After Zhang Liao leaves, Guan Yu catches up with the carriage and tells Sun Qian what has happened. The two ride side by side toward Runan. After several days they are caught in a heavy rain, and all their baggage is soaked. Seeing a large house on a ridge in the distance, they ask to stay the night there.
The old master of the house is a man named Guo Chang. He has lived here all his life, he says, and has long heard the general’s name, so he slaughters a sheep and brings out wine to entertain him. The two ladies rest in the rear building, and the old man hosts Guan Yu and Sun Qian in the main hall. On one side the wet baggage is dried and the horses are fed.
Toward dusk a young man comes in with a few others. Guo Chang has him bow to the general, saying this is his son. He is coming back from hunting, he says. The young man greets them and soon goes out. Guo Chang sheds tears. This old man has carried on the family by farming and reading. That is my only son, and he neglects his proper work and does nothing but hunt. It is the misfortune of my house.