Zhuge Liang strolls into Meng Huo’s house and makes himself at home.

* Transcript

* Map of Key Locations (same as the map in episode 110)

* List of Key Characters

Transcript

PDF version

Welcome to the Romance of the Three Kingdoms Podcast. This is episode 114.

Last time, Zhuge Liang and his army had stumbled into a land of poisoned streams and toxic air as they pursued the Nan Man king Meng Huo. Fortunately for them, they ran into Meng Huo’s older, and estranged, brother, who told them they could find potable water by digging wells. So they dug, except they couldn’t find any water, not even after digging a dozen or so wells.

With his men in a panic, Zhuge Liang took the next logical step. He prayed. Burning incense in the middle of the night, he said to heaven, “Your unworthy servant has received the blessing of the mighty Han and has been tasked with pacifying the Nan Man. Right now, my army lacks water. If it is heaven’s will that the Han shall not end here, please bless us with a spring. If the Han has run its course, then your servant is willing to die here!”

Apparently heaven was listening, because when Zhuge Liang and company woke up the next morning, all their wells were brimming with water. The troops drank their fill, and then proceeded along small trails, setting up camp in front of Bald Dragon Hollow, where Meng Huo was seeking refuge with his host, a local tribal king named Duosi (0,1).

The Nan Man scouts brought word of this to Meng Huo, telling him that the Shu soldiers appeared to be unaffected by the toxic air and poisoned springs. King Duosi refused to believe this, so he and Meng Huo went out to a hill top to take a look. But they saw that the Shu soldiers were indeed doing just fine as they were getting ready to make dinner. The sight of this made Duosi’s hair stand on end as he turned to Meng Huo and said, “These must be soldiers of heaven!”

“My younger brother and I will fight to the death,” Meng Huo said. “We would rather die on the battlefield than surrender!”

“If you lose, then my family would be lost as well,” Duosi said. “I will slaughter cows and horses for my men. We will shirk no danger and charge straight into the enemy camp, and victory will be ours!”

So they went back to the cave and prepared their pre-battle feast. But just as they were about to head out, word came that a neighboring tribal leader named Yang (2) Feng (1) had arrived with 30,000 men to join them.

“With their help, success will be mine for sure!” Meng Huo said with delight. So he and Duosi welcomed in their guest.

Yang Feng (1) told them, “I have 30,000 crack troops. They’re all clad in iron armor and can scale mountains. They are more than a match for a million Shu soldiers. I also have five sons who are all skilled warriors and are ready to assist you.”

Yang Feng then summoned his sons, who all possessed brawny, tiger-like physiques. Meng Huo was delighted and threw a feast to welcome his new allies.

Midway through the party, Yang Feng said, “There is little entertainment to be had in the army. I have some Nan Man women who travel with my troops. They’re skilled in dancing with knives and shields. Let’s have them provide some amusement.”

Meng Huo was like, well sure, why the heck not? So momentarily, a few dozen Nan Man women, all with bare feet and hair hanging down, pranced into the tent. All the men in the tent clapped and sang along, and everybody was having a grand ol’ time.