- Xie Bao
Xie Bao (解宝) was a character in the
Water Margin .Xie Bao and his brotherXie Zhen were rated as top hunters inDengzhou . Xie stood at 7 feet, had a round face and a dark complexion. He had a pair of flying yaksha tattoos on his legs, and dressed in a similar manner to his brother. He was brave and daring, skilled in martial arts and carried a bronze forked spear. He could scale mountains and climb cliffs as well, thus earning him the nickname 'Double-tailed scorpion'(双尾蝎).Once, the Xie brothers were assigned to hunt down a ferocious tiger. The tiger was shot by their poison arrows and landed in Squire Mao's backyard. Squire Mao sent the dead tiger to the county office for his reward and framed the Xie brothers of robbing him. He bribed the county governor, who sentenced the Xie brothers to death. Luckily,
Yue He ,Sun Li ,Sun Xin ,Gu Dasao ,Zou Run andZou Yuan raided the prison and rescued the Xie brothers. They killed Squire Mao and his family, then fled to Liangshan.The Xie brothers aided Sun Li as they acted as conspirators within the Zhu Family Village, allowing the Liangshan heroes to conquer Zhu Family Village easily. The brothers eventually joined the bandits officially and were part of the
36 Heavenly Chieftains , and were leaders of the Liangshan infantry. They followed the heroes on their campaigns as they defeated the Liao Tartars and subdued the southern rebels.During the
Fang La campaign, the Xie brothers sneaked intoHangzhou and aided the heroes in conquering Hangzhou, making great contributions. Then, the Xie brothers volunteered to act as spies when the heroes were attacking Wulong Ridge. They disguised themselves as hunters and tried to scale the mountain. Enemy troops spotted them, which resulted in Xie Zhen falling to his death and Xie Bao being shot to death by arrows. After that, the enemy troops displayed the bodies of the Xie brothers, trying to lureSong Jiang to attack them, but Song Jiang lost and managed to escape under the protection of the heroes.
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