Murong Fu

Murong family

• Murong Fu (慕容復), nicknamed "Southern Murong", is the current head of the Murong family. His father named him "Fu" (literally "restore") to remind him to restore the Yan kingdom. An egoistic, scheming and ruthless man, he attempts all sorts of methods, including unscrupulous means, to revive his family's legacy. He is even willing to sever ties with his cousin Wang Yuyan, who has a crush on him, in order to realise his dream of becoming an emperor. He fails in his grand plan and becomes insane eventually. Although he has mastered numerous forms of martial arts like his father before him, he specialises in none and does not quite grasp the nuances in some of them.
• Murong Bo (慕容博), alias Yan Longyuan (燕龍淵), is Murong Fu's father. Like his son, he has the same dream of restoring the Yan kingdom. 30 years ago, he lied to Xuanci and other prominent wulin figures that the Khitans were planning to send a spy to infiltrate the Shaolin Sect and steal martial arts manuals from the library. They believed him and ambushed Xiao Yuanshan and his family at Yanmen Pass, resulting in the death of Xiao Yuanshan's wife. After this tragedy, Murong Bo faked his death and hid in Shaolin for many years, secretly learning martial arts from the manuals in the library. Eventually, he is forced to come out of hiding during the wulin gathering. Eventually, he realises how delusional he has been, and feels so grateful to the Sweeper Monk for saving him that he decides to be a monk for the rest of his life.
• Murong Fu has four followers who have loyally served his family for years. Towards the end of the novel, he kills Bao Butong after the latter expressly disapproves of him becoming Duan Yanqing's godson in order to win over Duan Yanqing as an ally. The other three abandon him after witnessing how he would willingly kill his own followers to fulfil his dream.
  • Deng Baichuan (鄧百川)
  • Gongye Gan (公冶乾) is nicknamed "Number Two in Jiangnan" (江南老二).
  • Bao Butong (包不同) is nicknamed "No, No" (非也非也) after his favourite catchphrase. He is notorious for disagreeing with people and making blunt criticisms, usually starting the conversation with "No, no".
  • Feng Bo'e (風波惡) is nicknamed "Gust of Wind" (一陣風). He is always ready to pick a fight with others even when his chances of winning are low.