Formlessness

In the land of Nanyue, on Qingxun Mountain.

The Tree Mother manifests, bestowing blessings and guidance.

Nineteen tells the Tree Mother that she wants to become a thief.

So the Tree Mother grants her a face no one will ever be able to remember.

*

On Nineteen's first trip down the mountain, she seeks lodging for the night at a farmhouse in the wilderness and knocks loudly on the door.

"My name is Nineteen. I have no father or mother, born of heaven and earth. A traveler by night, a faceless woman, a lady on the roof beam, a master of ingenious tricks, the greatest thief under heaven."

A farmer's voice comes from inside the door.

"We don't have room for that many people!"

[The official blurb won't be this slapdash, at least it won't be a Soviet joke OTZ]

The story is roughly this:

The heroine, Nineteen, grows up on Qingxun Mountain, a barren mountain in Nanyue. Dozens of girls like her live on the mountain. They have no parents and don't know where they came from, and they are named according to their ages.

When the girls turn seven, they may make a wish to the mountain spirit, the Tree Mother, and tell her what they want to become. In return, the spirit grants them a supernatural ability. Nineteen wants to become a thief, so the spirit gives her a face no one can ever remember.

After coming down the mountain, Nineteen robs the rich to help the poor, vanishing without a trace. People have seen her face but cannot retain the memory of it, so they call her the "Faceless Woman."

I haven't decided on the male lead's setup yet. Perhaps he will be a powerful judge of the Court of Judicial Review from the start, or perhaps he will begin as a young detective who hates evil with a passion.

I'm better at writing the latter: a boy who thinks his heart is made of iron but blushes as soon as the heroine lightly teases him, and who thinks he has principles but gives way to her without limit. But I also want to challenge myself with the former?

Whatever the case, at the start of the story, he is a Confucian at heart and a Legalist in practice. He believes in the authority of law, order, and sovereigns and teachers. He is naturally at odds with the heroine, who leans more toward anarchism. He recognizes the goodness in her actions, but believes goodness will turn into its opposite unless it exists within the order. As a lawman, his ideal is to arrest the heroine and bring her to justice. Clearly, that's not going to happen...

The main storyline follows Nineteen and two of her sisters as they leave the mountain to find their older sisters, who disappeared after coming down from the mountain. Meanwhile, the male lead is also investigating cases involving missing women. It's a mystery-of-the-week detective story, with elements of suspense and deduction (I hope).

The two sisters are important supporting characters and the reason this story's tags include "ensemble cast." One is Eighteen Qianji, the team's strategist, whose ability is a secret. The other is Twenty Xue Tu, the team's healer, whose ability is also a secret.

This is an idea I came up with when I was sixteen. I've always wanted to write it, but after half a year under contract with Jinjiang, I've gradually learned about the web-novel scene and which genres are popular or not. Even if I prepared thoroughly and wrote this story now, it might end up as a solo project spanning hundreds of thousands of words. That would take a toll on both my energy and my emotions. I joked with a friend that instead of calling this story Faceless, I should call it Flop-Faced. I plan to wait until I have a solid reader base, readers who trust me enough to follow whatever I write, and enough confidence in my own writing ability before I start. That's the more responsible choice, both for myself and for this story.

Theme: Your nemesis cannot become your wife.