In the Water Margin
Huang Xin is the military commander of Qingzhou, and his martial arts were taught to him by Qin Ming. Three bandit strongholds lie in Qingzhou, Clear Wind, Two Dragon and Peach Blossom Mountains, and Huang Xin boasts that he will catch every man on all three, so he is called Guardian of Three Mountains. He fights with a sword called the Mourning Blade.
When the civil commander of the Clear Wind fort, Liu Gao, captures Song Jiang and accuses his colleague Hua Rong of dealing with bandits, the prefect sends Huang Xin. He arrives with only a few attendants, says he has come to make peace between the two commanders, and at the banquet throws down his cup as a signal for his men to seize Hua Rong. Escorting Song Jiang and Hua Rong to Qingzhou in cages, he is ambushed on the road by Yan Shun, Wang Ying and Zheng Tianshou, and gallops back to Clear Wind town alone. When Qin Ming joins the outlaws and comes to win him over, Huang Xin answers that he cannot refuse his old commander, goes with them to Liangshan, and takes seat thirty-eight beneath the Disha star.



