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Trickster's Tale: Hu Yan Zhuan, Vol. 1
A half demon falls deeply in love with the master who took him in as a child, but their taboo love is doomed from the start…or is it?
A half-fox demon, half-human who has lost his family is taken under the wing of a sage and raised as his pupil. As the young half-demon matures, his feelings for his master mature as well, and what was once admiration turns into forbidden love.
When half–fox demon, half-human Feijin loses his family at an early age, he is taken in by and becomes the pupil of Sage Gaochun. As the centuries pass, Feijin’s admiration for his master turns romantic, but such relationships between a master and his pupil are not allowed. And though Feijin continues to confess his feelings to Gaochun, he is gently rebuffed each and every time. Desperate, Feijin puts his master under a spell and whisks him off to bed, but the typically gentle and reserved Gaochun surprises Feijin with his passion. It’s only later that he learns his master had once been deeply in love with a demon and was severely punished for it!
A half-fox demon, half-human who has lost his family is taken under the wing of a sage and raised as his pupil. As the young half-demon matures, his feelings for his master mature as well, and what was once admiration turns into forbidden love.
When half–fox demon, half-human Feijin loses his family at an early age, he is taken in by and becomes the pupil of Sage Gaochun. As the centuries pass, Feijin’s admiration for his master turns romantic, but such relationships between a master and his pupil are not allowed. And though Feijin continues to confess his feelings to Gaochun, he is gently rebuffed each and every time. Desperate, Feijin puts his master under a spell and whisks him off to bed, but the typically gentle and reserved Gaochun surprises Feijin with his passion. It’s only later that he learns his master had once been deeply in love with a demon and was severely punished for it!
- GenresManga
194 pages, Paperback
Published December 9, 2025
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20 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
December 10, 2025
Fox spirit demon child, Feijin, is saved by a sage of the heavenly realm, Gaochun, a half-demon himself. Gaochun takes Feijin as his pupil, and when Feijin grows up, he starts lusting after his master. Feijin takes matters in his own hand, for which Gaochun is punished and sent to human realm. Feijin goes after him, but when he finds his master, Gaochun doesn’t remember him anymore, though he is willing to reignite their relationship.
Meanwhile, heavenly realm prepares for a war with demon realm. A demon, Shui, whom they’ve bound for eternity, has been woken up—by Gaochun. Shui comes straight to Gaochun, who doesn’t even hesitate to leave Feijin behind for him, which makes me wonder if he had his memory the whole time after all. The volume ends with this twist.
This was … something else. It had sex with dubious consent and incest, which were treated as perfectly fine and normal. The plot was interesting enough, but all over the place, and there was never enough background information. It made the story difficult to follow at times, with random characters showing up etc. All the characters were disagreeable, and the worst turned out to be Gaochun in the end. But I guess I’ll continue reading to find out where all the disasters lead to.
Art was good, but I really don’t like humongous man-boobs. If you like boobs, as these characters definitely did and much was made of it, make your characters women, especially since some of them, like Gaochun, were drawn overly feminine too. Sex was graphic and not blurred.
I received a free copy from Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.
Meanwhile, heavenly realm prepares for a war with demon realm. A demon, Shui, whom they’ve bound for eternity, has been woken up—by Gaochun. Shui comes straight to Gaochun, who doesn’t even hesitate to leave Feijin behind for him, which makes me wonder if he had his memory the whole time after all. The volume ends with this twist.
This was … something else. It had sex with dubious consent and incest, which were treated as perfectly fine and normal. The plot was interesting enough, but all over the place, and there was never enough background information. It made the story difficult to follow at times, with random characters showing up etc. All the characters were disagreeable, and the worst turned out to be Gaochun in the end. But I guess I’ll continue reading to find out where all the disasters lead to.
Art was good, but I really don’t like humongous man-boobs. If you like boobs, as these characters definitely did and much was made of it, make your characters women, especially since some of them, like Gaochun, were drawn overly feminine too. Sex was graphic and not blurred.
I received a free copy from Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.
December 21, 2025
Trickster Tale starts with a genuinely interesting premise, but the execution ultimately fell apart for me.
At its core, the story could have leaned into a compelling direction: a main character raised by his master, who later develops romantic feelings for him, initially approaching the relationship through manipulation and trickery. That setup alone could have explored power imbalance, morality, and psychological tension in a meaningful way. Unfortunately, the narrative treats several serious issues far too casually.
Early on, the “trickster” aspect crosses into coercion, particularly in how intimacy is initiated. This coercion is handled nonchalantly, without real acknowledgment of its severity, which made it uncomfortable to read. Rather than interrogating the ethics of the situation, the story seems to brush past it.
From there, the plot becomes increasingly unfocused. Storylines appear and disappear without cohesion:
• the master’s past lover and prior trouble
• a rebirth plot
• a suddenly relevant younger brother
None of these threads felt fully developed or well integrated, giving the overall story a sloppy, scattered feel.
What ultimately turned me off completely, however, was the inclusion of incest-related elements involving the emperor and his sons. While I would need external clarification to confirm whether the characters are blood-related, the text strongly implies that they are. These interactions are treated disturbingly casually, almost as if they are normal or inconsequential.
This was especially jarring given that these characters belong to a heavenly or divine realm. While I understand that divine beings in fiction are often portrayed as flawed, the lack of narrative critique or gravity around these actions made it deeply uncomfortable. Once this element was introduced, it overshadowed everything else in the story.
I’m honestly surprised I didn’t DNF this book. I finished it primarily so I could give a fair and complete assessment, but I have no interest in continuing the series.
⚠️ Trigger / Content Warnings
• Coercive sexual situations
• Incest or incest-adjacent themes
• Power imbalance treated casually
Final thoughts:
While the premise had potential, the unfocused plot, casual handling of coercion, and inclusion of unnecessary and disturbing themes made this a miss for me. I won’t be reading the next installment.
At its core, the story could have leaned into a compelling direction: a main character raised by his master, who later develops romantic feelings for him, initially approaching the relationship through manipulation and trickery. That setup alone could have explored power imbalance, morality, and psychological tension in a meaningful way. Unfortunately, the narrative treats several serious issues far too casually.
Early on, the “trickster” aspect crosses into coercion, particularly in how intimacy is initiated. This coercion is handled nonchalantly, without real acknowledgment of its severity, which made it uncomfortable to read. Rather than interrogating the ethics of the situation, the story seems to brush past it.
From there, the plot becomes increasingly unfocused. Storylines appear and disappear without cohesion:
• the master’s past lover and prior trouble
• a rebirth plot
• a suddenly relevant younger brother
None of these threads felt fully developed or well integrated, giving the overall story a sloppy, scattered feel.
What ultimately turned me off completely, however, was the inclusion of incest-related elements involving the emperor and his sons. While I would need external clarification to confirm whether the characters are blood-related, the text strongly implies that they are. These interactions are treated disturbingly casually, almost as if they are normal or inconsequential.
This was especially jarring given that these characters belong to a heavenly or divine realm. While I understand that divine beings in fiction are often portrayed as flawed, the lack of narrative critique or gravity around these actions made it deeply uncomfortable. Once this element was introduced, it overshadowed everything else in the story.
I’m honestly surprised I didn’t DNF this book. I finished it primarily so I could give a fair and complete assessment, but I have no interest in continuing the series.
⚠️ Trigger / Content Warnings
• Coercive sexual situations
• Incest or incest-adjacent themes
• Power imbalance treated casually
Final thoughts:
While the premise had potential, the unfocused plot, casual handling of coercion, and inclusion of unnecessary and disturbing themes made this a miss for me. I won’t be reading the next installment.
December 14, 2025
The Trickster's Tale was a story with a good premise. The illustration, too, was beautiful, but overall the book didn't quite work for me. Many of the characters were drawn with a similar look. This might have been okay for a linear plot, but the story jumped around a lot, and the similarity between characters only made it harder to keep up with what was happening as we leapt from past to present and back again. None of the characters were especially likeable, that you'd want to get behind them and support their quests, and that made it hard to form any connection to the story. In conclusion, despite lovely artwork and a promising-sounding plot, this one wasn't really to my liking, so I am giving it 2.5 stars.
I received this book as a free eBook ARC via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.
I received this book as a free eBook ARC via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.
December 13, 2025
I bought this bc it was pretty and the art is gorgeous throughout it… but as another review states it’s a bit all over? There’s plot… but it feels as if it’s told in bullet points between either sex scenes or close ups of the one man’s boobs? Did not expect the casual incest that is just not brought up. This is Ennead all over again.
Unfortunately, I am a bit curious to see if the plot gets better so I probably will get the next… but hmmm… at least the art is pretty?
Unfortunately, I am a bit curious to see if the plot gets better so I probably will get the next… but hmmm… at least the art is pretty?
December 14, 2025
f you like Heaven Offical's Blessing, but want a manga. This might be your solution. The line and plot are very in with those types of novels but also a lit of big mens chest. That was very funny.
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December 15, 2025Worst impulse buy ever.
December 18, 2025
Beautiful art but confusing to follow and felt all over the place
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews