No sooner had Wang Sheng finished speaking than the Lieutenant General beside him reminded him, "Huang Zhong is a famous general under Liu Bei. Could his sudden appearance here be part of some plot? Should we ask General Zhang for reinforcements? Or send someone to report to General Zidan?"
"Zhang Fei's little tricks have already been seen through by General Zidan. It is nothing more than making a feint in the east while striking in the west. It is probably just another empty display like the previous times, and before long it will fizzle out." Wang Sheng paid it no mind.
"General, Fu Rong and his ilk are nothing to fear, but Huang Zhong is Liu Bei's General Who Conquers the West. He was not originally a general stationed in Wudu. His sudden appearance here is highly suspicious." The Lieutenant General continued to advise him.
Wang Sheng laughed. "How many days does that old fellow Huang Zhong have left to live? Showing up rashly at Dasan Pass—I'd say Zhang Fei deliberately asked Liu Bei to send him here. Send someone to Ji County with a letter tomorrow morning. Let General Zidan make the decision on everything. There is no need to ask General Zhang for aid for now."
"Yes."
"See? Didn't I say Huang Zhong was putting on an empty show?"
As the two spoke, Huang Zhong was already retreating south in a thoroughly bedraggled state, looking especially fitting beneath the setting sun.
Early the next morning, while the sky was only beginning to brighten, a thunderous clamor suddenly erupted beyond the pass. Huang Zhong and Zhao Yun led their troops in a frontal assault, while the several siege engines Fu Rong had hurriedly built over the past few days were all pushed beneath Dasan Pass.
The winter wind howled