Lei Heng, nicknamed the Winged Tiger, begins Water Margin as a chief constable of Yuncheng County rather than as an outlaw. Formerly a blacksmith and butcher, he is known for physical strength, martial skill, and the ability to leap over streams and walls. He serves alongside Zhu Tong, and the two men stand at the boundary between local government and the network of heroes gathering around Song Jiang and Chao Gai.
During a night patrol, Lei Heng finds Liu Tang asleep in a ruined temple and arrests him as a suspicious stranger. Chao Gai secures Liu’s release by claiming him as a relative, after which Liu turns back to fight Lei in anger. Their encounter becomes one of the first links between the Yuncheng constables and the future Seven Stars alliance. Lei later takes part in official attempts to arrest men such as Chao Gai and Song Jiang, yet personal loyalty and the choices of Zhu Tong repeatedly complicate the demands of his office.
Lei Heng’s decisive break with official life comes through the singer Bai Xiuying, who enjoys the favor of the county magistrate. After Lei cannot provide a suitable gratuity at her performance, Bai’s father quarrels with and strikes Lei’s elderly mother. Enraged, Lei attacks Bai Xiuying and kills her. He is arrested and escorted under Zhu Tong’s guard, but Zhu releases him out of friendship. With no path back to his former position, Lei Heng sends his mother to safety and joins Liangshan. His move to the stronghold is therefore the result of a personal and social collapse, not an original plan to become an outlaw.
At the great assembly, Lei Heng ranks twenty-fifth among the 108 Stars as the Heavenly Retreating Star and serves as an infantry leader. After the imperial amnesty he fights in the major campaigns, retaining the direct, forceful style suggested by his nickname. In the war against Fang La, he meets the southern commander Si Xingfang outside the south gate of Deqing County. After thirty bouts, Si Xingfang cuts him down from his horse. Lei Heng’s story traces a complete reversal: a county officer who once arrested future outlaws becomes one of Liangshan’s Heavenly Spirits and dies in its final campaign.
