The Silver Pit hills are the ancestral homeland Meng Huo names as the place where Kong Ming must capture him to secure a lasting submission. In the southern campaign, the hills and the nearby town of Sanjiang give the conflict a final geographic and political focus: Meng Huo returns there after repeated defeats, and the campaign ends with his submission and appointment as ruler over lands conquered by Shu.

Ancestral homeland and condition of submission

After Kong Ming’s forces withstand the dangers of the poisonous springs, Meng Huo still refuses to submit, arguing that his defeat resulted from betrayal by his own people. He identifies the Silver Pit hills as the land where his ancestors lived, protected by three great rivers and high mountains. He offers a decisive condition: if Kong Ming captures him there, he will submit, and his submission will bind future generations. The hills thus become more than a refuge; in Meng Huo’s own account, they are the setting for a settlement meant to outlast the immediate campaign.

Kong Ming answers by warning that if Meng Huo is released and again refuses submission after being captured, he will kill Meng Huo’s tribe and all his relations. Meng Huo, his brother Meng You, and King Duosi are then released. The promise concerning the hills therefore remains unresolved for a time, as Meng Huo returns to gather his remaining forces and renew resistance.

The hills and Sanjiang

The narrative places the ancestral temple of the Man rulers at Sanjiang, where three rivers converge in the Silver Pit hills. The temple is described as a center of family-spirit worship and animal sacrifice, as well as human sacrifice involving captives and strangers. This description situates the campaign within the book’s account of a distinct local culture and its customs; the hills are represented not merely as terrain but as the homeland around which Meng Huo’s authority and inherited traditions are organized.

After his sixth defeat, Meng Huo returns with Meng You and King Duosi to what remains of their lands, especially the Silver Pit hills. He gathers about a thousand surviving men, swears to take revenge, and seeks help from King Mulu of the Bana valley, whose reputed command over dangerous animals is expected to strengthen the resistance. While King Duosi fortifies Sanjiang, Kong Ming sends Zhao Zilong and Wei Yan to reconnoiter the defenses. Their approach meets a sudden barrage of poisoned arrows; the withdrawal that follows is part of Kong Ming’s plan, as the defenders relax after believing they have won.

Final submission and political outcome

The account identifies the sixth victory and seventh capture of Meng Huo with Kong Ming’s use of terrifying beasts and the burning of the rattan-armored army. After the final capture, Kong Ming asks whether Meng Huo will now submit. Meng Huo agrees, saying that his people will remain grateful because Kong Ming spared them. The episode concludes with celebration and the appointment of Meng Huo as ruler over the lands conquered by Shu, accompanied by rejoicing among the Man people.

The Silver Pit hills therefore mark the culmination of a campaign whose outcome is presented as both military and political. The place Meng Huo chose as the test of an enduring submission becomes the setting for the last resistance before he accepts Kong Ming’s terms. His resulting rule under Shu gives the surrender a territorial consequence: the campaign closes not with the disappearance of local leadership, but with Meng Huo governing the conquered lands.