Firewood Gang

Biodata

Feature	Information
Name	Firewood Gang (柴帮)
Affiliation	A Cloud Dragon County branch of the wider Firewood Gang, whose headquarters are in Xuanning Prefecture 13 107
Occupation/Role	Martial organization controlling firewood, Yuan Mulberry, and demon-beast-hunting enterprises
Status	Active; maintains operations in Cloud Dragon County and Copper Mountain County 150 212
First Appearance	Chapter 1: “Firewood Gang”

Background

Origins and expansion

The Firewood Gang reportedly built its original wealth through mountain banditry before abandoning that trade. Its Cloud Dragon County branch retained several old stronghold customs, including ancestral rites and an oath of shared life, death, and prosperity for new true members 13.

The Cloud Dragon County branch developed land that had once been barren mountains. It bought the surrounding territory cheaply, recruited peripheral members to haul soil and plant trees, and gradually established the forests that later became the basis of its firewood monopoly 65. The gang controls vegetation within roughly a hundred li of Cloud Dragon County; locals who cut wood there must register and pay a monthly firewood fee 1.

Copper Mountain County was developed through the same model. After Magistrate Feng Xuan sold land cheaply, Chai Doujin dispatched Chai Ang to buy mountains, reclaim wasteland, and establish forests around the county 150.

Recruitment and initiation

The gang is unusually accessible to poor commoners compared with the other major powers in Cloud Dragon County. An applicant can become an outer member by paying ten taels of silver, then receive body-tempering instruction and one jin of beast meat each month; outer members receive no salary 1 3 4.

Advancement to the first level of Boiling Blood qualifies an outer member to become a true member. Initiation requires lighting incense at Gathering Heroes Hall, performing three kowtows and nine bows before the gang’s ancestors, and swearing loyalty to the organization 13.

Organization

Hierarchy

Rank	Position and requirements
Gang Leader	Leads a county branch; Chai Song held the position in Cloud Dragon County, while Shen Mu later became leader in Copper Mountain County 70 210
Hall Master	Oversees one of the gang’s major halls. Cloud Dragon County had three Hall Masters under Chai Song 70
Incense Master	Senior administrative rank below Hall Master 13
Workshop Master	A position available after entering the Ninth Grade Tendon-Changing realm 13
Deacon	Senior member rank; Shen Mu prepared to assume a new post after being promoted to Deacon 88
Core Member	Backbone of the organization; Shen Mu became a core member upon reaching the fourth level of Boiling Blood 66
Member	True member rank available from the first level of Boiling Blood 13
Outer Member	Fee-paying trainee who collects firewood dues and receives body-tempering training 1 4

Three Great Halls

Hall	Responsibilities	Principal revenue
Firewood Hall	Collects monthly firewood fees from registered woodcutters.	Stable income from the gang’s forest monopoly 6
Beast Hunting Hall	Organizes hunts for demonic beasts; later led capture teams to supply the Beast Arena and external buyers.	Beast meat and captured demon beasts 6 131 135
Yuan Mulberry Hall	Maintains Yuan Mulberry fields, raises Origin Silkworms, and guards the harvest.	Origin Mulberry Fruit, Origin Mulberry Tea, and Yuan Brocade 6 12

The gang’s thousand-acre Yuan Mulberry fields produce fruit used for Origin Mulberry Tea and silk used to make Yuan Brocade, a luxury textile valued by officials and nobles for being warm in winter and cool in summer 6 12.

Major Assets and Enterprises

• Forests around Cloud Dragon County — The foundation of the gang’s firewood-fee system and its most stable source of income 1 6.
• Emerald Cloud Valley Yuan Mulberry fields — Protected groves used to support Origin Silkworm cultivation and Yuan Brocade production 12 14.
• South Wind Hollow Origin Field — Won from the Money Gang through a nine-match Boiling Blood tournament, giving the gang access to land suitable for growing Origin Rice 65 67 70.
• Yuan Brocade House — A silk-processing operation with specialized workshops, including silk-reeling rooms 66.
• Demon-beast hunting network — The gang recruited jianghu martial artists, formed hunting teams, and secured an exclusive supply agreement with the Hua Family to sell captured demon beasts 135 137 138.
• Mysterious Essence Copper Mine — A concealed mine beneath Gorgeous Lake in Copper Mountain County. After Shen Mu became county leader, the mine’s output was apportioned between Shen Mu, Chai Yingtong, the supervising Market Master, and gang development funds 156 212.

Story Role and Major Arcs

Cloud Dragon County

The gang introduces Shen Mu to martial cultivation. He joins as an outer member, collects fees from woodcutters, undergoes body tempering, and becomes a true member after reaching Boiling Blood 1 4 13.

Its Yuan Mulberry operations become a focal point of conflict after thieves steal Origin Mulberry Fruit and lure a Dark Gold Red Tiger into Emerald Cloud Valley. The gang offers bounties, arrests those identified by Yue Kun, publicly tortures the principal offenders, and extorts ransoms from their families 42 50 51.

The gang contests the newly discovered South Wind Hollow Origin Field against the Money Gang. An initial month-long struggle causes severe casualties without a decisive result, so the two gangs settle ownership through nine staged arena matches. The Firewood Gang wins 5–4, though Wang Jin dies after overtaxing himself to secure a crucial victory 65 67 70.

The gang faces pressure from the Zhenyuan Escort Agency and the county yamen after an escort robbery is linked to its Demon-Subduing Saber Art. Chai Song refuses to expose every ranked martial artist for inspection, fearing that public suspicion alone could destroy the gang’s reputation and invite rivals to carve up its industries 72 73.

After the robbery of an Origin Crystal mine, the Cloud Dragon Battalion demands massive compensation and requires the gang to provide fifty Boiling Blood martial artists for a bandit-suppression campaign 87. The gang later eradicates Golden Snake Stronghold, but Long Xiao and the Cloud Dragon Battalion seize both the stronghold’s wealth and the credit for the operation 104 105.

To support the Beast Arena, the gang forms two demon-beast capture teams under Fu Tianhan and Lin Zifeng. One team is nearly annihilated by Ghost Wolves after Lin Xiao secretly cooperates with the Money Gang’s Wan Tianhao 131 133. In response to financial strain, Shen Mu proposes recruiting independent martial artists, monopolizing the local demon-beast supply, and selling captures to the Hua Family 135 137 138.

Copper Mountain County

Following Chai Ang’s death, Chai Yingtong temporarily takes charge of the Copper Mountain County branch. The branch is still reclaiming land and planting forests, leaving it in a development stage without meaningful firewood profits 150 156.

A plot at Mist Peak Ridge draws the interest of Hundred Weapons Workshop. Shen Mu uncovers that Firewood Hall Incense Master Lan Yu had leaked information about a hidden Mysterious Essence Copper Mine beneath Gorgeous Lake in exchange for a promised finder’s fee. Shen Mu kills Lan Yu after learning the truth 155 156.

The position of Copper Mountain County Gang Leader becomes contested by martial artists seeking control of the branch and its future resources. Shen Mu defeats Bai Bingkun in the final arena match and assumes leadership of the Copper Mountain County Firewood Gang 197 210.

Relationships

• Firewood Gang headquarters, Xuanning Prefecture — The Cloud Dragon County organization is a branch subject to the parent gang’s authority and profit expectations 13 107.
• Money Gang — Principal commercial and territorial rival in Cloud Dragon County; fought the Firewood Gang over the South Wind Hollow Origin Field and later infiltrated its demon-hunting operation through Lin Xiao 65 70 133.
• Cloud Dragon Battalion — A coercive local military power that demanded compensation after the Origin Crystal mine robbery and seized the spoils from Golden Snake Stronghold 87 105.
• Zhenyuan Escort Agency — Pressured the gang over an escort robbery allegedly committed using the Demon-Subduing Saber Art; subsequent tensions disrupted Yuan Brocade caravans 72 75.
• Hua Family — Entered an exclusive agreement to purchase demon beasts supplied by the Firewood Gang 135 138.
• Hundred Weapons Workshop — Sought control of land above the Mysterious Essence Copper Mine and used Firewood Gang insiders to obtain information about it 154 156.
• Chai Song — Cloud Dragon County Gang Leader during the Origin Field dispute, Golden Snake Stronghold operation, and conflict with Long Xiao 70 104 141.
• Chai Yingtong — Temporary Copper Mountain County leader after Chai Ang’s death; later supports Shen Mu’s leadership and establishes the mine-output distribution plan 150 212.
• Shen Mu — Rose from outer member to core member, Deacon, Workshop Master, and eventually Copper Mountain County Gang Leader 1 66 88 103 210.