GongYe Gan

GongYe Gan is the second of the four principal retainers of the Murong family, a careful observer whose practical judgment repeatedly shapes how his companions respond to danger. He helps investigate the suspicious report of Xue MuHua’s death, supports Feng BoE when the latter is struck by frost poison, and joins the group’s resistance to Ding Chunqiu; in the ensuing fight, however, GongYe Gan is among those disabled by You TanZhi’s poison-laden palm force.

Identity and Allegiance

Deng BaiChuan introduces GongYe Gan as his second younger brother and identifies all four men as followers of Murong Fu. The introductions take place during a tense encounter with Xu Zhu, when one of the younger retainers is eager to fight but the others press for an explanation first. GongYe Gan is thus presented within a close, ranked group: loyal to the Murong household, yet also subject to the brothers’ internal efforts to restrain rash action.

His exchanges with Xu Zhu show a composed, socially attentive side. When Xu Zhu tries to address him as a benefactor, Bao BuTong interrupts to correct the form of address, and GongYe Gan is present as the group’s names and relationships are negotiated. The scene gives him no speech of his own, but places him among the retainers whose collective identity is made legible through their brotherly order and allegiance to Murong Fu.

Judgment at Xue MuHua’s Residence

At Xue MuHua’s residence, GongYe Gan is quick to register that the announced death does not fit the surrounding details. A servant claims that Xue has died and that no family remains, yet GongYe Gan notices the servant’s suspicious manner and confides his doubts to Deng BaiChuan. In the mourning hall, the household’s disorder and the memorial tablet’s forceful writing add to the indications that the account may be false. Clothes belonging to women and children hang in the courtyard, contradicting the servant’s claim that Xue had no family.

GongYe Gan does not settle for suspicion. After he and Xu Zhu search the large residence and find no sign of the servant, he returns to the outer hall and proposes that Xue may have faked his death. He then leads the examination of the coffin, taking precautions by wrapping a shirt around his hands before lifting it. Its unexpected weight confirms his suspicion that it does not contain a corpse. The discovery advances the group’s understanding of the staged mourning, although the danger surrounding the coffin remains unresolved: when two chickens are brought near it, they die from the poison, and the party keeps its distance.

The Frost-Poison Encounter

GongYe Gan’s concern becomes immediate when Feng BoE is struck during the confrontation with Ding Chunqiu and You TanZhi. He helps Feng BoE sit up and watches as his condition worsens despite the use of GongYe Gan’s own detoxification pill. The remedy has no apparent effect. When GongYe Gan checks Feng BoE’s breathing, the cold passing from him is enough to make the danger plain, and GongYe Gan withdraws his hand and asks Ding Chunqiu for an antidote. The request is urgent and direct: whatever grievance the sides have, his younger brother’s condition cannot wait for argument.

The appeal does not produce help. Ding Chunqiu has no antidote to offer and gives no sign of intending to provide one. The frost poison that has entered Feng BoE is linked to You TanZhi’s internal force, not to a simple toxin that GongYe Gan’s pill can counter. This episode establishes both GongYe Gan’s practical resourcefulness and the limits of his ability to protect his companions when confronted with an unfamiliar martial technique.

Resistance and Defeat

When Ding Chunqiu’s attack on the group escalates, GongYe Gan joins the decision to leave the cave and confront him rather than wait for the cave to be breached. XuanNan proposes the move, and GongYe Gan agrees alongside Deng BaiChuan, Bao BuTong, and Feng BoE. The choice is collective: the group would rather meet the attack together than remain trapped as the enemy advances.

In the battle, GongYe Gan and Deng BaiChuan try to deflect the meteor-flames Ding Chunqiu sends at Bao BuTong. Both are driven back by the force of the attack, which makes clear that their skill is not enough to withstand Ding Chunqiu’s power directly. Later, GongYe Gan is among those overcome by You TanZhi’s frost-poison palm. The account emphasizes the mismatch between You TanZhi’s modestly developed techniques and the formidable force supplied by the poison accumulated in his body; GongYe Gan’s own attack on him is countered by that poison and leaves him injured. By the end of the clash, GongYe Gan, Deng BaiChuan, XuanNan, Fan BaiLing, and others have been defeated by Ding Chunqiu and You TanZhi. GongYe Gan’s arc in these scenes moves from identifying danger and trying to answer it to being caught in a struggle whose powers exceed his remedies and defenses.