Zhang Nan was righteous, few have equaled him.
In battle on the flaming shore they died,
And the histories record their deeds.
Wu Ban broke through. He was pursued, but he luckily fell in with Zhao Yun and got safely to Baidicheng.
The Mang tribesmen King Shamo Ke was flying from the battle field when he met Zhou Tai, who slew him after a short fight. The two Shu generals Du Lu and Liu Ning surrendered to Wu, as did many soldiers. Of the stores and weapons in the camps of Shu nothing was saved.
When the story of the disaster to Shu reached the Southern Land, and with it the report that the First Ruler had been killed in battle, Lady Sun gave way to wild grief. She rode down to the river bank and, gazing westward, wept and lamented. Then she threw herself into the stream and was drowned. Posterity erected a temple on the shore called “The Shrine of the Bold Beauty,” and one who described it wrote a poem:
The Ruler, defeated, fled to Baidicheng,
Through thunderous tiding, Lady Sun committed suicide.
Today the water still flows by the carved stone
To show where and why this heroine died.
There could be no question that this exploit brought tremendous glory to Lu Xun. Anxious to push his advantage as far as possible, he led his exultant army westward. But as he drew near to Kui Pass, he suddenly pulled up his horse, remarking that he saw an aura of death about the mountain side in front.
“We may not yet advance farther; I suspect an ambush.”
So they retreated three miles and camped in a wide open space. And the army was arrayed ready against any sudden attack. Meanwhile, scouts were sent out. They returned reporting no soldiers. Lu Xun doubted and went up to the summit of a hill whence he could see over the country. The aura was still visible to him, and so he dispatched other people to spy. But he received the same report; not a soldier, not a horse.
Still, as the sun got lower and lower in the west, he saw the same appearance accentuated, and he began to feel grave doubts. He sent a confidant to look once more. This man came back, saying, “There is not a single soldier, but I have noticed on the river bank nearly a hundred heaps of boulders.”
The Commander-in-Chief, still doubting, called in several of the natives and questioned them about the stones.
“Who put them there? Why did they look so ghastly?” asked Lu Xun.
“We do not know. This place is called Fishbelly Creek. When Zhuge Liang was going west into the Lands of Rivers, he came along here with a lot of soldiers and heaped up the boulders like that above the Sandy Rapid. We have seen vapors rising from the boulders; they seemed to come from inside them.”
Lu Xun decided to go and look at these boulders himself. So he rode off, with a small escort. Looked down from a declivity, the stones were evidently arranged with a design related to the eight points of the compass. There were doors and door-sills and lintels.
“This looks likely to drive a person out of his senses;” he said, “I wonder whether it is any good.”
They rode down with intent to examine the mysterious arrangement more closely and went in among the stones.
Presently one of the escort called attention to the increasing darkness and said, “The sun is setting; we ought to be returning to camp.”
But as Lu Xun glanced round to look for an exit, a sudden squall came on and the dust whirled up, obscuring both sky and earth. And in the swirl the stones reared themselves up like steep mountains, pointed like swords, and the dust and sand shaped themselves into waves and hillocks one behind the other. The roar of the boiling river was as the drums before a battle.
“This is some trick of Zhuge Liang,” said Lu Xun in a scared voice, “and I have been caught.”
He would go out, but he had quite lost his way and could find no exit. As he stopped to consider what he should do, an old man suddenly appeared, who said, “Does the General wish to go out?”
“I greatly desire that you would pilot me out, O Elder,” replied he.
Leaning on his staff, the old man led the way and with quiet dignity conducted Lu Xun outside. He had no difficulty in finding his way and paused not a single instant. When they were once again on the slope, Lu Xun asked his aged guide who he was.
“I am Zhuge Liang's father-in-law; my name is Huang Chenyan. My son-in-law placed these boulders here as you see them, and he said they represented the Eight-Array Maze. They are like eight doors, and according to the scheme are named: Gate of Rest, Gate of Life, Gate of Injury, Gate of Obstruction, Gate of Prospect, Gate of Death, Gate of Surprise, and Gate of Openings.
“They are capable of infinite mutations and would be equal to a hundred thousand soldiers. As he was leaving, he told me that if any leader of Wu became mazed in them, I was not to conduct him outside. From a precipice near by I saw you, General, enter in at the Gate of Death; and as I guessed you were ignorant of the scheme, I knew you would be entangled. But I am of a good disposition and could not bear that you should be entrapped without possibility of escape, so I came to guide you to the Gate of Life.”
“Have you studied this matter, Sir?” asked Lu Xun.
“The variations are inexhaustible, and I could not learn them all.”
Lu Xun dismounted, bowed low before the old man and then rode away.
The famous poet Du Fu wrote some verses which run something like this:
Planner of three kingdoms; no small praise
Is his — Inventor of the Eight Arrays.
And for that famous boulders, on the river's brim,
Firm was set the denouncement of Wu's whim.
Lu Xun took his way to his camp in deep thought.
“This Zhuge Liang is well named Sleeping-Dragon,” said he, “I am not his equal.”
Then, to the amazement of all, he gave orders to retire. The officers ventured to remonstrate, seeing that they had been so successful.
“General, you have utterly broken the enemy, and Liu Bei is shut up in one small city; it seems the time to smite, and yet you retire because you have come across a mysterious arrangement of stones.”
“I am not afraid of the stones, and it is not on their account that I retire. But I fear Cao Pi. He is no less resourceful than his father, and when he hears I am marching into Shu, he will certainly attack us. How could I return then?” The homeward march began. On the second day the scouts brought a report: “Three Wei generals with three armies are debouching at three different points and moving toward the borders of Wu — Cao Ren from Ruxu, Cao Xiu from Dongkou, and Cao Zhen from Nanjun. Their intentions are unclear.”
“Just as I thought,” said Lu Xun. “But I am ready for them.”
“And now the west is mine,” the victor thought,
But danger from the north discretion taught.
The story of the retreat will be told in the next chapter.
CHAPTER 85. The First Ruler Confides His Son To The Guardian's Care; Zhuge Liang Calmly Settles The Five Attacks.
In summer, the sixth month of the second year of Manifest Might (AD 221) Lu Xun destroyed the army of Shu at Yiling. The First Ruler sought refuge in Baidicheng, of which Zhao Yun then undertook the defense. When Ma Liang returned only to find his lord defeated, he was more distressed than he could say. He announced what Zhuge Liang had said concerning the plans.
The First Ruler sighed, saying, “If I had listened to the Prime Minister's advice, the defeat would not have happened. Now how can I face a return to my capital?”