Gui Fa

**Gui Fa** (桂 (グイ) 花 (ファ) , *Pinyin*: Guì Huā) is a Tensen-class Sennin affiliated with Lord Tensen, being the member who specialized in the mystic art of Shu'itsu, and a partial ruler of Kotaku who went by the moniker **Decorous Monju Kōkō** (文殊公々, *Monju Kōkō*). They are a minor supporting antagonist of *Hell's Paradise: Jigokuraku*.

## Appearance

Gui Fa has short, apricot yellow colored hair, and blue eyes. Because of their shyness, Gui Fa is almost always seen keeping their face concealed by a book. When revealed, Gui Fa displays a face that is expressionless. Rather than siding with either a male or female form like their fellow Tensens, Gui Fa chooses to assume a body that combines both sexes together. Also, unlike the other Tensens, Gui Fa is unique in that their eyes are permanently surrounded by dark sclera instead of temporarily activating when experiencing intense emotions due to the body they possess.

During their affiliation with Lord Tensen, Gui Fa wore a white robe with their sleeves fastened to their wrists, a hakama tied together with an obi bearing a gem, and walked around bare foot. After expending their Tao trying to protect the Basin, Gui Fa's body became reduced to that of a child's.

After living up to the 21st century, Gui Fa's body eventually progressed back to its previous form and they started to wear a strip turtleneck sweater, pants, and shoes.

As a child 1,000 years ago, Gui Fa lacked the dark sclera around their eyes.

### Gallery

Gui Fa's full appearance.Gui Fa after the events of the Hōrai Arc.Gui Fa's appearance in the epilogue.A clone of Gui Fa in their Yin form.A clone of Gui Fa in their Yang form.Gui Fa covering their face with a book.Gui Fa's unformed head.Gui Fa as they appeared during Mei's explanation.Gui Fa as a child 1,000 years ago.Gui Fa as they appeared 800 years ago.
## Personality

Gui Fa maintains a complete deadpan demeanor and is known to be extremely shy around others, as they prefer to cover their face with a book at all times to avoid making eye contact. According to Mei, Gui Fa was shy even in the past and has noted that it has gotten worse over time. After being approached by Sagiri, Gui Fa desperately tried to make sure that she did not see their face by shifting their position. The only rare times Gui Fa is willing to show their face to others is if they were to become serious or would be in a situation where they would need to use their hands for other things.

As a Tensen, Gui Fa lacks the emotional compacity to understand the feelings of other living things, and as such, shows no sympathy towards humans, only seeing them as material to create Tan. Gui Fa even admitted that they believe that their kind and humans are incapable of coming to an understanding and that they found Sagiri's attempt at a negotiation with them to be pointless. Regardless, they have shown no signs of hostility when encountering them and would rather not engaged in conflict. Gui Fa is a firm believer that a Tensen is solely meant to follow the way of Tao and things such as bonds and emotions were less of a priority, evening going so far as to view Mei's emotions as her simply "play-acting". After five members of Lord Tensen were defeated by the human survivors, Gui Fa stated that they did not feel a sense of vengeance since they took their passing as part of their training and knew that they can be simply revived back with the Basin.

Upon learning the truth about how they and the other Tensens truly came to be, along with being left behind by Rien, Gui Fa started to develop a change in behavior. Despite their previous statement on how a Tensen like themselves do not harbor emotional feelings of attachment, even towards their own kind, Gui Fa told Mei that they were glad to see that she was still alive in the midst of the Banko's chaos and made the decision to watch over the deceased Tensens that were cultivating in the Basin for a millennium with Mei at their side, which they also had hoped that they would resurrect sooner than what was required. In regards to humans, Gui Fa started to allow themselves to show sympathy towards the race they subsisted on for centuries, such as warning Yuzuriha about the I Ching concerning the fates of the human survivors, along with helping Tōma revive Chōbei using the Basin. Despite their role as a Tensen to only focus on the way of Tao, it has been hinted by Gui Fa that they deeply desired to understand the meaning of life. Upon hearing Mei explain how she learned what it means to live after being raised by Hōko, the Tensen admitted for a brief moment that they felt a sense of envy towards her. Ultimately, Gui Fa would make the decision to leave their past on the island behind and start a new life where they would learn to adapt to human society.

Unlike the other Tensens (with Zhu Jin as an exception), Gui Fa prefers to take the middle ground in that they do not side with one gender and instead choose to maintain a body that showcases both sexes. Because of this point of view, Gui Fa finds the Bōchū Jutsu training to be a ridiculous concept and believes that their method is more effective.

## History

### Past

1,000 years ago on Kotaku, Gui Fa and the other Tensens were unknowingly born from the Tao of a single Tao puppet created by Rien as part of her and Jofuku's research in discovering the secrets to immortality. Together, the Tensens served as the rulers of Kotaku known as Lord Tensen and lived to serve Jofuku, who they believed was their creator and master and was secretly busy with his research alone, which forbidden the Tensens, other than Rien, from meeting him. Throughout their life, Gui Fa and the other young Tensens trained in the ways of Tao under Rien's tutelage and were each assigned one of the five forms of training in immortality; with Gui Fa being assigned in the realm of Shu'itsu. They were also introduced to the Hōko as tools they could use to replenish their Tao. However, after 200 years passed, the Hōko began undergoing Arborification and left the Tensens at risk of dying if they were to run out of Tao. During a meeting, in which Ju Fa expressed his frustration to the others, Gui Fa presented their idea of using the humans from Japan as another source of Tao. Mu Dan, Tao Fa, and Ju Fa took this idea into consideration and sent a Arborified Hōko as bait to lure in humans to the island.

After several centuries had passed, the Tensens successfully managed to lure in the first group of humans to Kotaku and attacked. Since then, Lord Tensen has been turning humans that came to the island into an elixir known as Tan that could increase their life spans and gain a step closer to creating an Elixir of Life.

### Edo Period

#### Lord Tensen Arc

*Main article: Lord Tensen Arc*

Gui Fa joins the other Tensens in a meeting to discuss about the humans that made landfall. Once Ju Fa and Zhu Jin confirmed that the humans they encountered were dealt with, the Tensens toast to their longevity and to their grandmaster.

Later, while Tao Fa shows off the new training area, Gui Fa commented that they found the Bōchū Jutsu bed chambers ridiculous and suggested taking a "central position" like them.

#### Hōrai Arc

*Main article: Hōrai Arc*
After Rien allowed one of the humans, Aza Chōbei, to ally with Lord Tensen due to having special Tao that could complete his research, Lord Tensen introduces to him the Hermit Ascendance Ritual.

Lord Tensen then gather and are informed by Chōbei about the remaining human survivors and their plan of invading the palace to acquire the Elixir of Life. Knowing that they plan to make their arrival at the palace, Rien initiates the Rite of Just Consumption and have the Tensens place in their respective temples.

Later, Gui Fa takes Rien's place in guarding the ritual circle while he prepares to depart to Japan. Gui Fa then encounters Sagiri and Mei after the two enter into the Rentan Temple. Gui Fa warns them not to take a step or they will be force to attack. Gui Fa tells them about Rien's whereabouts and explains that the ritual circle will be able to tell her of the current status of the humans. Sagiri then reaches for her sword, causing Gui Fa to direct their Tao towards her and force Sagiri on her knees, demanding that she remove her hand. Sagiri explains that she does not wish to fight but to apologize on behave of the humans that trespassed on their territory and wish to cease the fighting by allowing her allies to return home. After noticing how her Tao reacted, Gui Fa honors Sagiri's request but tells her that it will all be pointless once they return to Japan and explains by creating an illusion using their Tao. Gui Fa tells them that Rien plans on using the Paradise Butterflies to spread across the land ad turn every human into Waitanhua flowers to form the giant Banko, creating more perfected Tan in the process. Sagiri asks why they would go to such lengths, to which Gui Fa answers that they found humans to be valuable material ever since they first landed on the island and are now depended on them on achieving immortality. Gui Fa also says that it was meaningless for Sagiri in trying to come to a mutual understanding with each other and that all the two sides can do now is kill each other. They then look towards Shion's talismans which starts to burn, indicating that his life is slowly diminishing.

After the ritual revealed that all the Tensens were defeated, Gui Fa prepares to go to the floodgates to report back to Rien with no intentions of fighting Sagiri and Mei or avenging their comrades. Before leaving, Gui Fa becomes curious to know Mei's reason for coming back to Hōrai after so long and asks her, to which she answers that she had finally come to understand the meaning of life. Upon hearing this, Gui Fa stated that they envy her. The three then suddenly feel the palace starting to shake after the second landing party made their arrival, to which Gui Fa remarked that it was not a good sign.

Gui Fa reports back to Rien in that the Tensens have been defeated, the Rite of Just Consumption has failed, and another party of invading humans have arrived in Hōrai. While having the Dōshi take care of matters outside, Gui Fa is ordered by Rien to go to the Main Temple Annex to protect the Basin. After arriving, Gui Fa questioned if the item was really Rien's true objective. While there, Gui Fa does further investigation in Rien's laboratory and discovered a secret door that hid research material aimed at reviving a soul and found a Hōko in bed while being guarded by clones of Rien. Gui Fa then came to realize the truth; Lord Tensen's true master is Rien, the Arborified wife of Jofuku who has been using a Tao puppet to complete her goal of bringing back her husband by creating more Tan out of Japan's citizens. Gui Fa also stumbled upon the burnt talismans used for Rien's I Ching to determine the fates of those who will survive in the future events to come and learns that only two men and one woman will make it out alive. While performing their duty of protecting the Basin, Gui Fa's body shrunk as a result of expending too much of their Tao to do so.

#### Departure Arc

*Main article: Departure Arc*

After the ending of the Zhu Jin-fused Banko's rampage, Gui Fa comes outside while carrying the Basin and encounters Mei and Yuzuriha. The Tensen then tells them that in less than two hours they will not be able to stop Rien from making it to Japan and shows them through a Tao illusion of what they discovered while at Rien's laboratory, much to Mei and Yuzuriha's shock. Not knowing on whether they should support Rien or try to stop her after learning the truth, Gui Fa turns to Mei for an answer but is interrupted by Yuzuriha who wishes to hurry to the floodgates. Before going their separate ways, Gui Fa tells Yuzuriha about the fates of how many will survive in the future based on the I Ching they found earlier and warns her to not doubt the ritual.

At some point, Gui Fa encounters Aza Tōma holding his brother's plant ovule and offers to help revive him by using the Basin. Shortly after, the two watch from afar as Rien's puppet crumbles away on her ship after she came to accept Jofuku's passing. Gui Fa then decides to leave the island and settle in the mainland amongst the humans.

### New Era

After living for another several centuries (presumably during the Reiwa Era), Gui Fa currently works as an online teacher and lives with Mei after she had been fully revived. After they had finished teaching an online class, Gui Fa is informed by Mei that the plant ovules of Ju Fa and Tao Fa have started to sprout, much to their surprise, and hopes the same progress will happen with the other Tensens as they walk with Mei.

## Abilities and Powers

As one of the rulers of Kotaku, Gui Fa had partial authority over everything that went on and could command the Dōshi, Monshin, and Sōshin.

### Tao

*Further information: Tao*
Gui Fa possesses Metal-attribute Tao and has complete mastery over it. After spending 1,000 years of training, Gui Fa's Tao has been greatly refined to where others could view their abilities as god-like. With its use, Gui Fa can sense the presence of others, the movements and weak spots of their opponents, and enhance their physical attacks.

Gui Fa is capable of creating illusions using their Tao, which they primarily use to explain to people past events that are in accordance to their memories or events that will happen in the future based on their depiction. By releasing and targeting their Tao, Gui Fa is also able to make their enemies fall to their knees from the pressure they emit and diminishes their ability to move.

### Regeneration

As a Tensen, Gui Fa possesses the regenerative abilities of Flower Tao. Since they possess Metal Tao, Gui Fa's regeneration can only be weakened if they were to face a Tao user that possesses the Fire-attribute, and the only known way of killing them is if the said Fire Tao user completely destroys their plant ovule within their tanden.

### Yin-Yang

Gui Fa is able to switch chis of either Yin or Yang to augment their Tao and recover any lost. As Gui Fa switches in and out, their sex changes to match the chi, which is put to use whenever they engage in Bōchū Jutsu training. However, unlike the Tensens, Gui Fa maintains a body that represents both sexes by cycling between their Yin and Yang chis. As a result, their chi cycle will continue to flow and allow Gui Fa to gather more Tao.

### Kishikai Transformation

As a Tensen, Gui Fa is able to enter into a monstrous transformation where they are able to unleash overwhelming power. Since the Kishikai exerts too much Tao, Gui Fa could only hold the transformation for up to half an hour before they became reduced to a weakened body.

## Quotes

* (To Sagiri) "*Perhaps you believed that by talking it out we would come to a mutual understanding? No matter what you think you know of us, you've come barking up the wrong tree. Humans are nothing more than raw materials for the elixir. We feel for your kind no more than we would small birds or beasts.*"
* (To Yuzuriha and Mei) "*Love makes humans petty and cruel. Full of arrogance, lacking in decorum. Suspicious and paranoid beyond reason. And though it cannot last forever...it drives humans to sacrifice all they have.*"

## Trivia

* Like the rest of Lord Tensen, Gui Fa is named after a flower. "Gui Fa" (桂花) meaning "sweet osmanthus".
	+ Also, like the other members of Lord Tensen, Gui Fa shares similarities to one of the Eight Immortals, Lan Caihe being the case since Lan was an immortal whose gender was considered to be ambiguous.
	+ Gui Fa's time carrying the Basin reflects how Lan Caihe is recognizably depicted carrying a flower basket that contains plants and medicinal herbs associated with longevity.
* Gui Fa's rankings in the Popularity Polls:
	+ In the first popularity poll, Gui Fa ranked 34th place, which they also shared with the Iwagakure Chief, Tokugawa Nariyoshi, and Ran.
	+ In the second popularity poll, Gui Fa ranked 30th place, which they once again shared with Ran.
* Gui Fa's alias refers to Manjushri (文 (もん) 殊 (じゅ) 菩 (ぼ) 薩 (さつ) , *Monju Bosatsu*, *Literal meaning:* Gentle Glory), a bodhisattva who is the representation of wisdom.
* In terms of referring to themselves, Gui Fa uses the Japanese pronoun "boku" (僕), which is most commonly used by males.
* Gui Fa and Mei are the only Tensens to have had their bodies shrunken and were the only two who did not showcase their regeneration ability. Gui Fa is also the only Tensen who did not enter their Kishikai.
* According to *Jigokuraku Kaitai Shinsho*, Gui Fa's sclera are permanently dark due to the combination of their two chi's. Although this is the case, the clones of Gui Fa created by the Zhu Jin-fused Banko were shown to possess the same eyes but had either assumed a male or female form. In Chapter 76, a young Gui Fa can be seen without their darken sclera, though it is unknown if they assumed a combined or single chi body.
* Like the other Tensens, Gui Fa inherited Rien's child-like artistry and Chinese language.
	+ According to the Q&A of *Jigokuraku Kaitai Shinsho*, Gui Fa is stated by Kaku to be the one Tensen that has an improved artistic sense that is regarded as being average at best.
* Having lived up to the 3rd millennium, Gui Fa became the oldest out of the Tensens. This would also mean that Gui Fa is the oldest being in existence.
* During remote lessons, Gui Fa keeps their face hidden from their students.

## References

1. ↑ *Jigokuraku Kaitai Shinsho*, page 63
2. ↑ *Jigokuraku Kaitai Shinsho*, page 63
3. ↑ *Jigokuraku* Chapter 81, page 2
4. ↑ *Jigokuraku* Chapter 112, page 16
5. ↑ *Jigokuraku Kaitai Shinsho*, page 63