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Seven People Exploring Ghost Town - Hua Liang (The Matchmaker) Setting
1. Basic Files
- Name: A-luan (in life) / Hua-liang (after transforming into a ghost)
- Identity: She was the headmistress of the "Zhaoyuan Pavilion" in Huaixi Town during her lifetime. She was famous for her "Qianyuan Flower Paper" - those seeking love only needed to write down their wishes, and she would use special flower juice to draw on the paper. If the flowers on the paper were in full bloom, it would indicate that fate had arrived. After transforming into a ghost, she used the flowers in the town as a place to stay, becoming a "Flower Fairy" who specialized in haunting old relationships.
- Appearance:
- Before death: She often wore a water-green skirt with lotus flowers embroidered on the hem, a fresh white jasmine hairpin in her hair, and her fingertips were always stained with light pink flower juice. When she smiled, the corners of her eyes would bend into crescents, revealing a gentle aura.
- After transforming into a ghost: the hem of his clothes is stained with dark red floral mud, the jasmine in his hair is half withered and half flourishing, his skin is a very light bluish-white, and only his fingertips are still stained with fresh pink - that is the lingering juice of the flower paper; when he is emotionally excited, tiny petals will float around his body, and thorny vines will quickly grow where the petals fall to the ground.
2. Core Ability: Flower Curse
During her lifetime, A-Luan's "Flower Notes" weren't just any ordinary craft, but a secret family technique. Using her own blood essence mixed with flower juice, she would create a painting on the note, which would then subtly imbue it with the aura of the person seeking a connection. After transforming into a flower spirit, this ability evolved into a "Flower Curse":
1. Guiding Fate: She can sense the aura of those in the seven-person team who have a past relationship with her, and lead them to places in the town related to the past through flower petals (such as the ruins of Zhaoyuan Pavilion and the old locust tree where she sent the flower note).
2. Cursed Fate: If the person being led tries to escape from old memories, she will make him/her fall into a "flower dream" - the scene of that year will be repeated in the dream, and each time it is repeated, the scene will have an additional "tampered detail", gradually disintegrating the other person's psychological defense line (for example: the person who received the flower note in the past will see the handwriting on the flower note turn into the lie he/she did not tell in the dream).
3. Fate: Her true form is hidden under the largest old crabapple tree in the town. As long as the crabapple tree is not withered, she will not disappear. The flowering period of the crabapple tree will change with the attitude of the seven people towards their old relationship. If someone faces the past, the crabapple tree will drop a petal; if everyone runs away, the crabapple tree will bloom blood-red flowers.
3. The bond with the seven-member team: the missed flower appointment
Twenty years ago, seven people were playmates in Huaixi Town, and five of them had asked A Luan for "fate":
- Captain Chen Mo: When he was seeking for a "career destiny", A-luan drew a trumpet creeper for him and reminded him, "If you succeed in the future, remember to come back to the town to water the old crabapple tree" - but Chen Mo never came back after he left, and even the letter that A-luan asked someone to deliver before her death fell into the sea.
- Doctor Lin Wei: She once prayed for "peace and happiness" to help her seriously ill mother recover. Alua used her own blood and essence to mix flower juice and drew a "carnation". Three days after she sent the flower note, Lin Wei's mother passed away. Lin Wei believed that it was Alua's "curse" that harmed her mother. She tore up the flower note in public and called her a "liar who pretended to be a god."
- The other three: Some sought "marriage" but broke the promise, some sought "friendship" but abandoned their friends in times of crisis - these unfulfilled promises became A-luan's obsession after her death, and also became the root cause of her entanglement with the seven people.
4. Personality and Obsession
- Personality: She was gentle and stubborn when she was alive, and believed that "fate must be kept". Even if the other party only made a promise casually, she would remember it in her heart. After turning into a ghost, this stubbornness turned into paranoia. She would be particularly harsh on those who "betrayed the promise", but would secretly show mercy to those who sincerely repented (for example: when she appeared in Lin Wei's dream, she would leave a bowl of sweet soup that her mother used to make in her dream).
- Core obsession: Not revenge, but "wanting an answer" - she wants to know whether those people truly believed in "fate" when they wrote down their wishes, and why they easily broke their promises; if the seven of them can return to the old crabapple tree together and say the "apologies" they didn't say back then, her obsession will dissipate and turn into flower mud to nourish the crabapple tree.
Seven People Exploring Ghost Town - Chen Ba Setting
1. Basic Files
- Name: Chen Ba
- Identity: He was the last descendant of the Miao Gu family in Huaixi Town. Because his family had guarded the "Evil-Suppressing Gu" for generations, the villagers feared him and called him "born with evil spirits." He is now the "guardian" of the ghost town, using Gu as a medium, and is also a hidden "old acquaintance" among the seven-member team - twenty years ago, he was the most silent of the seven childhood playmates.
- Appearance:
- During his lifetime: He often wore an indigo-blue Miao cloth shirt, a silver belt embroidered with poisonous insect patterns around his waist, and an old silver bracelet on his left hand (a "poison-suppressing bracelet" passed down from his family). Because he raised poisonous insects all year round, his fingertips always had a faint herbal fragrance. He had a cold look in his eyes, but he would secretly feed stray cats.
- After transforming into a ghost: the silver belt is rusted, and there is a crack in the silver bracelet (the bracelet is broken, causing some of the poisonous insects to go out of control). The skin color is almost transparent blue-gray, and dark purple poisonous patterns are crawling from the right shoulder to the collarbone. When the emotions are excited, the poisonous patterns will glow, and tiny black poisonous butterflies will float around the body. When speaking, the voice is filled with the subtle noise of the poisonous insects flapping their wings, but it still maintains the cold and hard tone it had in life.
2. Core Ability: Suppressing Evil Spirits
Chen Ba's abilities stem from the "Zhen Sha Gu" inherited from his family. This is a special Gu worm that feeds on his own blood and essence and is used to suppress the evil spirits of ghosts. After transforming into a ghost, the Gu magic is bound to his obsession, forming three abilities:
1. Attract evil: Able to manipulate the hostility of the ghost town, spreading "Gu fog" on the road where the seven people pass. The fog will reveal the illusions of the mistakes the seven people made in the past (such as pushing their companions and concealing the truth). Touching the illusions will cause burning pain on the skin, and the pain is proportional to the severity of the mistakes.
2. Memory Suppression: His silver bracelet can temporarily "seal" part of the memories of others. If seven people try to explore the past related to him, the silver bracelet will become hot and release poisonous insects, causing the person to fall into a "memory blank" until they voluntarily give up the exploration. However, this ability has a backlash - every time a memory is sealed, his own memory will become a little blurry.
3. Live and die together: He and the "Evil-Suppressing Pillar" of Ghost Town (hidden in the basement of the Miao Family Ancestral Hall) live and die together. If the Pillar is destroyed, the evil spirit in Ghost Town will completely get out of control, and he will also dissipate. The state of the Pillar is linked to whether the seven people face the "truth of twenty years ago" - every time someone confesses their mistakes from the past, a crack on the Pillar will heal.
3. The bond with the seven-member team: hidden protection
Twenty years ago, a "rebellion disaster" broke out in Huaixi Town. Many people in the town were affected by the rebellion and became manic. The root cause of this disaster was the ignorance of seven young people - they secretly broke into the Miao family's ancestral hall and overturned the "Zhen Gu Altar" that suppressed the rebellion, causing the poisonous insects to escape and the rebellion to leak out.
- At that time, in order to protect them from being held accountable by the villagers, Chen Ba took all the blame alone and lied that it was his own fault for raising the Gu; to make up for his mistake, he used the family's secret technique to guide the "Zhensha Gu" into his body and forcibly suppressed his violent temper, but the Gu worm backfired and he "died suddenly" in the alley behind the ancestral hall (in fact, his body was devoured by the Gu worm, and his soul was bound to the Zhensha Pillar, becoming the guardian of the town).
- Although the seven people knew the truth at the time, they chose to remain silent out of fear: some were afraid of being ostracized by the villagers, some were afraid of bearing the consequences, and some even deliberately forgot this memory later - this "collective silence" became the source of Chen Ba's obsession, and also made him have a complicated attitude towards the seven people: he hated their escape, but was also afraid that they would be consumed by hostility when seeking the truth.
4. Personality and Obsession
- Personality: In life, he was taciturn but very loyal. He believed that "protecting someone means doing it to the end" and would not argue even if he was misunderstood. After becoming a ghost, his restraint turned into indifference. He always responded to the seven people's temptations with cold words, but would quietly release the Gu butterfly to protect them when they were in mortal danger (such as being attacked by other ghosts). He never mentioned the past, but when he saw the seven people helping each other, the Gu mist around him would fade a little.
- Core obsession: Not revenge, but "facing the truth" - he wants the seven people to remember the truth of the past, admit their evasion, and even more so, let them know: he has never blamed them for their mistakes, but only regrets that they don't even have the courage to face them; if the seven people can collectively confess their mistakes in front of the evil-suppressing pillar, his obsession will dissipate, the evil-suppressing Gu will return to peace, and the hostility in the ghost town will be completely suppressed.
Seven People Exploring Ghost Town: Ghost Bride Chen Hongxia
1. Basic Files
- Name: Chen Hongxia
- Identity: In her lifetime, she was the daughter of a tailor shop in Huaixi Town and the fiancée of "Li Mao" in the seven-member team. Twenty years ago, she drowned in the Yanzhi River east of the town three days before her wedding due to an "accident". Now she is a ghost trapped on her "wedding date" in the ghost town, taking refuge in an old sedan chair by the river. She is the "emotionally triggered boss" encountered by the seven people in their search for the truth - her appearance is always associated with "wedding-related items" (red silk, wedding handkerchiefs, and the sound of suona).
- Appearance:
- Before death: She often wore a lilac-colored cloth skirt, had her hair in double buns, and tied a red string on the ends of her hair. Due to years of needlework, her fingertips had calluses, and when she smiled, she would reveal a pair of dimples. She spoke with a soft and sticky accent, and she always loved to embroider a wedding veil by the window, looking forward to her wedding day.
- After becoming a ghost: She wears a faded red wedding gown, the hem of which is still stained with river mud and water plants, her hair sticks to her cheeks, her face is the bluish-white color unique to drowned people, and only her lips still retain the rouge she had applied when she was alive; in her hand she always holds half a veil embroidered with the word "Mao", and when she walks, it makes a "splashing" sound of water. If someone mentions "Li Mao" or "wedding", turbid tears will seep into her eyes, and red silk with moisture will float around her body.
2. Core Competency: Marriage Curse
Chen Hongxia's ability stems from her unfinished wedding obsession, deeply bound to the "water vapor of the Rouge River" and "wedding items," forming a triple special spell:
1. Marriage Call: The player can sense the presence of "Li Mao" among the seven people, and through the reflection on the river surface and the swaying curtain of the old sedan chair, he creates a "wedding illusion" - the illusion will repeat the scenes of her wedding preparations during her lifetime (embroidering the wedding veil, trying on the wedding dress, listening to the matchmaker announce the wedding date), but each illusion will suddenly end with the scene of her drowning, and the details of the scene will become clearer as Li Mao's emotions fluctuate (for example: if Li Mao feels guilty, he will see himself in the illusion standing by the river, but he did not reach out to save her).
2. Bride Entanglement: If anyone in the seven-person team touches her old belongings (such as the bridal veil, the sedan chair, and the wedding dress she embroidered during her lifetime), they will be possessed by the "Bride Entanglement Curse" - the possessed person will uncontrollably imitate her actions in her lifetime (embroidering the bridal veil, arranging the wedding dress), and her voice will repeatedly ring in their ears: "My wedding date, why hasn't it come yet?"; If Li Mao does not actively appear and respond, the possessed person will gradually lose consciousness and be dragged towards the Yanzhi River by the water vapor.
3. River Sacrifice: She can control the flow of the Rouge River. When the seven people approach the river, the river surges up into "wedding dress-shaped waves", and the vague shadows of the witnesses from that year will emerge from the waves. These shadows cannot speak, but they will use actions to imply that "her drowning was not an accident" (for example, the shadows will point to the reeds on the other side of the river, suggesting that there are evidence hidden there); but this ability has limitations: the shadows will only fully appear on the "15th night of the lunar calendar" (the day of her original wedding).
3. Bonds with the Seven-Person Team: The Unspoken Truth
Twenty years ago, Chen Hongxia's "accidental drowning" was not accidental, but was related to the "collective concealment" of the seven-member team:
Three days before his wedding, Li Mao, fearing the burden of supporting a family after marriage, argued with two of his companions (Zhao Qiang and Sun Mei) by the Yanzhi River, declaring, "I don't want to get married anymore. I want to go out and make my own living." Chen Hongxia, who happened to be delivering her wedding handkerchief, overheard them. Overwhelmed, she struggled with Li Mao and fell into the river. Panicked, Li Mao tried to rescue her, but Zhao Qiang held him back, saying, "If you save her, she'll definitely let the whole town know you don't want to get married!" Fearing trouble, Sun Mei threw Chen Hongxia's dropped wedding handkerchief into the river. The three of them chose to remain silent, watching her being swept away by the current. Later, they lied to others, claiming, "She accidentally fell into the water."
- Although the other four people (captain Chen Mo, doctor Lin Wei, etc.) were not directly involved, Li Mao asked them for help after the incident. They chose not to report it because they were "afraid of offending Li Mao's family" and "did not want to be involved in right and wrong." This identity of "silent accomplice" also caused them to trigger Chen Hongxia's "marriage curse" when facing her, but the strength of the curse was much lower than Li Mao's.
4. Personality and Obsession
- Personality: Gentle and persistent during her lifetime, she believed that "after getting married, one must live a good life". Even though she knew that Li Mao came from an ordinary family, she was willing to accompany him to fight for his life. After becoming a ghost, this persistence turned into paranoia. She was particularly sensitive to "Li Mao's escape" and had a slight resentment towards "those who knew but did not report it", but her nature was still kind - if anyone among the seven people took the initiative to help her find the evidence from that year (such as the other half of the wedding veil thrown into the river), she would temporarily put away the curse and even gently guide the direction of the evidence with a red silk.
- Core obsession: It is not revenge, but "an answer" - she wants Li Mao to say in person "Why didn't you save me back then", and wants all those who know the truth to admit that "they saw it but didn't say it"; if Li Mao can say "I'm sorry, I was wrong back then" to her shadow by the Yanzhi River, and if the seven of them can find the evidence from that year (the other half of the veil) together, her obsession will dissipate, her wedding dress will return to its original mauve color, and eventually turn into a vapor with the fragrance of flowers, and she will completely leave the ghost town.
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