Liu Yong

Biodata

History

Guo Family Village Investigation

Captain Zhou Dafu assigned Liu Yong and Xu Chunliang to accompany Head Constable Liu Neng to investigate nightly deaths at Squire Guo’s estate. Shi Qin joined them before they departed. Liu Yong initially resented being called out when Liu Neng had found no clear evidence of an anomaly, but stopped complaining after hearing that Squire Guo had offered five hundred taels of silver 10.

The village appeared peaceful despite Liu Neng’s account of thick fog the previous afternoon. While waiting beneath a willow tree, Liu Yong gossiped about a colleague’s sexual affairs. Xu Chunliang quietly drew Shi Qin back, leaving Liu Yong ahead of them. When Liu Neng beckoned from among the village elders, Liu Yong led the others into the village 10 11.

Old Madam Guo claimed that nothing was wrong and offered the three Bureau officers packets of silver. Despite his greed, Liu Yong was the first to refuse, insisting that they inspect the village before leaving. Shi Qin subsequently identified the payment as eighty-eight taels of Life Silver, containing anomalous blood 11.

Death and Erasure

Led by the steward Guo Si, the officers discovered villagers silently worshipping a rusty steelyard. Liu Yong gripped his saber and demanded an explanation. When he questioned what the “Scale Immortal” was, Guo Si knelt and offered to summon it for him alone 11.

Liu Yong was immediately engulfed in darkness. He drew his saber and struck behind him, hitting an enormous rusty scale weight. Confronted with countless hooked corpses—including those of Liu Neng, Old Madam Guo, and Guo Si—he lost control of himself. An iron hook pierced his chest and lifted him into the darkness 11.

His death erased others’ memories of him. Xu Chunliang first detected the alteration because his rollback panel still named Liu Yong. During subsequent loops, Xu Chunliang witnessed Liu Yong vanish again and preserved his memory of the event by killing himself before the erasure finished 12 13. After the surviving officers returned to the Bureau, everyone appeared to have forgotten Liu Yong 14.

Posthumous Appearance

When Xu Chunliang later brought Liu Xin and Liu Jiu to Guo Family Village, Liu Yong stood beside Guo Si in the darkness. He subsequently entered the courtyard with the steward, knelt among hundreds of black-clad figures, and repeatedly kowtowed to the Scale Immortal 35 36.

Appearance

• After death: Pale-faced, wearing a black shirt and trousers 35.

Personality

Liu Yong is explicitly described as greedy and lecherous. Promised payment quickly settled his complaints about the investigation, and in one rollback he refused to leave because he still wanted the five hundred taels. His crude gossip beneath the willow tree prompted Xu Chunliang and Shi Qin to distance themselves from him 10 11 12.

Nevertheless, he refused the villagers’ silver and insisted on completing an inspection rather than accepting their assurances. He also drew his weapon immediately when trapped by the Scale Immortal, although the sight of its hanging victims overwhelmed him 11.

Abilities & Skills

Saber Combat

• Carries a saber and reacts to the Scale Immortal’s darkness by drawing it and slashing behind himself 11.
• His strike hits the giant scale weight but does not prevent the hook from killing him 11.

Relationships

• Xu Chunliang — Bureau teammate and fellow investigator. Xu Chunliang’s rollback panel exposes the supernatural erasure of Liu Yong’s existence 10 12.
• Shi Qin — Colleague who accompanies him on the Guo Family Village investigation 10.
• Liu Neng — Head constable who requests Bureau assistance; Liu Yong addresses him familiarly as “Old Liu” 10 11.
• Guo Si — Village steward who summons the Scale Immortal against him; later appears beside him among its worshippers 11 35 36.
• Scale Immortal — His killer and the object of his posthumous worship 11 36.

Notable Quotes

“Since we're already here, you have to let us take a look around the village before we can be sure nothing's really wrong.” 11

“So this is the Scale Immortal...” 11