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Zhang He swiftly turned and engaged Wei Yan, but after some ten passes Wei Yan fled. Zhang He rode after Wei Yan along the road for ten miles and then stopped to observe. As he saw no ambush, he turned again and resumed the pursuit. All went well till he came to a slope, when there arose shouts and yells and another body of soldiers came out.

“Zhang He, do not run away!” cried this leader, who was Guan Xing.

Guan Xing galloped close, and Zhang He did not flee. They fought, and after half a score of passes Guan Xing seemed to have the worst of the encounter and fled. Zhang He followed. Presently they neared a dense wood. Zhang He was fearful of entering in, so he sent forward scouts to search the thickets. They could find no danger, and Zhang He again pursued.

But quite unexpectedly Wei Yan, who had formerly fled, got round ahead of Zhang He and now appeared again. The two fought a half score bouts and again Wei Yan ran. Zhang He followed, but Guan Xing also got round to the front by a side road and so stopped the pursuit of Zhang He. Zhang He attacked furiously as soon as he was checked, this time so successfully that the troops of Shu threw away their war-gear and ran. The road was thus littered with spoil, and the Wei soldiers could not resist the temptation to gather it. They slipped from their horses and began to collect the arms.

The maneuvers just described continued, Wei Yan and Guan Xing one after the other engaging Zhang He and Zhang He pressing on after each one, but achieving nothing. And as evening fell the running fight had led both sides close to the Wooden Path.

Then suddenly Wei Yan made a real stand, and he rode to the front yelling, “Yield, rebel! I have not fought yet and you have had it all your own way so far. Now we will fight to the death.”

Zhang He was furious and nothing loath, so he came on with his spear to meet Wei Yan, who was flourishing his sword. They met; yet again, after some ten bouts, Wei Yan threw aside weapons, armor, helmet and all his gear, and even left his horse, and led his defeated company sway along the Wooden Path.

Zhang He was filled with the lust to kill, and he could not let Wei Yan escape. So he set out after Wei Yan, although it was already dark. But suddenly lights appeared, and the sky became aglow, and at the same time huge boulders and great bulks of timber came rolling down the slopes and blocked the way.

Fear gripped Zhang He, and he cried, “I have blundered into an ambush!”

The road was blocked in front and behind and bordered by craggy precipices. Then, rat-tat-tat! came the sound of a rattle, and therewith flew clouds of arrows and showers of bolts. Zhang He and many of his officers were killed.

With myriad shining bolts the air was filled,

The road was littered with brave soldiers killed;

The force to Saber Pass faring perished here;

The tale of valor grows from year to year.

Soon the second army of Wei under Wei Ping came up, but too late to help. From the signs they knew that their comrades had been victims of a cruel trick, and they turned back. But as they faced about, a shout was heard, and from the hilltops came, “I, Zhuge Liang, am here!”

Looking up they saw his figure outlined against a fire. Pointing to the slain, he cried, “I have gone hunting in this wood, as you see; only instead of slaying a horse, I have killed a deer. But you may go in peace, and when you see your general, tell him that he will be my quarry one day.”

The soldiers told this to Sima Yi when they returned, and he was deeply mortified, saying, “Letting friend Zhang He die is my fault!”

And when he returned to Luoyang, the Ruler of Wei wept at the death of his brave leader and had his body searched and honorably buried.

Zhuge Liang had no sooner reached Hanzhong than he prepared to go on to Capital Chengdu and see his lord.

But Li Yan, who was in the capital, said to the Latter Ruler, “Why does the Prime Minister return, for I have kept him fully supplied with all things needed for the army?”

Then the Latter Ruler sent Fei Yi into Hanzhong to inquire why the army had retired. And when he had arrived and showed the cause of his coming, Zhuge Liang was greatly surprised and showed the letter from Li Yan, saying, “Li Yan wrote to warn that East Wu was about to invade the country.”

Fei Yi said, “Li Yan memorialized to the Throne, saying he had sent you supplies and knew not why Your Excellency returned.”

So Zhuge Liang inquired carefully, and then it came out that Li Yan had failed to find sufficient grain to keep the army supplied, and so had sent the first lying letter to the army that it might retire before the shortage showed itself. His memorial to the Throne was designed to cover the former fault.

“The fool has ruined the great design of the state just to save his own skin,” cried Zhuge Liang bitterly.