He Xuan/Relationships

Heavenly Officials

Shi Qingxuan

Shi Qingxuan’s relationship with He Xuan is one of the most complex. While Shi Qingxuan boldly and repeatedly refers to him as his best friend, He Xuan, in his guise of Ming Yi, unfailingly responds by saying he isn’t. Despite this, it’s easy to see why Shi Qingxuan has this perception of the Earth Master.

Of all the officials, Ming Yi is the only one who is willing to accompany him on an investigation of the Banyue Pass, seemingly unafraid of offending the Three Tumors. He is also the only one who will change into a female form to humor Qingxuan, a thing not even Xie Lian will do. During the mission in Banyue, He Xuan puts himself between Shi Qingxuan and harm and their relationship is such that when he tells Qingxuan to step back, he readily obeys without question. Even Xie Lian thinks they must be close, despite the fact that he never hears the Earth Master say anything positive or warm to the other.

In fact, although he is very popular, it’s very likely that Ming Yi was his only “real” friend before the events of the novel. When he is concerned about the Reverend of Empty Words, Ming Yi is the only one he trusts aside from Xie Lian. When he is captured by his brother, Ming Yi and Xie Lian are again the only ones to come to his aid.

As for He Xuan’s feelings for him, the novel gives clues that he himself was not sure how he felt. While he knew Shi Qingxuan was unaware of his brother’s crimes, he still had difficulty thinking of him as an innocent party, and his ignorance was a point of contention itself. In the end, he administered “tests” to navigate how he should deal with him.

Although it’s unclear what He Xuan’s exact plans for revenge were, a few things can be gathered. Firstly, He Xuan’s intent was to place Shi Qingxuan in distress in order to disrupt Shi Wudu’s Heavenly Calamity. In its most basic form, this was to be accomplished by simply informing Shi Wudu that Qingxuan was being harassed by the Reverend of Venerable Words. This plan was disrupted by Shi Qingxuan’s unexpected involvement of Xie Lian and Hua Cheng and his desire to be brave, insisting that they not disturb his brother during his calamity.

This brought them to He Xuan telling Shi Qingxuan of Shi Wudu’s crimes and taking his spiritual powers. The next test was seeing if Shi Qingxuan, now aware of his brother’s true nature, would still stand by him. Despite everything, Shi Qingxuan cannot bring himself to abandon his brother, and this choice drives He Xuan’s decision not to exclude Qingxuan from his plans of revenge.

In the end there was a last “test” that Shi Qingxuan “failed”, though this one was in the heat of the moment but perhaps the most revealing. This was Shi Qingxuan calling him by Ming Yi's name. In fact, He Xuan becomes angry earlier in the same chapter when Shi Qingxuan calls him Ming Yi. In other words, He Xuan wanted Shi Qingxuan to see him as himself, not Ming Yi, the Earth Master. This at least broadly reflects an internal frustration He Xuan had with being so tied up in Shi Qingxuan’s life while the other didn’t know who he was.

Their last interaction illustrates further the frustration of mixed feelings. Shi Qingxuan tells He Xuan, who is disguised as Hua Cheng, to do something about the flaming meteors about to hit them. He Xuan coldly snaps that Shi Qingxuan should deal with it himself, pulls him out of the human array and hits him hard enough to send him flying. Shi Qingxuan, a final time, assumes the best of He Xuan’s actions even when he thinks he’s Hua Cheng, good-naturedly saying he was just lending him spiritual powers and assuming he’s being violent because he can’t see Xie Lian. He Xuan then throws a repaired Wind Master fan at him and repeats that he should deal with it himself. He Xuan then leaves before Shi Qingxuan can ask him anything.

Shi Wudu

Xie Lian

He Xuan and Xie Lian shares a neutral relationship. He Xuan in disguise as Ming Yi had accompanied in many missions with Shi Qingxuan along with Xie Lian and Hua Cheng although he had mentioned it wasn't his will. He Xuan had drank soup made by Xie Lian at Puqi Shrine which made him faint.

Ghosts

Hua Cheng

The two share a neutral relationship. While it’s not clear if they are friends, the two have allied with each other, as He Xuan helped Hua Cheng gather information in the Heavens while Hua Cheng helped him exact revenge on Shi Wudu. He Xuan also helped Hua Cheng by allowing him and Xie Lian to bring injured Heavenly officials to his Black Water Lair during the battle against the Heavenly Capital and disguising himself as Hua Cheng to check up on the human array. Hua Cheng states this is because he owes him a massive debt.