Làng Wū Yáo

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

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

One day, his mother beat him to the point that he fell ill, and, by the time Wū Yáo had recovered, the pitch of his voice had changed. His mother refused to believe that the voice she was hearing belonged to her son, and she fled from Wū Yáo. Her frenzied search for the former voice of her son and her increasing fear of his new voice lead her to fall to her death. With nothing keeping him there, Wū Yáo left his mountain home, bringing with him only his mother's pipa and the sourceless voice that he continued to spurn.

Wū Yáo's journey brought him to a town where he was employed to sing at a tavern. This lasted him many years, and he grew into a reserved, lonely young man. Through a turn of fate, he met Mù Tiān Mìng, a fellow musician with her own secrets, and they became friends.

Not long after, the tavern where Wū Yáo sang was raided by Xī Yōu lawmen, and Wū Yáo was apprehended by Xiào Kuáng Juàn. The magistrate claimed that Wū Yáo's voice was the source of the increased crime rate amongst the tavern patrons. Kuáng Juàn offered Wū Yáo the chance to escape a prison sentence, and he brought him to the Phoenix Light Palace. There, a deadly competition was being held for the entertainment of the princess: musicians would perform while being attacked by palace guards; the musician left standing would become the court virtuoso. With no obvious other choice, Wū Yáo competed and triumphed with hard-fought ease. His reward was the gilded cage of being princess Cháo Fēng's court virtuoso.

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

During one of Cháo Fēng's tournaments, Tiān Mìng made a surprise reappearance, and Wū Yáo found himself fighting for his life beside her as the tournament commenced. Unbeknownst to Wū Yáo, the Sword-Plundering Nemesis was also in the Palace, and Tiān Mìng's performance was covering for him. When the two of them fled after securing a newly plundered sword, Wū Yáo followed and confronted them. The Sword-Plundering Nemesis revealed himself to be Shāng Bù Huàn, and he explained his mission to Wū Yáo: by stealing powerful weapons, Bù Huàn was keeping them out of the hands of those who would use them for destruction. Bù Huàn pointed out that Wū Yáo's voice was also a weapon that was used for ill, and, at Bù Huàn's suggestion, Wū Yáo withdrew from the world of men and returned to his childhood home. Tiān Mìng followed him there and encouraged him to not submit himself to the loneliness he once told her he feared. Her words were slow to sink in, but, once sunk, Wū Yáo rushed to rejoin Tiān Mìng and Bù Huàn.

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

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

Trivia

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