Li Liu-shih ("Bright Snow")

Relatively little is known about Li Liu-shih, otherwise known to history as "Bright Snow", save that she was a Red Lantern spell-caster and a close cousin of Li Ch'ou Tzu. It was Ch'ou Tzu who apparently introduced her to the Red Lanterns Shining and induced her to join the secret society.

It is believed that she was born in 1884, in the village of Ho Hao Tien on the Pei Ho, about one mile north of Chwang Chang, some nine miles upriver of Yang Ts'un. She was gifted in the art of spell-casting, but like a number of the Red Lanterns, lacked sufficient power of magic to be able to fly like her cousin, Li Ch'ou Tzu. Liu-shih is known to have carried a magic rope, which in times of danger she could fling out cross-wise in front of her to act as a curtain that could deflect bullets.

Oral tradition says that Liu-shih was killed during an attack on the Hsi Ku arsenal, and that she was betrayed by a fellow Red Lantern. Whether or not this is historically true, the author was unable to verify with any certainty.