Note; due to translation issues related to the fickleness of pinyin, this character's name is also written as "Ji Yan", "Zhi Yan" and "Jie Yan" is some translations. It is popular to write her name as "Xi Yan", as this causes the 3 sisters names to reference the letters "XYZ" (Xi Yan, Yue Jian and Zhao Yan)
Nan Gong Xi Yan (南宫夕颜, Nángōng xī yán), usually just written as Xi Yan (夕颜, xī yán) is the second child among the three cloned sisters and foster daughter of Professor Nan Gong. Though she was meant to fulfill a divine destiny, her destiny is denied to her and she begins a long fall from grace leading ultimately to the loss of all her hope.
Appearance
Xi Yan is a very beautiful young lady like her two sisters. Her eyes are of a beautiful azure colour like that of her sisters - as a Vampire it can also change into ruby-red, and as the story progresses her eyes change colour more and more often. Her appearance is similar to that of the donor of her genes. She can be differentiated from her sisters through her hairstyle. She has part of her hair tied into two pigtails, one on either side. The rest of her hair hangs loose like Yue Jian's.
Growing up, her clothes often had an accent coloured in pink.
The bangs on her forehead are plainly cut like Zhao Yan's but it is slightly parted to the left, leaving part of her forehead bare. She tends to tie portion of her hair in the back in two ponytails, leaving the rest of her hair down. Her jet black hair is also noticeably more wavy than that of her two sisters.
After becoming a Vampire, her skin begins to pale and she becomes thinner.
She is always dressed in fashionable clothes.
Though they have identical DNA to Isis and each other, there is some differences between the 4 of them. Yue Jian notes that the woman they saw in the Ice Coffin, who was suppose to look like Isis was her sister Xi Yan. This, despite the fact the 3 sisters are genetically indifferent and identical to each other. The are, however, alike enough so that others cannot tell them apart.
At one point due to a spell, she has her gender reverse. She has short hair in this form, and her height doesn't changed making her appear short compared to Yi Sai.
Personality
As a human Xi Yan was an extremely lively and willful woman compared to the graceful Zhao Yan and quiet Yue Jian. During her younger years, she used to be extremely self-centered and vain. Despite being quite egoistic, she was loved by many because of her charm and was said to always be smiling. She was always obsessed with making herself look more appealing and fashionable and concerning herself with being popular. She enjoyed having the most splendid dress in the city, as well as following the latest accessory trends. She lived quite care-free because of this.
She was, however, a coward who took the easy way out if it is presented to her. This leads to her more wicked streak of betrayal and cowardice at the expense of others. She displays a desire for happiness and the easy life without effort. The loss of this chance was the biggest challenge for her to cope with and for a time she wishes merely for an end to her suffering as she wanted to escape from making things worst.
As a Vampire, Yi Sai doesn't tolerates her former behaviour. He tortures and punishes her until she learns her place as the lowest level of his servants. She loses her confidence and her belief in herself. Adapting to Vampirism is especially hard for her mainly because the way of the Tzimisce contains basically everything she is afraid of and shrieks from like heat, extreme cold and pain. Yi Sai concludes that pain makes her paralize and he pushes her until she stepps over it.
When Yue Jian asks her help, she risks everything, showing that she is not a complete coward and that her sisters mean quite much for her. She also flashes her cunning and opportunistic streak as she manages to get Zhao Yan free. She then shows enough backbone to stand up against Yi Sai, and fight with him.
After the events of the Forbidden Sphere, she lets her hope die completely to avoid further pain, though her heart is still not dead. She continues on, no longer smiling and she pushes back everyone who attempts to befriend her.
Yi Sai notes that the more she is shown kindness the more she resists it and feels herself inferior because of that. He concludes that her primary trait is 'jealously', making her easy to control for this reason.
Her sister Zhao Yan claims she overthinks everything told to her, insecure, sensitive and fears the worst from everyone.
She hates burdens - probably the reason why she was so hostile against the young and foolish Yue Jian - and she hates it now even more that she too, has become one for her sister. She wishes for power as she wants to exceed Zhao Yan and wishes to protect Sorace, whom she loves.
When Yi Sai starts teaching her about the Tzimisce Clan, as a lesson he has her torture someone, mentioning to her that vampires are cold, callous, ruthless and merciless. Wanting power she does what he asks from her, and while torturing she immerses herself in bloodlust and cruely, and realizes that she is exicted about it and enjoys having power over life and death as it is the her natural disposition as a vampire.
Because the care Sorace shows toward her she falls in love with him. She notes that whenever she is in trouble he is always there, and when they face a life-threathening situation she hopes that she can meet him in the next life.
She wants to take revenge on Yi Sai and pay back everything he has done to her.
When she drinks Zhao Yan's blood and feels how extraordaniray and powerful it is she feels resentment over not getting it since out should have been hers. She sinks her anger into fire she protects the unconcious Zhao Yan and Sorace.
Relationships
Her Sisters
She sees her sisters as her competitors whom she has to "defeat". She hates it when it is shown that she is inferior to them in anyway, though in her heart she always feels inferior to them. She is willing to go pretty far in order to appear better than them and she is not above hurting and betraying them. After Yi Sai's torture she sees it that she lost the qualification to call herself as their sister, but this was restored by Yue Jian.
She tries to reunite with them during the Battle of the Forbidden Sphere, but she is defeated, and later tortured by Yi Sai, resulting in that she pushes away everyone even her sisters. She later becomes aware of that everything has changed and there is no turning back. She sees herself as a burden for them, and hates it. She later drinks the blood of Zhao Yan, realizing what should have been hers, and her resentment and jealousy makes her able to create a fire so strong that it reaches the heavens.
Zhao Yan
Her relationship with her elder sister was always a bit strained. Xi Yan usually couldn't tolerate the behaviour of the young and foolish Yue Jian and she often rebuked her, leading to that Zhao Yan often tried to protect their youngest sister against her. This may probably also led to them being somewhat distant despite being sisters. When Zhao Yan was around Yue Jian she always seeked her company, with the two of them leaving Xi Yan out. Even in the school, the sisters barely appeared together. Adding to that Xi Yan was also jealous of Zhao Yan's achievements, let it be her martial prowress or her grades in the school. This jealousy errupted and the solution was a situation where Xi Yan betrayed her sister, and deliberately trying hard to trap her.
Later, after the Battle of the Forbidden Sphere, and after enduring Yi Sai's torture their relationship got even worse. Xi Yan refused to speak with Zhao Yan, though she tried many times to have a talk with her. Unknown to Zhao Yan, Yi Sai has forbidden her from speaking about certain things in front of her, and his punishments also taken a toll on her which is mistaken by her as anger from Xi Yan's part for joining the Sabbat. In the terrority of the Giovanni Zhao Yan also notices Xi Yan's problems about her self-consciousness and self-confidence, but after the attack of the Hunters she chooses to protect Xi Yan at all cost, even if it costs her her sister, leading to situations where she deliberately and knowingly leaves her out of things, sometimes she is even rough with her, and doesn't mind if it makes Xi Yan hate her.
Xi Yan takes it that she is making it clear this way that she considers her a burden which leads to her wanting power, and is even willing to be extremely cruel, just to be able to exceed her.
Yue Jian
Her youngest sister was always immature and foolish, which irritated her, resulting in that she often bullied and rebuked her, and this made Xi Yan clash with Zhao Yan. When she learned that Yue Jian was a product of a malfunction she starts to despise her and to not let her compete with her for the position of getting Mei Yue Yin (in reality for the chance of going into an Academy attended by noble families, and becoming a noble lady) she comes up with a scheme to hurt her and eliminate her as a potential comptetior, resulting in that Yue Jian's face gets ruined and she is forced to wear bondages for more than six years. Xi Yan also wasn't above rubbing her fortune under her nose, and she often ignored Yue Jian, who got sy and reserved after the incident.
She hesitates when she is pressured to betray her, but when Yi Sai threathens her life she gives in and betrays her, too. After than the next time the meet is when Yue Jian seeks her out for help and she convinces Xi Yan to betray the Sabbat. She is surprised when she learns how taxing are the magic spells Yue Jian is using to cover herself, and that she is able to endure Yi Sai's torture. For her she betrays Yi Sai and suffer huge pain, showing that despite everything she loves her sister.
Her father
Though he loved her as a daughter despite knowing she has caused her sister Yue Jian pain, she was never his favourite because of this unknowns to her. She did not know her father knew her secret, and felt that he had punished her instead of giving her what she wanted years ago, blaming all her pain and suffering on him, plus her weaknesses on him. She believes he denied her what she should have had all along. She is the only one of the trio who has a grudge against their deceased father for this reason.
Yi Sai
He turns her into a Vampire for Mei Yue Yin, but it soon turns out that she doesn't have it. He tries to break mentally her by letting his subordinates and pets drink her blood, showning how little she worths for him, than teaches her magic that causes extreme pain.
When she betrays him he is angry that she still hasn't converted her heart. After torturing her for weeks, he states that her body belongs to him and her heart will too, as she doesn't need it since she only has to obey him for forever. He even adds and additional condition on the bat making her unable to develop feeling for others.
When he is not on missions his eyes are always on her, monitoring her, and he retaliates rather harshly on her every misstep. He seemed satisfied only when she kneeled in front of him and begged him, offering him her obedience.
Yi Sai thinks that everything is going according to his plans, and that Xi Yan can only be his. He probably sees her as a pet or as his possession, and his true stance where she is concerned is unknown.
As her vampire master he is also responsible in teaching her in the ways of their clan. He helps her realize what it means to be a vampire and let her experience it throughoutly.
Xi Yan wants to get revenge on him and to pay back what he has done with her.
Sorace
At first she is really annoyed by him, as she tries to accommodate to her life, but he always disturbs her. He was the only one who offered her kindness after the Forbidden Sphere, and he was always there, no matter how harshly she treated him. Over the time his insistance gets through to her, and Xi Yan starts to like him.
When Yi Sai confronts them , she realizes that she doesn't want to let him go, and even to it's frustating and painfull she loves him. He promises to her that he will always accompany her even if she is beyond redemption and the whole world rejects her.
Later when they are facing a life-threathenin situation, she notes that he is always there, and she wishes that she can meet with him in the next life.
The Sabbat
Xi Yan's status in the Sabbat is not very high. She is just a low-level and weak Vampire.
For the most part, her continued existence and use by the Sabbat is mostly as a means to keep a form of leash also on Zhao Yan.
Abilities
Xi Yan as she masters the fire spell
She is smart for a normal human as her grades at school, though not as impressive as Zhao Yan's were still above average and managed to get second place on exams. Her notable difference also plagues her greatly and is even picked up by Yi Shen as the differences between the two begun to be noticable. Regardless of the differences between her and her sister, she attended one of the highest level of highschools and received an above average education then most. It is notable that despite not having Mei Yue Yin, her intellectual abilities are not that far from her sister's, though she seriously lack in fighting skills.
Originally, she was trained to fight and hunt Vampires by the Human Hunter Organisation. She fights with a whip-like weapon.
Vampirism
As a Vampire she is immortal, her bite can drain blood, as well as her blood can provide subsistence for other vampires. However, she begins her existence as merely one of the lowest ranking vampires under leader. However, as the one who bit her first was Yi Sai himself, she does not die so easily if too much blood is taken from her.
It was noted by another Tzimisce Vampire who drank from her blood that it is really delicious, though according to their Clan Leader Yi Sai is not much different from a normal person. Based on his original limited knowledge of Mei Yue Yin when Yi Sai had bitten her he was expecting it to be interesting and noted later how boring it become to him after revealing she did not have it. Yet the other Vampire who mentioned it seemed to crave for it and was willing to violate Yi Sai's orders for it. And he wasn't the only one - when Xi Yan was thrown into an Ice Bath two Vampires also risked - and got - Yi Sai's wrath and pulled her out of it in exchange for her blood.
Later in the story she bites her sister Zhao Yan, becoming one of the few Vampire to have bitten a Mei Yue Yin infused person.
Yi Sai increased her healing power so she can recover from his torture faster.
Supernatural Powers
Yi Sai begins to teach her magic spells involving fire, ice and water. Due to her unwillingness, lack of endurance or low will power, she finds the process extremely painful and only continues to learn them out of being given a lack of choice.
Xi Yan is also able to use the chains spell in addition.
After biting her sister Zhao Yan, she was given a temporary power boost from Mei Yue Yin, which effected her fire-based magic. Sinking all of her anger, resentment, jealousy and hatred she manages to create a fire so huge and powerful that it reaches the sky.
Yi Sai's Bat
She has a bat placed on her by Yi Sai. This familiar begins to wreck her from the inside out if she attempts to betray her Clan Leader or tries commit suicide. This causes her extreme pain when it does so.
After her betrayal Yi Sai strengthens the bat and adds an additional condition to it: the bat also reacts if she tries to develop feelings for someone else other than Yi Sai. She has heightened tolerance for pain as both a result of the bat and Yi Sai's torture.
Scientific Study
Later Yi Sai starts to teach her about the science-based side of the Tzimisce Clan. He also starts teaching about knowledge gained by his Clan and makes her practice body-modification, refinement and extracting methods along with the using of the scalpel. By pursuing this she will eventually allow her to create monstrosities like Titan herself and possibly even alter her own body as Yi Sai had done to himself to improve its strength. The process as she cuts into her first subject has a side effect of making her enjoy being a Vampire and brings out a the notion Vampires are cruel and cold creatures.
For now, however, she is seen simply learning how to cut up bodies correctly.
When Yi Sai almost killed Sorace, she realized, that she could also heal with the spells and knowledge she obtained.
History
Childhood
She was born a clone along with two other girls, her sisters Zhao Yan and Jian Yue. Growing up she was a lively young girl loved by all. She along with her sisters were raised by their adoptive father Professor Nan Gong who loved all 3 of them.
Growing up, the 3 were rarely apart. One night they sat on the roof and wathed falling stars and each made a wish. Zhao Yan wished for her family to be safe, Xi Yan wished to be prettier while growing up to marry a rich man. When Yue Jian is asked hat she wished for, she said she would wish for food, but figured that would be a waste. She wishes she could be with her sisters forever.[1]
The Mei Yue Yin selection
"A blessing and a curse..."
At 9 years old, everything changed.
After seeing a merry-go-round on TV, Yue Jian wished to ride one. Zhao Yan sttes she will ask their father when he get back if he would take them to a ride. Xi Yan berates her sister's desire as childish, causing Zhao Yan to defend it and question if her younger sister wanted to remained home schooled for the rest of her life.[2]
A man visited her father. The 3 girls spied on the pair and found out two of them would be injected with Mei Yue Yin and then attend a school called 'Sheng Pei Ren' academy to become noble young women.
She was captured by the thought of becoming a noble young woman and disinterested with the reasons behind the selection. To increase her chances of being selected and to attend the academy, she decided to remove Yue Jian from the selection, believing since she was a fault in the cloning process she shouldn't have to compete anyway. She places some cleaning liquid at the end of a walkway, which is missing screws and sends her to fetch it.[3]
After Yue Jian falls and burns herself severely, her recovery takes her out of the selection process. This leds Xi Yan to feel confident that her place was secured. However, her father catches her disposing of the screws from the bridge. When the Mei Yue Yin is admitted into her, she gains a glowing flower as proof of her destiny. However, unknown to everyone at the time, Xi Yan's dosage is swapped out for a fake by her father.[4]
Zhao Yan and Xi Yan depart
The night before they leave for school, the three attend a Theme Park to fulfill Yue Jian's wish to ride a Merry-Go-Round. While Zhao Yan sits on one ride holding their sister Yue Jian steady, Xi Yan rides next to them.[2]
She leaves with her sister to attend Sheng Pei Ren.
The Fall of Sheng Pei Ren academy
Over the years the two girls grow into noble and beautiful women. She and Zhao return home regular, during this time she liked to rub her new found grace and beauty into her sister Yue Jian, teasing her over things like Cakes.
The two sisters trained with the Human Hunter Organisation to fight Vampires in the Guang Zhi Yi Faction.
Overtime, she begins to notice her grades and scores are not on par with her sister Zhao Yan despite both having Mei Yue Yin inside them.[4] Hurting her pride even more, during a routine fight with bat-familiars, she is caught off guard and rescued by Xi Yan. This hurts her pride as she begins to notice how more skilled she is then her even at fighting Vampires.
The tutor for her class asks her as the class president to help her carry some papers and number them accordingly, which turns out to be the papers for an upcoming exam. The tutor then receives a call and steps out to take it. To her shock, Zhao Yan has completed the entire paper, answering even the most difficult question on the paper that Xi Yan ould only half complete. With the tutor distracted, she changes the last answer on Zhao Yan's paper to be unreadable. However, Xu Wu Cheng catches her in the act.
Xi Yan is embraced as a Vampire
Blackmailing her he tells her to meet him in the abandoned Room 5, on the upper levels of the school.[5] He then bites her, making her into a vampire and reveals his true name of Yi Sai, head of the Tzimisce Clan from the Sabbat. He reveals if she informs her how useless it is to go to the Human Hunter Organisation as not only would they find him, they will find her. However, if she ignores it, within 24 hours she will become a blood-crazed demon. He tells her the only way is to meet him in 24 hours time in the same location and subitto him. The next day she starts to crave biting down on her fellow students neck.
She tries to be alone and goes to a remote part of the school. However, a student known as Jiang Xue Yang finds her anyway. He requests to be friends with her but instead is killed when she drinks his blood. She later returns to accept Yi Sai as her master and receives some of his blood.[6] Yi Sai tells her to continue to hide her true nature from others and asks for the Keys of the Forbidden Sphere for him which is suppose to be passed to her and her sister Zhao Yan. When she reveals she does not have hers, he instructs her to find it for him. After failing to find them for him, he attempts to punish her by drinking her blood, but a tutor and friends of Xi Yan interrupt. He causes them to suffer an accident by pushing over the bookshelves to protect himself.
She later confronts him, but he blows it off stting they will die so as the Sabbat will attack and kill everyone if she does not find the seals soon. In an attempt to find them, shetries to clean Zhao Yan's roomand when aught she says he wishes to stay in Zhao Yan's roomdue to the recent events. Later when her sister is asleep she suspects that the seals are not in the school and that her sister Yue Jian has them.
Appearing innocent Xi Yan begins her move to drug the hunters
The next day, Yi Shen informs everyone that many deaths near the Meng Ting and Ti Weng Academys have occurred recently. The Demon Clans of the Sabbat are suspected behind them and the targets are members of the Human Hunter Organisation. A spy is suspected in the organisation. He concludes their next target is them. Xi Yan informs her Clan Leader that the zombies will not be able to get in as crosses have been placed around the school, however, fakes crosses have been swapped out by her to leave gaps in the schools defenses. He passes her 3 sachkets with power in them which would weaken her sister, Kai Lin andYi Shen's combat abilities making them easy to deal with.[7]
She is forced to not only betray the Human Hunter Organisation, but her actions led to the destruction of the academy. When pressed on where Zhao Yan hid the Keys of the Forbidden Sphere, the information on her father and Yue Jian is revealed.
Yi Sai's abuse
After the fall, she is forced to become a slave to her cruel new Clan Leader. He forces her to reveal where the seals are by offering her as food to Zombies, to which she tells the details of the location of her father and sister Yue Jian.[8]
He toys with her, offering her to zombies if she does not obey him. After a while discovers she does not have the Mei Yue Yin inside her, he loses interest in her and tosses her to other servants in his clan to fed from her. She is shown also to her sister Zhao Yan. She pleads with Zhao Yan to save her as Fan Le Lao warns Zhao Yan she will meet the same fate eventually.[9]
Xi Yan becomes desperate to end her suffering and attemps suicide
Over time the Vampires keep drinking her blood, often leaving her near death.[10] As it gets too unbearable for her, she tries to commit suicide by stabbing herself but is stopped by Yi Sai. He gives her a new dress and takes her to a nearby human city. Upon arriving at their destination, she has a bat familiar placed on her of her by Yi Sai. He tells her that if she dares try to commit suicide or betray him, the bat will go inside her veins and crush them. Inside a bar, she goes over to a group of men and then lures them to a location of Yi Sai's choosing. The men are fed to a hybrid zombie as food.
Upon returning, he allow her to sleep next to him, as she thinks, the bat causes her pain and she promises not to commit suicide pain nor betray him.[11]
A Change of Abuse
As time goes by, her appearance pales and she becomes thinner. This pleases Yi Sai who then decides he will no longer just give her away to his servants. He blindfolds her and tells he he will take her to a place she has already been to.[12]
He takes her back to his Hybrid Zombie and pushes her towards it. He explains that Titan won't kill her, but instead just taste her blood.[13] He later arrives to pick her up after the monster is done with her and tells her so long as she forgets herself and just becomes an obedient servant he will make her meet his expectations.[14]
Xi Yan baths in the coldness of the magic circle
Yi Sai begins to teach her magic spells. When she can't summon the spell due to the pain it creates doing so, he forces her to endure it. Fan Le Lao enters the chamber and tell him he is tired of hearing her screams.[15] Yi Sai is pulled away to aid Fan Le Lao. With the Sabbat leader occupied, he returns to continue to teach her magic. He pulls off her warm clothes and drops her into a bath of Ice. she stays there being watched by two of his other servants. She begs them to end her suffering, they at first refuse until she offers to give them anything.[16]
When Yi Sai returns, he finds the two servants have pulled her out of the Ice Bath and are drinking her blood. They plead with him and he dumps them into the Bath instead. He considers her worth even less then before. He throws her into a Fire Bath instead, despite her pleading him not to do so. He states the circle of hot and cold will go on for her until she gets used to it.[17]
The Ice Coffin
Some days later, Yi Sai finds Xi Yan has finally mastered the Fire Spell he taught her. Satisfied with her results, he tells her she will be going on a mission with him. When she finds out she will be meeting her sister Yue Jian, she protests. This annoys him and he grabs her face to face and tells her that she is in no position after everything she has done to be a saint to him.
By the time Yue Jian and the Camarilla arrive, she has taken up position to pose as another.[18]
Using Xi Yan they are able to snatch all 7 weapons without the Camarilla knowing they were tricked into giving up the weapons. With the weapons in hand they preform the true rite to take the information on how to remove Osiris' curse on the Forbidden Sphere.[19]
The Forbidden Sphere
After one of the training sessions with Yi Sai, Xi Yan is left alone. She suddenly hears her sister Yue Jian's voice. Xi Yan is unable to see her because of her being a Vampire and pill making Yue Jian invisible to her sister because of the impact of a pill she has taken. She tells her she is not hearing things, that she is here to take her back. Xi Yan tells her to go away as she is still ashamed of everything she has done.
A sister's gift; renewed hope
She tells her the day that Xi Yan walked away with the weapons were stolen, Yue Jian was deeply upset by her goodbye. She acted very different to the sister she knew. Xi Yan states she doesn't have the right to go back to her sisters, but Yue Jian reassures her there is nothing wrong. At that point she tells her to find their sister Zhao Yan and in the meantime she will use Xi Yan's identity. She gives her a second pill and tells her to hide until the time is right. Yue Jian tells her she will endure Yi Sai's torture until the time for her sisters' sakes. The two part ways.[20]
A few days prior to the Forbidden Sphere event, she makes her move to rescue her sister Zhao Yan. The pill Yue Jian causes her to suffer great strain in addition, yet she realizes Yue Jian would have suffered the same under the pill. She realises her sister had done a great deal of growing up.
She realises there are 3 restraints binding Zhao Yan right now. The first weakens her strength, she did not know the second one controlled her, but she knew the only one she could actually deal with right now is the chains binding her. The chains keep her unconscious and he has to reinforce them every so often. She listens in on Fan Le Lao as he casts the spell to enforce them.
Suddenly he leaves the room as he suspects someone is there. When he sees no one there, he casts a spell on the spot to induce pain. She bites down on her lips to endure the pain and he leaves thinking no one is there. After getting the spell she goes back into hiding.
On the night of the Lunar Eclipse when the Forbbiden Sphere can finally be summoned, she appears and confirms they are alone. During the last few days, Zhao Yan managed to grab some of his hair and Xi Yan uses it as a conduct to cast the spell to free her. She then gives her the potion to remove the restraint on her power. Apparently Bi Ni gave it to her, though unknown to Xi Yan it was really the Devil Doll pretending to be her. The two depart to to go to the Forbiden Sphere.
They arrive later in time to save their sister Yue Jian from Yi Sai.[21] When Yi Sai mocks the pair for returning, Zhao Yan states they will not let anyone touch Yue Jian. When Yi Sai tries to attack Yue Jian, Xi Yan throws his own magic spells at him to stop him.
The fight continues, and Xi Yan continues to fight her tormentor. He manages to bite her with snakes and mocks her as weak. However, the bat he placed inside her is not causing her pain. She manages to stand up. She states she will go home with her sisters.[22]
Yi Sai defeats her as the power of Xi Tai is being released.[23]
With the fighting over, all sides retreat from Forbidden Sphere for now, Fan Le Lao brings Zhao Yan with him and orders Yi Sai to bring Xi Yan. Xi Yan comes to conclusion there was never any hope to begin with.[24]
The Fragments of Osiris
The punishment of Xi Yan for betraying the Sabbat
A few weeks later, he Sabbat begins their mission to retrieve the Fragments of Osiris. Xi Yan has been torture the entire time since the battle and has for the first time finally not screamed as Yi Sai tortures her. He mocks her for her claim that she can withstand everything he throws at her. He states he strengthened her healing powers so her recovery should be quick. As a traitor to the Sabbat, he states her pain isn't enough. He has also strengthened the pain from the bat inside her.
He states her body already belongs to him, therefore her heart should be too. he states a puppet needs no heart and she is his forever. He releases her and tells her to prepare for a mission in a few days. He reminds her there are things she can and cannot say in front of Zhao Yan and leaves her. She is too weak to get up, but also too weak to cry. Her entire body hurts including her heart and she wonders what would happen if it died. Xi Yan is not satisfied with her predicament, she still wants to fight.
As she reaches out, Sorace grabs her hand.[25] Though he tries to help her out, she is cold to him and insults him, as Yi Sai's torture of her takes its toll on her heart. When he asks if he can visit her often, she briefly returns to normal mental state, before she tells him to leave her alone.[26]
Village of the Damned
Their first mission takes the Sabbat and Nam Gong sisters into a deserted village. The village was victim of a storm that destroyed its crops and methods of trading with the outside world. The villagers turned on each over and resorted to cannibalism. The initial appearance was of a calm and picturesque village, but as the sun sets its darker face is revealed.
Zhao Yan ties to comfort her sister Xi Yan from the sight as creepy things freak her out. But Zhao Yan gets a surprises cold response form her sister and she wonders what is going on, unaware of what Yi Sai has done to her previously. In the past few days as well, she is turned away by her also. She wonders if it is because she decided to work for the Sabbat.
Sorace wonders if Xi Yan purposely saved his life
As the darkness comes in, the creatures of the night appear from inside the village.[26] They soon finding themselves fighting the creatures, during the fight she saves Sorace from one of the undead creatures. During the fighting, Zhao Yan spots a child calling her for help. She rescues the boy who claims he knows a safe place. The Sabbat retreat, following the boy.
After they escape the fighting, he explains the state of the area after the storm and how anyone who entered the area became trapped. He explains that over time the people trapped began to bleed in the face and slowly everyone including his parents turned into the undead creatures they saw earlier. Those who starved to death also became the creatures and when the army was sent in, they too fell.
While they rest, Yi Sai tells her to follow his plan and Sorace approaches. He tries to thank her but she states she is just a pawn to be used. H tries to point out how she merely acts mean. She berates him for showing care towards her and tells him to go away.[27]
Later that night the boy reveals his true nature to Zhao Yan. When he greets himself as The Ruler of the Night, Zhao Yan boasts how the Vampires re the true rulers of the night. he is then killed for his fragment by Fan Le Lao and the village burnt down.[28]
The Giovanni Clan
The group is settled in a hotel within the Giovanni Clan territory. Xi Yan thinks about the last mission and notes how nothing is the same anymore. Sorace knocks on her door and she greets him rudely. He explains nobody ordered him to go look in on her and that he came on his own terms. He reveals the reason behind his bothering of her is that his uncle told him he is of a age to take a wife. She belittles him for trying to chase her thinking he has a chance with her.
Sorace notes how she acts mean but he believes she is really nice. He explains how aong his clan, he is despised for acting the way he does. He explains that he came to the HQ to work after hearing about two beautiful sisters and took to her as soon as he saw her. He volunteered to look after her because Yi Sai and and Fan Le Lao were not that bothered about her anyway. She tells him to get out.
She wonders later why he insists on chasing her.[29]
Zhao Yan visits a local store to shop for food and other essentials on the insistence of Fan Le Lao, who is allowing her sister Xi Yan to go with her. Sorace comes with them too out of his own accordance, much to Xi Yan's annoyance. Xi Yan picks up a box of chocolates she used to get told off by her dad and Zhao Yan over buying too much of. They discuss how it is given during Valentine's day, which makes her remember the day she gave Fan Le Lao chocolates when he was playing with her heart. They agree to buy only a few boxes as she can't eat much as a Vampire, this upsets Xi Yan that she isn't human anymore and she walks out.
After leaving the store she is attacked by Ada who has been hunting the pair. During the fight Ada had caught her off guard with a stone that effects Vampires. Zhao Yan shows up and fights, when Ada tries to use the stone against her, Zhao Yan pretends the stone has impacted her, catching Ada off guard who didn't know she was still human. Ada quickly realises this is due to Mei Yue Yin.
The two talk and it ends with Ada cring for her brother. As Ada carried and planned this mission herself they leave her be and the sisters leave with a warning to Ada about leaving them alone. As they leave, Zhao Yan spots a familiar that has been following them and kills it.
The trio returns back to the Sabbat to find the room filled with smoke. Zhao Yan turns to her sister Xi Yan who is carried by Sorace only to find she has changed genders and so has Fan Le Lao to her horror.[30]
It is explained that they received a package two days ago, but it had not been opened and though they took caution they still got catch off by the gas. The conclusion was that the gas only impacts Vampires as neither Lin Xuan Chi or Zhao Yan were impacted. Zhao Yan brings up Ada's stone that only impacted Vampires and suspects they are connected.
Male Xi Yan teasing the flat chest female Sorace
Xi Yan notices Sorace claims to have changed genders but does not look any different. Sorace is mocked for being flat-chested, which causes Sorace to get upset. See her mocking Sorace with a smile on her face, Yi Sai pulls her aside for daring to smile and warns her she will be disciplined again if she is not careful.[31]
Fan Le Lao notes that the Demon Hunter's Organisations remnants likely poisoned Xi Yan on purpose and then used the gas to control the Vampires to get access to the Mei Yue Yin owner and lure her out. Fan Le Lao then tells Yi Sai to prepare guns; they will attack the group pretending to be local gangsters.
The Sabbat attack a church, where the hunters are hiding. They capture a number of hunters, but are forced out when an explosion occurs.[31]
Fan Le Lao interrogates a Hunter they took prisoner from their raid. The hunter reveals all he knows revealing the remain Hunters have formed into separate groups with different missions. Ada's group were simply charged with capturing the Nam Gong sisters Zhao Yan and Yue Jian, while Ada intended to kill Xi Yan herself. When they couldn't make progress they were told to wait in the city. A mysterious person gave them weapons to fight Vampires with. Fan Le Lao asked about a long haired man with pointy ears, but the hunter knew nothing on him.
Finished with the Hunter he tells the others they can do want they want with him, the man begs for his life, even going so far as to offer to become a Vampire. Fan Le Lao tells him to stop begging and asks for what reason he has to keep him. Zhao Yan goes to Ada to ask for the antidote to change the Vampires back to their original genders.
Later, effected members of the Sabbat venture to the Fortune Teller to get answers. The Vampires are changed back to their original genders. The old woman reveals she is of the Giovanni clan and a Vampire over 1,000 years old. She explains that it is the younger members of the clan who likely caused them to change genders as they are quite mischievous and swapped out the original package for that one. The original intended package was sent by the fortune teller and was much scarier.
The old woman speaks about their leader being obsessed with an object that had been at rest for centuries. The fortune seller states that Fan Le Lao knows so much for his young age and wonders how he knows. She passes an envelop with the details of an upcoming action held by the clan.[32]
The Auction
Yi Sai leaves Xi Yan to watch her sister spending time with Fan Le Lao from outside the auction building afte pointing out the Giovanni leader to her. While she waits Sorace joins her, having been turned back into a man because he followed the group when the didn't invite him. He guesses she wants to be inside the building, she states that she can't because God doesn't like her.
They notice the Giovanni Leader rushing off.
Sorace then reveals that the reason he thinks they rushed off may have something to do with the Death of the Fortune Teller.[33]
After news that a powerful Giovanni Fortune Teller was murdered after members of the group went to see her, Yi Sai reports his concerns about this to Fan Le Lao. Fan Le Lao and Zhao Yan leave, Yi Sai warns Xi Yan she took too long to report the Giovanni leader left. He leaves this alone by reporting that compared to her sister she is worthless.
The next morning Zhao Yan tries to clear her up with a treat she loved as a child, Strawberry Egg Tart. She speaks with Xi Yan about her silence and tries to encourage her to talk to her. But even though they are sisters, Yi Sai's comments the day before about her worth compared to Zhao Yan's gets to her.
Later that night she watches the ballroom as Fan Le Lao and Zhao Yan are together inside. Sorace creeps up on her. He drags her away from her watch and comments how she seems to love upper class balls and parties. She replies that all girls dream of being a princess, of living in castles and meeting their prince, but dismisses them as she is not worthy. When they arrive at a water fountain he passes her a present, a dress.
Sorace and Xi Yan; the prince and his princess
He offers his hand for a dance. She downplays the dance, her partner and the dress, though Sorace is shocked as the dress cost him a lot of money, he is happy she is happy. He comments when she is around him her eyes are blue instead of Vampire red. She belittles herself and points out their the same as her sisters and their nicer then she is. He tells her not to compare herself to them.
Filled with emotions she sends him to get her water. After he is gone she feels pain in her leg fro Yi Sai's bat. The bat was reacting because she was falling for Sorace instead od letting only Yi Sai into her heart.[34]
He pulls her away from where Sorace and her were and proceeds to discipline her for disobeying orders. When pushed to get her to confess to where she got the dress from, she claims her sister gave it to her, unaware Yi Sai knows who gave it to her. He goes with the story, ripping the dress and hurting her, telling her she doesn't deserve dreams and dresses. He tells her to play dead, telling her though she lacks the Mei Yue Yin she is still good as bait to lure out the Giovanni who have infiltrated the auction under the disguise as the police.
Later, two Giovanni approach her. They smell her blood and then realise she is a Vampire like them. They then agree to take her to "that place", to give her blood to something, noting that everyone at the auction will die anyway. They drag her away unaware they are being watched by Yi Sai.
They take her to a secret place and feast on her blood, allowing it to drip onto a magic array, which Yi Sai notes is likely ceremonial related. He considers stepping in and only does so when Xi Yan gives away she is still alive. She is unable to save herself as the Giovanni have drained too much blood from her. Revealing himself, Yi Sai makes no attempt to save her but reveals he heard them confess everyone will die at the auction.
Defying their leader, Sorace saves Xi Yan
The array activates, taking the two Giovanni, as it is revealed it seeks the strongest targets available. Due to the speed it worked in, he decides he needs to see it again and leaves her there to be attacked by the array, knowing he cannot let her die but wanting her to meet punishment for betraying him. As the array tries to engulf her, Sorace, who has been watching the whole thing also slice it back and saves her much to his annoyance.[35]
Angry at his leader's actions, when questioned he tells Yi Sai that he was sent to retrieve her for Fan Le Lao and Zhao Yan. He tells his leader Fan Le Lao does not want Xi Yan to get hurt as it will effect the entire team. Yi Sai notes that if she is hurt it must be a problem for Sorace. As he walks off, Yi Sai tells him to stop by his place afterwards.[36]
Sorace takes her to her room and he looses his cool. Xi Yan is annoyed by his constant wailing, and thinks that she must have been mistaken since there is no way she would like a scared cat. She is touched when Sorace reveals that he acted because he was worried about her. She urges him to go to Yi Sai but when it's taking him too long she starts searching for him, hoping that he is alright.[37]
When she hears a strange noise she goes there finding Yi Sai and the barely conscious Sorace in the room. Yi Sai tells her that the one she was looking for is there and she doesn't have to look for him. Xi Yan denies this telling him that she was looking for Yi Sai for information and her duties for the auction, and denies caring about Sorace. Yi Sai counters this by torturing Sorace with magic - his goal is for Xi Yan to reveal that she does care about him which he achieves when Xi Yan steps in to protect Sorace. She knew that this was about to happen from the very first moment, when Sorace tried to help her. She is frustrated by her own inability to cast aside her hope, but Sorace's diligance has made it hard for her.
Yi Sai then questions her about their true relationship which she can't answer. He tortures Sorace with more magic. Sorace tries to make her leave as it's not her concern, but Xi Yan is aware of that this is happening because of her. Yi Sai gives her to decide wether Sorace is to live or die.
Sorace and Xi Yan finally embracing each other
Knowing what he wants from her, she pleads for his life while kneeling, and offers complete obediance. Satisfied, Yi Sai grants her wish and when he leaves he informs her that later she will get to know her duties and that Sorace was planted with a bat, too, which is stronger than hers and reacts when he sees her.
Xi Yan tries to apologize to Sorace, as this happened because of her, but he is actually grateful for her stepping in for him. They hug each other and when she protests this because of the bat, Sorace tells her that the pain is not that bad and he is finally aware of what she feels all the time. Xi Yan ponders about them, and realizes that she doesn't want to let him go, as he was there for her after the Forbidden Sphere, and not because he pitied or felt sympathy for her. She realizes that she is in love with him.
Later she is seen sitting on a tree waiting for the arrival of Osiris.[38]
In a flashback she is shown the night when they recieved the invitation for the auction. She tells Zhao Yan that she would gladly be a backup for her on the auction, which was denied by Zhao Yan rather harshly. When she leaves Xi Yan ponders about what she is actually for her sister.[39]
Battle after the Auction
After watching for the appearing of Osiris, she is free to do as she wishes. The bloody smell from the auction hall is effects her, awakening her bloodlust. Sorace seeks her out asking about if she has anything to do. Xi Yan confirms that she is free and intends to go back to rest when she sees Sorace trembling from pain. Sorace tries to persuade her to go to the auction hall and see what goes in there. Xi Yan firmly rejects, feeling that she has no right to go there, thinking that Zhao Yan's behaviour makes it clear that she sees her a burden, which she hates. She starts to yearn for power. Sorace says that for him it doesn't matter wether she is worthy or not, what she does and how far she goes, he will always accompany her.
When they arrive, the battle is already going on. Sorace comforts her that her sister will be alright, as Osiris probably needs her Mei Yue Yin, which surprises Xi Yan. And she starts to be suspicious of him, as he shouldn't know that, and he is tolerating the pain casued by the bat to easily, when she knows exactly how powerful Yi Sai's bats can be.
After the battle is over, she sees how enraged her sister is, and envies Osiris for being so powerful.[40]
Ravnos Clan
After the battle with Osiris they get near to the terrority of the Ravnos Clan. There Yi Sai takes her to a basement where he starts to teach her about the science-based side of the Tzimisce Clan. It turns out that the reconstruction spell used by the Giovanni was known to them long ago, and he sabotaged the spell cast by the Giovanni mages. It would have been imperfect either way, since it used too much imperfect material, so the result could have only been imperfect, too.
He is also able to create such imperfect bodies, Titan was made this way. When Xi Yan trembles he mockingly asks if she is rebelling or is horrified by such things, which she has no right after getting killed so many others. She makes a remark that Titan is not perfect, and Yi Sai tells her that it is because ordinary Vampire blood was used to create it, but if he were to use special blood he could have made a perfect body. XI Yan asks him if there was ever signs of succes with this and Yi Sai asks back whether she would consider him a success, much to Xi Yan's horror.
He also explains that materials can be refined and she is to start learning body modification, refinement, and extraction methods. Yi Sai chains a human he already modified somewhat to a lab table and passes a scapel made from special metal so the body won't die no matter what unless she stabs into the heart.
He reminds her that she is a Vampire, cold, callous, cruel, and that he is aware that she is not content with her current status as a low-ranked servant and if she can't gather enough cruelty to do that what does she want to achieve.
Xi Yan also knows that she can't wait her doom. She wants to exceed Zhao Yan and protect Sorace, and realizing that as a Vampire the only way open to her is cruelty she slashes down with the scapel. She does it again and again, Yi Sai is not stopping her. She realizies that formerly the trembling wasn't fear but excitement, and the fresh blood excites her the spurting blood is beautiful to her and what she is doing is her true nature.[41]
Etymology
She is either named after the Calabash flower (ユウガオ, yuugao or otherwise 夕颜, Xī yán) or the Ipomoea violacea (its common name is moonflower, a nightblooming type of the morning glory).
Her name can also mean "Evening Face". This refers to the act of a girl dressing up for a night out in make-up and her best clothes, when she looks her best and is hiding all her imperfections and flaws. The full translation of her name is "Evening facing Palace". In this translation, her name matches her sister Zhao Yan's name of "Morning Face", as they were originally meant to be the twins that their father was commissioned to create.
The flower (which is really similar to the morning glory) blooms only at night and dies soon after.
The Moonflower is the symbol of blossoming in dark times. It symbolizes the growth potential of the soul and personality when someone is facing with challenging and difficult periods in the life. Some may have grown and transformed from a dark time. Some may have shut down and retreated from life. The future of the life often depends on what one does on the dark night journey. It can either leave someone at feeling lost and debilitated, or it can activate previously unknown powers and resources.
Trivia
- The birthday of the three sisters is on the 27th of May.
- Xi Yan and Zhao Yan were the intended twins born to fulfill a divine destiny via the Mei Yue Yin. If not for Yue Jian's birth, Xi Yan would have been given the Mei Yue Yin without any problems anyway. Even with her birth, Yue Jian was noted to have some subtle differences in her mental development growing up, making her the weakest of the 3 girls as a candidate and did not have any interest or understanding in the selection process at all. There was, thus, a fair chance she would have been given the serum anyway had she not rigged the selection process.
- An early indication that her serum is fake was dropped early on. In the correct dosage, the flower is on the left, while the fake has it on the right. This is not apparent until Yue Jian's own flower appeared later on on th left side like Zhao Yan's.
- What Yi Sai first teaches her is based on Koldunic Sorcery. Espeically on it Way of Fire, used to manipulation heat by enslaving spirits of the nature. Xi Yan performs Fiery Courage, which can make a Vampire step over his or her fear of fire and heat; and probably Heat Wave, that can let a Vampire summon blistering hot wind that can kill the targets. It was implied that she learned magic from the Way of Water, too, but it was never shown on scene. She also begins to learn the art of Vicissitude, otherwise known as "flesh crafting" in Chapter 103 on test subjects, this is the ultimate art of her clan they have access to.
- According to a Side Chapter, she once drank his father's beer and got drunk.[42]
- In Chapter 69, a young Xi Yan wishes upon a shooting star and wished to marry someone rich. However, like her sisters wishes, this is a wish that currently looks not be true. The current forming relationship between her and Sorace is the complete opposite to that of which she wished for as a child as Sorace is poor. On the other hand, while Yi Sai as the leader of their clan is indeed the wealthy person she desired, he brings her anything but the happiness she wished for.
- In a poll that was made for the 100th chapter she was ranked in 5th place (3rd most popular female character in the manhua).
- Though it was hinted many times that she drinks blood - it is a must as a Vampire - however the first time it was first shown on screen in the Chapter 106 - she drank her sister Zhao Yan's blood. Previously only a blood splatter had ever been shown at the most.[43]
- In China, the 3 Nan Gong sisters are quite popular.[44]
- Her reaction to the experimentation of subjects in Chapter 103 may not have been her own doing. The Tzimisce in VtM naturally enjoy the screams and suffering of their victims, though may react at first in disgust soon get used to it. The more they torture their experimental subjects, the more they enjoy it. Since VS is based on VtM, Xi Yan may be acting as anyone of her clan would; thus there was little she could do to resist the feelings she had when she was doing this.
References
- ↑ Chapter 69
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Side Chapter 1
- ↑ Chapter 1
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Chapter 2
- ↑ Chapter 3
- ↑ Chapter 4
- ↑ Chapter 5
- ↑ Chapter 9
- ↑ Chapter 25
- ↑ Chapter 37
- ↑ Chapter 38
- ↑ Chapter 39
- ↑ Chapter 40
- ↑ Chapter 41
- ↑ Chapter 49
- ↑ Chapter 50
- ↑ Chapter 51
- ↑ Chapter 67
- ↑ Chapter 68
- ↑ Chapter 74
- ↑ Chapter 75
- ↑ Chapter 76
- ↑ Chapter 77
- ↑ Chapter 78
- ↑ Chapter 79
- ↑ 26.0 26.1 Chapter 80
- ↑ Chapter 81
- ↑ Chapter 82
- ↑ Chapter 84
- ↑ Chapter 85
- ↑ 31.0 31.1 Chapter 86
- ↑ Chapter 87
- ↑ Chapter 90
- ↑ Chapter 91
- ↑ Chapter 92
- ↑ Chapter 96
- ↑ Chapter 97
- ↑ Chapter 98
- ↑ 'Chapter 99
- ↑ Chapter 101
- ↑ Chapter 103
- ↑ Side Chapter 9
- ↑ Chapter 106
- ↑ List of popular Chinese female characters
Gallery
Xi Yan
Xi Yan & Yi Sai
Xi Yan & Sorace
The Sisters
| The Demon Hunters | |
|---|---|
| Leaders | Hue Ge Lin ● Li Tao ● Yi Shen ● Osiris ● Ada |
| misc. characters | Xi Yan ● Zhao Yan ● Ling Xue Xiao ● Lin Xuan Chi ● Professor Nan Gong ● Kai Lin ● Xue Jiao |
| other | Forbidden Sphere ● Devil Key ● Mei Yue Yin ● Sui Xi Bing Lin |
| The Sabbat | |
|---|---|
| The Demon Clans | Lasombra Clan ● Tzimisce Clan |
| Leaders | Fan Le Lao ● Yi Sai ● Former Lasombra Leader |
| misc. characters | Titan ● Xi Yan ● Zhao Yan ● Bi Ni ● Lin Xuan Chi ● Sorace |
| Sacred Weapons | Devil Key ● The Cup of Blood |
| other | Forbidden Sphere |