General · EdgepediaOctober 3, 20265 min read

Wu Xin the Monster Killer (无心法师)

Wu Xin the Monster Killer (无心法师; English title also rendered WuXin: The Monster Killer) is a 2015 Chinese fantasy web drama adapted from Ni Luo's (尼罗) novel of the same name, produced by Tangren Media and Sohu Video and starring Han Dongjun, Jin Chen, Chen Yao, Zhang Ruoyun, and Wang Yanlin. It premiered on Sohu Video on July 6, 2015, ran for 20 episodes of about 45 minutes each, and won Best Web Drama at the 2nd Wenrong Awards in October 2015.¹^•²

Key fact	Detail
Original title / English title	无心法师 / Wu Xin: The Monster Killer¹
Source	Novel Wu Xin Fa Shi by Ni Luo; Tangren Media bought permanent adaptation rights²
Premiere	July 6, 2015, Sohu Video; 20 episodes, 45 minutes each¹
Directors and writers	Lin Yufen and Gao Linbao; screenwriters Xu Ziyuan, Xiao Zhiyao, Li Nan, and Fang Qiangqiang; producer Cai Yinong³
Lead cast	Han Dongjun as Wu Xin, Jin Chen as Yue Ya, Chen Yao as Yue Qiluo, Zhang Ruoyun as Zhang Xianzong, Wang Yanlin as Gu Xuanwu³
Reception	1.35 billion views reported by Sohu; Douban rating of 8.3⁴
Awards	Best Web Drama, 2nd Wenrong Awards (October 31, 2015); Best Actor (Han Dongjun), Golden Gudu Web Film and TV Awards (August 18, 2016); Best Actress (Chen Yao), 2016 network audiovisual program support project (October 26, 2016)²
Sequels	Wu Xin: The Monster Killer 2 (2017) and Wu Xin: The Monster Killer 3 (2020)³

Spoilers

Premise and characters

The story is set in the early Republican era. Wu Xin (韩东君, Han Dongjun) is an immortal of unknown origin who does not know where he came from, how long he has lived, or what he is; he wanders the land poor and purposeless, supporting himself by exorcising demons.³^•⁵ He meets Yue Ya (月牙, played by Jin Chen), a girl who has fled an arranged marriage, and repays her kindness in sharing her food by making a living as a monster hunter for hire.⁵^•³

Their first client is the warlord Gu Xuanwu (顾玄武, Wang Yanlin), whose household is plagued by a monster in a well. The job instead releases Yue Qiluo (岳绮罗, Chen Yao), a sealed spirit who is also immortal, wears the body of a girl of sixteen or seventeen, and sustains herself by seizing other people's flesh.⁵^•⁶ Yue Qiluo fixates on Wu Xin, while Gu's staff officer Zhang Xianzong (张显宗, Zhang Ruoyun) falls for her; the entanglement drives the season's conflicts. In the season's end, Yue Qiluo kills Yue Ya, and Wu Xin fights her to reseal her before leaving alone.⁷

Sequels

Tangren continued the series with Wu Xin: The Monster Killer 2 (2017), co-produced by Penguin Pictures, Sohu Video, and Tangren and streamed jointly on Tencent and Sohu, and Wu Xin: The Monster Killer 3 (2020).¹³ Season 1 adapted the first novel, while season 2 merged the second and third novels.¹⁰ Season 3 moved the setting to the late Tang dynasty, where an unaging Wu Xin, burdened by millennia of memory and weary of immortality, seeks a powerful demon able to kill him; its 28 episodes concluded on April 15, 2020.¹⁴^•¹⁵ Commentators have noted that for sequels such as Wu Xin: The Monster Killer and Heshen, recasting roles with new actors created acceptance problems that affected a season's popularity.¹⁶

Production

Tangren Media bought the permanent rights to Ni Luo's novel and partnered with Sohu Video, which producer Cai Yinong (蔡艺侬) described as a deliberate move into the internet market once the timing was right. She chose the property because its genre, a Republican-era youth fantasy about demon hunting, was unusual and little known, and because she wanted to show that Tangren could turn an obscure IP into a strong one.²

The adaptation itself was contested inside the company. Tangren and Sohu first considered starting from the modern-era fourth book, since period fantasy web dramas were thought hard to sell, but the screenwriting team argued that dropping viewers into the fourth book without the earlier books' buildup would not work; after merging the first and fourth books failed to satisfy anyone, the writers persuaded the company to read the novel, and everyone agreed the first book was the strongest, so the season was built on it, set in the Republican era.² The hardest part, the writers said, was constructing the world, story, and character framework.²

Filming took place in Zhengzhou and Hengdian, whose distinctive Chinese architecture served the Republican-era setting, and the demon designs were custom-made for the actors by a professional team; the magic-duel scenes were noted for their fidelity to the novel.⁸ The production wrapped at the end of January 2015 and entered post-production ahead of a planned summer 2015 release.⁹ Li Guoli served as chief supervisor.¹

Music

The opening theme is "Lake Baikal" (贝加尔湖畔), written and performed by Li Jian, and the ending theme is "The Longest Journey" (最长的旅途), with lyrics by Gong Shujun and music by Wen Yingqiu.³^•⁶ The soundtrack also includes Li Jian's "Lake Baikal" as an insert song, the Cantonese theme song "Remember to Forget Me" (记住忘记我) by Hins Cheung, and a Kunqu aria from The Broken Bridge sung by Yu Xuejiao and Wang Chen.⁶

Broadcast and reception

The series aired on Sohu Video from July 6 to September 7, 2015, with two episodes updating weekly at midnight.³^•⁶ It was exported to Taiwan's Ba Da Comprehensive and Ba Da Drama channels in mid-July 2015, and to Hong Kong's TVB Jade in prime time from December 28, 2015.⁶^•⁸ Sohu reported 1.35 billion views for the season.⁴ On Douban it holds a rating of 8.3.¹⁰

A "three-nothing" hit. Contemporary commentary noted that the season had no super IP, no big-name stars, and no satellite-TV broadcast, yet won audiences through its fresh premise, distinctive character design, and production values, including effects that viewers contrasted favorably with cheaply made television dramas.¹⁰^•¹¹ The season also launched the careers of its young leads; Han Dongjun, Chen Yao, Wang Yanlin, and Zhang Ruoyun all rose to fame from the show.¹²

References

Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 21, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026