Four-Ping Gang

Biodata

Feature	Information
Name	Four-Ping Gang (四平帮)
Affiliation	Qinglin County criminal organization
Occupation/Role	Qinglin County’s dominant gang; collects protection fees, absorbs rival gangs, and pursues political influence
Status	Active; several senior members have been killed
First Appearance	13

Background / History

The Four-Ping Gang rose from obscurity to become Qinglin County’s foremost gang within a single year. Its expansion relied on swallowing smaller gangs, and its strength was sufficient to halt the Golden Tiger Gang’s conflict with the Blackwater Gang and order the Golden Tiger Gang to surrender within two days. 13 28

After the Golden Tiger Gang’s destruction, the Four-Ping Gang occupied its Old Kui Street territory. Protection fees increased by thirty percent rather than easing the residents’ burdens. 25

The gang’s origins and backing are unknown even to Chen Feiyi. Its unchecked growth is especially suspicious because Commander Wei He commands four hundred City Guards, yet had allowed the organization to become so powerful. 28

Organization

Leadership

• Huan Xin — Gang Leader. An Otherworldly Demon who uses the Phantom Demon Eyes; he seeks to spread fear, despair, grief, and confusion across Qinglin County to evolve them. 40 46
• Huo Changgeng — Deputy Gang Leader and Force Tempering Martial Master. He managed the gang’s senior leadership, coordinated political alliances, and was later killed by Cheng Yang. 40 54 66
• Zhao Tiankuo — Hall Master responsible for Old Kui Street. He collected protection fees, investigated attacks on the gang, and helped arrange a trap using Wang Haowen as bait. 27 49 53
• Yang Zheng — Hall Master and Star Tower informant operating under the assassin identity Night Ghoul. His death deprived Star Tower of its most valuable source inside the gang. 30 47
• Huang Xuan — Incense Master and Flesh-Tempering Martial Master who supervised guards occupying Cheng Yang’s courtyard; Cheng Yang killed him. 26
• Unnamed Fragrance Masters — Senior personnel positioned beneath the gang’s Hall Masters and Deputy Gang Leader. 40

Internal Hierarchy

At an emergency meeting, the gang’s upper ranks consisted of Huo Changgeng, five Hall Masters, and three Fragrance Masters. Almost none of them had personally seen Huan Xin before that meeting. 40

Huan Xin’s authority is enforced through an abnormal ability that can compel responses and suppress resistance. Even Huo Changgeng, a Force Tempering Martial Master, was unable to guard against it. 40

Operations

• Protection rackets — Occupied residences and demanded fees from property owners, including Cheng Yang’s Old Kui Street courtyard. 26 27
• Territorial absorption — Pressured smaller gangs to surrender and took over their territory after their collapse. 13 25
• Political coercion — Used cooperation with the Peaceful Reach Escort Bureau and threats against Wang Haowen to target Cheng Yang. 49 53
• Factional alliances — Allied with the Gu, Wang, and Zhang Families to oppose Wei He and weaken the Wei Family’s control of Qinglin County. 54
• Influence over martial halls — Warned the Whale Breath Martial Hall that it intended to win the Ascending Dragon Conference, while its allies planned to use a Shadow Wolf Martial Hall victory to pressure neutral martial halls. 54 61

Connection to the Big-Ears Gang Incident

Huan Xin engineered the failed bandit-suppression operation against the Big-Ears Gang. He controlled a mutant tiger-like beast comparable to a Force Tempering Martial Master, using it to wound Wei He and inflict heavy losses on the City Guard. 46

The Big-Ears Gang’s three leaders had cooperated with the Four-Ping Gang, sacrificed their own followers to make the trap convincing, and hid in Zhao Tiankuo’s courtyard afterward. Cheng Yang overheard their confession and killed all three. 48

Huan Xin intended the resulting casualties, fear, and rapid spread of rumors about Wei He’s injury to destabilize Qinglin County and feed the Phantom Demon Eyes. 46

Conflict with Cheng Yang

The Four-Ping Gang first came into direct conflict with Cheng Yang after occupying his family courtyard. Cheng Yang ambushed two gang guards, interrogated them, and killed Huang Xuan after learning that he supervised them. 26

Zhao Tiankuo later questioned Cheng Yang over the missing guards and Huang Xuan’s death, then compelled him to pay protection money for the courtyard. Although Zhao suspected Cheng Yang, he initially dismissed him as incapable of killing an experienced Flesh-Tempering Martial Master. 27

After the deaths of Huang Xuan and Yang Zheng, the gang began investigating an unseen enemy. Zhao considered Cheng Yang a suspect but rejected the possibility that Cheng could have killed Yang Zheng, believing Cheng remained only at the Flesh-Tempering stage. 40

Cheng Yang subsequently killed the Big-Ears Gang leaders in Zhao’s courtyard, destroyed multiple Four-Ping Gang strongholds while searching for Huan Xin, and caused the gang to abandon at least one stronghold out of caution. 48 61

The gang escalated by arranging Wang Haowen’s kidnapping with the Peaceful Reach Escort Bureau as bait for Cheng Yang. The plan failed, and the resulting retaliation left Zhao Tiankuo and several Incense Masters dead. 53 54

Huo Changgeng later confronted Cheng Yang directly. Despite Huo’s Force Tempering cultivation, Cheng Yang wore him down by cutting his hands and arms, damaging tendons, and exploiting his blood loss before killing him. 66

Known Weaknesses

• The gang’s senior leadership repeatedly underestimated Cheng Yang because his publicly known cultivation lagged far behind his true strength. 40 54
• Its internal intelligence suffered heavily after Yang Zheng’s death, as he had been Star Tower’s embedded informant within the gang. 47
• Huan Xin’s control over the mutant beast severely drained him, leaving him pale and weakened afterward. 46
• Repeated attacks on its strongholds failed to reveal Huan Xin’s identity or location, indicating that lower-ranking members possessed limited knowledge of the gang’s true command structure. 61

Trivia

• The Four-Ping Gang replaced the Golden Tiger Gang on Old Kui Street, but raised protection fees instead of improving conditions for residents. 25
• Huan Xin’s true nature as an Otherworldly Demon was concealed from nearly all of the gang’s own senior members. 40