After the last article took stock of the origins of the Seven Monsters of Meishan in "One Hundred Scenes of Jiangnan", this time let us take a look at the identities of other NPCs. Let’s start with the recently launched Jin Zha and Muzha, who are familiar characters—Nezha’s two brothers and the eldest and second sons of Li Jing, the King of Pagoda. In "Journey to the West", Jin Zha serves as the front protector of Tathagata Buddha in Lingshan, while Mu Zha is the protector beside Guanyin Bodhisattva.
However, Jin Zha and Mu Zha are very marginal characters in "Journey to the West", but they play a more important role in "The Romance of the Gods". In "The Romance of the Gods", Jin Zha is a disciple of the Immortal Manjushri Guangfa Tianzun, who cultivates immortality in the Yunxiao Cave of Wulong Mountain. His magic weapon is the "Dragon Escape Stake" and his weapon is a sword; Mu Zha studies under the Immortal Master Puxian The real person cultivates immortality and Taoism in the Baihe Cave of Jiugong Mountain, and his weapons are Wu Gou double swords. Both Jin Zha and Wood Zha followed their uncle Jiang Ziya, assisted King Wu in defeating Zhou, and eventually became saints in body.
Let’s talk about Tu Xingsun and the upgraded Fear Liusun. These two are also characters in "The Romance of the Gods". First of all, let’s talk about the master’s fear of leaving his grandson behind. He is one of the twelve disciples of Yuxu Yuanshi Tianzun, the Great Immortal in the Book of Fengshen. He practices in the Taoist temple of Feiyun Cave in Jialong Mountain. The magic weapon of the cave is the "Tie Immortal Rope", and there are also magic weapons such as the steel talisman made from the ground and the Ruyi Qiankun Bag. It seems that "Hundred Scenes of the South of the Yangtze River" chose to make Ailiu Sun and his apprentices as NPCs who give surprise gifts, which is in line with the character setting of this great immortal who has many magic weapons.
Tu Xingsun, the apprentice who was afraid of Liu Sun, was short in stature, no more than four feet tall, with an earthy face, but he was highly capable and agile. He used iron rods as weapons and used earth skills to dominate the gods. In the early stage, Tu Xingsun was deceived by Shen Gongbao's rhetoric and assisted his father-in-law Deng Jiugong in the conquest of Xiqi. In the later stage, he returned to the Zhou Dynasty and assisted King Wu in conquering Zhou. He died in battle with his wife Deng Chanyu. After his death, he was listed on the list of gods and was named Tufu Xingjun.
Next, let’s talk about the florists Gao Ming and Gao Jue. Perhaps many people have noticed that the florist's clever move is to put his hand between his eyebrows as if looking into the distance, while Gao Jue's hand is placed next to a pair of exaggerated ears. Because the images of these two people actually come from "The Romance of the Gods", they are the so-called clairvoyance and wind-proof ears. In the world of "The Romance of the Gods", brothers Gao Ming and Gao Jue are goblins on Qipan Mountain. Gao Ming is the peach spirit who can see thousands of miles away; Gao Jue is the willow ghost who can hear all directions. In the game "Hundred Scenes of Jiangnan", Gao Ming is holding a peach blossom branch with a peach blossom on his head, while Gao Jue is holding a small willow sapling in his hand with willow leaves in his hair. The image is consistent with the setting in the book. Very consistent.
Finally, let’s talk about the NPC that has been serving players since the game “Hundred Scenes of Jiangnan” was born – the shopkeeper. This salesman is very different from the previous NPC. Not only is he not a character in myths and legends, he doesn't even have his own name. But this salesman also has a provenance. He came out of Su Hanchen's paintings.
Su Hanchen was a painter of the Northern Song Dynasty. He served as an imperial edict at the Xuanhe Painting Academy of the Northern Song Dynasty. He was good at painting scenes of babies playing and peddlers carrying their burdens. In one of his works titled "Picture of a Salesman", there is a salesman pushing a cart under a plum blossom tree, with a dazzling array of goods on the cart. If you look carefully, you can see that the shape of the salesman carrying a double load in the "Hundred Scenes of Jiangnan" is very similar to the salesman in this painting.
