Black Tiger Gang

Biodata

Feature	Value
Name	Black Tiger Gang (黑虎帮)
Type	Martial gang
Affiliation	Han family of Bluestone County's Central District 38
Occupation/Role	Controls territory in western Bluestone County; collects protection fees, trains indentured members in martial arts, and conducts gang warfare 1 24
Status	Active 48
First Appearance	Chapter 1

Organization

Position / Unit	Known details
Gang Leader	The gang leader bears the title “Black Tiger” after their surname; the current leader is identified as Hu Heihu / Han Black Tiger and is a Dark Force Martial Artist. He rarely handles daily affairs because he resides in the Central District. 22 38
Deputy Gang Leaders	Ding Mian manages internal affairs; Xue Yong manages external affairs; Luo Pojun oversees finances and provisions. All three are Upper-Grade Bright Force Martial Artists. 38
Elders	The headquarters has eleven elders, including Cao Ling and Lu Hao. Elders receive a monthly salary of one hundred taels and two Blood Essence Pills annually. 37 38 39
Everjoy Hall Branch	A western-city branch with roughly 150 members, including about 100 fighters and ten minor leaders at the First Gate-Breaking Realm. 22
Minor Leaders	Gate-Breaking members who may receive the Black Tiger Staff Technique; Shi Kang was promoted after reaching the First Gate-Breaking Realm. 21 25
Factional blocs	Ding Mian and Xue Yong compete for authority. Han Zheng and Chen Xuan backed Ding Mian, while Qian Hao belonged to Xue Yong’s faction. Cao Ling was considered neutral and served the gang rather than either bloc. 22

Background

The Black Tiger Gang is one of Bluestone County’s three major territorial gangs. It holds the western part of the county seat, with the Golden Saber Gang occupying the north and the Water Serpent Gang occupying the south. Though it presents itself as an independent gang, it is a revenue-gathering instrument of the Han family; more than half of its yearly earnings must be handed over to that family. 24 38

For impoverished residents, joining the gang is one of the only alternatives to paying a martial-arts hall’s tuition. Recruits sign life-and-death indentures, receive rudimentary martial manuals, and cannot leave except by paying a prohibitive sum or dying. 1 The gang’s introductory Black Tiger Method is issued to every member, but its manuals contain only forms and body positions, omitting the breathing and force-exertion secrets normally taught by instructors. Lost manuals are severely punished, sometimes by death. 2

Its lower ranks are maintained through coercion as well as opportunity. Lu Hao was beaten twenty times for withholding ten taels of protection fees and threatened with the gambling den’s Deathmatch Cage if he failed to repay within ten days. 1

Territory and Facilities

• Western Bluestone County — The gang’s principal territory, bordering Golden Saber territory to the north and Water Serpent territory to the south. 24
• Everjoy Hall Branch — Located in Everjoy Alley. Its entrance has vermilion doors, stone lions, and a plaque reading “Black Tiger Gang.” 10
• Headquarters — A large blue-brick compound with vermilion gates and uniformed guards wearing gray outfits embroidered with black tiger heads. 39
• Clear Water Ferry negotiations — Everjoy Hall’s proximity to Water Serpent territory made it responsible for negotiating a southern truce. 10

Martial Arts and Resources

Black Tiger Method

The gang’s basic martial method combines the Black Tiger Stance Art and Black Tiger Fist Technique. It is the lowest-grade method in the Great Jin martial system, but is the only formal path to cultivation available to many ordinary gang members. 2

• Stance forms: Tiger-Subduing Form, Tiger Body Form, Shaking Tiger Form, and Tiger Pouncing Stance. 2
• Fist forms: Black Tiger Plucks the Heart, Black Tiger Descends the Mountain, Black Tiger Sweeps Its Tail, and Black Tiger Pounces on Prey. 2
• Limitation: Members must decipher crucial training principles without instruction, causing many to fail at cultivation. 2

Black Tiger Staff Technique

• Issued to minor leaders who have entered the Gate-Breaking Realm. 25
• Most armed minor leaders of Everjoy Hall carried long staffs during the Azure Robe Branch Hall assault. 25

Cultivation Resources

• Blood-Qi Pills — Rare pills controlled primarily through the Qi Family Pharmacy and valued at roughly three hundred taels officially or over five hundred taels through gangs. 31
• Blood Essence Pills — A safer auxiliary medicine for Bright Force Martial Artists; elders receive two annually, while deputy gang leaders receive twelve. 37 38
• Demon-beast materials — The gang pursued the Praying Mantis Beast’s demon core because it could help a Mid-Grade Dark Force Martial Artist advance to High-Grade Dark Force. 39

History

Conflict with the Golden Saber Gang

The murders at Spring Breeze Pavilion, including several Golden Saber Gang guards, triggered a confrontation between the Black Tiger Gang and the Golden Saber Gang. The Golden Saber Gang demanded that every Black Tiger member at or above the Third Gate-Knocking Realm be surrendered; the Black Tiger Gang refused, and clashes between their halls followed. 9

While fighting the Golden Saber Gang in the north, the Black Tiger Gang was also under pressure from the Water Serpent Gang in the south. The Gang Leader paid the Water Serpent Gang five hundred taels for a temporary five-day truce and ordered Everjoy Hall to secure a longer settlement. 10

Han Zheng and Chen Xuan covertly used the negotiations to try to eliminate Qian Hao, Lu Hao, and Shi Kang through the Water Serpent Gang. Instead, the delegation won the resulting duels, secured a truce, and returned with written proof of the agreement. 11 20

Everjoy Hall’s Rise and Internal Betrayal

After the Water Serpent negotiations, headquarters appointed Lu Hao acting deputy branch leader while Qian Hao recovered from a fractured rib, and promoted Shi Kang to minor leader. 21 Han Zheng and Chen Xuan then sent Lu Hao to lead a dangerous attack against the Golden Saber Gang, while secretly planting agents to spread panic among his forces. 21 24

Lu Hao led more than one hundred Everjoy Hall members in a dawn assault on the Golden Saber Gang’s Azure Robe Branch Hall. The branch was destroyed, though several Black Tiger members were killed or wounded. 25 26 Lu Hao ordered compensation for dead members’ families and payments for the injured, strengthening the branch’s loyalty to him. 27

The Golden Saber Gang counterattacked Everjoy Hall with help from the traitorous Chen Xuan. Han Zheng refused to surrender to the invaders, was defeated and captured, and later died from his injuries. Chen Xuan’s hidden chest revealed three hundred taels of embezzled gang funds; Lu Hao used the money to compensate the branch’s dead and wounded. 27 30

Following Han Zheng and Chen Xuan’s deaths, headquarters promoted Lu Hao to Branch Master of Everjoy Hall. 31

Green Ox Mountain Expedition

When the Golden Saber Gang obtained the corpse and demon core of a Second-Order Praying Mantis Beast, the Black Tiger Gang feared its rival could break the balance among the three gangs. Xue Yong led an expedition of Upper-Grade Bright Force elders to intercept them in Green Ox Mountain. 39

Lu Hao later replaced Su Qin on the expedition after killing her in a duel. The party consisted of Xue Yong, Lu Hao, Cao Ling, Zhou Yuan, Chang Kun, and Zheng Huaijian. 43 In the mountain, the Black Tiger Gang fought Xie Chong’s Golden Saber force; Chang Kun and Zhou Yuan were killed, while Lu Hao, Xue Yong, and Cao Ling killed Xie Chong. 44

Relationships

• Han family — Central District family that controls the Black Tiger Gang and receives more than half of its annual earnings. 38
• Golden Saber Gang — Principal northern rival; their conflict escalated from territorial clashes into mutual branch-hall massacres and fighting in Green Ox Mountain. 9 25 44
• Water Serpent Gang — Southern rival. A truce was achieved after the Clear Water Hall duels, allowing the Black Tiger Gang to focus on the Golden Saber conflict. 10 20
• Everjoy Hall Branch — Lu Hao’s branch; its survivors accepted him as hall master after Han Zheng’s death and his redistribution of Chen Xuan’s stolen funds. 30 31
• Cao Ling — Elder aligned with neither major internal faction; he recognized Lu Hao’s achievements, promoted him, and became an important adviser. 21 37
• Ding Mian — Deputy Gang Leader overseeing internal affairs. His faction treated Lu Hao as a political rival and used Zheng Huaijian to influence the Green Ox Mountain expedition. 22 43
• Xue Yong — Deputy Gang Leader overseeing external affairs. He led the Green Ox Mountain interception force and worked with Lu Hao against the Golden Saber Gang. 38 44

Trivia

• Gang leaders must adopt the name “Black Tiger” after their surname upon taking office. 22
• The Everjoy Hall Branch’s public couplet claims that “the tiger’s roar rules all beasts in Bluestone Town” and that the gang “walks the world with righteousness first.” 10
• The Black Tiger Gang, Golden Saber Gang, and Water Serpent Gang are all controlled by powerful Central District families rather than being truly independent organizations. 38