Bana valley is the home of King Mulu, whose reputed command over dangerous animals makes its forces a powerful ally for Meng Huo’s resistance to Shu. Its arrival shifts the campaign from ordinary military confrontation to a contest between Mulu’s frightening display and Kong Ming’s prepared countermeasures.

Setting and Ruler

Bana valley is associated with King Mulu, who is renowned for magical powers and said to command tigers, leopards, wolves, scorpions, and poisonous snakes. After Meng Huo’s forces have suffered heavy losses, Meng Huo seeks Mulu’s help through his brother-in-law, who is sent with gifts to bring the king into the uprising.

The valley’s men arrive with Mulu at the head of their force. Their warriors’ appearance and weapons astonish the Shu commanders, while the king rides a huge white elephant. Their unfamiliarity marks Bana valley in the narrative as a source of military power that Shu’s experienced forces have not encountered before.

The Valley’s Force in the Campaign

Mulu’s forces join Meng Huo’s rebels against Kong Ming’s advancing army. At the battlefront, Mulu chants and summons a storm that carries sand and stones, while wild creatures advance with it. The Shu troops retreat to Sanjiang, and Zhao Zilong and Wei Yan apologize to Kong Ming after the attack overwhelms them.

Kong Ming, however, has prepared for the reported magic. He brings forward red wagons containing large carved animal figures fitted with steel teeth and claws, then has soldiers fill them with gunpowder. When Mulu repeats his chant, Kong Ming shakes his feather fan; the storm turns back upon the Man army. The figures are ignited, producing flames and noise that frighten the animals into flight. In the resulting rout, many of the Man soldiers are trampled or killed, Mulu is killed, and only a fraction of his army escapes to the valley, where Meng Huo has moved his camp.

Aftermath and Narrative Significance

Bana valley’s role is concentrated in the final phase of Meng Huo’s resistance: its forces provide a formidable new challenge, but their defeat removes Mulu and breaks the army that joined the rebellion. The campaign continues after the battle, and Meng Huo eventually submits to Kong Ming. Kong Ming appoints him ruler over the lands conquered by Shu, making the settlement—not the destruction of the valley—the larger political outcome of the southern campaign.

The episode contrasts Mulu’s display of supernatural power with Kong Ming’s advance preparation and tactical control. Bana valley thus enters the story as both a place of feared military strength and the source of an alliance whose defeat clears the way for Meng Huo’s submission and subsequent rule under Shu.