Mu Ling

Biodata

Power Progression

Background / History

Death on the train

Mu Ling was a slender nineteen-year-old passenger aboard a train attacked by a masked killer. Terrified of being shot in the aisle, she crawled beneath a seat and tried to hide. She died in the massacre and remained trapped on the train with the other passenger ghosts for three years 24 25 29 36.

Su Cheng discovered a dusty wooden-bead bracelet bearing Mu Ling’s name behind the restroom sink. She subsequently experienced the massacre through Mu Ling’s body and emotions 22 24 25.

Encounter with Su Cheng

Mu Ling defended Su Cheng from the red-mist ghost, Qu Yutong, but was nearly devoured. Su Cheng’s thrown dagger interrupted the attack, allowing Mu Ling to sever and consume the ghost’s hands 26.

After Su Cheng killed Xunfang, Mu Ling possessed her and drew her toward identifying herself as one of the dead passengers. Su Cheng initially interpreted this as an attempt to kill her. Chen Renping later explained that Qu Yutong’s resentment had corrupted the passenger ghosts and that Mu Ling had been unable to control herself 29 31.

Mu Ling and the other ghosts helped hold off Qu Yutong while Su Cheng reconstructed and sealed her corpse. Mu Ling emerged severely injured, her soul close to dissipating 31.

Contract and escape

Rather than remain aboard the train, Mu Ling followed Su Cheng out through the bracelet. The apartment detected her and offered Su Cheng the choice of contracting with or expelling her. Mu Ling agreed to follow Su Cheng’s instructions provided they did not cross her personal boundaries 32.

Her reason for leaving was simple: escaping the train might eventually give her a chance to return home. The contract also gave Su Cheng control over Mu Ling’s release from and recall into the wooden bead 36.

Appearance

• Build and clothing: Slender and petite, with a yellow dress associated with her appearance in life 24 25 36.
• Hair and eyes: Long black hair and blood-red eyes; her hair can lengthen into dense, weaponized strands 26 56.
• Ghostly features: Deathly white skin, an incorporeal body, and downward-pointing feet while floating. Rain passes without wetting her 156.
• Battle appearance: Black markings spread across her porcelain-white face when she reveals her Vengeful Ghost visage 81.
• Signs of exhaustion: Her body becomes increasingly faint or translucent as her energy diminishes 26 46 176.

Personality

Mu Ling retains ordinary human fears and dislikes despite being a ghost. She recoils from grotesque monsters, dislikes rats, and is frightened by a jiangshi—even while helping Su Cheng restrain it. Conversely, she delights in comfortable, yin-rich resting places and unfamiliar experiences such as traveling by ship 36 45 55 58 63 112.

Her relationship with Su Cheng includes teasing and practical cooperation. She complains that Su Cheng was more entertaining when she still frightened easily, jokes about an illusory baby, and earnestly agrees to monitor Su Cheng for signs of mental assimilation 56 81 85.

Mu Ling strongly resents people who treat human lives as disposable; a woman slaughtering villagers reminds her of the train’s killer. Her wish to see her family also remains important: she urges Ruoruo not to miss a chance to reunite with her mother 42 160.

Abilities & Skills

Bizarre Threads

Long hair condensed from resentment, described by the system as both supple and sharp 36.

• Entangles, strangles, pierces, and severs targets 26 36.
• Forms defensive masses capable of blocking and twisting apart the locust tree spirit’s attacking branches 61.
• Restrains a jiangshi’s limbs to create openings for Su Cheng’s attacks, although its corpse qi can snap the strands 63 64.
• Can manipulate objects independently, including feeding Mu Ling fallen branches while her hands are occupied 62.
• Requires sufficient stored qi; it is initially shown on cooldown 36.

Shared Senses and Mental Communication

Mu Ling shares sight, hearing, and smell with her contractor. Su Cheng can switch between their viewpoints and disable an individual shared sense, such as smell 36.

• Enables remote reconnaissance, tracking, and searches without exposing Su Cheng’s physical body 36 38.
• Allows silent coordination in an instance where making noise attracts monsters 45 47.
• Gives Su Cheng access to supernatural sights normally invisible to human eyes, including death energy and the black barrier at sea 42 112.
• Their binding connection lets them sense one another’s location 46.
• The connection can be blocked by specialized barriers, as Shen Ying demonstrates 167.

Ghost Mark

An ability gained upon becoming a Vengeful Ghost. Mu Ling marks a designated target and can teleport behind them when they enter the mark’s effective range 65 81.

• Helps counter concealment: after marking Rong Hao, she locates and forcibly pulls him from his hiding place inside her illusion 96.
• Depends on the target being within the mark’s effective range; no numerical range is given 81.

Illusions and Area Control

Mu Ling can disrupt hostile illusions and impose illusions of her own after her advancement 81 96.

• Dispels the red-room deception that has placed Su Cheng at the edge of a dangerous step 81.
• Spreads her aura and black markings across a factory floor before confronting Rong Hao 96.
• Traps Rong Hao in an illusion that prevents him from seeing Su Cheng accurately, creating an opening for his execution 96.

Spirit Movement and Perception

Her soul body provides mobility and sensory advantages unavailable to an ordinary human 36.

• Can float rapidly, turn invisible, and pass through walls and other physical obstacles 36 45.
• Can still handle physical objects, including baskets, supplies, plates, and a lighter 36 45 62.
• Detects qi, death qi, resentment, and the presence of other ghosts 36 81 137.
• Remains affected by obstructed visibility: the silence instance’s thick fog limits her sight despite her incorporeal form 45.
• Cannot make carried objects invisible merely by carrying them 46.

Soul Nourishment and Energy Transfer

Mu Ling strengthens her soul by absorbing suitable qi and consuming supernatural matter 36 62.

• Restores part of her damaged soul by devouring limbs severed from the red-mist ghost 26.
• Gains substantial nourishment from the locust tree spirit’s yin-rich branches 61 62.
• Finds yin-infused bed boards beneficial for faster cultivation 55.
• Can eat offerings such as a white candle, which restores the pleasure of eating that ordinary human food no longer gives her 104.
• Transfers her remaining energy to Su Cheng during the fight against Calamity, leaving herself half-transparent 176.

Weaknesses and Restrictions

• Qi scarcity: Low-qi instances drain her soul body and limit how long she can remain outside the bracelet; resting inside helps her recover 36 38 45 46.
• Contract dependency: Su Cheng controls the bracelet’s release mechanism. When Su Cheng’s consciousness is endangered, Mu Ling can become locked inside; she believes Su Cheng’s death would mean either reclamation by the apartment or death together 36 61.
• Ghost-repelling objects: Genuine talismans can prevent her from approaching or passing through protected rooms 55 56.
• Sunlight: Causes discomfort, though she states that it does not injure her even before her advancement 36 112.
• Soul-devouring forces: The seabed stone flood dragon threatens to draw her away, forcing her to merge tightly with the bracelet 118.
• Specialized countermeasures: Shen Ying’s red butterflies consume her ghostly energy, their powder scorches her soul, and a five-coin formation traps her 167 168.
• Friendly-fire risk: Su Cheng’s Boning Knife can attempt to devour Mu Ling through her hair when it loses restraint 82.

Equipment / Items

• Wooden-bead bracelet — Bears Mu Ling’s carved name, accompanies her escape from the train, and serves as her contracted resting place. Su Cheng can release or recall her through its lock 22 32 36.
• White candle offering — Given to her by Su Cheng in the Civilization Rebuilding instance; she eagerly consumes it as ghost food 104.
• Thousand-Machine Umbrella — Su Cheng uses its shade to let Mu Ling enjoy the sea without direct sunlight 112.

Relationships

• Su Cheng — Contractor and principal companion. Their partnership combines reconnaissance, mental communication, and coordinated attacks; Su Cheng conceals Mu Ling’s continuing presence as a tactical advantage 32 36 82 95.
• Passenger ghosts — Fellow victims trapped on the train. Mu Ling rejoins them after her possession of Su Cheng and later fights alongside them against Qu Yutong 29 31.
• Chen Renping — Explains that Mu Ling’s harmful behavior resulted from Qu Yutong’s resentment rather than a deliberate wish to kill Su Cheng 31.
• Xu Shaowei — Protects her at Su Cheng’s request, guarding her apartment and later blocking Shen Ying’s killing blow 151 156.
• Ruoruo — Encourages her to see her mother despite her frightening appearance, drawing on her own longing to return home 160.
• Shen Ying — Repeated adversary who identifies Mu Ling as Su Cheng’s hidden partner and prepares anti-ghost measures specifically to neutralize her 156 167 168.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Early reconnaissance

• Plague-stricken village: Follows the beak-masked doctors, retrieves fifteen eggs and liquor, tracks Lu Heng’s medical work, and investigates a village massacre through Shared Senses 36 38 42.
• Silence instance: Scouts monster-occupied buildings and the shopping center. Helps divert monsters during Hao Ruoxue’s rescue, then spreads oil and alcohol for the mall fire 45 46 47.

Coffin Keeper

• Identifies yin-rich furnishings, investigates the villagers’ talisman-protected rooms, and helps locate the hidden ghost child beneath the inn 55 56.
• Defends Su Cheng against the locust tree spirit and identifies its underground vital point. After the tree’s destruction, consumes its branches and helps burn the mountain to distract the villagers 61 62.
• Assists against the pursuing jiangshi before entering the sleep associated with her evolution into a Vengeful Ghost 63 64 65.

Hospital and Golden Leaf Town

• Awakens during the ninth-floor red-room trap, frees Su Cheng from its illusion, and holds Liu Huizi in combat while Su Cheng rescues her companions 81 82.
• Notices Su Cheng’s unexplained familiarity with Golden Leaf High School, exposing the town’s attempt to overwrite her identity 85.
• Helps kill factory director Rong Hao by controlling the battlefield, trapping him in an illusion, and revealing his concealed position 96.

Sea voyage and Red Lotus Village

• Detects the black barrier ahead of the ship, searches for survivors after the wreck, and restrains Eck when the sea’s influence affects him 112 113 116.
• Follows the mermaids unseen to their underwater lair and overhears their plan to use sacrifices to recover their queen’s reincarnation 120.
• Warns Su Cheng about Red Lotus Village’s mixed auras and the disturbing red thread above her head, offering to monitor it for changes 137.

White Moon City and Shen Ying

• Is initially suppressed inside the bracelet until Su Cheng begins recovering her memories 150.
• Protects Xu Shaowei, helps subdue the ghost family in Room 606, and discovers a concealed chamber beneath Man Moon Hotel 151 156 159 164.
• Is trapped by Shen Ying’s butterflies and formation during the final confrontation. After Su Cheng kills Shen Ying, Mu Ling consumes the now-weakened butterflies 167 168.

Battle against Calamity

• Gives Su Cheng her last remaining energy before retreating into the chain, too depleted to continue fighting outside it 176.