Yu Wo's life began in tragedy. His parents died in a train accident when he was only a child. He spent his earliest years in an orphanage. One day, he caught the eye of a passing monk at the age of nine. The monk saw his potential and took him into the monastery in the Wudang Mountains, where he would live his life as a monk. From that day forward, Yu Wo belonged to a different world—one of discipline, martial training, balance, and spiritual pursuit.
By his teenage years, he was already formidable, and by his twenties, his mastery of Tai Chi, Xingyi, and other martial arts made him a figure whispered about beyond monastery walls. Yet his influence was not built only on skill—it was his serenity, the way people sought him for counsel, that made him powerful.
At 25, he journeyed to Algeria on pilgrimage. There, he met a woman who broke the silence of his vows. Love bloomed in the unlikeliest place, and two years later, at the age of 27, his first and only son was born: Chaoxiang Wo. But joy came with sorrow—his wife died during childbirth, leaving Yu Wo with an infant in his arms. He returned to the monastery carrying not only his son but also a grief that deepened his wisdom.
By the age of 36, Yu Wo was appointed Head Monk, a role he had never sought but could not refuse. By that time, his martial mastery was already apparent, but so too was his refusal to bend to corruption. His strength drew the attention of government factions in China. Politicians sought to exploit the monastery, pressuring Yu Wo to train soldiers for assassinations on behalf of the state. Yu Wo refused outright. "A monk is not a blade for hire," he said.
This was a time when governments and warlords used assassins for all sorts of evil deeds.
Frustrated, those politicians turned to lower-ranking monks within the monastery—men more willing to serve the state's ambitions. Secretly, they sought to sway Yu Wo's brothers into training killers. But when Yu Wo uncovered their betrayal, he cast them out of the monastery. His decision earned him enemies within and without.
Some monks, who believed that supporting the government was a duty, grew hostile toward him. They accused him of weakness, of cowardice, of dishonoring the monastery by rejecting "patriotism." When their efforts to soil his name failed—because Yu Wo's reputation was untouchable—they turned to darker schemes. Together with the politicians, they conspired to have him assassinated.
When Chaoxiang turned 19, poisoned by lies planted by politicians and traitorous monks, he attempted to assassinate his own father. Yu Wo defended him, sparing his son's life, but watched as Chaoxiang fled in shame.
Years later, Chaoxiang uncovered the truth—that he had been used as a pawn to eliminate his father. He returned in fury, seeking to destroy the conspirators.
He would later cross paths with Malik Haruna at the age of 23 and Malik at 26, who was known worldwide as the White Wolf assassin. Both men had been tricked by the Chinese government, and though neither shared their true motives, they fought side by side to eliminate those corrupt politicians.
Although Yu Wo told Malik about his son, he never realized who he was during their encounter.
Chaoxiang returned to the monastery the same year after eliminating the politicians; Malik vanished back into the shadows.
But Yu Wo stopped his son from drowning in vengeance. Instead, Yu Wo cast out the corrupted monks and reconciled with Chaoxiang.
At 56, Yu Wo was captured during the Vexari invasion and later found himself in Ranch 7, two years before Malik would arrive. Too old to keep up with endless hunts, he still trained runners to help them survive the brutal trials, inscribing his techniques and philosophies onto the cafeteria walls. His teachings outlived him—runners who studied them survived longer than others.
But even legends fall. Korr'Vex came for him after he survived for almost four months. He had managed to kill several Starter Hunters and Trophy Hunters in every hunt. Though Yu Wo fought with all his strength, he eventually fell—not without wounding Korr'Vex.
The wound amounted to nothing after Korr'Vex absorbed his essence. It was the first time Korr'Vex had entered the hunting ground. Yu Wo had been too strong for the other hunters to deal with.
When Malik arrived at Ranch 7, he saw the teachings carved into the walls and knew instantly—his master had been there. But after being in the hunt, he couldn't believe Yu Wo could die from these weaklings. The only possibility was that Yu Wo had faced something he couldn't defeat.
It made Malik wary, and he used every hunt to improve his skills and strength. He feared there might be more powerful hunters than the ones in the hunts. After all, the ones he fought during the invasion were far weaker than the ones in the hunting grounds.
Yu Wo's teachings would live on in every runner who followed his path. His name would live on even after his death.