 Zhou 's portrayal as their teacher is connected to a recurring element in Chinese fiction where Tang and Song Dynasty heroes train under a " celestial master " , usually a Taoist immortal , prior to their military exploits . <unk> Hsia suggests the mold from which all other similar teachers are cast is <unk> , master of the feuding <unk> Sun <unk> and <unk> Juan , from the Yuan Dynasty tale <unk> Volume of the Spring and Autumn Annals of the Seven Kingdoms ( <unk> ) . Hsia goes on to say that Qian Cai , Yue 's fictional biographer , associated Zhou with the outlaws because " most such teachers [ in the military romance genre ] are <unk> " with at least two students . But in adopting this format , Qian reversed the traditional pattern of " celestial tutelage " since Zhou is written as a human , while his students are <unk> of demons ( Lin and Lu ) and the celestial bird Garuda ( Yue Fei ) . 
