One day, the Wagang Fort warrior Shan Xiongxin (单雄信, See below) came to the manor after losing a battle. The tired and hungry Shan Xiongxin was easily defeated by Liang Shitai, so he was not invited by the host. Ironally, when Shan Xiongxin was on his way back to Wagang Fort, he came across Li Yuanba. Since Shan Xiongxin and Li Yuanba's first assistant officer Chai Shao (柴绍) were old time friends, he asked Li Yuanba for help. Li Yuanba came to the manor and easily defeated Liang Shitai. However, Li Yuanba noticed Liang Shitai's talents during the fight, so he invited Liang Shitai to be his trailbreaker troop's officer in the army. Then Liang Shitai started to work for Li's family. He was killed by Wu Tianxi near Tianchang Pass (see above). Liang Shitai's archetype might be Liang Shidu (梁师都), a leader of a rebellion group, and later a warlord, in Shuofang (朔方). Liang Shidu rebelled in Sui Dynasty, and then obtained the support from Turks and became a powerful warlord in early Tang Dynasty. He was defeated by a troop led by Chai Shao and annexed by Tang's force in the year of 628. However, some people disagreed because they thought Liang Shidu was the archetype of another small character in the novel, Liang Shitu (梁师徒). Zuo Tiancheng (左天成) was a fictional general guarding the Sishui Pass. He was hardly mentioned in the book Shuo Tang, but he was very popular in folk cultures. He used a golden blade as his weapon and he was regarded as a top warrior in Sui Dynasty. He became famous in a young age, when he bravely ambushed a strong troop from a major Turks tribe in northern frontier. He used to fight alone against the Wangang Five Tigers (five best warriors in Wagang Fort, i.e. Qin Shubao 秦叔宝, Qiu Rui 邱瑞, Cheng Yaojin 程咬金, Wang Bodang 王伯当 and Shan Xiongxin 单雄信). The first time he lost in a battle was when he was defeated by Pei Yuanqing.