In reality the xiake were a far cry from the glamorous characters depicted in kung fu literature, and when they rose to supreme authority (as in the cases of Han Gaodi and Ming Taizu, founders of the Han and Ming dynasties respectively) they soon began exterminating others of their own type.
「俠客」是歷史上的實存人物，可他們不像武俠小說中那麼風光；風光的俠客，通常都變節成俠客的劊子手，漢高祖、明太祖的前例可以為鑑。