I'm about to write a Mu Qingfang-centric fic, and though I know there's A LOT of very popular fanon about our very favorite malpractice shidi, I could not actually remember what SVSSS did actually tell us about the Jianghu's #1 Hottest Doctor (citation needed). So I did a deep dive. Since this is the niche fandom knowledge website I figured someone else would also appreciate the fruits of my research, so Mu Qingfang In The Text below the cut!
He gets into an apology loop with YQY and SQQ during his first introduction, in his case about his inability to cure Without a Cure (vol 1, p 151)
He's present at the IAC but doesn't actually make an appearance until Yue Qingyuan asks him to check SQQ out after the conference attack/Endless Abyss. (vol 1, p 267) Even then he doesn't get to say anything. One hit wonder
"As it turned out, Yue Qingyuan had briefed Mu Qingfang about the situation in detail": MQF gets passed the baton from YQY directly to be the quest-giving NPC in the start of the Jinlan City arc and data-dumps several times (vol 2, p 14)
SQQ as our untrustworthy narrator does not report MQF responding any particular way to skeletons appearing in the river, just that skeletonizing diseases are "unheard of". He does note that MQF speaks gently to Yang Yixuan, #1 fighty baby. 😔
"He noted that Mu Qingfang was absorbed in investigating the festered parts of Wu Chen’s leg, like he couldn’t smell a hint of the stench." (vol 2, p 23). Noseblind king
Refers to himself as "this humble one" (vs SQQ's "this master/teacher") when saying he needs more research subjects patients before he can determine the cause of the plague (vol 2, p 23)
I'm going to put Fun With Medical Ethics here in full because SQQ attributes it to Liu Qingge in totality but. Come on, man:
Liu Qingge was responsible for the hard labor, and after they’d separated, he’d gone to capture experimental subjects for Mu Qingfang. With the people in the city so on edge, no one was willing to cooperate. However, at this point they didn’t have the luxury to be concerned with consent, so they had resorted to martial power to solve the problem.
On top of that, Liu Qingge had never been the sort of patient person who preferred reason over force. His approach was highly consistent with Bai Zhan Peak’s customs: he simply went out and grabbed whoever he saw. In one pass, he had collected more than ten burly macho men, then tied them up by the forge, which had by now become Mu Qingfang’s research lab and experimental station. This group of big, strong men were shouting, cursing, crying, and wailing so terribly that no women could have overcome their performance. (vol 2, p 44)
MQF has no response to the news that Luo Binghe isn't dead, according to SQQ, because he "rarely cared about things other than medicine." (vol 2, p 46)
"Shen Qingqiu thought of that brightly shining set of silver surgical tools Mu Qingfang always carried with him, which included all kinds of knives and needles. When spread out, they seemed to belong to the scene of a forensic autopsy. There were also hundreds upon thousands of bottles and jars in his infinite storage, with all sorts of labels. The words and descriptions on those labels were just like the flavor and effects of the contents within: stuff that made people go green upon hearing, let alone smelling, that made their courage flee with a glance." This is a Normal Man (vol 2, p 46)
It's impossible to say if the iconic "did you take your meds" and "speaking to a child" tone on (vol 2, p 48) are typical MQF or just the SQQ effect but I'm including them for completeness
YQY doesn't bat an eye at the news that MQF's patients were screaming loud enough to keep SQQ awake all night? yeah this was definitely LQG's fault:
Shen Qingqiu gave him a hollow smile. “It’s only because Mu-shidi’s patients were wailing and howling all night. I couldn’t sleep much.” Mu Qingfang had finished distributing the medicine.
On returning, he also looked at Shen Qingqiu with surprise. “Shixiong, even with all the noise we made, it shouldn’t have left you in such a dreadful state after a single night. Have you taken the medication I left in your room?”
MQF once again gets to be the background info provider in-scene (vol 2, p 309) about YQY's seclusion during SQQ's dirt nap
"“If it’s a poison from the Human Realm, Mu-shidi would be able to identify it at a glance,” said Qi Qingqi." (vol 2, p 314)
Pulls out one of the sassiest lines in the book, tell us how you really feel doc (though as the Peak Lord with the dubious honor of being first to be kidnapped by LBH I guess he'd know):
Qi Qingqi put the teacup down heavily and gave him a meaningful glance. “Indeed. How could that be? If that bastard Luo Binghe still has the gall to come to Cang Qiong Mountain, he’ll see how we send him packing!”
“First you must be capable of sending him packing,” Mu Qingfang said from the seat beside her, hands tucked into his sleeves. (vol 3, p 261)
"Mu Qingfang’s face was also full of reproach. “Liu-shixiong, you really shouldn’t act like that toward a patient. It’s not good at all.”" (vol 3, p 338). Qian Cao junior to Bai Zhan peak is CANON
"Once Shen Qingqiu finished wiping his chest, he followed Mu Qingfang’s teachings and took Luo Binghe’s wrist to examine his pulse." (vol 4, p 27). Does MQF take the time to teach every peak lord xianxia first aid or is this a SQQ-only intervention? I'm guessing the latter
MQF during the Secret Peak Lord Meeting to Discuss Shen Qingqiu: Qi Deviations are so weird, we can just say that's what happened (vol 4, p 201)
"This junior of his had always possessed a mild temper, but as Mu Qingfang stood in the center of the assembly hall, his expression was devoid of any goodwill." (vol 4, p 269). Later on in this passage SQQ also notes that MQF isn't usually short-tempered like LQG and QQQ but that he's being "unpleasant" today. I WONDER WHY?
MQF lectures Binghe about terms of address and then SMILES when he asks him to look at SQQ's corpse: "This Mu already knows that there is no way to bring people back to life." (vol 4, p 270). Beyond having nerves of steel to talk back to LBH at this point, DO YOU KNOW THAT BECAUSE YOU'VE TRIED, MU-SHIDI???
Other folks may have other readings here but it seems to me that MQF is irritated with the ineffectiveness of LBH's corpse-preservation method more than anything:
“What method did you use to preserve his body?” Mu Qingfang asked.
“Mu-xiansheng is the Qian Cao Peak Lord,” Luo Binghe said very lightly. “You know better than I how to preserve a fleshly body without destroying it.”
After a long pause, Mu Qingfang’s original attitude of indirect refusal to cooperate finally collapsed. “Forcefully channeling your spiritual energy into Shen-shixiong’s corpse every day does barely anything—you just barely prevent his body’s decay while consuming an enormous amount of spiritual power. Furthermore, the moment you stop for a single day, all of your prior efforts will go to waste. With all due respect, Shen-shixiong has already—” (vol 4, p 272)
The timeline between MQF's initial kidnapping and rescue by LQG is vague; it's implied to be a while, but also SQQ is definitely not paying attention to anyone but Binghe in this extra so he could have been kicking rocks for years and we would have no idea. Sorry doc
AND THAT'S IT FOR OUR GUY. This actually got longer than I expected ಥ‿ಥ
