#Zhang Qiling

[fixaidea]

Excerpt from Wu Xie's journal, Yucun era:

It happened on a completely ordinary Tuesday afternoon. I was sitting on my bed, trying to decide if I should get changed for gardening or if my current clothes will do when, unannounced as he would, Pokerface walked into my room.

I only noticed him when he sat down - or rather slumped in a heap on the floor, leaning against the bed, right beside my legs. This was already highly unusual of him but before I could ask what he was doing he tipped slightly to the side and pressed his face against my knees.

I stared, frozen to the spot. What the fuck? I opened my mouth and promptly closed it again, unable to force out my questions. What the hell had gotten into this guy? His head was uncovered but from this angle all I could see was his nape and the top of his head - admittedly both only slightly harder to read than his face.

Now my first shock receded just enough that I was almost certain I could string together a sentence so I opened my mouth to try again - and then Pokerface's shoulders shook and the took a deep breath. A wet, shuddering breath.

For a moment it did not even register, my brain simply refused what I heard. I stared at his nape, at his shaking shoulders, unable to believe what I was seeing.

Pokerface was crying.

Cold nausea was starting to settle in my guts. What the hell? I knew I should do something but for a beat I was paralysed, unable to form a coherent thought, never mind act on it. The hand I was finally able to extend and lay on his shoulder was shaking uncontrollably.

He responded by feebly squeezing my ankle.

The horrible twist in my gut this gesture caused finally spurred me into proper action: I reached under his armpits and pulled him upwards. He relented and stood up. I sat fully up on the bed, leaning against the headboard and patted the space beside me. He climbed up but instead of sitting with me like I expected he curled up by my side and put his head on my thigh.

I was quite lost.

The last twenty or so years have equipped me with a large amount of varied life skills, but comforting people just wasn't one of them. My mind was going into overdrive both figuring out how to act and trying to keep the mounting worry, dread and anger at bay. Because, fuck, this was Pokerface. I was aware he was capable of crying but I have never, not once in my life have witnessed him doing it. What on Earth could have happened to hurt him this bad?!

I took a deep breath. Me spiralling was the last thing he needed right now. I looked down at him: he was hugging my legs, quietly sniffling. My vision swam as I put my hand back on his shoulder.

'I remembered something' he muttered into my trousers.

I swallowed around the lump in my throat. That made sense, and it was by far the more preferable option compared to him getting hurt in the present time. Still, knowing his past, I dreaded what fresh horror he would reveal.

'On the street... there was a young mother with her son. Seeing them was what brought it back... I saw her. There, in Motuo.'

Relief flooded me so hard it knocked the breath out of me and left me boneless. His mother. He remembered his mother. Not one of the countless, unspeakable atrocities committed against him but gentle Bai Ma.

'I'm glad' I whispered 'I'm glad, Xiaoge.'

We stayed there for a long time, long after his tears finally dried.

[lotusflowerbreakingthesurface]

Happy Birthday to Pangzi!

🥕 DMBJ official illustration for Wang Pangzi's birthday on April 18, 2025

🍆 Source: 喜来眠留言簿 (Weibo)

I'm late :(

[xiaobaosnoona]

dorks <3

[fuckyeahchinesefashion]

Cosplay of zhang qiling张起灵 (nickname xiaoge小哥) from dao mu bi ji 盗墓笔记 The Grave Robbers' Chronicles by xu lei, one of the most beloved characters (paper people) in chinese fandoms (the coser is 小杰), and the book was written in 2006 and isn't finished yet and is still being serialized. Chinese fans voted for "which character from books you consider that won't affect your feelings and impression of her/him/them at all, no matter how badly the movie or TV version fails" and "The character that most convinced you they were real", and zhang qiling won the first place. Many book fans think the only successful live-action zhang qiling is cast by xiao yuliang肖宇梁 in Ultimate Note终极笔记.

mianhuawawa (popular chinese fandom merch, cute fluffy dolls having a real-life sense of companionship) of zhang qiling (cr: 支仓没睡)

A navy blue hoodie, black pants, boots, an ancient chinese dao, and a qilin麒麟 tattoo have become his trademark.

[thatlittlemouse]

some pingxie taking care of each other for @lunanoc happy birthday! ✨✨✨

[poorsallystitches]

A newbie's guide to The Lost Tomb franchise/Dao Mu Bi Ji/The Graverobber's Chronicles

I have seen people all over the internet asking questions on posts about DMBJ such as, where to start, what it is, and who are those cutie pies? You may have seen images similar to this

I, as someone who has watched a lot of the franchise and read at least half of the books (which if you knew how many there were, that would be impressive), I want to take a moment, or many, to explain to anyone who wants the answer to these questions. This will take a while, I cannot shut up, especially about them.

Spoiler free!

Now, first things first, what is Lost Tomb/DMBJ/Graverobber's Chronicles?

Lost Tomb is a Chinese Franchise comprised of a multitude of dramas and movies over the course of a decade that were all made by different people and actors to tell the story written in the novel series, The Graverobber's Chronicles, or its original Chinese title Dao Mu Bi Ji, written by Nan Pai San Shu.

This means that popular characters people will refer to will have many different faces. Such as all of these being Wu Xie

You may recognize any of those actors if you watch popular Cdramas, 1st Zhu Yilong who plays Shen Wei in Guardian, 2nd Zeng Shunxi who plays Xiao Bao in Mysterious Lotus Casebook, and 3rd Hou Minghao who was recently in Fangs of Fortune as Zhu Yan.

But, what is it about?

Lost Tomb as a franchise is loosely about a man named Wu Xie who is the last in a family line of graverobbers, but he himself has been kept out of the loop by the family. He has had his grandfather's journal since he passed away, which makes him take an interest in the family business. This leads him to force his uncle to let him tag along with him on tomb raiding adventures.

I feel it is important to tell people what they may encounter just in case they have sensitivities, so this franchise as a whole contains supernatural themes of ghosts, zombies, gods, etc. There will be blood, BUGS, and some body horror in a lighter portion, if you have any questions about specifics feel free to ask.

Now, let's skip to who those cutie pies are before telling you about the options for where to start.

The characters you may have seen around that got you interested may be

Wu Xie, the main character who is played a little differently in every iteration of the story but mainly think of a man with a high level of intelligence, but the worst luck in the world and some bitchy attitude (said with love) and you'll have him. You saw some of the most popular actors to play him up top.

Zhang Qiling/Xiao Ge (young master)/Menyouping (Poker-face), one of the main characters who is the strong, emo, silent, tatted sweety of the story. He is mysterious on purpose; you're not meant to know much about him at any given time. Him and Wu Xie are very close and with the next character, they form what is widely known in book, show, and fandom as the Iron Triangle. Just meaning the three are a package deal and won't be separated.

Wang Pangzi, the chubby, stylish, tough, bitchier than Wu Xie, lovable bastard. His name actually translates to Fatty, so that is what you will see everyone call him. It's not mean, just accurate. Pretty much everyone has real names and nicknames they go by. Remember, they are doing something illegal.

It's less likely, but you may have seen my personal favorite boys Hei Xiazi or Hei Yanjing (black glasses or black blind, you'll see why) and Xie Yuchen or Xiao Hua (little flower). They are the black/pink dynamic of the century for me. Hei Xiazi is a merc for hire and Xiao Hua is Wu Xie's cousin who has become the patriarch of his family at a young age.

Now, last question that people ask the most, where do I start?

There is no right or wrong answer, you can start chronologically with Mystic Nine, release order with Lost Tomb 2015, a mixture of both, leave out the ones you aren't interested in (*cough* Time Raiders movie), or just jump in in the middle. Each adaptation is aware of the fact that people will not have seen the others, and they will try to speed run the story to you, which can confuse people, but if you just want to experience the story with familiar faces, it won't be too bad.

To share my experience. I started with the Lost Tomb 2015, continued with Lost Tomb 2 2019, skipped Explore with the Note 2021 because I didn't vibe with it, Ultimate Note, started the prequels with Mystic Nine, which is a prequel with our character's ancestors, watched The Hei Xiazi and Xie Yuchen movie, started Reunion, watched a prequel movie and just started reading the books. I was never super confused because I had the set-up of the first 2 to build upon.

If you are a completionist like me and want to read the novels go to Merebear's blog. She is phenomenal and she has translated pretty much everything for your reading pleasure and laid it all out in an easy-to-follow way. I cannot give her enough gratitude. I absolutely adore her and all of her efforts as well as all her helpers along the way.

Now just a little gay propaganda about Lost Tomb franchise. The novels and shows are not canonically gay, but I mean... they are giving something.

[li-vera]

Iron triangle :D

[luyi]

新年快乐! Happy Chinese New Year!

But before we leave, we decided to properly celebrate Chinese New Year for Xiaoge. It's also the first Chinese New Year that the three of us spend together, and a new adventure. Remarkable adventures can be going into uninhabited areas for thrilling expeditions that can only happen in movies, or it can be any aspect of life. Don't believe me? Look at us.

Zhang Luyi as Wu Xie, Chen Minghao as Wang Pangzi, & Zhang Kangle as Zhang Qiling in 藏海花 | Tibetan Sea Flower (2024) aka Adventure Behind the Bronze Door

[lilianhuas]

[taomubiji]

Photos from the DMBJ Artbook by Wuhe Qilin (x)

[fixaidea]

Fucking around and finding out in the Xianle royal tomb…

[lotusflowerbreakingthesurface]

💠 Zhang Qiling's official birthday illustration "Childhood Series" for DMBJ×气球暖暖星 Collaboration in October-November 2024, drawn by the same artist -椿梦记-

💠 Source: 气球暖暖星 (Weibo)

I can't find the full version...

🪷 Wu Xie's official birthday illustration for DMBJ×气球暖暖星 Collaboration in February-March 2025 (Childhood Series)

🪷 Artist: -椿梦记-

🪷 Source: 气球暖暖星 (Weibo) or (xhs)

Note: 气球暖暖星 set their Weibo posts to be visible for only half a year.

[xiaobaosnoona]

Xiaoge and bunny ♡

[jeong-guwon]

THE LOST TOMB 2 盗墓笔记2 (2019) dir. Liu Guo Hui, Li Ang, Zhou Yu Yi – Ep. 4

[shijiujun]

藏海花 Tibetan Sea Flower (2024) | Opening Sequence

[dailyfigures]

Zhang Qiling & Wu Xie ; Grave Robbers' Chronicles ☆ Good Smile Arts Shanghai