Qiu Shuyu

Biodata

Power Progression

Background / History

Childhood and the Hatching Nest

Qiu Shuyu remembers being born in Ink City’s lower district without knowing her parents or original name. As a child, she briefly glimpsed an upper-district girl sitting before a dressing mirror—a scene that became her image of a safe, comfortable life. She was subsequently taken into a laboratory and confined in a silent white room 256 257.

Her captors alternated prolonged isolation with forced combat. Ordered to kill enormous “rats,” she trained with knives, blades, bows, spears, firearms, and explosives. After nearly ten years, she realized the supposed rats were people her own age. The man directing her announced that she had killed 16,651 of them 257.

When she refused to continue, a boy calling her a rat stabbed her through the heart. Discarded as dead but still conscious, she was eventually found and healed by Bai Jing, who gave her the name Qiu Shuyu. She vowed never to return to Ink City or kill again 257.

Her understanding of the laboratory’s location later becomes uncertain. Bai Jing suggests that she may have been confined in the Holy City without knowing the distinction between it and a Fortress; Li Shijian identifies her as a rare survivor of the Hatching Nest 280 289.

Life on Garbage Mountain

Qiu Shuyu established herself among the scavengers through her strength and willingness to fight for salvage. She nearly died defending a battered white dressing table from vagrants, collapsing outside Bai Jing’s shack while still clutching it. Bai Jing treated her with three bottles of antibiotics, deepening her gratitude toward him 10 11.

After saving enough money to buy an axe, she obtained steadier work at the logging yard. She regularly brought Bai Jing firewood, wild fruit, and other gifts, and initially distrusted Song Xiaozhu as an apparent upper-city resident who might exploit him 10.

Protecting Song Xiaozhu

Qiu Shuyu accidentally killed Shang Bao while trying to frighten him away from Song Xiaozhu. Unknown to her, he had been paralyzed by Song Xiaozhu’s candy and could not dodge. Horrified by the killing, she initially withdrew, then returned rather than leave Xiaozhu to face the consequences alone 14 15.

The two concealed the death, and Qiu Shuyu became one of the first witnesses to Song Xiaozhu’s synthesis abilities. She supplied timber, accompanied her to work, and exchanged her iron axe for a synthesized stone axe—a barter that registered as Song Xiaozhu’s first completed transaction for her Growth Quest 15 20 25 32.

When the Shang family began searching, Qiu Shuyu offered to take responsibility herself. Song Xiaozhu persuaded her instead to keep their secret and build enough strength and influence to resist retaliation 54 56.

A Home in Liu Family Village

Qiu Shuyu supported Song Xiaozhu’s decision to stop hiding her crafting abilities. Xiaozhu’s insistence on seeking freedom reminded her why she had escaped a life of being conditioned into a killing machine 46.

She eventually discarded the dressing table she had once risked her life to obtain. Recognizing it as a symbol of an unattainable childhood fantasy, she found a different hope in the future she could build with Song Xiaozhu 92 93.

After relocating to Liu Family Village, she stayed with Xiaozhu as the Taobao shop opened. She delivered iron axes to the logging camp, returned with timber and scrap iron, helped excavate ore, and assisted in preparing Polluted Beast hides for armor production 123 132 139 156.

Mission to the Holy City

As Xiaozhu and the villagers became stronger, Qiu Shuyu increasingly felt unable to contribute. Nevertheless, she accepted the mission to deliver Bai Jing’s Bodily Transmission Stone to Wen Changye of the Day After Tomorrow Society, seeking aid against the threats facing Liu Family Village 233 239.

Approaching the city triggered overwhelming memories of her captivity. She forced herself onward by remembering the people waiting for her, then encountered Mu Qing and accused him of selling Xiaozhu out. Mu Qing later guided her toward the Society’s headquarters, but an ambush ended with Qiu Shuyu being subdued and abducted 256 257 276.

Hypnosis, Death, and Revival

In the Holy City’s Clouds, Qiu Shuyu recognized Li Shijian’s voice as that of the man who had issued the laboratory’s commands. He implanted Li Siyuan’s memories into her, reframed her childhood as a previous life, and exploited her desire to gain enough power to protect others 277.

Meanwhile, Song Xiaozhu received messages claiming that Qiu Shuyu was undergoing treatment to awaken. Shen Qi’s investigation placed her with an elder from Ten Nations Technology, but the apparent reassurance concealed Li Shijian’s bodily adjustments and deep hypnosis. He personally sent at least the promised reunion message using her communicator 278 283 287 289.

After absorbing 100 fragments, Qiu Shuyu fought Song Xiaozhu under the imposed identity of Li Siyuan. Reminders of Bai Jing and their shared past eventually brought her back to herself, but the fragments began driving her toward indiscriminate slaughter. She begged Xiaozhu to kill her rather than let her harm innocent people 293 294.

Song Xiaozhu pierced her heart with the Sword of Genesis, then used Bai Jing’s Healer’s Benevolent Heart to prevent her body from disappearing. By synthesizing her remains into an Undead Queen, Xiaozhu revived her. On awakening, Qiu Shuyu’s immediate concern was that creating the heart might have cost Bai Jing his life 294 295.

Appearance

• Build: Tall and burly, with physical strength surpassing that of many men 10.
• Hair and complexion: Introduced with a buzz cut and dark skin 10.
• Face and voice: Bright eyes, somewhat thick lips, and a hearty, rough, husky voice 10.
• Musculature: Taut, clearly defined arm muscles with substantial explosive power; seen wearing a cropped tank top while digging 80.
• Early mannerism: Carries a stalk of dry grass between her lips during her first visit 10.

Personality

Qiu Shuyu is fiercely loyal to people who have treated her kindly. Her gratitude toward Bai Jing makes her protective of him, while her friendship with Song Xiaozhu develops into a willingness to defend her, share scarce resources, and face danger on her behalf. She refuses payment for timber and becomes furious when coworkers slander Xiaozhu 10 20 35.

Her imposing physique contrasts with her deep aversion to killing. The accidental death of Shang Bao leaves her shocked and guilt-ridden, and her laboratory experiences make the prospect of becoming a Warrior distressing rather than desirable. Even after the fragments grant her overwhelming strength, her priority is preventing herself from harming innocent people 14 151 280 294.

She can be trusting and prone to misunderstanding situations, particularly when worried about Xiaozhu. Unable to see the Workbench, she mistakes stored items for wasted materials and comforts Xiaozhu over an imagined crafting breakdown. Yet she is sharply perceptive about danger, noticing missing possessions and an incorrect sleeping silhouette when Xiaozhu tries to conceal Bai Jing’s absence 11 29 30.

Her desire to be useful becomes a vulnerability. Feeling left behind as others awaken, she grows increasingly silent; Li Shijian later manipulates that insecurity by promising her the power to protect those she loves 233 277 278.

Abilities & Skills

Physical Strength and Logging

Qiu Shuyu is an exceptional manual worker even before receiving supernatural power 35 62.

• Hauls multiple large bundles of timber simultaneously 25.
• Combines strength with practiced technique when chopping trees and excavating compacted sludge 34 80.
• Keeps pace alone with loggers working together on the opposite side of a tree 62.
• Fells a tree in one blow while testing Song Xiaozhu’s professional iron axe 95.

Weapons Training and Archery

Her laboratory conditioning gave her extensive familiarity with weapons, although this training is inseparable from her childhood trauma 257.

• Trained with knives, long blades, bows, spears, firearms, and explosives 257.
• Declines the bow with a 30% accuracy bonus because her existing archery skill makes the improvement unnecessary 118.
• Gives Song Xiaozhu shooting pointers during their journey from the logging camp 119.
• Remains a formidable fighter without awakening, but cannot overcome the extraordinary opponent who abducts her 276.

Awakening Restrictions

Her special training makes ordinary Awakening Stones dangerous rather than beneficial 120 151.

• District Chief Hu states that she can assimilate only a specific Awakening Stone; an unsuitable one would make her explode and die 120.
• Qiu Shuyu says awakening would certainly make her a Warrior 151.
• Bai Jing’s Bodily Transmission Stone is unsuitable for her 120 151.

Fragment-Enhanced Power

After absorbing 100 Rough Stone Fragments, Qiu Shuyu gains immense destructive strength 293.

• A single punch is compared to six anti-aircraft guns firing together 293.
• Repeated blows destroy a Sword of Genesis and force Song Xiaozhu’s energy armor to absorb a potentially fatal strike 293 294.
• Her power requires recovery between attacks and remains below Fan Cang’s former practical combat strength 293 294.
• The fragments corrode her heart and consciousness, intensifying bloodlust even after she breaks free of hypnosis 294.

Undead Queen Reconstruction

Her revived body is sustained by a Super Energy Stone 295.

• Energy rapidly repairs bodily damage.
• Exhausting the stone’s energy causes dormancy.
• Repairs resume when energy is restored.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Iron axe: Purchased after establishing herself in the scavenger community; later traded to Xiaozhu for a synthesized stone axe 10 32.
• Synthesized axes: Uses and tests Xiaozhu’s stone and professional iron axes, providing practical feedback on their efficiency and critical-hit effects 45 62 95.
• Bow and special arrows: Equipped for the move to Liu Family Village; later guards Xiaozhu with paralyzing arrowheads ready 118 136.
• Bodily Transmission Stone: Entrusted to her for delivery to Wen Changye as a request for assistance 239.
• Dressing table: A battered white vanity once treasured as a symbol of comfort and security; discarded when she finds hope in a shared future with Xiaozhu 11 92 93.

Relationships

• Song Xiaozhu — Closest friend and mutual protector. Their bond is recognized by the friendship Growth Quest; the Undead Queen synthesis explicitly describes Qiu Shuyu as Xiaozhu’s “lifelong best friend” 49 278 295.
• Bai Jing — Rescuer, physician, and the person who names her. She repays his care with gifts and fierce loyalty 10 11 257.
• Tian Man — Logging coworker and later ally. She respects his capabilities but warns that someone motivated by profit could also betray them for profit 47 56.
• Luo Liuzi — Coworker and fellow member of Xiaozhu’s group. He admires her fighting ability; she considers him more straightforward than Tian Man 38 56.
• Mu Qing — Logging-camp boss who later guides her toward the Day After Tomorrow Society. Both are caught in an ambush near its headquarters 276.
• Li Shijian — Laboratory tormentor and later hypnotic controller. He forces Li Siyuan’s identity onto her and exploits her attachment to Xiaozhu 277 289 294.
• Shang Bao — Accidentally killed while she is defending Xiaozhu; his death becomes a secret binding the two friends together 14 19.

Notable Quotes

“I won't hold everyone back. But if anyone slanders my little sister, don't blame me if my fists don't watch where they land.” 35

“Kill me, Xiaozhu. Kill me now. I don't want to become like that... I don't want to kill... innocent people...” 294