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:
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.”
The story of the retreat will be told in the next chapter.
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.
