Xia Xueyi (simplified: 夏雪宜, traditional: 夏雪宜, pinyin: Xià Xuěyí, jyutping: haa6 syut3 ji4), known as the Golden Serpent Gentleman (金蛇郎君 — Jīnshé Lángjūn), was a legendary swordsman whose tragic past and unorthodox martial arts techniques shaped the events of Sword Stained with Royal Blood, even though he never appeared directly in the story. His legacy was inherited by Yuan Chengzhi, who discovered his remains and martial arts manual on Mount Hua, and his daughter Xia Qingqing played a central role in the novel.
Biography
Early tragedy and vow of vengeance
Xia Xueyi’s story began with a terrible tragedy. When he was young, Wen Fanglu, a senior member of the Wen Family gang (石梁派), attempted to rape Xia Xueyi’s sister. When he failed, Wen Fanglu murdered Xia Xueyi’s parents, siblings, and sister—five family members in total. Xia Xueyi was the only survivor, and he vowed to take revenge against the Wen family.
As he grew older, Xia Xueyi became a handsome and skilled martial artist, though the source of his initial martial arts training was never revealed. Driven by his desire for revenge, he learnt that the Five Poisons Order in Yunnan possessed exceptional poison techniques that could aid his revenge.
Encounter with the Five Poisons Order
Xia Xueyi travelled to Yunnan and attempted to steal the poison techniques from the Five Poisons Order. However, during his attempt, he was bitten by a poisonous snake and was saved by He Hongyao, the sister of the order’s leader and the master of Wanmiao Manor (万妙山庄).
He Hongyao fell in love with Xia Xueyi at first sight. Xia Xueyi, recognising an opportunity, used He Hongyao’s feelings for him to manipulate her into helping him steal the order’s treasures. He convinced her to take him to the secret vault, where he stole the Golden Snake Sword (金蛇剑), twenty-four Golden Snake Cones (金蛇锥), and a treasure map left by the Jianwen Emperor.
During this time, Xia Xueyi and He Hongyao had a romantic relationship. However, after obtaining the treasures, Xia Xueyi abandoned He Hongyao without a word. As punishment for her role in the theft, He Hongyao was subjected to the order’s punishment of being bitten by ten thousand snakes, which left her disfigured. This betrayal created a deep hatred in He Hongyao toward Xia Xueyi.
The Golden Serpent Gentleman
After obtaining the Golden Snake Sword, Xia Xueyi studied its unique form and properties, creating the Golden Snake Swordplay (金蛇剑法) technique. The sword’s forked tip allowed for unique techniques involving stabbing, hooking, and locking enemy weapons.
Returning to the central plains, Xia Xueyi used the Golden Snake Swordplay with the Golden Snake Sword to dominate the jianghu, earning no enemies who could match him. Combined with his extreme and ruthless personality, he became known as the Golden Serpent Gentleman, a figure who struck fear into the hearts of martial artists throughout the jianghu.
Revenge against the Wen family
After establishing his reputation, Xia Xueyi went to the Wen family to begin his revenge. He first killed Wen Fanglu, his primary target, and left a message at Wen Family Fort stating: “I will kill fifty of your family members and defile ten of your women. I will not consider myself human until I have achieved this number.”
The Wen family had no one who could match Xia Xueyi’s martial arts. However, rather than simply killing them all at once, Xia Xueyi deliberately prolonged their suffering, killing only one or two people at a time before leaving. This psychological torture kept the entire Wen family in a state of constant fear and despair. Over the course of two years, Xia Xueyi killed forty members of the Wen family.
Love with Wen Yi
During his campaign of revenge, Xia Xueyi abducted Wen Yi, the daughter of Wen Fangshan. However, instead of harming her as he had threatened, Xia Xueyi was deeply moved by Wen Yi’s steadfastness, gentleness, and moral character. The two fell in love, creating a profound conflict between Xia Xueyi’s vow of vengeance and his growing feelings for Wen Yi.
Xia Xueyi eventually sent Wen Yi back home and went to search for treasure. Three months later, he returned to the Wen family to be with Wen Yi, and they had a romantic relationship. Wen Yi later gave birth to their daughter, Xia Qingqing.
Betrayal and capture
The Five Wen Elders, seeing an opportunity to capture Xia Xueyi, secretly added a special poison called “Immortal Intoxication Honey” (醉仙蜜) to the lotus seed soup that Wen Yi prepared for Xia Xueyi. Unaware of the poison, Xia Xueyi consumed the soup and became completely paralysed, unable to use his martial arts.
Defeated by the Wen family’s Five Elements Formation (五行阵), Xia Xueyi had his tendons severed in his hands and feet, rendering him a cripple without any martial arts abilities. The Wen family then forced him to lead them to the treasure.
Final days on Mount Hua
Whilst being taken to the treasure location, Xia Xueyi was rescued by He Hongyao. However, when He Hongyao discovered that Xia Xueyi was in love with someone else, she became enraged. She tried to force him to reveal Wen Yi’s location, but Xia Xueyi refused, even under torture.
Infuriated by his refusal, He Hongyao broke Xia Xueyi’s legs and whipped him until his body was covered in wounds. Despite the extreme torture, Xia Xueyi only laughed to the heavens, which further enraged He Hongyao. She then took him to a cave on Mount Hua and abandoned him there, leaving him to die.
Xia Xueyi managed to escape to another cave, hiding from He Hongyao when she returned to search for him. Realising that the obsessive He Hongyao would likely return and burn his body if she found it, Xia Xueyi prepared for his death by setting up explosive traps and concealing poison within his body. He hid the Golden Snake Sword and manual in the cave, waiting for a worthy successor to find them.
After making all preparations, Xia Xueyi chose to wait for death in the cave. Even in death, his skeleton remained gripping Wen Yi’s hairpin in his teeth, demonstrating his undying love for her.
Legacy
Years later, Yuan Chengzhi accidentally discovered Xia Xueyi’s remains and belongings. Following the instructions left by Xia Xueyi—first burying the remains before opening the treasure box—Yuan Chengzhi avoided the traps and inherited the Golden Snake Sword and manual, becoming a powerful martial artist. Yuan Chengzhi later fell in love with Xia Qingqing, becoming Xia Xueyi’s son-in-law.
When He Hongyao eventually discovered Xia Xueyi’s skeleton on Mount Hua, she was overcome with grief. However, upon seeing that his skeleton still held Wen Yi’s hairpin in its teeth, and learning that Xia Qingqing intended to bury Wen Yi’s remains with him, He Hongyao’s grief turned to jealous rage. She attempted to burn the body, but this triggered the explosive traps that Xia Xueyi had set before his death. He Hongyao died in the explosion, perishing in the same place as the man she had loved and hated.
Personality and character
Xia Xueyi was a complex and contradictory figure. Driven by vengeance from a young age, he became a ruthless and feared figure in the jianghu, capable of extreme cruelty in his pursuit of revenge against the Wen family. His deliberate psychological torture of the Wen family, killing them slowly over two years, demonstrated his merciless nature.
However, his encounter with Wen Yi revealed another side of his character. Her gentleness, steadfastness, and moral integrity moved him deeply, and he was willing to set aside his vengeance for love. Even in his final moments, his love for Wen Yi remained absolute, as evidenced by his skeleton holding her hairpin.
Xia Xueyi’s treatment of He Hongyao showed a darker aspect of his character. He used her feelings for him to achieve his goals, then abandoned her without remorse, leading to her disfigurement and lifelong hatred. This demonstrated his willingness to exploit others when it served his purposes.
Despite his moral flaws, Xia Xueyi’s martial arts genius was undeniable. His creation of the Golden Snake Swordplay, adapted specifically for the unique Golden Snake Sword, demonstrated exceptional martial arts innovation and skill.
Martial arts
Xia Xueyi was one of the most powerful and feared martial artists of his time, known for his unorthodox techniques:
Sword techniques
- Golden Snake Swordplay (金蛇剑法) — Xia Xueyi’s signature technique, which he created after studying the unique form and properties of the Golden Snake Sword. The technique was specifically designed to take advantage of the sword’s forked tip, which could be used for stabbing, hooking, and locking enemy weapons in ways that conventional swords could not.
Fist techniques
- Golden Serpent Capturing Crane Fist (金蛇擒鹤拳) — A fist technique that combined snake and crane movements.
Palm techniques
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Golden Serpent Wandering Body Palm (金蛇游身掌) — A palm technique from the Golden Serpent Manual, created by observing fighting snakes.
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Breaking the Five Elements Formation (破五行阵) — Techniques for countering the Wen family’s Five Elements Formation.
Weapons
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Golden Snake Sword (金蛇剑) — The legendary sword stolen from the Five Poisons Order, with a unique forked tip that allowed for unconventional techniques.
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Golden Snake Cone (金蛇锥) — Twenty-four throwing weapons that complemented the Golden Snake Swordplay.
Relationships
Family
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Wen Yi — Xia Xueyi’s fiancée and the mother of his daughter. Despite being from the family he had vowed to destroy, Wen Yi’s character and love transformed Xia Xueyi, creating a profound conflict between his vengeance and his feelings for her.
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Xia Qingqing — Xia Xueyi’s daughter with Wen Yi, born after his relationship with Wen Yi. She became the female protagonist of the novel and married Yuan Chengzhi.
Posthumous disciple
- Yuan Chengzhi — The protagonist who discovered Xia Xueyi’s remains and inherited his martial arts legacy, later becoming his son-in-law through marriage to Xia Qingqing.
Adversaries
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He Hongyao — Originally Xia Xueyi’s rescuer and lover, who helped him steal the Five Poisons Order treasures. After being betrayed and disfigured, she became his greatest enemy, ultimately perishing with him on Mount Hua.
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Wen Family — The target of Xia Xueyi’s lifelong vengeance, who ultimately captured and crippled him, leading to his death.
Legacy
Despite never appearing directly in the story, Xia Xueyi’s legacy was central to Sword Stained with Royal Blood. His martial arts techniques, passed on through the Golden Serpent Manual, enabled Yuan Chengzhi to become a powerful martial artist. His tragic love story with Wen Yi provided emotional depth to the narrative, and his daughter Xia Qingqing was one of the novel’s central characters.
Xia Xueyi’s story exemplified the destructive nature of vengeance and the redemptive power of love, serving as a cautionary tale about the consequences of hatred while also demonstrating how love could transform even the most hardened heart.