Chu Liuxiang is a martial arts expert whose prowess in qinggong is one of the best – if not, the best – in the jianghu (martial artists’ community). He wields a metal hand fan as his weapon and uses it only for self-defence. Despite his superb combat skills and impressive qinggong, one of his definitive traits is that he has never killed a person in his whole life – not even an enemy. Usually, he relies on his wit, experience and calm to solve mysteries and overcome enemies who are far more powerful than him. The ident.i.ty of his martial arts master is unknown, and even the well-informed Shuimu Yinji (水母陰姬) could only deduce that he is an apprentice of Ye Di (夜帝), a character from Daqi Yingxiong Zhuan (大旗英雄傳), another of Gu Long’s novels