White Ram Gang

Biodata

Power Progression

Organization

• Members wear clothing embroidered with a sheep’s-head insignia. 20
• The gang has more than ten stewards, whose cultivation ranges from the Skin Tempering Realm to the Muscle Refinement Realm. 21
• Several deputy gang leaders are Muscle Refinement Realm martial artists; Steward Fang claims the organization has nearly ten Muscle Refinement Realm experts when its stronger stewards and deputies are included. 21 23
• Its headquarters contained hidden areas and secret chambers used to conceal imprisoned captives. 53 60
• The gang maintained scouts and informants capable of tracking Lin Fan’s movements, sales, affiliations, and weapon upgrades. 25 27 33
• Before its destruction, it could mobilize dozens of Force Tempering Realm fighters, hundreds of Skin Tempering Realm fighters, and hired Bone Tempering Realm experts from neighboring towns. The attacking force actually assessed by Lin Fan included two outside Bone Tempering Realm helpers in addition to Bai Jingtian. 66 67
• Its headquarters included an underground treasure vault and a Scripture Repository containing martial arts manuals, intelligence records, and an Inner Qi Circulation Method. 72 73
• More than one hundred captured members were later investigated by the Su Family for crimes ranging from menial complicity to murder, torture, abduction, and forced prostitution. 80 81
• Trusted martial artists were selected for sensitive abduction operations, with uncultivated members excluded from the raid on minor martial families. The selected force numbered dozens, and its weakest fighters were at the Late Skin Tempering Realm. 56 57

History

Surveillance of Lin Fan

The White Ram Gang first targets Lin Fan’s hunting party after it sells valuable mountain goods in town. Four low-ranking members follow the group outside the city to assess its earnings, but Lin Fan detects them and forces them into the open. Intimidated by his spear strike that shatters a boulder, they reveal that Steward Fang ordered the surveillance and intended to exploit any favorable opportunity. 20

Lin Fan confiscates roughly one hundred taels from the men rather than killing them, then releases them with a warning not to target him or Small Mountain Village again. Their report makes Steward Fang aware that Lin Fan is at least a Muscle Refinement Realm martial artist. 21 23

Steward Fang becomes convinced that Lin Fan possesses a major fortuitous opportunity. Fearing Lin Fan might join the gang and eventually surpass him, Fang plans to provoke Lin Fan into killing gang members so the organization can retaliate under the pretext of vengeance. 23 25

After learning that Lin Fan has acquired a Forging Grade 25 spear and may already have reached the Bone Tempering Realm, Fang concludes that his own subordinates cannot safely confront him. He therefore reports the suspected treasure or opportunity to the gang leader. 25

Conflict with Lin Fan and the Su Family

After Lin Fan kills a Black-Patterned Leopard Ferocious Beast in one strike, the gang leader takes a personal interest in the suspected opportunity behind Lin Fan’s rapid advancement. He gathers several Bone Tempering Realm allies to ambush Lin Fan near Small Mountain Village. 27 33

The ambush is cancelled when Lin Fan joins the Su Family and receives its highest-ranking Golden Guest Token. Bai Jingtian judges that provoking the Su Family—whose patriarch is stronger than him—would endanger the gang, and postpones direct action against Lin Fan. 33

Bai Jingtian also recognizes that the Su Family could recruit its own Bone Tempering Realm allies and investigate any successful assassination. He doubts that his invited friends would remain loyal in an unfavorable battle, further undermining the planned ambush. 33

Lin Fan’s engagement to Su Qingwei further strengthens his connection to the Su Family. The gang leadership concludes that confronting the family openly is too dangerous and waits for another opportunity. 46

Although Bai Jingtian initially abandons direct action, he privately considers secretly abducting Su Qingwei as retaliation for the Su Family’s intervention. 33

Turn to the Demonic Path

Bai Jingtian’s attempt to advance from the Mid to Late Bone Tempering Realm fails after more than ten years of accumulation, leaving him seriously injured and convinced that ordinary cultivation will not let him surpass the Su Family. In despair, he considers pursuing the demonic path. 50

The failed attempt consumes precious pills, supporting treasures, and much of the gang’s savings. Already sixty years old, Bai Jingtian estimates that recovering and rebuilding his foundation could require nearly twenty years, making another ordinary breakthrough attempt unlikely. 50

Learning that the Flower Thief may need women for his cultivation, Bai Jingtian orders gang members to secretly abduct young women from the town and surrounding settlements. The captives are hidden in the gang’s secret chambers, while the public wrongly assumes the Flower Thief alone is responsible for the disappearances. 53

When the Flower Thief arrives at the headquarters, Bai Jingtian pledges the entire White Ram Gang to him. The Flower Thief rewards him with Demonic Inner Qi, heals his injuries, and orders the gang to continue providing women—preferably martial artists—for his use. 55 56

The gang’s submission is made despite warnings that serving the Flower Thief may bring it into opposition with the imperial court and local authorities. Bai Jingtian recognizes from the external release of Inner Qi that the Flower Thief has already reached the Bright Force Realm, contrary to the lower cultivation listed in the official notice. 56

Bai Jingtian personally leads the gang’s strongest martial artists in a coordinated midnight raid that abducts more than a dozen young Skin Tempering Realm women from minor martial families. The operation leaves almost no evidence, heightens panic throughout the city, and earns Bai Jingtian another strand of Inner Qi from the Flower Thief. 57 58

Lin Fan and Su Yuanshan suspect the White Ram Gang because its members have become unusually restrained and quiet. Lin Fan proposes that the missing Flower Thief is hiding within its headquarters, but the lack of evidence prevents a justified search or official intervention. 57 58

Destruction of the Black Tiger Gang

With few young Skin Tempering Realm women left available as targets in the city, Bai Jingtian orders further investigation of the Black Tiger Gang’s territory. His informants identify its leader’s daughter as an Early Muscle Refinement Realm martial artist, making her a particularly valuable offering to the Flower Thief. 58

To gain further favor, Bai Jingtian infiltrates the Black Tiger Gang compound and abducts its leader’s daughter, an Early Muscle Refinement Realm martial artist. The Flower Thief rewards this act with a further strand of Demonic Inner Qi, allowing Bai Jingtian to reach the Late Bone Tempering Realm. 59

The Black Tiger Gang investigates the abduction and becomes increasingly suspicious of the White Ram Gang because it refuses access to concealed areas and has recently mobilized unusual numbers of members. The Black Tiger Gang launches an armed assault on the White Ram Gang headquarters. 60 61

Bai Jingtian denies responsibility and claims that the gang is being framed. The Flower Thief then emerges from a secret chamber and openly confirms that the missing woman is inside, exposing the deception. 61

The Flower Thief incapacitates the Black Tiger Gang leader and deputy leader when they enter the secret chamber. Bai Jingtian then orders his forces to capture the remaining attackers and leads an overnight campaign that seizes the Black Tiger Gang’s businesses, residences, and strongholds. 62

The captives are kept alive at the Flower Thief’s order so that their blood and Qi can be used to refine a demonic weapon. The White Ram Gang conceals his role and circulates the account that Bai Jingtian defeated the rival gang through his own Late Bone Tempering Realm strength. 62

Planned Assault on the Su Family

After absorbing the Black Tiger Gang’s territory, the White Ram Gang becomes significantly stronger within the town. The Flower Thief orders Bai Jingtian to prepare an immediate night attack on the Su Family, intending to destroy the family and seize its women and martial resources. Bai Jingtian accepts the order without hesitation. 63

The Flower Thief also intends to capture the Su Family’s martial artists for his demonic weapon. Before the assault, he orders the ordinary female captives disposed of while retaining the Black Tiger Gang leader’s daughter for further exploitation. 63

A spy reports that Lin Fan may have broken through to the Bright Force Realm. Bai Jingtian relays the warning to the Flower Thief, who dismisses the danger, claims his own strength has increased by thirty percent, and orders the recruitment of additional Bone Tempering Realm fighters. 64

Bai Jingtian recruits Bone Tempering Realm martial artists from neighboring towns with promises of substantial rewards, while concealing Lin Fan’s advancement to the Bright Force Realm. The gang gathers its elite members, hired experts, bows, poisoned hidden weapons, grappling tools, and siege ladders for a surprise extermination campaign. 66

Failed Assault and Dissolution

Under the Flower Thief’s command, the White Ram Gang marches on the Su Family Estate at night. Its members engage the Su Family’s martial artists in a large-scale battle, but the assault ultimately fails and the gang is defeated. 66 68 72

Before the battle, Lin Fan’s perception identifies Bai Jingtian and two recruited Bone Tempering Realm experts among the attackers, with the Flower Thief occupying the center of the force. Lin Fan undertakes to fight the Flower Thief while asking Su Yuanshan to hold off the Bone Tempering Realm opponents. 67

During the fighting below the estate wall, Su Yuanshan faces all three Bone Tempering Realm attackers at once while the two factions’ other martial artists fight at close quarters. By the time the Flower Thief self-destructs outside town, the Su Family has captured and imprisoned every invading White Ram Gang member and swept through the gang’s remaining businesses and strongholds to seize its other members. 68 71

Following the fall of its headquarters, the Su Family seizes the gang’s treasure vault, Scripture Repository, businesses, and remaining prisoners. Lin Fan rescues Black Tiger Gang survivors from the gang’s dungeons, including Zhou Hu and Zhou Ling, and confirms that he defeated the Flower Thief after a prolonged battle. 72 73

The White Ram Gang’s treasury and Scripture Repository are completely emptied, with their contents transported to Sunset Glow Courtyard. Its treasure is valued at more than eight million taels. Lin Fan arranges for the Su Family to manage the former White Ram and Black Tiger Gangs’ businesses, retaining seventy percent of their profits for three years before ownership passes entirely to the family. 73

Bai Jingtian refuses to submit while imprisoned in the Su Family dungeon. Because of his collusion with the demonic path, abductions, and crimes against civilians, Lin Fan executes him with a strand of Inner Qi. 73 74

The surviving White Ram Gang prisoners are subsequently investigated and punished according to their crimes. Murderers and major offenders, including Fang Lu, are designated for public execution, while lower-ranking members who did not kill are sentenced to hard labor repairing damaged villages and roads and may earn release through good conduct. Su Yuanshan undertakes to verify the recorded charges before implementing the punishments. 80 81

Reform of Former Businesses

After reviewing the gang’s remaining enterprises, Lin Fan orders reforms rather than their indiscriminate closure. Gambling and moneylending operations are to become transparent and cease preying on ordinary people, with usurious interest reduced. Women forced into prostitution are to be investigated, returned to their families, and compensated; proprietors and enforcers responsible for murdering innocents are also marked for execution. 81

The Su Family plans public notices and reassurance for affected villages and towns. Lin Fan limits these reforms to the White Ram Gang’s former holdings because many unrelated smaller factions operate similar businesses, and a town-wide shutdown would provoke unnecessary conflict. 81

Over the following six months, Lin Fan and the Su Family carry out reforms of the White Ram Gang’s former gray businesses. During this period, the town becomes more prosperous. 93

Methods and Resources

Martial Force

• Used Skin Tempering, Muscle Refinement, and Bone Tempering Realm martial artists as enforcers and leaders. 21
• Deployed scouts for surveillance and intelligence gathering. 25 33
• Could mobilize large numbers of armed members during gang conflicts. 61 62
• Bai Jingtian was capable of stealth infiltration, allowing him to enter rival territory and abduct a Muscle Refinement Realm martial artist without alerting nearby patrols. 59
• Recruited outside Bone Tempering Realm experts with promises of treasure and rewards for its attack on the Su Family. 66
• Prepared siege ladders, powerful bows, poisoned darts, iron hooks, ropes, and other equipment for assaults on fortified targets. 66

Concealment and Abduction

• Maintained hidden rooms and secret chambers within its headquarters. 53 60
• Conducted nighttime kidnappings while avoiding city patrols and suppressing victims’ cries. 53
• Used masked martial artists to abduct young women with martial cultivation in swift, coordinated raids that left little evidence. 57
• Knocked targets unconscious and transported them in prepared black burlap sacks; during the raid on minor martial families, members took no valuables and withdrew immediately after securing their captives. 57
• Restricted access to concealed areas during investigations, drawing suspicion from rival factions. 60
• Used captives as offerings to the Flower Thief in exchange for Demonic Inner Qi and cultivation advancement. 56 57 59
• Guarded captured Black Tiger Gang martial artists for the Flower Thief’s planned demonic-weapon refinement. 62

Political Exploitation

• Initially relied on the authorities’ tolerance of martial vendettas and gang conflict to plan retaliation against Lin Fan. 23
• Publicly framed the destruction of the Black Tiger Gang as an ordinary gang war, concealing the Flower Thief’s involvement. 62
• Exploited the collapse of rival leadership to rapidly annex territory and businesses. 62
• Concealed the Flower Thief’s role and Lin Fan’s Bright Force Realm breakthrough when recruiting external martial artists for the assault on the Su Family. 66
• Operated brothels, gambling houses, and moneylending businesses that exploited women, debtors, and other vulnerable townspeople. 81
• Owned more illicit and dubious enterprises than any other martial faction in town. 81
• Members plundered settlements, forcibly seized property, and devised traps to ruin local gentry and commoners. 80 81
• Gambling houses lured ordinary people with small initial winnings before rigging subsequent games, while money houses combined exorbitant interest with coercive debt collection. 81
• Fang Lu’s recorded crimes included massacring a merchant caravan of more than twenty people, burning a wealthy family’s houses after it refused his demands for silver, and torturing abducted women who resisted. 80

Treasury and Scripture Repository

The seized White Ram Gang and Black Tiger Gang wealth and books occupy multiple rooms at Sunset Glow Courtyard. Su Qingwei supervises the inventory, and non-currency goods such as cloth, jewels, and weapons are to be recorded and transferred to Su Family storehouses for sale, with the gold and silver proceeds returned to Lin Fan. 78 81

Relationships

• Bai Jingtian — Former gang leader; initially a Mid Bone Tempering Realm martial artist, he reaches the Late Bone Tempering Realm through Demonic Inner Qi granted by the Flower Thief. He is later executed by Lin Fan after refusing to submit. 27 56 59 74
• Steward Fang / Fang Lu — Steward who orders the surveillance of Lin Fan’s group and develops the scheme to provoke Lin Fan into killing gang members. He is later identified as Fang Lu, a major gang criminal responsible for murder, abduction, torture, and other atrocities. 20 23 80 81
• Lin Fan — Initially targeted for his silver, hunting profits, rapid cultivation, and suspected fortuitous opportunity; direct action is postponed after he gains Su Family protection. He later defeats the gang’s forces, oversees the seizure of its assets, and executes Bai Jingtian. He also directs differentiated punishments for its prisoners and reforms of its former businesses, which are carried out with the Su Family over the following six months. 20 25 33 72 74 81 93
• Su Family — Powerful local martial Lineage whose Golden Guest Token protects Lin Fan and deters an earlier ambush; later becomes the gang’s intended target under the Flower Thief’s orders. The family defeats the gang and absorbs its remaining assets and prisoners. It subsequently reforms the gang’s former gray businesses alongside Lin Fan. 33 63 72 81 93
• Flower Thief — Demonic-path master formerly served by the gang; grants Bai Jingtian Demonic Inner Qi in return for captives and uses the gang as his “claws and fangs.” He commands the failed attack on the Su Family before being defeated by Lin Fan and dying by self-destruction. 56 66 71 72 78
• Black Tiger Gang — Rival martial gang whose leader’s daughter is abducted by Bai Jingtian; the White Ram Gang later captures its leadership and absorbs its territory. After the White Ram Gang’s fall, surviving Black Tiger members are rescued and sheltered by the Su Family. 59 62 72
• Zhou Hu and Zhou Ling — Black Tiger Gang leader and his daughter, both held captive within the White Ram Gang’s headquarters. Lin Fan heals Zhou Hu and rescues Zhou Ling after the gang’s destruction; Zhou Hu subsequently pledges loyalty to the Su Family as a guest elder. 72
• Raging Tide Gang and White Sand Gang — Outside martial gangs whose leaders assist the White Ram Gang’s assault on the Su Family. After their capture, both leaders submit to the Su Family, while their gangs are reorganized under Su Family authority. 66 74 75 76
• Minor martial families and local civilians — Victims of the gang’s surveillance, robbery, abductions, coercion, and exploitative enterprises. The Su Family’s postwar judgments and reforms are intended to provide accountability and relief. 53 57 80 81

Trivia

• The gang’s sheep-head emblem allows Lin Fan to identify its members immediately during the first surveillance incident. 20
• Before serving the Flower Thief, Bai Jingtian considers the Su Family patriarch’s Late Bone Tempering Realm cultivation a major obstacle to open conflict. 33
• The gang’s rise after the Black Tiger Gang’s fall is publicly attributed to Bai Jingtian’s Late Bone Tempering Realm breakthrough, concealing the Flower Thief’s decisive role. 62 63
• The White Ram Gang’s Scripture Repository possessed an Inner Qi Circulation Method despite the gang’s ultimately criminal nature. 73
• Fang Lu, the steward who first targeted Lin Fan, is later revealed to have been one of the gang’s most notorious criminals. 80 81
• Lin Fan confirms Fang Lu’s identity by checking that the White Ram Gang had only one steward surnamed Fang. 81
• Bai Jingtian regards each of the Flower Thief’s first two Inner Qi rewards as saving approximately seven or eight years of bitter cultivation. 56 58