Yan Wushi

"“When you are reduced to a truly desperate state, isolated and betrayed by everyone around you, will you still not harbor any grudges against others and insist on repaying people with kindness?”"

Yan Wushi (晏无师) is the leader of one of the three demonic sects, the Huanyue Sect. He also serves as the imperial adviser to Yuwen Yong, the emperor of Northern Zhou. He is the deuteragonist of Thousand Autumns.

Appearance
He is often said to be wearing dark robes. The novel describes Yan Wushi as having a handsome face with an overbearing disposition. His eyes are long and narrow and have a few wrinkles, but they only helped enhance his stature with an indescribable charm.

Personality
Yan Wushi carries a pessimistic outlook towards human nature, believing that everyone - including himself - is inherently evil and selfish, and that anything resembling kindness and goodwill is susceptible to corruption when exposed to enough tragedies and hardships. However, his cynical beliefs allow him to be completely aware about the harshness of reality, citing that unless one is born with certain privileges, every person is out for themself.

Yan Wushi is not the type of person who holds regrets, and claims that everything he has done in his life is only for his benefit, never for anyone's else.

He is described by Shen Qiao as "a gambler down to his bones", as Yan Wushi loves challenging himself with the prospect of facing against near-impossible odds and making previously unfounded achievements.

Abilities

 * Mo Yin She Xin (魔音摄心; or Devilish Charm): It is a skill practiced among the demonic sects that lets the user channel their inner qi into their voices to hypnotize and lure others into following their commands.

Weapons

 * Taihua: Taihua is Yan Wushi's old sword, which he surrendered to Cui Youwang after losing against him in a duel. Yan Wushi hands over Shen Qiao to Sang Jingxing in exchange for reclaiming Taihua, but even then, he only sets the sword aside and never uses it again.

Shen Qiao
"'Ah-qiao, you’re so foolish. When have I ever treated you well?'"

Shen Qiao was saved by Yan Wushi after his fall from Banbu Peak. Not out of kindness, however, but to see if he could corrupt his pure Daoist core. He wanted Shen Qiao to reveal the darkness, hate and resentment (that he believed everyone possessed) hidden deep down within his heart, going as far as exchanging Shen Qiao with Sang Jingxing for his old sword, Taihua. But even after being betrayed, Shen Qiao still saved him at the time he was attacked by five martial masters.

Over time, Yan Wushi came to acknowledge that Shen Qiao is an exception to his belief that all humans are evil by nature, and that there is nothing he can do to change Shen Qiao, who is someone unlike anyone else in the world.

Ever since then, Yan Wushi sincerely tries to win Shen Qiao's affections, only to be rebuffed at almost every turn as Shen Qiao does not believe his feelings are sincere and still has not forgotten that Yan Wushi deeply betrayed his trust in the past. Yan Wushi acknowledges his past actions, but also says that there is nothing he can do about what had already happened.

Bian Yanmei
Bian Yanmei is Yan Wushi's eldest disciple. Bian Yanmei also essentially serves as Yan Wushi's second-in-command, as he handles his master's business in both the imperial court and the Huanyue Sect on behalf of Yan Wushi.

Bian Yanmei's shrewdness and intelligence allows him to easily have any kind of conversation with Yan Wushi, and Yan Wushi has enough trust in Bian Yanmei to even ask him for advice on how to romance Shen Qiao.

Yu Shengyan
Yan Wushi's second disciple who, although naive, had great talents in martial arts.