Hequ County

Biodata

Feature	Value
Name	Hequ County (河曲县)
Type	County town
Nation	Great Zhou Dynasty
Location	More than 100 li from Chen Family Village 12
Status	Active as of Chen Mo's departure 70
First Appearance	Named in Chapter 12; visited in Chapter 13 12 13

Layout and Districts

Hequ County is a walled county town whose three-meter stone gate bears the inscription “Hequ County.” An entrance fee of one wen is charged at the gate. 13

Area	Description
Slum District	The outermost, most populous, and worst-policed district. Brawls are common, and authorities generally ignore one or two deaths unless matters escalate. Gangs often conduct open conflicts here. 13
Commercial District	A cleaner, wider middle district lined with shops, restaurants, inns, and realty agencies. A courtyard house rents for about two taels of silver per month. 13
Inner District	The Outer City's district nearest the Inner City. It contains gangs, martial arts schools, and shops; five martial arts schools are located across the Outer City. 13
Inner City	Home to the county yamen, major families, merchant guilds, and leading martial arts schools. Entry requires an Inner City Official Pass, and public order is notably better than in the Outer City. 13 22

The county has no curfew; shops remain open and streets stay busy at night. 13

Government and Power Structure

The county government is nominally responsible for Hequ County, but its authority is constrained by the local martial powers. Members of the great families hold government positions, and officials generally accommodate those families except in matters of principle. 22

• County Magistrate Miao Ren Jie — Magistrate during the conflict among the great families. His impending transfer weakened the government's deterrence. 49 63
• County Lieutenant Cao Hong — A martial official who reached the Qi and Blood Wolf Smoke Realm, temporarily becoming the county's foremost expert and forcing the Guo and Yu families to compromise. 49
• Three Great Families — The Guo, Yu, and Fan families controlled most county industries and had dominated the town for more than a century. 25
• Two Top Martial Arts Schools — True Martial Arts School and Fierce Tiger Martial Arts School; alongside the three great families, they were the only forces able to stably supply Exotic Beast meat. 22
• Four Great Merchant Associations — Major commercial organizations in the county, including the Shi Quan Merchant Association. 13

Economy and Resources

The Shi Quan Merchant Association operates caravans between Hequ County and surrounding villages, collecting furs, medicinal herbs, ores, and other valuables for processing and sale in the county. It maintains five caravan teams and is one of the Four Great Merchant Associations. 12 13

Exotic Beast meat is a critical cultivation resource but is difficult to acquire reliably. Only the three great families and the two leading martial arts schools possess stable supply channels; even the county government lacks one. 22

Commodity or Service	Known Price / Detail
Inner City courtyard rental	More than three taels of silver per month 13
Commercial District courtyard rental	Two taels of silver per month 13
Slum District housing	About 100 wen per month 13
Ordinary Outer City household expenses	Roughly one tael of silver per month 13
Currency	One tael of silver equals 1,000 wen; 100 taels of silver equal one tael of gold. 13

Gangs and Martial Arts Schools

The Outer City contains numerous gangs and martial arts schools, while smaller gangs are concentrated in the Slum District. Wealth without martial strength is dangerous, as visibly carrying money can attract robbery. 13

• Wild Wolf Gang — A rapidly expanding Outer City gang backed by the Zhu Family Martial Arts School. It had more than 300 members, over ten martial artists, and Inner Strength Realm leaders before Chen Mo's takeover. 23
• Green Gang — Formerly one of the Outer City's four major gangs; it was annexed by the Wild Wolf Gang. 23
• Tiger Roar Gang — The strongest gang in the Outer City at the time the Wild Wolf Gang became second in strength. 23
• Zheng Family Martial Arts School — An Outer City school attended by Chen Ying and Chen Yuqi. 12 13
• True Martial Arts School — One of the county's two top schools and a sect-backed institution. 22 58
• Fierce Tiger Martial Arts School — One of the county's two top schools and a sect-backed institution. 22 58

History

For over a century, the Guo, Yu, and Fan families dominated Hequ County's industries and local power structure. The government, though nominally in charge, lacked the strength to freely restrain them. 22 25

Chen Mo arrived in the county from Chen Family Village and initially stayed in the Commercial District. He observed the town's sharp divide between prosperous commerce, gang-controlled areas, and the heavily restricted Inner City; he was soon targeted by two robbers after apparently revealing that he carried substantial silver. 13

After helping Zhao Long destroy the Wild Wolf Gang, Chen Mo became its leader. He retained its name to avoid attracting attention and used the organization chiefly to gather intelligence and resources. 22 24

The Guo Family later recruited Chen Mo as a Guest Official and brought him into its Inner City residence. Internal divisions within the family arose over whether to win him over through marriage or control him to uncover the secret of his rapid advancement. 25 27

Tensions escalated when the Guo and Yu families formed a marriage alliance against the Fan Family. The Fan Family Great Elder killed three Divine Strength Realm martial artists at the Xishan iron mine, while the two top martial arts schools remained neutral and the government initially avoided direct intervention. 37 39

A major clash outside the city eventually drew Qi and Blood Realm martial artists into battle. Cao Hong's breakthrough to the Qi and Blood Wolf Smoke Realm, combined with the Fan Family joining the government, compelled the Guo and Yu families to temporarily compromise. 49

This stability did not last. Cao Hong later left the county and Miao Ren Jie's transfer approached, allowing the Guo and Yu families to renew their campaign against the Fan Family. After the deaths of the Guo and Yu families' Qi and Blood Realm martial artists, the Fan Family attacked both ancestral grounds and emerged as Hequ County's undisputed leading family. 63 65 66

Chen Mo departed Hequ County with Sun Li's team for the True Martial Sect, leaving Chen Family Village under Yan Cheng's protection and converting much of his county-based wealth and Exotic Beast meat into portable cultivation resources. 70

Notable Facts

• Hequ County is considered remote and comparatively peaceful; major rebellions, Demonic Anomalies, and dangerous Exotic Beasts are rare in the surrounding region. 46
• Despite this reputation, the county's internal politics can become violent when its great families openly contest power. 37 49 63
• Chen Mo considered the county too small to support his future cultivation and sought a larger stage beyond it. 45 70
• Compared with Lin Chang Commandery, Hequ County's walls and scale are far smaller; Lin Chang's walls stand nearly ten meters high. 72