Shen County
The novel depicts Zhang Qing as odd-looking with some hair on his face. He works as a gardener of a monastery in his native city of Mengzhou. One day, following a heated quarrel, he kills the monks in a fit of anger and burns down the monastery. He flees to the Cross Slope (十字坡; at the intersection of present-day Shen County, Shandong and Fan County, Henan) where he robs passers-by. One day, he sets upon an elderly man who comes by. After fighting and defeating him, the man takes him to his home and teaches him martial arts. He even marries his daughter Sun Erniang to him.