Background
Lei Heng is from Yuncheng County, Shandong. He serves as a constable in the county office together with Zhu Tong. He was formerly a blacksmith and butcher before becoming a constable. The Water Margin describes him as standing at about seven chi, with a purplish face and a string of whiskers on his face. Lei Heng possesses immense strength and excels in martial arts. His most outstanding ability is his skill in leaping across a body of water several meters wide and jumping over high walls with ease. This ability, when combined with his prowess in martial arts, earns him the nickname of "Winged Tiger". Lei Heng stands up to injustice and often uses his abilities to help the weak.
Once, Lei Heng is patrolling the neighborhood with his men when he sees Liu Tang, who has fallen asleep in a temple after getting drunk. Lei Heng mistakes Liu Tang for a wanted criminal and has Liu arrested. Lei Heng and his men arrive at Chao Gai's village after that and decide to take a break there. Chao Gai recognises Liu Tang and lies to Lei Heng that Liu is his nephew. Lei Heng obliges to Chao Gai's request and releases Liu Tang. However, Liu Tang is still angry with Lei Heng for arresting him for no reason earlier and he attempts to sneak up on Lei later. Lei Heng and Liu Tang fight for several rounds but neither emerges the victor. Chao Gai arrives on the scene and stops the fight.
After Chao Gai and his six friends robbed the convoy of birthday gifts for the Imperial Tutor Cai Jing, the authorities send Lei Heng and Zhu Tong to arrest the seven men. However, Lei Heng and Zhu Tong value their friendship with Chao Gai and they allow Chao to escape. Zhu Tong asks Lei Heng to enter through the front door and Lei makes loud noises on purpose to attract Chao's Gai attention so Chao is alerted to their presence and escapes easily.
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