Làng Wū Yáo

Làng Wū Yáo (浪巫謠, Rōfu Yō, "Wandering Shaman Bard") is a deuteragonist in Thunderbolt Fantasy and the primary protagonist of Thunderbolt Fantasy: Bewitching Melody of the West.

Bewitching Melody of the West
Làng Wū Yáo is raised in the mountains of Xī Yōu by his blind mother, Zhòu Xún Yīn, who trains both his voice and his sword arm. Her hope is that he will one day be skilled enough to claim the title of court virtuoso at the Phoenix Light Palace. As befits that aspiration, her training is harsh and underscored by violence that Wū Yáo would have suffered in silence if not for a persistent, sourceless voice that he tries to ignore.

One day, his mother beats him to the point that he falls ill. By the time Wū Yáo recovers, the pitch of his voice has changed. His mother refuses to believe that the voice she is hearing belongs to her son, and she flees from Wū Yáo. Her frenzied search for the former voice of her son and her increasing fear of his new voice leads her to fall to her death. With nothing keeping him there, Wū Yáo leaves his mountain home, bringing with him only his mother's pipa and the sourceless voice that he continues to spurn.

Wū Yáo's journey brings him to a town where he is employed to sing at a tavern. This occupies his time for many years, and he grows into a reserved, lonely young man. Through a turn of fate, he meets Mù Tiān Mìng, a fellow musician with her own secrets, and they become friends.

Not long after, the tavern where Wū Yáo sings is raided by Xī Yōu lawmen, and Wū Yáo is apprehended by Xiào Kuáng Juàn. The magistrate claims that Wū Yáo's bewitching voice is the source of the increased crime rate amongst the tavern patrons. Kuáng Juàn offers Wū Yáo the chance to escape a prison sentence, and he brings him to the Phoenix Light Palace. There, a deadly competition is being held for the entertainment of the princess: musicians perform while being attacked by palace guards, and the musician left standing becomes the court virtuoso. With no obvious other choice, Wū Yáo competes and triumphs. His reward is the gilded cage of being princess Cháo Fēng's court virtuoso.

It is in the Phoenix Light Palace that Wū Yáo first hears about the Sword-Plundering Nemesis. The newly-promoted Kuáng Juàn tells him about his latest assignment from the Emperor: a man who is poaching powerful weapons from all across Xī Yōu.

During one of Cháo Fēng's tournaments, Tiān Mìng makes a surprise reappearance, and Wū Yáo finds himself fighting for his life beside her as the tournament commences. Unbeknownst to Wū Yáo, the Sword-Plundering Nemesis is also in the Palace, and Tiān Mìng's performance is covering for him. When she and the Sword-Plundering Nemesis flee after securing a newly plundered sword, Wū Yáo follows and confronts them. The Sword-Plundering Nemesis reveales himself to be Shāng Bù Huàn, and he explains his mission to Wū Yáo: by stealing powerful weapons, Bù Huàn is keeping them out of the hands of those who would use them for destruction. Bù Huàn points out that Wū Yáo's voice is also a weapon that is being used for ill, and, at Bù Huàn's suggestion, Wū Yáo withdraws from the world of men and returns to his childhood home. Tiān Mìng follows him there and encourages him to not submit himself to the loneliness he once told her he fears. Her words are slow to sink in, but, once sunk, Wū Yáo rushes to rejoin Tiān Mìng and Bù Huàn.

And not a moment too soon: while Tiān Mìng and Bù Huàn have been preoccupied with helping Tiān Gōng Guǐ Jiàng create what will come to be known as the Sorcerous Sword Index, Kuáng Juàn and a branch of lawmen have surrounded their hideout. Wū Yáo comes to their aid, and the pipa he has been carrying for so many years finds his voice as well. Líng Yá pledges to be Wū Yáo's fangs, and the two of them transform into a man and his sword. With Bù Huàn and Tiān Mìng, he fights off Kuáng Juàn's men long enough for Guǐ Jiàng to finalize the Index. Then, the group flees.

Later, when discussing their next steps, the group is ambushed by Xiē Yīng Luò and her underlings. If there were any doubts about their working together before, those doubts are banished when the group agrees to fight side-by-side from then onward.

Season 2
Sometime between the end of Bewitching Melody and Season 2, Shāng Bù Huàn decides to forge on alone in his search for a place to hide the Sorcerous Sword Index, a decision that ultimately leads him to cross the Wasteland of Spirits and leave Wū Yáo and Mù Tiān Mìng in Xī Yōu.

Abilities

 * Swordsmanship
 * Firebird in the Blue Sky Technique
 * Qi Channeling
 * Heightened Hearing

Behind the Scenes
Nao Tōyama, the Japanese voice actress for Mù Tiān Mìng, voices a young Wū Yáo in Thunderbolt Fantasy: Bewitching Melody of the West.