Gao Qiu
Shi Jin is the first of the 108 Stars of Destiny to appear in the novel. He is practising with a staff in his house's courtyard when Wang Jin, an instructor of the imperial guards in the imperial capital Dongjing, walks in. Wang is temporarily putting up in the Shi household with his mother. They are fleeing to Weizhou and have by chance come to the Shi manor, where they are offered free lodgings for a night by the kindly Squire Shi. But the mother fell ill and the stay has to be extended. Wang has secretly left Dongjing in fear of revenge from his new boss Grand Marshal Gao Qiu. Gao was once beaten by Wang's father in a row at a time when Gao was still a commoner.