Siao Jhong Syong and Siao Ba created a standard hero Yan Tieyi of Liu Canyang style, a plain looking young man about twenty to thirty years old. Like the protagonists he created in other novels, such as Li Jyueling who helps the poor in the novel Duan Ren, and Ciu Li in Yin Niu Jiao. Although the hero always looks sincere, unpretentious and innocent, he kills his enemies in cold blood. Like Liu Canyang proclaimed, there was tao among the circle of righteous knight-errant and tao among the gangs. "My intention is to describe the tao among the gangs." he said.

      Siao Jhong Syong is composed of six sequential narratives, and Siao Ba is composed of seven. The protagonist of these two books was Yan Tieyi who formed a gang called Cinglong She. Instead of harassing the society they helped the poor and eradicated evil. The thirteen short stories have such themes as how does Yan Tieyi avenge his friends, catch criminals, and punish malicious ones. Although the writer tried to make his stories horror-filled and suspenseful, he did not always success. So the short tales of Yan Tieyi are less thrilling than those about Chu Liusiang by Gu Long. Nevertheless the violent decapitation and execution scenes satisfy fans of the genre.