Xingqiu

Every merchant in Liyue Harbor knows of Xingqiu from the Feiyun Commerce Guild. All see him as a kind and well-mannered young man who is an excellent student, a top talent in every sense. As the second-born son of the family, Xingqiu is not required to shoulder the burden of managing the Guild's affairs. However, Xingqiu possesses a unique scholarly talent among his peers — that is, the offspring of Liyue's wealthiest merchants — and was often praised by his tutors as a young student. Xingqiu's elder brother, while learning the family business from their father, firmly believed that Xingqiu would become a great asset to the business one day. However, little did he know that Xingqiu, after finishing the dauntingly thick volumes on commerce and philosophy, would hollow them out and sneak martial art novels into them, which he read incessantly thereafter. Sometimes, Xingqiu suddenly disappears for hours at a time with no explanation. When asked why, he simply replies: "A moment of solitude."

To Xingqiu, "a moment of solitude" can mean all sorts of things. Examples include visiting Wanwen Bookhouse to peruse the latest novels and going to Heyu Tea House to sample Yun Jin's latest drink. Sometimes, it means that he is off to fight for justice in the name of chivalry. Defeating bandits on the road, driving away monsters, helping distressed children by fetching their kites from the tree tops... there are all manner of responsibilities that fall into the category of chivalry. Inspired by tropes from his beloved martial arts novels — such as the king who wears a disguise and mingles with the common folk — Xingqiu does not hesitate to leverage the power of the Feiyun Commerce Guild to resolve more complex issues when violence isn't the answer.

One day, Xingqiu's older brother came looking for him, only to find he wasn't around. When Xingqiu later returned, he came across his brother in the hallway. "Your room was a mess, so I cleaned it up. Listen, both you and I are responsible for the reputation of Feiyun Commerce Guild. We have to act the part. If you can't clean up a room, how will you clean up the world? An adeptus once said..." After half an hour of lecturing, Xingqiu was finally let go, but his brother said something strange at the end: "I'll not enter your room without permission next time... I'll make sure the maids do the same." Xingqiu had no idea what he was talking about. However, as his brother turned away, with a despondent look upon his face, he muttered to himself: "Those books under his bed... No. No, I shouldn't go looking at what kind of books they are... Xingqiu is growing up after all... Don't want to be lecturing him all the time... Puberty perhaps?" Afterwards, even Xingqiu found it odd. Expecting that one of the maids would have something to say about the stash of martial arts novels under his bed, he had long since prepared his response, but in the end, no one ever bothered to check his room again.

To keep Xingqiu from spending his whole day at Wanwen Bookhouse in Feiyun Slope, his father agreed to let him learn martial arts from the Guhua Clan. Much to his dismay, Xingqiu quickly discovered that Guhua was a dying art that had been in constant decline for years. There was no proper tuition and it turned out the luxury dojo he had signed up in didn't even belong to the clan — they had just rented it temporarily to keep up appearances. Xingqiu's father was, of course, fully aware of this state of affairs in advance. To him, the whole thing was just for fun. He thought Xingqiu would be content to learn a spot of bladework for show, not for serious self-defense. He hadn't counted on the prodigiously intelligent and extremely well-read Xingqiu being as outstanding a talent in Guhua as he was in every other discipline he had turned his hand to. A combination of his own intuition and extensive knowledge of ancient literature meant he was able to completely revitalize the dead art. Xingqiu was disappointed by Guhua's martial arts program at the beginning, but he found the other tricks they taught to be exactly what he had hoped for. Quicklime, smoking sand, paper fish, sword-swallowing, fire-breathing... Xingqiu was spoilt for choice. He decided on the spot that he would learn them all, no matter how long it would take him. He reasoned that they would be useful to have in his repertoire during his future exploits as a chivalrous hero.

There are two sides to the swashbuckling Xingqiu's personality. While quiet and unassuming in front of strangers, he is gregarious and chatty in the company of close friends and family. Though more restrained than his elder brother, he even has a playful and mischievous side. The one who usually bears the brunt of his bizarre sense of humor is someone named Chongyun, an exorcist usually found on one of the forest trails around Liyue. "Chongyun... I found a haunted house for you to practice in..." "Chongyun, you have to believe me... It wasn't me who laid the traps inside that haunted house— What? It's not haunted? Well... I, uh, couldn't have known that, could I?" "Chongyun... Don't glare at me like that... Look, you're injured. You'd better just lie there and get some rest." "Tell you what, Chongyun, we have a maid who learned the art of essential oil therapy in a nobleman's house in Sumeru... How about I ask her to tend to your wounds? You owe me for this, though..."

The notion of chivalry means different things to different people. Chivalry means listening to your conscience calling you to action when you see an injustice, right? Or is chivalry simply about knowing right from wrong? No, that's not enough — it must have something to do with being a righteous person... To Xingqiu, chivalry simply means: be good, and do good. As a son of a wealthy merchant in Liyue Harbor, he was born to ride the waves in the world of trade. Notions of chivalry should have gradually left him as he grew up. However, obtaining a Vision changed everything — it meant he was finally able to accomplish those legendary deeds he could only dream of as a child. Of course, there is no way he can completely divest himself of his duties in the Guild, but so long as he gets to go out and be the hero even occasionally, he is perfectly content with his life. The only thing that can wipe the smile from Xingqiu's face is when cynics question the true motives of chivalrous heroes. Rank, reputation, reward, shadowy deals... Whenever Xingqiu hears people smearing the names of true heroes, the expression on his face may not change, but he will be sure to add that person to the special section of his blacklist reserved for people he despises even more than carrots.

Xingqiu once wrote a martial arts novel named "A Legend of Sword" based on his own experiences, intending to publish it in Liyue Harbor. To his surprise, his manuscript was rejected by local publishing houses, who believed that no one would have any interest in a story with "a setting as wildly unrealistic as the plot is banal." Undeterred, Xingqiu had a few copies printed privately, and sneakily placed them on the shelves of Wanwen Bookhouse during one of his many trips there. But just as the publishers had suspected, it failed to garner much interest from readers. This was quite a blow to Xingqiu's confidence. Unbeknownst to him, however, a passing merchant from Inazuma did purchase a copy to bring home, where it received rave reviews. Writers the region over attempted to copy the success of "A Legend of Sword," but none succeeded — it maintains permanent residency in the number one bestseller spot to this day.

The martial arts school known as the Guhua Clan has been in decline for several hundred years now. In its heyday, the name of the Clan rang like steel throughout the harbor. It was said that the Clan harbored three great secret arts — the ways of the "Light Piercer" for polearms, "Rain Cutter" for swords, and "Life Ender" for those who excelled in both. The three arts would be refined over the generations, and with time would reach their apex. Yet the Clan's strength would continue to wane, leading to them losing their influence... The three arts became diamonds hidden in the rough, quietly awaiting a successor. After many years, the Guhua Clan would finally get one in Xingqiu. It was he who successfully grasped the ancient "Martial Principle" after merely four years of study. The Guhua weapon arts stress using the weapon as an extension of your body, and indeed this is a common idea amongst the various schools of martial arts in Liyue. But the way Xingqiu saw it, the basis of the polearm and sword was the use of a Vision. Martial artists were meant to see a Vision as an extension of themselves, and see their weapon as an extension of the Vision. Hence, he says: the arts of both the polearm and the sword are just the art of the "eye." Having come to this epiphany, Xingqiu took up a quill and penned a verse on the Martial Principle. Reading it, the Guhua head was shaken with tears, declaring that "it is not Xingqiu who needs the Guhua Clan, but the Guhua Clan that needs Xingqiu." Since then, this verse has been sealed up at the Clan headquarters at Wangshan Hall. Disciples are proscribed from reading it, much less outsiders. The verse reads thus: Guhua's arts I have studied long, in its secrets I am trained, now its long-lost depths fall upon me like the coming of blessed rain. The beating heart of Guhua's sword art is as a shower of floating flowers. One amidst may seize a bloom, but those without read only doom. The Guhua lance is a lantern's dance, like flames in night's deep glooming. Like sparks, they scatter with ease in the dark, then join like the daybreak looming. They say the sword is as your arm — I say its glint is the beholder's eye, a light like the bright dawn coming. Those who wander are burdened not. Freely they cut rain, and enlightened they pierce light. Like a snaking dragon, they cannot be subdued. In their right eye the blade, and in the other the spear. This text should have been free for all to read. The only reason why it was sealed is the dreadful handwriting.