Black Water Gang

Biodata

Organization and Leadership

History

The Black Water Gang had been entrenched in the Outer City for years, maintaining enough influence to collect debts through violence and employ martial artists. The Li Family owed it sixteen taels; Master Qin's visit made clear that failure to repay would bring severe consequences 1 2 6.

After Li Pingsheng defeated Master Qin's collectors and forced Qin to waive the debt, Qin reported the humiliation to Master Scar. Scar viewed Li's status as an Azure Cloud Martial Hall true disciple as an obstacle, but planned to retaliate once Li was away training 5 6. The gang surveilled the Li residence, accepted false reports that Li's meridians were ruined, and prepared to abduct his family so he could watch them die 10 11.

Master Scar and Master Qin led more than a dozen men to the Li residence during a rainstorm. Two Bloodthirsty Hyenas disrupted the assault, killing Qin and scattering the gang's formation. Scar consumed the gang's Blood Burning Pill in desperation, but Li Pingsheng defeated and killed him; Li then staged the scene as a demonic-beast massacre 12 13.

The gang initially accepted the beast-attack explanation, but its leader later inspected the remains and identified evidence of a powerful martial artist. He issued a Black Water Order offering five hundred taels for information about the killer and ordered surveillance of suspicious Outer City martial artists 13 18.

Zhao Ming paid the gang to eliminate Li Pingsheng, leading it to send its Bone Refining death warriors, Ghost One and Ghost Two, into Azure Cloud Martial Hall. Li killed them and planted evidence that convinced the gang leader that the Zhao Family had orchestrated both the Outer City beast disaster and the deaths of his operatives 18 19 22.

Believing the Zhao Family had attacked first, the gang besieged Zhao-owned shops and prepared for open conflict. Li exploited the confrontation to loot the gang's treasury, then manipulated Zhao Family death squads into appearing responsible for the raid; the resulting gang war devastated properties and personnel on both sides 23 24 25 33.

Following the conflict, Shi Yan emerged as the gang's new leader and pursued the Spirit-Subduing Jade at Old Wu's secret auction. He fought Li Pingsheng using the Blood Demon True Form, but was crippled and spared only after Old Wu intervened 57 59 60. Tie Liu subsequently gathered the surviving members in West Street's abandoned warehouse, ruled through poison-crossbow executions, and resumed the gang's campaign against Li 63.

Operations and Methods

Debt Collection and Intimidation

• The gang used armed thugs to enforce private debts, including the Li Family's sixteen-tael obligation 2 4.
• Its collectors destroyed property and threatened civilians to compel payment 4.
• Master Scar's planned reprisal against Li Pingsheng centered on kidnapping and torturing Li's family 10 11.

Surveillance and Assassination

• The gang stationed informants near Li Pingsheng's former home and tracked his apparent physical decline 10.
• Its leader deployed scouts to investigate every suspicious martial artist in the Outer City after Scar's death 18.
• Ghost One and Ghost Two were Bone Refining Realm death warriors trained by the gang leader for covert killings 18 22.
• Members carry jade tokens engraved with the character “Black” as gang identification 19.

Combined Combat Techniques

• Three gang thugs used the Trapped Beast Formation, a combined-strike technique that linked their blood and qi while sealing escape routes 56.
• Their poisoned blades were coated with Corroding Bone Vine toxin, which could collapse a body-refining martial artist's blood and qi if it broke the skin 56.
• The formation was intended to cripple targets at the joints and capture them alive rather than kill them immediately 56.

Secret Arts and Weapons

• Blood Burning Pill — A gang secret medicine used by Master Scar to forcibly enhance his physical power; it caused extreme strain and ultimately contributed to his downfall 12.
• Blood Demon True Form — A life-or-death secret art used by Shi Yan during his battle with Li Pingsheng 59.
• Poison crossbows — Tie Liu's forces used poison-coated bolts to execute small gangs that refused to submit 63.
• Black Water Order — A public bounty order. The gang offered five hundred taels for leads on Scar's killer; Tie Liu later offered five hundred taels for Li's whereabouts and ten jin of third-rank demonic-beast meat for his head 18 63.

Resources

• The gang maintained a fortified treasury containing gold, banknotes, medicinal materials, and sealed profound-iron chests 24.
• Its treasury stored prime Red-Scaled Pig meat and Iron-Armored Savage Bull bone marrow, both valuable demonic-beast resources 25.
• Li Pingsheng stole the gang's treasury during its conflict with the Zhao Family, including a manual for the Breath Concealment Art 24 25.
• The gang operated or held influence over Outer City sites including West Street docks, South Street gambling dens, warehouses, and a West Street branch 23 24.

Relationships

• Li Pingsheng — Former debtor's son turned primary enemy. The gang targeted his family, sent assassins after him, and later renewed its bounty on him under Tie Liu 10 18 56 63.
• Li Family — Originally indebted to the gang; Master Qin's collection efforts and Scar's attempted retaliation brought the family into direct conflict with it 1 2 11.
• Zhao Family — Entered a destructive territorial war with the gang after Li Pingsheng framed the family for the deaths of Ghost One and Ghost Two 22 23 25 33.
• Zhao Ming — Hired the gang to cripple Li Pingsheng, paying five hundred taels up front and promising a larger payment after the assassination 18.
• Unidentified demon-linked force — Li Pingsheng suspects that a force connected to demonic beasts and the Dragon Locking Well absorbed or controls the gang's surviving Outer City members after the Zhao Family's fall 64 66.

Notable Quotes

“Anyone who breaks the rules of my Black Water Gang must pay a price.” — Master Scar 6

“Better to kill the wrong person than to let one slip through.” — Black Water Gang leader 18