[5] In 1955, he volunteered to be assigned to Jalaid Banner, a region in Hulun Buir, Inner Mongolia, as a guard of a local laogai camp.

[4] Ni claims that he removed wooden planks off a bridge with other soldiers and burned them to keep warm in the winter, and he escaped because he thought he would receive a death sentence after his dog bit the commanding officer who frequently targeted him because of his outspokenness against the political system.

[5] He left a month later and returned to Shanghai, where his remaining family members paid a human smuggler for him to travel to Hong Kong.

[5] Ni's science fiction novels usually take the form of detective/mystery stories featuring extraterrestrial life as a deus ex machina to explain the impossible and implausible.

Ni also co-wrote scripts with Chang Cheh for the Shaw Brothers Studio, including for the films One-Armed Swordsman, The Assassin and Crippled Avengers.

As the screenwriter for the 1972 film Fist of Fury, he did not receive credit for creating the protagonist, Chen Zhen, who was played by Bruce Lee.

[clarification needed] Their son, Joe Nieh [yue] (倪震), works in the Hong Kong entertainment industry and is married to actress Vivian Chow.

In an interview, when asked about his feelings regarding injustice in China, he stated that the people would continue suffering as long as the Chinese Communist Party remains in existence.