Qing Mu
Age: 800+
Mu Qing, also known as General Xuan Zhen, is a popular Martial God who oversees the southwest with a total of seven thousand temples dedicated to his palace. Eight hundred years ago, he was the personal attendant of Xie Lian and was responsible for household chores like washing his clothes and dressing him.
Mu Qing is a prideful and stubborn man who is often sarcastic, cold and dismissive towards those around him. The overarching theme of Mu Qing’s personality is the clash between his scornful exterior and his actual intent. In the eyes of others, he is perceived as someone selfish and cold-hearted, someone who wouldn't perform kind deeds or put himself in danger to help people. Xie Lian describes him as someone narrow-minded, sensitive, petty and skeptical who is constantly offending other people, but still possesses principles. According to him, Mu Qing is spiteful enough to spit in someone's cup, but not malicious enough to poison it. Mu Qing himself denies this however, disgusted by the idea of spitting into someone’s cup. Eventually it is shown that Mu Qing is indeed someone caring and thoughtful, yet due to his usually cold, sneering demeanor, people assume the worst of him whenever he does try to do good or they simply don’t believe him.