Xie Renyu

Xie Renyu was the former lord of Jishi Hall.

## History

When Xie Renyu was young, he was obsessed with magical herbs. He was poisoned while traveling in West Mountain and was saved by a civilian woman. The two fell in love and she gave birth to Xie Qingxuan. Together with Xie Qingxuan he allegedly searched frantically for a way to lengthen a civilian lifespan but ultimately failed to save her. He let Xie Qingxuan believe his mother had died, however in actuality Xie Renyu secretly planted a vine on her and turned her into the nine-horned snake, which preserved her living body well into the time of Lu Jiu's adolescence.

He took advantage of a tumultuous time to usurp the prior lord of Jishi Hall and secure his own spot as Hall Lord. With Xie Qingxuan's help, he poisoned or killed many people including the previous Hall Lord, and in repayment he gave Xie Qingxuan the power of a young lord in secret.

Xie Renyu married Helan Ning from Helan Manor as part of a political marriage but treated her coldly; together they had Xie Qingshuang. He stayed out of the conflict as Helan Ning and Xie Qingxuan fought over political power, but when the conflict began to escalate, he worried that Xie Qingxuan might consume Lu Qingyun as a cultivation swine. He placed a trap on Lu Qingyun's spirit core which would activate in response to a fatal blow, just in case Xie Qingxuan decided to go through with killing and eating him.

Later on, Xie Qingshuang discovered the existence of Xie Qingxuan's mother, and in response Xie Renyu tried to orchestrate her death. He altered medical records and left them for Xie Qingshuang to find, then lured her to Spirit Treasure Mountain and trapped her. He meant to kill her, but instead the trap he set on Lu Qingyun activated and destroyed the gu zombie Xie Renyu had sent after Xie Qingshuang. This lead to Xie Renyu learning about Xie Qingshuang's medicinal blood, which Helan Ning had kept hidden until that point.

At some point, Xie Renyu moved the nine-horned snake to Qingshan City.

Zhou Zikun rose to power, ousting the Helan Clan as head of Helan Manor, and ordered Jishi Hall to attend to civilians in need of treatment. As a result Xie Renyu took many civilians into Qingshan City. During this time Helan Ning discovered the existence of the nine-horned snake and accidentally caused it to grow out of control. Xie Renyu ordered Xie Qingxuan to kill it so Xie Qingxuan could see his mother for the last time.

With the death of the previous head of Helan Manor, Helan Ning's political ties became weak. Xie Renyu looked the other way while Xie Qingxuan planted an evil puppet gu on her, then made a big production of looking for cures while allowing her to waste away. This was possibly additionally motivated by her responsibility for the death of the nine-horned snake. After Helan Ning passed away Xie Renyu vowed he would never take another wife.

Xie Qingxuan decided to take revenge against Xie Renyu for what happened to his mother, and as a result, plotted to wipe out Qingshan City in order to destroy Xie Renyu's reputation. Ultimately Xie Qingxuan died in the process and Lu Qingyun was made into a scapegoat for the entire incident. Xie Renyu issued a kill order for Lu Qingyun afterwards for the slaughter of Qingshan City.

Xie Renyu believed that Lu Qingyun was subsequently killed, though Xie Qingshuang secretly kept him alive and hid his existence from Xie Renyu.

After Liu Jueming took over Paradise Pavilion, Xie Renyu was enlisted by Zhou Zikun to help treat him. This was a significant drain on his spiritual power, causing his hair to begin to turn white. In order to hide this situation, he dyed his hair black using civilian techniques.

Xie Renyu was killed by Qu Jianglin during Xie Qingshuang's coup. Xie Qingshuang specifically chose to attack him after he had finished a treatment of Liu Jueming, knowing it was when he would be at his weakest.

## Trivia

* Xie Qingxuan and Xie Renyu can be distinguished in the following way: Xie Qingxuan's eye corners are drooping, while Xie Renyu's are up. Also Xie Renyu's eyebrows are thicker at the front and thinner at the back, while Xie Qingxuan's eyebrows are thick all the way through.
* Xie Renyu was responsible for teaching Xie Qingshuang swordplay as well as giving her Three Thousand Retainers.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Chapter 72: The Past
2. ↑ Chapter 79: Nine-Horned Snake
3. ↑ Chapter 73: Xie Qingxuan's Decision
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Chapter 42: Her Saber
5. ↑ Chapter 70: The Second Form
6. ↑ Chapter 75: Unanticipated
7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Chapter 82: Shock
8. ↑ Chapter 80: Start of Disagreement
9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Chapter 87: Emotional Appeals
10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Chapter 88: Motivated by Reasoning
11. ↑ Chapter 23: You Want to See Me
12. ↑ Chapter 94: Discord Between Siblings
13. ↑ Chapter 15: We Each Have Secrets
14. ↑ Chapter 10: Reluctance
15. ↑ Chapter 35: Of Two Minds (Part 1)
16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 Chapter 109: Unable to Figure It out
17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 Chapter 41: Three Thousand Retainers
18. ↑ Liu Muqiao's Weibo, specific post lost