Liu Bei’s leap across Tan Creek is an escape from Cai Mao’s plan to kill him, and a turning point in which a pursued man’s only apparent way forward is a dangerous river crossing. The horse’s leap carries Liu Bei to safety on the far bank, but not out of danger: Cai Mao catches up, and Zhao Zilong’s arrival with three hundred men provides the next possible intervention. The episode makes the river a barrier, a test of trust, and a temporary passage from imminent pursuit to renewed suspense.

Causes and Background

Cai Mao’s failed attempt to use a poem to implicate Liu Bei does not end his effort to remove him. He instead arranges to draw Liu Bei back to Jingzhou under the pretext of celebrating a good harvest, intending to kill him that evening. Although Zhao Zilong and Sun Qian warn him, Liu Bei accepts the invitation, leaving him exposed to a danger he learns of only at the banquet.

The contrast between the public occasion and the concealed plan drives the escape. Once secretly warned, Liu Bei cannot openly confront Cai Mao or rely on the gathering for protection. He claims that he needs to go to the toilet, slips away, mounts his horse, and rides through the city gate. Cai Mao responds at once, pursuing him with five hundred men. The route out of the city buys Liu Bei a chance to flee, but the pursuing force makes clear that it is not yet an escape to safety.

Flight Across the River

Liu Bei rides hard until the Tan River blocks his way. It is broad and fast-flowing; behind him, the pursuing troops raise a cloud of dust. Faced with the river on one side and Cai Mao’s men on the other, Liu Bei has no apparent option except to trust his horse to ford it. The urgency of the decision makes the crossing more than a feat of horsemanship: the river closes off the route ahead, and the pursuers remove the time needed to find another.

The horse is said to have been regarded by many as cursed because of unusual markings on its face. Yet here it carries Liu Bei through the water, struggles free of the mud on the far bank, and brings him safely across. That reversal is central to the episode: an animal associated with ill fortune becomes the means of escape. The account presents Liu Bei as dependent on the horse at the decisive moment, rather than as overcoming the obstacle by force or military command.

Pursuit Beyond the Crossing

Reaching the far bank does not bring a clean break. Cai Mao rides up and calls out as though Liu Bei’s departure were merely a matter of leaving suddenly; Liu Bei challenges him by asking why he had wanted to kill him. Cai Mao calls it a misunderstanding. The exchange briefly gives the pursuit the appearance of an explanation, but Liu Bei notices Cai Mao reaching for his bow and arrow while he speaks. He turns his horse and rides off again.

At that point, the sound of approaching horses signals another change. Zhao Zilong arrives with three hundred men, shifting the balance of the scene after Liu Bei has crossed alone. The evidence establishes Zhao Zilong’s arrival, but leaves Cai Mao’s fate as an open question rather than narrating a resolution. Thus the river-crossing escape forms one stage of a larger pursuit: Liu Bei gets across the physical obstacle, but the political danger and the immediate threat remain active.

Narrative Form and Significance

The episode is built around successive reversals: a harvest celebration conceals a murder plan; a hurried departure leads not to freedom but to the river; the horse’s reputed curse is contradicted by its life-saving role; and the far bank offers only a brief interval before Cai Mao catches up. Each apparent resolution is unsettled by a new circumstance, keeping the action moving without treating the crossing as a final escape.

The passage also illustrates the work’s serial storytelling. Its account pauses over whether Cai Mao will survive, postponing the answer and directing attention toward what follows. More broadly, the river gives the pursuit a clear spatial hinge: the city gate opens an escape route, the Tan River blocks it, and the far bank becomes a temporary refuge rather than a secure destination. The horse’s leap is decisive not because it settles the conflict, but because it carries Liu Bei through the narrow opening the pursuit leaves him.