Innocence is not something to be taken at face value, for it is the lie that helps the wearer bear this mask. Many types of yaoguais use deception tactics to compensate for their weak and meager form. Wu Meiling is not a yaoguai and neither is her furry companion but the people think she is. Meiling is a twelve-year-old Shilonese fireworks expert, demolitionist, and arsonist who became an orphan when her parents were executed for a crime she committed. And was later abandoned by her older brother out of hatred for her sly and malice nature. 

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When left for herself in the capital of Shao Tai, she observed the nature of a local clan of red badgers and their ability to trick other animals into stealing food from village markets and reap the rewards for themselves. Fascinated by these animals, Meiling attempted to mimic these practices of thievery using her young girl's innocence and managed to make it work.  The success motivated the young bandit to follow the cete of badgers and mark herself among their kind. She was always chased off, but only one of the badgers was captivated by her charm and became her 'disciple'. She named this badger "LuFu" and the two quickly became an inseparable duo, with Meiling teaching him the magic of explosives and how to be careful with them, and LuFu teaching her the skills of espionage and burglary.

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