Flowing Sand

Biodata

Feature	Value
Name	Flowing Sand (流沙) 1
Alias(es)	Gathering and Scattering Quicksand; Quicksand; Quick Sand 8 9 11
Organization Type	Underground organization and revolutionary network 1 8
Founder	Ning Yuanzhou 45 46
Leader	Ning Que, formally acknowledged as Juzi; Mu Lingfeng previously served as acting Juzi 34 44
Headquarters	Water-Moon Grotto-Heaven 44
Area of Operations	Great Li Dynasty, with branches in every province 46
Objective	Overthrow the Great Li imperial family’s rule 1 8
Status	Reassembled under Ning Que, though doubts about its future persist; its founder remains imprisoned 44 45 48
First Appearance	Introduced through Ning Que’s first background edit 1

Background / History

Founding and Fragmentation

Ning Yuanzhou founded Flowing Sand to change a troubled world, choosing that ambition over an opportunity to enter the Fallen Star Pavilion. His ideals attracted talented individuals, and the organization grew into Great Li’s largest underground power 1 2 46.

Its initial background describes Ning Yuanzhou disappearing during an assassination mission. Without him, Flowing Sand splintered amid conflicting loyalties and ambitions; only a few branches, including Qingzhou, continued following headquarters. Loyal members nevertheless spent substantial manpower and money searching for his missing child 1 2 11.

Later revelations establish that Ning Yuanzhou survived. He surrendered to protect his pregnant wife, was captured by Wang Tianque’s private army, and was sent to the Skeleton Desert. Because much of the court knew only that he was missing, uncertainty over his possible return discouraged a decisive campaign against Flowing Sand 46 47.

Discovery of Ning Que

Ning Que’s Background Editing System altered cause and effect to establish him as Ning Yuanzhou’s long-lost son. Half of a dragon-shaped jade pendant appeared around his neck, matching the half held by Mu Lingfeng. Upon learning that the child had been found, Mu ordered Yin Jiuyou to retrieve him and summoned Flowing Sand’s scattered members 1 2.

Yin rescued Ning Que from execution at the Li Royal Palace. While traveling toward headquarters, they encountered the Qingzhou Branch, whose leaders recognized the pendant and accepted Ning Que as Juzi without reservation 2 10 11.

Establishing the Lotus Town Base

The Qingzhou Branch destroyed Black Kui Stronghold and intended to use it as a base. Ning Que supplied weapons to replace equipment lost in a flood, resolving a pressing shortage for the branch’s hundred-plus members 11 12.

The group subsequently defeated Lotus Town’s government troops, accepted Commander Huang Tong’s surrender, and executed the corrupt magistrate Qian Taizhong. When Ning Que departed, Qiao Musheng remained with a detachment to secure the town as a Flowing Sand base 15 16.

Reassembly at Qingzhou

The court ordered that Ning Que and his companions must not leave Qingzhou alive. Governor Zhuge Jingcheng mobilized escort agencies and bounty hunters against them, while Ning Que publicly accepted the governor’s daughter, Zhuge Qing, into Flowing Sand 17 30 33.

Nearly ten thousand Flowing Sand fighters assembled outside Qingzhou after news spread that Ning Yuanzhou’s child had been found. Mu Lingfeng delayed an assault, arguing that Ning Que should have the opportunity to prove himself as a successor. The organization demanded that the gates be opened, while Ning Que’s smaller group fought inside the city 34 36 38.

Facing the prospect of an attack by the main force, Zhuge Jingcheng opened the gates and killed the capital’s messenger when he objected. Ning Que and his exhausted companions joined Flowing Sand outside the city 39.

Succession and the Search for Ning Yuanzhou

At Water-Moon Grotto-Heaven, Ning Que took his father’s stone throne. Mu Lingfeng and nearly ten thousand followers knelt to acknowledge him as Juzi 44.

Formal succession did not erase the organization’s disillusionment. Giant Hammer questioned whether Ning Que could accomplish what years of rebellion had failed to achieve, provoking a confrontation with Yin Jiuyou. Ning Que interrupted them with news that his father was alive, giving the members a renewed focus 45.

Flowing Sand located Star Pavilion, where Ning Que learned that Ning Yuanzhou was imprisoned in the Skeleton Desert. Despite Mu Lingfeng’s objections and offer to accompany him, Ning Que chose a solo rescue attempt. Officials within Flowing Sand fabricated a prisoner identity for him so he could infiltrate the desert’s deepest region 46 47.

Organization and Members

The central leadership uses the title Juzi, also rendered as Grandmaster. Beneath headquarters are provincial branches with their own leaders; the Qingzhou Branch has three documented branch masters 2 11 34.

• Ning Yuanzhou — Founder and former Juzi; remains the organization’s principal rallying symbol despite his imprisonment 45 47.
• Ning Que — Ning Yuanzhou’s system-established son and successor; formally assumes leadership at headquarters 1 44.
• Mu Lingfeng — Acting Juzi before Ning Que’s succession; directs the rescue, general assembly, and standoff outside Qingzhou 2 34 38.
• Yin Jiuyou — Assassin and Ning Que’s rescuer; fiercely defends his authority and accompanies him through the Qingzhou fighting 2 4 45.
• Qi Shanhe — Master of the Qingzhou Branch; leads its reinforcements and kills Qian Kuidou 10 11.
• Qiao Musheng — Second master of the Qingzhou Branch; stays behind to guard the Lotus Town base 11 16.
• Mu Yuwei — Third master of the Qingzhou Branch; identifies equipment shortages and provides knowledge of the Yin Lotus Cult 11 26.
• Luo Qingwan — Core member from Jiangnan, distinguished by her umbrella sword; urges action to protect Ning Que during the Qingzhou standoff 2 38 45.
• Giant Hammer — Core member whose doubts reflect the organization’s stalled ambitions; becomes impressed by Ning Que’s willingness to rescue his father 45 47.
• Zhuge Qing — Qingzhou governor’s daughter; voluntarily joins after learning that Flowing Sand intends to overthrow Great Li 33.

Goals and Strategy

• Nationwide strongholds: Establish bases in every prefecture, city, and county, then coordinate an uprising when conditions are favorable 8.
• Dispersed membership: Blend into ordinary society rather than operate solely as an openly assembled army 46.
• Restoration of leadership: Recover Ning Yuanzhou, whose presence is considered capable of restoring the organization’s strength and morale 45 46.

Ning Que questions whether generations of secret preparation alone can topple a dynasty. He identifies timing, terrain, and popular support as necessary conditions, and later concludes that Flowing Sand by itself is insufficient to overturn Great Li’s foundations 8 45.

Capabilities

Martial Force

Flowing Sand’s strength rests on its concentration of skilled fighters rather than ordinary bandit numbers 11 39.

• The Qingzhou Branch kills Qian Kuidou and 364 Black Kui Stronghold bandits despite being outnumbered by more than two to one 11.
• Its reunited main force numbers nearly ten thousand; reports describe the troops as leather-armored 34.
• Its reputation is formidable but not universal: remote bandits initially fail to recognize Yin Jiuyou’s token, while Qingzhou’s bounty hunters recognize the name but continue fighting for money 10 33.
• Equipment remains a limitation. Flood losses leave the Qingzhou Branch short of weapons and armor, and Qingzhou’s government troops possess better equipment than the assembled rebels 11 12 39.

Intelligence and Infiltration

The organization retains a first-rate intelligence apparatus even after its decline 46.

• Members operate as hawkers, beggars, constable captains, military officers, and contacts within the imperial court 46.
• Its network supplies reports on the Empress’s health, suppression campaigns, and water-control projects 46.
• It locates Star Pavilion at a Daoist temple on Great Marsh Mountain 46.
• Officials in its ranks fabricate Ning Que’s prisoner identity, including a false record of murdering an entire household of thirty-six people 47.

Engineering and Concealed Defenses

Water-Moon Grotto-Heaven uses mechanisms associated with Ning Yuanzhou’s inventions 44.

• A mechanism activated from a rock splits the waterfall to expose a concealed flagstone entrance 44.
• Water powers the stronghold’s infrastructure and defenses 44.
• Sheer cliffs surround the valley headquarters 44.

Bases and Headquarters

Location	Function and Features
Falling Phoenix Manor	Mu Lingfeng’s location when Ning Que is discovered; loyal members gather there near a towering waterfall 2.
Water-Moon Grotto-Heaven	Hidden headquarters with terraces, pavilions, towers, a spacious stone hall, black-armored stone soldiers, and the Juzi’s stone throne 44.
Black Kui Stronghold	Captured after the Qingzhou Branch exterminates its bandits; selected for use as a base 11.
Lotus Town	Secured following the magistrate’s defeat; guarded by Qiao Musheng and a remaining detachment 15 16.

Equipment and Significant Items

• Dragon-shaped jade pendant — Divided between Ning Que and Mu Lingfeng; identifies Ning Que as the former Juzi’s son 2 10.
• Black iron token — Carried by Yin Jiuyou as proof of Flowing Sand affiliation; Luo Tong recognizes it belatedly 10 11.
• System-supplied weapons — Ning Que obtains fifty Gold-Backed Broadswords, fifty Serrated Spears, and fifty Rosewood Bows, then supplies fine weapons to the Qingzhou Branch 9 12.
• Broken Spatial Ring — Ning Que’s personal storage item, used to hold weapons and supplies and reduce the vulnerabilities of conventional supply transport 9.
• Ning Yuanzhou’s hidden letter — Concealed inside his memorial statue; reveals that he is alive and directs Ning Que toward Star Pavilion 44 45.
• System-supplied shields — Deployed in a tight defensive formation to withstand the Qingzhou attackers’ arrow volley 37.

Connection to the Background Editing System

Flowing Sand is Ning Que’s first edited background. The system grants the identity but leaves him responsible for resolving the organization’s fragmentation and objectives 1 2 8.

Background Completion	Chapter	Documented Context
5%	8	The system explains that Ning Que must reunite the fractured organization himself.
8%	26	Recorded while Ning Que waits in Qingzhou to rendezvous with the main force.
12%	44	Recorded at headquarters after his formal acknowledgment as Juzi.
20%	45	Recorded after he discovers Ning Yuanzhou’s hidden letter and learns that he is alive.

• Kills by Flowing Sand members generate karma points for Ning Que, with rewards varying by the victims’ number and significance 6 7 11.
• Zhuge Qing’s first recorded kill after joining also earns him points, leading Ning Que to infer that the benefit extends to anyone who joins Flowing Sand 36.

External Relationships

• Great Li imperial court — The organization’s intended target and longstanding adversary; uncertainty over Ning Yuanzhou’s fate previously restrained attempts to eliminate it 1 47.
• Wang Yong — Directs efforts to intercept its westward-moving members and prevent Ning Que from escaping Qingzhou 16 17.
• Wang Tianque — Captures Ning Yuanzhou with a private army and sends him to the Skeleton Desert 47.
• Zhuge Jingcheng — Mobilizes Qingzhou’s underground forces against Ning Que, but ultimately releases the rebels under pressure from Flowing Sand’s assembled army 17 39.
• Star Pavilion — Previously selected Ning Yuanzhou for possible entry into the Fallen Star Pavilion; its master, Shi Guangling, identifies his prison location through constellation divination 46 47.
• Escort Guild and Cave of No Worries — Participate in the bounty-driven assault on Ning Que’s group in Qingzhou 30 36.
• Yin Lotus Cult — Hostile faction involved in the Qingzhou confrontation; Mu Yuwei’s earlier dealings with it provide insight into its coercive methods 26 30 33.

Notable Quotes

“Gathering and Scattering Quicksand, no trace in life or death.”
— Yin Jiuyou, explaining Flowing Sand’s revolutionary strategy 8