Xie Hama

Biodata

Background / History

Travels and Recruitment

Xie Hama had previously spent time in Paifang Township, giving him knowledge of its residents and criminal activities. He claimed to have traveled north and south, visited the shores of all four seas, and broken a leg on Mount Kunlun. His unnamed master left him a single Two Aspects Return to the True Talisman 20 23 41.

Before joining Wang Qilin, he used a lifelike paper double to frighten him. Xu Da struck the double and exposed its paper construction. By the following day, Xie Hama had become Wang Qilin’s subordinate and a Wandering Star of the Heaven-Listening Bureau 18 19 20.

He also owed compensation to the Gathering Fragrance Restaurant. Wang Qilin brought him there to settle the matter, and Xie Hama apologized to Proprietor Zhu and promised repayment 19.

Paifang Township Investigations

While accompanying Wang Qilin on a family visit, Xie Hama and Xu Da used a concealment talisman to spy on his marriage meeting. Xie Hama later explained that he had cast the Fellowship with Men Hexagram, which pointed toward obtaining outside assistance. He connected that reading to the troubles at General Huang Huaji’s estate 20 22.

To prepare for confronting ghosts, he directed Wang Qilin to Niu Er’s ancestral executioner’s saber. His knowledge of a local gambling den—including its use of a gambling ghost—helped the group fulfill Niu Er’s wife’s condition for surrendering the weapon. After her son was rescued, Xie Hama jolted the boy’s hidden essence to suppress his gambling urges for a year 22 23 24.

Huang Estate and Wuji Pagoda

Xie Hama recognized the Black Yao funeral procession near Huang Huaji’s residence and warned that the death of one of the general’s supernatural specialists made the case especially dangerous. Although he advised retreat, he rescued the real coffin bearers while Wang Qilin and Xu Da encountered impostors. He subsequently identified the haunted terrain as a Corpse-Imprisoning Ground and diagnosed the threat posed by Mountain Puppets 25 26 27 28 29.

At the Huang estate, he treated Huang Qingyun’s depleted yang energy and helped expose Madam Huang née Yao’s control over Su Xin’an’s ghost. When Qingyun continued weakening after the ghost’s destruction, he recognized that her yin soul was leaving her body 30 32 34.

His explanation that a ten-story pagoda must extend underground prompted Huang Huaji to reveal the Wuji Pagoda beneath his residence. Inside, Xie Hama used his inherited talisman to force the possessing subordinate general’s yin soul out of Huang Huaji. He took the general outside but did not return to assist Wang Qilin in the ensuing fight 38 39 41.

Clinic Investigation

During the search for Foolhardy, Xie Hama explained the Blossoming Flower Pavilion’s reputed ability to imprison people in paintings. He later accompanied Wang Qilin into Zhang Yuning’s clinic, exposed the little skin ghosts inside its lanterns, and attacked the creature impersonating Zhang Yuning 38 44 45.

After Wang Qilin destroyed it, Xie Hama identified the creature as a Joined Half-Skulls. He deduced that its paintings and tonics had been intended to drain Foolhardy’s yang energy, making his body vulnerable to possession. Whether its techniques actually came from the Blossoming Flower Pavilion remained unresolved 45.

Appearance

• Elderly, bearded Daoist: Wears Daoist robes with broad sleeves and habitually strokes his beard 19 27.
• Lame leg: Walks with a limp, though he can still scale walls rapidly and perform airborne maneuvers 20 26 44 45.
• Maimed right hand: Often performs delicate work with his left hand, including folding a ritual paper crane one-handed 19 22 28.

Personality

Xie Hama is intensely cautious about supernatural danger. He argues that valuable treasures are not worth dying for, attempts to withdraw after hearing that earlier investigators died, and ultimately leaves Wang Qilin to fight inside Wuji Pagoda. His caution does not prevent him from rescuing the coffin bearers or participating in other battles 26 27 31 41 45.

He cultivates an inscrutable expert’s image but readily resorts to bluffing. At Foolhardy’s house, he claims to sense something strange merely to keep local ruffians from thinking the bureau incompetent. Before entering the underground palace, his apparent finger-divination turns out to be a way of relieving stress 38 40.

His exchanges with Xu Da mix sarcasm, irritation, and practical cooperation. He joins Xu Da in spying on Wang Qilin’s marriage meeting but is appalled by the proposal to manufacture paper women for a brothel. He also openly admits when Xu Da’s fighting ability exceeds his expectations 20 22 23.

Abilities & Skills

Paper Constructs and Animation

Xie Hama can create lifelike paper figures and animate other objects 18 35 45.

• His paper double can speak and fight convincingly enough to be mistaken for him until damaged 18 20.
• He offers to create a paper figure to carry household goods 35.
• During the clinic battle, he throws a chair that transforms into a wildcat and tears through a screen; the creature is subsequently frozen by the enemy’s ice 45.

Combat and Exorcism Talismans

He deploys talismans through hand seals, incantations, and sweeping sleeve movements 27 32.

• Fire attacks: Launches successive fire talismans capable of engulfing half a room; the Joined Half-Skulls blocks them with enchanted drawing paper 45.
• Ghost revelation and restraint: Expands one talisman into a swarm that wraps around an otherwise unseen ghost and outlines its body 32.
• Possession removal: Uses the Two Aspects Return to the True Talisman to form a large bagua diagram and draw the subordinate general’s yin soul out of Huang Huaji 41.
• Limit: The Wuji Pagoda’s Buddha Formation nearly entrances him until Wang Qilin shakes him awake 40.

Tracking and Supernatural Diagnosis

His investigative techniques combine talismans, paper cranes, and knowledge of spirits 28 32 33.

• Tests a missing man’s grain sack with a paper crane; its combustion reveals that the man’s vital energy is gone 28.
• Creates a talisman trail leading to the dressing table concealing Su Xin’an’s ghost figurine 32.
• Sends talisman lights toward a courtyard containing two murdered men 33.
• Uses a blood-marked paper crane to expose a little skin ghost inside a clinic lantern 44.
• Recognizes Corpse-Imprisoning Grounds, Mountain Puppets, spiritually intelligent fish, and Joined Half-Skulls 28 29 37 45.

Restorative Talisman Water

The Sweet Dew Righteousness-Restoring Talisman produces Eight Trigrams-patterned water that expels evil and replenishes yang qi 30 34.

• Temporarily restores Huang Qingyun’s strength and complexion 30 34.
• Becomes less effective with repeated use 34.
• Is explicitly not medicine for curing ordinary illness and does not resolve the cause of Qingyun’s continuing decline 34.

Divination and Occult Knowledge

• Casts the Fellowship with Men Hexagram, correctly pointing Wang Qilin toward help from a benefactor 22 31.
• Infers that the ten-story Wuji Pagoda extends underground from the association of even numbers with earth and yin 38.
• Explains Black Yao funeral customs and the significance of Six-Step Qi Jade, also called Innate Jade 25 26.
• Identifies Chan Master Sun’s supposed Buddhist scripture as the Daoist Baopuzi from an illustration, despite being unable to read Sanskrit 42.

Concealment and Movement

• Uses a concealment talisman to follow Wang Qilin’s marriage visit with Xu Da; claims he obtained it through a chance encounter 22.
• Vanishes into the ground to escape Xu Da’s persistent business proposal 20.
• Demonstrates sudden repositioning, ascends a gatehouse with a sweep of his sleeves, and climbs a wall despite his limp 19 25 44.

Equipment / Items

• Ritual paper and talismans — Carried inside his robes and sleeves for constructs, tracking, exorcism, healing, and combat 28 30 32 44 45.
• Concealment talisman — Used during the marriage-visit incident; its supposed rarity is met with skepticism by Wang Qilin 22.
• Two Aspects Return to the True Talisman — A paired black-and-white talisman inherited from his master. Consumed during Huang Huaji’s exorcism; Xie Hama claims it was worth ten thousand gold 41.

Relationships

• Wang Qilin — Superior officer and investigative partner. Relies on Xie Hama’s occult expertise but regularly questions his evasions and bluffs 19 22 38.
• Xu Da — Equal-ranking colleague and frequent verbal sparring partner. Xu Da nevertheless trusts him over the strangers encountered at the false coffin procession 20 27 39.
• Huang Qingyun — Patient and protected witness. Xie Hama treats her yang depletion and identifies the departure of her yin soul 30 34.
• Huang Huaji — Investigation client. Xie Hama helps uncover the underground pagoda and frees him from possession 38 39 41.
• Unnamed master — Left Xie Hama his only Two Aspects Return to the True Talisman 41.
• Proprietor Zhu — Restaurant proprietor to whom Xie Hama owes compensation 19 20.

Notable Quotes

“Innate Jade is precious, but life is worth more.” 26

“I simply don't want to die without knowing why!” 26

“Once you enter a noble house, its depths are like the sea.” 32

Trivia

• His personal mark depicts a toad wearing Daoist robes 19.
• When Wang Qilin marvels that he knows about his two married sisters, Xie Hama explains that Wang’s father simply mentioned them during the journey 20.