Lie Huo Jia Chou (烈火浇愁: Liè Huǒ Jiāo Chóu), translatable to Drowning Sorrows in Raging Fire, is an urban fantasy danmei Web Novel written by Priest.
In the current era, people are either normal or are with special abilities. Cases related to the latter are managed by the National Anomaly Prevention and Control and Special Species Management Office. Qi Zheng Emperor Sheng Lingyuan was reawakened a thousand years later after he jumped off the fiery red lake. Xuan Ji, a newly transferred staff to the Reparations Division of the Deviant Control Office, finds himself having to clean up the mess of a revived tyrannical monarch. The two seemed to share something from the past, but unbeknownst to them, a big conspiracy is stirring right underneath their noses that could destroy the balance of the world.
The novel was first published on December 31 2018 on JJWXC
, a revised version has been updated on May 6 2020. The novel is 137 chapters long including 8 extras. The novel has been officially translated and published in Korean, and received a simplified Chinese physical release.
Lie Huo Jia Chou has been adapted into:
- Animated Adaptation: A donghua under studio Shenying Animation was released in Fall 2021 on bilibili, and was also streamed on Funimation.
- Comic-Book Adaptation: An ongoing Manhua on Bilibili Comics that is updated every Friday.
- Audio Drama: Announced to be produced by Bian Jiang Studio and Season 1 to be released in 2021.
Lie Huo Jia Chou contains examples of the following tropes:
- All Myths Are True: Fiends and half-fiends exist in the modern world, which leads the Deviant Control Office to cover up events where fiends have attacked humans.
- Came Back Wrong: One of the biggest secrets of the Deviant Control Agency is that they've used the butterflies from the Wu clan to bring back innocent civilians who died during fiendish accidents to life. However, this means that the person is not literally brought back to life, but their corpses are walking around with the butterflies controlling their movements and attitudes, with their loved ones none the wiser.
- Compelling Voice: Bi Chunsheng helps cover up sightings of paranormal activity by speaking with the victims and basically rewriting their memory. She later does this to the exploration team's captain so he would end up as her sacrifice.
- False Flag Operation: Dan Li kills the leader of the Wu clan and frames the fiends for it, in order to convince the Wu clan to join the war.
- Fiery Redhead: Xuan Ji has red hair and has a fairly short temper.
- Fish out of Temporal Water: Sheng Lingyuan is reawakened a thousand years after he died. In the present, he gets confused by things like hotels and smartphones.
- Go Mad from the Revelation: Bi Chunsheng's family was involved in an accident that lead to the Deviant Control Office to use the butterflies on two of her family members to hide the fact that they died that day. She slowly loses her sanity trying to figure out who of her family members actually died before she ends up killing everyone. It then turns out her mother and son were the true survivors while her father and husband were not.
- Government Agency of Fiction: The National Anomaly Prevention and Control and Special Species Management Office handles supernatural affairs and holds up The Masquerade.
- Long-Haired Pretty Boy: Sheng Lingyuan is certainly one, and Xuan Ji can't help but admire the emperor's looks.
- Puppeteer Parasite: The Illusory Butterfly controls dead bodies with enough accuracy that even the victim's family doesn't always notice anything wrong.
- We Used to Be Friends: Aluojin and Sheng Lingyuan used to be friends fighting in the war between humans and fiends. But the revelation of Dan Li's False Flag Operation made them enemies.
