Meng Family

Biodata

Feature	Details
Name	Meng Family (孟家)
Location	Fangcheng, Cangzhou
Affiliation	Fangcheng martial arts schools; covertly associated with the Salvation Cult and an unidentified black-clothed force 11 59 76
Occupation/Role	One of Fangcheng’s three dominant power blocs; controls much of the city’s martial-arts-school network 11
Leadership	Meng Hai, Family Patriarch 11 23
Status	Active but severely weakened: its public reputation collapsed, its influence in the Town Martial Division was purged, and it suffered major internal losses 105 107 113
First Appearance	Chapter 11

Background / History

The Meng Family began as a small martial arts school. As its ancestors grew stronger, the family expanded into Fangcheng’s upper ranks and eventually became powerful enough to stand alongside the Wu and Xu families. Its rise depended heavily on the personal strength of Patriarch Meng Hai and its systematic control of local martial arts schools. 11

Before the Wu and Xu families recognized the threat, the Mengs had quietly absorbed or subordinated Fangcheng’s major martial arts schools. The collapse of imperial authority and the growing number of private martial artists increased the value of that network, giving the family a large and increasingly arrogant power base. 11

By the time of He An’s arrival in the Town Martial Division, Fangcheng’s balance of power was broadly divided into three camps:

Power bloc	Principal influence
Wu Family and County Governor	County yamen and civil administration
Xu Family and Town Martial Division commander	Town Martial Division
Meng Family and martial arts schools	Martial arts schools and their martial artists 11

Power Base

Martial Arts Schools

The Meng Family cultivated and controlled Fangcheng’s martial arts schools as both an economic and military foundation. Great Fortune Martial Arts Hall expanded under Meng backing, with Master Li using intimidation, murder, and forced absorption of rival schools to become one of Fangcheng’s three leading hall masters. 30

• Great Fortune Martial Arts Hall — expanded through Master Li’s violent consolidation campaigns under Meng support. 30
• Guang’an Martial Arts School — led by Liu Guang, a hall master valued by Meng Hai primarily for his loyalty. 81
• Other major schools — the family retained control of the schools even after the deaths of several loyal hall masters, treating individual masters as replaceable assets. 82

Government and Town Martial Division Influence

The family placed or maintained loyal personnel within the Town Martial Division, including Clerk Meng Cao, Clerk Meng Yuan, and Captain Gu Chong. Gu Chong’s exposure as a Meng Family member revealed that the family had influence at the division’s highest level. 95 96

This influence was later dismantled when He An became captain and drove most Meng-affiliated personnel out of the division. 107

Criminal and Covert Assets

The Meng Family secretly cultivated gangs that committed crimes, accumulated wealth, and harmed Fangcheng residents. These activities became a major factor in the destruction of its public standing once the Wu and Xu families released supporting evidence. 105

• Fierce Tiger Gang — a Meng-affiliated gang operating in the Black Market. 90 92
• Mad Sand Gang — previously handled murders and intimidation for Master Li’s expansion of Great Fortune Martial Arts Hall. 30
• Blood Cloud Tower — hired to assassinate He An after he became an unacceptable threat. 82 83

Covert Operations

Salvation Cult Collaboration

Meng Chenghao dealt directly with Salvation Cult members, providing Blood-Connecting Pills and negotiating payments in exchange for their silence and departure from Fangcheng. The cult had secretly delivered collected blood essence to the Meng Family. 17 18

A captured cult member later revealed that the Meng Family sought large quantities of children’s vital blood, though he did not know the family’s ultimate purpose. He An transferred the witness to Wu Feng, who intended to use the testimony when it could do the most damage. 59

He Yao Village Plot

The Meng Family used He Yao Village and Fangcheng’s major martial arts schools to orchestrate an ambush intended to achieve several goals at once: destroy He An, weaken the Wu and Xu families, and remove evidence linking the family to the scheme. 76

The plan failed when He An’s group survived with assistance from the Gongsun Family. The incident exposed the existence of three black-clothed figures using unfamiliar methods and intensified Fangcheng’s fear of the Meng Family’s hidden strength. 76

Alliance with an Unknown Force

Meng Hai cooperated with an unidentified outside force represented by black-clothed figures. He acknowledged that the family had become too deeply involved to withdraw, hoping the alliance could eventually help the Mengs rise beyond Fangcheng and potentially control Qingshui Commandery. 76

Meng Chengtian opposed this arrangement, warning that the outside force were “bloodthirsty beasts” who might eventually consume the Meng Family itself. 76

Conflict with He An

Meng Cao’s fixation on Wang Rou began the family’s conflict with He An. He attempted to pressure the He brothers into cooperating, offering He An a place in the Town Martial Division in exchange for persuading He Ping to give up Wang Rou. 1 10

During the River Sacrifice Festival, Meng Zhan fought He An using the Meng Family’s Five Animal Fist. He An learned the technique by observing him, then crippled Meng Zhan’s meridians and ended his martial arts career. 51 52

After the He Yao Village plot failed, the Wu and Xu families besieged Meng businesses, while the Mengs increasingly treated He An as their greatest internal threat. 76 78

Meng Hai later attempted to save Meng Cao after He An crippled him, but He An killed Meng Cao publicly despite the patriarch’s intervention. The Meng Family withdrew afterward, openly vowing revenge. 95 96

The family then attempted to preserve its remaining influence through Captain Gu Chong and Meng Yuan. Gu’s death and Meng Yuan’s expulsion from the Town Martial Division stripped the Mengs of their most important institutional footholds. 104 107

Meng Chenghao subsequently organized an assassination attempt against He An with Meng Yuan and hired martial artists. He An killed Chenghao; Meng Yuan escaped, and Meng Hai was forced to negotiate rather than retaliate openly. 109 111 113

Known Members and Affiliates

Name	Position / Connection	Fate or Current Position
Meng Hai	Family Patriarch; architect of the family’s expansion, covert operations, and campaign against He An 11 76	Active
Meng Chengtian	Eldest Young Master; Meng Chenghao’s blood brother and an inner disciple of the Earth Water Sect 70 73	Active; seeks revenge for Meng Chenghao
Meng Chenghao	Second Young Master; dealt with the Salvation Cult and later arranged He An’s assassination 17 109	Killed by He An 113
Meng Cao	Town Martial Division clerk; Meng Hai’s subordinate and He An’s earliest antagonist 1 59	Crippled, then killed by He An 95 96
Meng Yuan	Town Martial Division clerk; addressed by Meng Chenghao as his second uncle 101 109	Expelled from the division; escaped after the failed assassination attempt 107 113
Meng Zhan	Meng Family martial artist and Five Animal Fist practitioner 51 52	Meridians crippled by He An 52
Gu Chong	Town Martial Division captain secretly aligned with the Meng Family 95 96	Killed during the struggle for the Town Martial Division 104

Relationships

• Wu Family — longstanding rival family; their conflict escalated into open political and economic warfare after the He Yao Village incident and Meng Cao’s death. 11 97 105
• Xu Family — rival Fangcheng power bloc; joined the Wu Family in moving against Meng businesses and exposing Meng crimes. 11 78 105
• Town Martial Division — formerly infiltrated through Gu Chong, Meng Cao, Meng Yuan, and other Meng personnel; largely purged under He An’s leadership. 95 107
• Salvation Cult — secret collaborator that supplied blood essence and received pills and payments from Meng Chenghao. 17 18 59
• Unknown black-clothed force — dangerous outside partner with ambitions extending beyond Fangcheng; Meng Hai considered the alliance necessary despite its risks. 76 97
• Blood Cloud Tower — assassin organization hired to eliminate He An. 82 83
• Earth Water Sect — connected through Meng Chengtian, an inner disciple; the family’s conflict with He An risks drawing the sect into their feud. 70 99

Trivia

• The Meng Family’s inherited Five Animal Fist is a Ninth Rank martial art created by a previous Meng patriarch through observing the tiger, bear, ape, deer, and crane. 60
• Even Meng Hai had not perfected all five animal stances of the family technique. 60
• Meng Chengtian has no stated interest in becoming patriarch, while Meng Chenghao was consumed by the belief that the position belonged to him alone. 23 73