Hua Shanrong

Biodata

Background / History

Family and Gang Life

Hua Shanrong joined the underworld to help support his large family. He skimmed money from gang red envelopes to buy meat for his younger siblings, including pork ribs for his seventh sister. Despite spending several years around gangs, he remained a low-ranking blue lantern with little standing and few people willing to answer his calls 9 15.

His boss, Fat Bear, made allowances for his circumstances and fearfulness. He gave Hua Shanrong extra money, invited him along for meals, told him to stand at the back during confrontations, and sometimes attended his parents’ birthdays. These kindnesses became the basis of Hua Shanrong’s loyalty to him 15.

Gang Ambush and Ghost Market

Hua Shanrong first intervened when three punks tried to extort Chen Ying, using his gang connections and cigarettes to talk them down. He then asked Chen Ying to help meet Fat Bear’s requirement that each subordinate bring five people to a show of force. Chen Ying was swept into the gathering before he could finish refusing 9.

The confrontation with Fire Dragon became a genuine attack when Sha Wei arrived with armed men. Hua Shanrong tried to flee, but Chen Ying had to pull him through the fighting and force an opening in Fire Dragon’s line. Hua Shanrong then led their escape through alleys he had scouted beforehand 9 10.

Their escape route led into the Ghost Market. A noodle-stall proprietor compelled them to sit and offered Chen Ying ten notes for Hua Shanrong as an ingredient. Unable to move or speak, Hua Shanrong could only signal with his eyes and pray for rescue 10 11.

Fat Bear’s bloodied ghost appeared at the stall and entrusted Hua Shanrong with a gold chain for his widow. Hua Shanrong tearfully recognized his boss, then followed Chen Ying as they used Sha Wei’s route to leave the market. When Sha Wei attacked them outside, Chen Ying identified Hua Shanrong as his friend and secured his safety 12 14 15 31.

Assassination Order and Haunted Temple

After delivering the chain to Fat Bear’s widow, Hua Shanrong learned that Wo On Sing’s elders had issued an Underworld Assassination Order against him for fleeing the battle in which his boss died. Meanwhile, his right arm developed festering, copper-coin-shaped sores after handling the dead man’s chain. Unable to return home safely, he spent two months moving from place to place 30 31.

A Temple Street spirit medium told him that accepting a dead man’s wealth had crossed the boundary between the living and the dead. Following her advice, he went to sleep in the abandoned City God Temple at 93 Rongyi Street, hoping to return the dead man’s money and rid himself of the affliction 31.

Chen Ying found him there and later drew a cold current out of his arm, causing the sores to fade. When an immense three-faced entity began manifesting from the temple, Chen Ying dragged him out of Rongyi Street. Hua Shanrong himself appeared unable to sense the overwhelming evil energy that prompted the escape 30 32 33.

Wo On Sing Hearing

Hua Shanrong remained in Dragon City for more than half a month while Lu Zhengxing handled the temple incident’s aftermath. After returning, he asked Chen Ying to accompany him to a Wo On Sing hearing and help establish that he was loyal rather than a traitor 34.

Despite Dragon City’s request to spare him, the elders demanded that he kill Fire Dragon within one month. Success would earn a banquet and his choice of Red Pole or White Paper Fan; failure would bring the punishment of Three Knives and Six Holes. The elders had already divided up Fat Bear’s territory and offered no free manpower or weapons 35 36.

When Chen Ying challenged the elders and walked out, Hua Shanrong chose to follow him. Sweating and visibly frightened, he nevertheless insisted that they had arrived together and should leave together. Outside, he declared that Chen Ying had saved his life and deserved his support 36.

Weapons Purchase and Gold-Shop Robbery

Hua Shanrong accompanied Chen Ying to the family’s dockside warehouses during an investigation into planted drugs. At Chen Ying’s request, he went to report the contraband and bring police to the scene 37.

In Dragon City, he fronted a purchase from arms dealer Lin Jin: five Zhongwu Type 56 submachine guns, six magazines per gun, and an arrangement for four gunmen to arrive the next day. The transaction used a packet of Two Lions Holding the Globe. Hua Shanrong presented Fire Dragon’s assassination as their objective, but Chen Ying revealed afterward that the purchase and hiring arrangements were a diversion 39.

That night, Hua Shanrong and Chen Ying robbed Mah Yau Wu’s Jixiang Gold Shop while Uncle Qing kept watch. They wore masks, collected the jewelry, broke open the safe, and withdrew in five or six minutes without firing their guns. Hua Shanrong excitedly clutched two bags of loot as they subsequently watched Yan Ren leave the police station 40.

Appearance

• Build and usual clothing: Short, introduced wearing a floral shirt 9.
• While hiding: Dirt-covered and wearing a long-sleeved garment that concealed his afflicted right arm 30.
• Before the hearing: Wears a stylish suit, oversized sunglasses, and flip-flops while handling a string of bodhi beads 34.
• Former distinguishing injury: Red sores shaped like copper coins—round outside and square inside—covered his right arm before Chen Ying healed it 30 32 33.

Personality

Hua Shanrong is openly fearful rather than eager to fight. He calls himself cowardly and useless, panics during the ambush, and regards finding an escape route as the first priority of underworld life. His view of gangs is similarly unsentimental: he understands that many confrontations are staged and that the police determine how criminal businesses are divided 9 10 15.

His fear does not erase his gratitude. He mourns Fat Bear, delivers the gold chain to his widow, and wants to avenge him, although he admits that rising through the gangs to challenge Su Xiong is beyond him. His decision to leave the hearing with Chen Ying likewise places personal loyalty above obedience to the elders 15 31 36.

Protection from Dragon City briefly makes him boastful, but he becomes deeply deferential before Wo On Sing’s elders. His bravado depends heavily on how safe he feels 34 35 36.

Abilities & Skills

Escape Planning and Running

• Scouts surrounding alleys before a confrontation and successfully leads Chen Ying away from their pursuers 10.
• States that he placed third in his school’s thousand-meter race 10.
• Becomes exhausted after the escape, unlike Chen Ying, whose abnormal endurance surprises him 10.

Underworld Knowledge and Contacts

• Uses gang affiliations and polite negotiation to defuse the attempted extortion of Chen Ying 9.
• Explains gang ranks, staged confrontations, police control of criminal territory, and Su Xiong’s rise 9 15.
• Uses underworld connections while on the run and locates Lin Jin’s business after having visited it with Fat Bear 31 39.

Arms Procurement

• Negotiates the immediate delivery of five Type 56s and arranges four hired gunmen while acting as the apparent leader of Chen Ying’s group 39.
• No cultivation realm, supernatural technique, or demonstrated firearms proficiency is documented for him in these events 10 32 39 40.

Relationships

• Chen Ying — Longtime friend, schoolmate, and repeated rescuer. Hua Shanrong initially recruits him to make up gang numbers, later chooses his side over the elders, and assists in the weapons purchase and gold-shop robbery 9 33 36 39 40.
• Fat Bear — Former boss and benefactor. His generosity toward Hua Shanrong’s family inspires genuine loyalty and a desire for revenge after his death 12 15 31.
• Younger siblings — A major reason he joins the gang; he uses part of his earnings to buy them meat 9.
• Fire Dragon — Intended revenge target for betraying Fat Bear’s side. Wo On Sing later makes killing him a condition of Hua Shanrong’s survival 10 15 35.
• Sha Wei — Feared enemy from the ambush. Chen Ying’s intervention persuades him to spare Hua Shanrong after their departure from the Ghost Market 9 14 15.
• Lu Zhengxing — Protector in Dragon City who handles the temple affair’s aftermath and seeks to have Wo On Sing drop its case against him 34 35.
• Mah Yau Wu — Hostile elder who threatens him at the hearing and later warns Fire Dragon about his weapons purchase 36 40.
• Lin Jin — Arms dealer and nominal fellow Wo On Sing member from whom Hua Shanrong obtains the Type 56s 39.

Notable Quotes

“When you're making your way in the world, the first priority is finding an escape route.” 10

“I came with Brother Ying. Naturally, we leave together.” 36

“Brother Ying, you saved my life. Would I even be human if I didn't stand by you?” 36