped-for ascension was described as the household’s blood oath 37.

Murder and Corpse Refinement

Yan Hui exploited her position in the sword sect to lure fellow lower-court disciples to the stronghold, murder them, and supply their bodies for refinement. Cultivators were especially desirable because their tempered bodies made better corpse-refining materials than ordinary mortals 33.

Chen Jin was one of her victims. She poisoned him and seized his belongings, while hoping to make him her own life-bound corpse. His body was placed in coffin 303, but the refinement did not proceed as intended: he awakened and escaped 4 34 45 55.

The household discovered the empty coffin and sent disciples to investigate. Later, Chen Jin killed Yan Ji, while the monkey troop killed Yan Fei. Their continued absence prompted further searches and alarm among the leadership 19 21 33.

Demon-Slaying Campaign

After Yuan Bai stole the Slay Evil Sword from the stronghold, Yan Hui rallied martial artists into the Demon-Slaying Alliance. Her initial summons assembled twenty or thirty fighters and provoked the mountain’s spirits and ghosts into forming their own alliance 21 45.

The Demon-Ghost Alliance attacked first, but failed to breach the stronghold. Yan Household disciples fought alongside outside allies, including Sun Meng, Third Granny Chen, and Wu Wei. The subsequent purge killed or scattered most of the mountain’s Demon Beasts 30 31 32 33 37.

Before winter, Yan Hui supervised the removal of the hanging coffins to the stronghold. By spring, the Demon-Slaying Alliance had disbanded and she had returned to the sword sect 34 37.

Loss of Corpse-Nurturing Cliff

When Yan Laojiu returned to prepare the cliff for another year, violent river surges struck the site. The flooding destroyed its protective formation and caused devastating losses among the household’s elite disciples 37 40 52.

Unable to use the cliff, the household lost its principal means of nurturing its zombies. Great-Uncle sought help from the Nameless Temple’s old Daoist, but the Daoist vanished through corpse liberation rather than resolving the crisis 40 41.

The disturbances were attributed to a thousand-year-old snake demon. Xue Hongmei later questioned whether such a creature had ever existed there 59.

Market Massacre and Fall of the Stronghold

After the mountain exit collapsed, the household claimed that a snake demon was attacking travelers and announced plans to reform the Demon-Slaying Alliance. Trapped market residents became suspicious when the guards disappeared 49 50.

That night, zombies emerged from beneath the market and attacked its occupants. The massacre was intended to feed the household’s corpses, compensating for the moonlight essence they could no longer obtain at the cliff. This was not the household’s first such operation 50 52.

Chen Jin disrupted the corpse demon’s control and helped the defenders fight back. After he severed one of its arms, more than a hundred survivors pursued it toward the stronghold 51 52 53.

The wounded life-bound corpse returned ahead of them and began devouring Yan Household disciples. Yan Laojiu initially ordered the disciples to remain still and submit, but panic spread. By the time the pursuers arrived, the defenders had died or fled, leaving the stronghold open to attack 53.

Chen Jin entered the underground coffin chambers, slew the corpse demon, killed Great-Uncle, recovered his stolen possessions, and burned the remaining corpses 54 55.

Aftermath

More than half the household’s people were dead or injured, most dwellings required rebuilding, and every zombie in the underground graveyard had been reduced to ash 59.

Yan Hui gathered survivors and appointed a new stronghold chief. Xue Hongmei then ordered her to return to the lower court and stop repeatedly coming home. The weakened household lacked the strength to pursue the people who had plundered it 58 59.

Yan Hui continued to regard the destruction as a blood feud with Chen Jin, keeping a lantern marked with the character “Yan” as a reminder 60 71.

Abilities and Practices

Corpse Refinement and Nurturing

The household’s central inheritance involved making, refining, nurturing, and controlling zombies 54.

• Preferred materials: Cultivators’ corpses offered better quality than ordinary bodies; higher cultivation also increased the difficulty of obtaining and refining them 33.
• Moonlight nurturing: Hanging coffins at Corpse-Nurturing Cliff exposed the corpses to moonlight essence Qi 37 54.
• Failure rate: Around thirty percent failed during the corpse-nature nurturing stage, becoming rotting corpses that were burned 34.
• Human feeding: Living flesh, blood, and Yang Qi strengthened the zombies. Martial artists and cultivators were especially valuable prey 52.
• Secrecy: The household avoided openly releasing zombies to eat people, conducting such operations covertly instead 52.

Yan Household Corpse-Driving Incantation

Members could study the Corpse-Driving Incantation only after reaching the fourth realm, Aperture Opening 18.

• Combined chanting with a ringing copper bell to control and enslave zombies 18.
• Activated the Corpse-Suppressing Talisman on Chen Jin’s brow 18.
• Was not absolute: Chen Jin resisted through his Daoist cultivation and later burned away the talisman 19 28.

Life-Bound Corpse

The household produced only one successful life-bound corpse in more than a hundred years, belonging to Great-Uncle. Yan Hui was intended to possess the second 54.

• Great-Uncle’s corpse occupied a jade coffin and was central to the household’s strength 34 53.
• The planned market feeding was expected to strengthen it greatly and extend Great-Uncle’s life by another ten years 53.
• When gravely wounded, it fed on household disciples to replenish its Qi and Blood 53.

Holdings and Equipment

Principal Sites

Market Fees and Bounties

• Entry token: Ten taels of silver. Tokens, rather than registered identities, determined admission 45.
• Hut rental: Fifty taels for the hut rented by Chen Jin; no bargaining was permitted 45.
• Other charges: Stall fees and charges for everyday services drew complaints from mountain foragers 39.
• Chen Jin bounty: Ten thousand taels of silver, medicinal ointments, talismans, and magical implements 41.
• Wanted notices: Depicted both a zombie and a white-faced ape, targeting Chen Jin and Yuan Bai 44 45.

Notable Items

• Genuine Corpse-Driving Bell — Long nurtured by the household and possessing excellent spirituality; recovered by Chen Jin from the jade coffin 55.
• Yan Household Corpse Liberation Immortal Method — Manual taken from Great-Uncle’s remains 55.
• Pot Heaven Bag — Chen Jin’s stolen medium-grade storage bag, entrusted to Great-Uncle and used to hold household wealth and supplies; later reclaimed 55 61 63.
• Corpse-refining supplies — Talismans, bronze bells, corpse oil, and burial shrouds stored among the household’s possessions 63.

External Relationships

• Chen Household, Sun Household, and Wu Household — Fellow unorthodox cultivation households of Xi Prefecture. They claimed mutual solidarity while privately competing; all three supplied representatives to Yan Hui’s alliance 54 56.
• Zhongnan Sword Sect — Connected through Yan Hui, not through formal incorporation of the household. Her membership enhanced its standing, while her murders of fellow disciples remained secret 33 56.
• Nameless Temple’s old Daoist — Mysterious adviser whose guidance enabled the household’s rapid rise. Great-Uncle sought him out when the cliff became unusable 40.
• Demon-Ghost Alliance — Enemy coalition formed in response to Yan Hui’s demon-slaying summons; its attack on the stronghold failed 21 30 32.
• Chen Jin — Murder victim, escaped refinement subject, and eventual destroyer of the household’s corpse-refining foundation 33 45 54 55.
• Yuan Bai — Stole the Slay Evil Sword, fought household disciples, and became the subject of a wanted notice 18 45.