Xie Lian

Name: Xie Lian Species: human (formerly), god (now) Gender: male Height: 178 cm Country: China Language: ancient dialect of Chinese, does not understand modern languages. Age: 800 years He somehow came from the times of Ancient China to the modern world and suddenly met a modern human...

Xie Lian is described as a handsome and youthful-looking youth with graceful features, skin as fair and smooth as porcelain. Often smiles softly. However, despite the beauty and delicate features of his face, one glance was enough to recognize him as a man.[3] Xie Lian has long, raven hair.[4]

He almost always wears the simple white robes of a Taoist monk[5], which are quite shabby, since due to poverty he only has a few spare sets[6]. His neck is wrapped in white tape, hiding the black design of the cursed kanga[7], the second cursed kanga is located on his ankle and is usually hidden by boots.[8]. He also has a white ribbon wrapped around his wrist, which is actually his magical weapon with its own personality - Zheu[9]. A notable detail of his image is the conical bamboo douli hat that Xie Lian wears in memory of the nameless farmer who showed him genuine selfless kindness and compassion during the worst moment of his life.[10]

Youth Xie Lian was born into the imperial family of the Xianle Kingdom. From an early age, His Highness was pleased and pampered; the hardships of a simple human life were unknown to him. The sovereign and his wife treated the heir like a pearl in the palm of their hand: they doted on him and constantly repeated that the fate of an enlightened ruler awaited their son. However, he did not grow up greedy or selfish; on the contrary, he showed no interest in power, wealth and honors and only said that all he wanted was to save the common people. Possessing a beautiful appearance and an altruistic disposition, he bathed in popular love and veneration, which he perceived as due and deserved treatment[2]. Freed from the difficulties of everyday life, thanks to the help of bodyguard Feng Xin and servant Mu Qing, Xie Lian could devote all his time to improving his body and spirit, studying the beautiful sciences and fencing art, which he loved with all his soul. As soon as the topic of combat came up, Xie Lian would light up with enthusiasm and forget about everything in the world[11]. In addition to the abstract “people”, Xie Lian was also kind to individual people if he saw good inclinations in them, so he brought the simple servant Mu Qing closer to himself, since he considered him extremely gifted, but who was prevented from developing by his low origin and quarrelsome character[12 ].

By the time of his third ascension, Xie Lian had become a kind and gentle person. Although he recognizes his abilities, he remains down to earth. He never puts his status above others and treats people equally, ignoring status as a sign of his own importance.

He is a compassionate person, ready to offer his help, indifferent to the opinions of others. Although he does not care about reputation, he still often finds himself in situations where he is unsure whether to laugh or cry, usually at moments that make him feel embarrassed or embarrassed.[9][28]

Although he does not forget past grievances, most of them tend to fade into the background, and he does not hesitate to save those with whom he has had conflicts.[29] Likewise, he is loyal to those who are kind to him and those he considers friends. Even though he has seen the worst of what both humanity and the gods have done, he can also see the best in others. He sometimes misperceives people's personalities, but usually he is convinced of their good sides and believes in the people he knows, even when circumstances suggest otherwise.[29]

In the most dire situations, he can still remain calm and come up with strategies to defeat the enemy. However, when faced with Hua Cheng's flirtatious and romantic gestures, he becomes very nervous[30]. Even though he is strategically smart and able to see through people's lies and deceit due to his years of suffering and evidence of political strife, he seems to be partially oblivious to romantic gestures.

His Royal Highness the Crown Prince (太子殿下 Taizi Dianxia) - Xie Lian's pre-ascension title, which also became a common title after the ascension, is usually shortened to "Your Highness" or "His Highness the Crown Prince". Xianle (仙乐 Xianlè) - Xie Lian's official title, taken after his ascension, is identical to the name of the state of Xianle. God of War Crowned with Flowers (花冠武神 Hua Guan Wu Shen) is a title coined by the people after the ascension. “His sanctuaries were erected by decree of the ruler, the best craftsmen from all over the country were invited to create sculptures, and the faces of the statues were carved in strict accordance with his own. In addition, because of his famous saying “The body is in the hell of endless torment, the soul is at the Peach Spring,” artisans made it a habit to decorate his images with wreaths and plant entire groves of flowering trees near temples. In those days, Xie Lian was often called that: God of War Crowned with Flowers.”[7] His Royal Highness, the God-Pleasing One (太子悦神 Taizi Yue Shen) is a title popularly coined after Xie Lian's performance as the "God-Pleasing Warrior" during the Heaven Worship Ceremony. Garbage God (破烂神 Pòlàn shén) - a pseudo-title he received after his third ascension, due to the fact that before his ascension he spent about 800 years in the mortal world, earning money by the most inglorious methods - street circus performances, garbage collection and the like.

The God of Misfortune, the Spirit of Pestilence (霉神 Méi shén, 瘟神 Wēnshén), a popular nickname, emerged after followers became disillusioned with his divinity during his intervention in the Xianle Civil War. The spirit of the plague is a person who brings misfortune. Laughingstock of the Three Worlds (三界笑柄 Sānjiè xiàobǐng) is a mocking nickname among heavenly officials[31]. Advisor Fang Xin (芳心国师 Fāng Xīn Guóshī) is the name Xie Lian took when he was made advisor to the Emperor of the Yong'an Kingdom (which was founded by rebels who destroyed Xie Lian's homeland of Xianle, so he could not introduce himself by his real name). It is derived from the name of his sword Fangxin (芳心剑 Fāngxīn Jiàn). Hua Xie, General Hua (花谢 Huā xiè, 花将军 Huā jiāngjūn) is an alias taken by Xie Lian while on the border with Banyue, where the surname Hua means "flower" and was taken by Xie Lian from the title "God of War Crowned with Flowers" "[32]. Also, Xie Lian introduced himself with the surname “Hua” in an extra about memory loss[33]. Gege (哥哥 gēgē) - an address to an older brother (Hua Cheng), takes on a playful shade of flirting in the mouth of a girl addressing a guy. My Crowned Brother (太子表哥 Taijia Biao Ge) - Qi Rong's address. Elder Uncle (大伯公 Dà bógōng) is the address of the residents of the Phantom City (they address him this way because Hua Cheng is “like a father” to the residents of the city, and he calls Xie Lian gege, “elder brother”) [34].

He boasts excellent skills when it comes to renovating houses, digging wells, or building, but he is not naturally good at “feminine” tasks like cooking or sewing[35]. As a former prince, he is well versed in all areas of the arts such as music, dance, and calligraphy. After his second exile, he often sold goods, played instruments, and sang songs on the street. Due to his bad luck, Xie Lian couldn't hold a decent job for long because he was causing trouble for everyone, so he had no choice but to collect trash.[36] Before his expulsion, he was a picky eater, and had been since childhood[37]. His cultivation path required him to abstain from worldly pleasures such as sex and alcohol and strong emotions - joy, sadness, anger. However, Taoists of this path could not limit themselves to visiting places where strong emotions were provoked, as long as they knew how to keep their feelings under control[38]. It was also not prohibited to drink alcohol in small quantities. But the intimate sphere of life did not interest Xie Lian at all in principle, no matter what pictures were revealed to his gaze, he only calmly quoted the “Tao Te Ching” and his body and soul remained unshakably calm. So much so that he did not even hesitate to admit his male impotence[39]. As a result, he was a virgin for 800 years until he married Hua Cheng. Even though he is still powerful, his cultivation abilities have decreased significantly after breaking his chastity. The password to his personal spiritual communication network: “Recite the Tao Te Ching one thousand times, that’s all.” Many celestials were deceived by this, thinking that they needed to read the text of the book a thousand times, although the password itself was this phrase. The only people who found this joke funny were Xie Lian himself, Hua Cheng, and Feng Xin, but the latter had a strangely low threshold for laughter, so Xie Lian did not feel any pleasure at all that the joke seemed funny to Feng Xin.[40]