Wang Zhi 王植

In Chapter 27 of the Romance, Guan Yu, escorting the carriage of his two sisters-in-law in search of his elder brother in Hebei, slays one after another those who block his way or try to harm him: Kong Xiu of the Dongling Pass, Meng Tan, a junior general of Luoyang, and its Administrator Han Fu (韓福), and Bian Xi of the Sishui Pass. When Guan Yu, having parted from the monk Pujing of the Zhenguo Temple, presses on toward Xingyang, Wang Zhi, the Administrator of Xingyang, being related by marriage to Han Fu, hears that Guan Yu has killed Han Fu, secretly plots to do away with him, and has men guard the entrance of the pass. Romance, Ch. 27 §17–18 · 20–21 · 23–25 · 32–33

When Guan Yu arrives, Wang Zhi comes out of the pass and greets him with delighted smiles, urging him that since he has toiled on the road he should rest for a night at the post station in the city, and it will not be too late to set off tomorrow. Seeing how earnest Wang Zhi seems, Guan Yu brings his two sisters-in-law into the city. Wang Zhi invites him to a banquet, and when Guan Yu declines, he has the banquet sent to the post station. Romance, Ch. 27 §33–34

Meanwhile Wang Zhi secretly summons his Attendant Officer Hu Ban and tells him that Guan Yu has betrayed the Chancellor and fled, and has moreover killed an Administrator and the officers guarding the passes along the way, so his crimes deserve death many times over. And since Guan Yu's martial prowess makes him hard to face, Hu Ban is to surround the post station that night with 1,000 troops, each man holding a torch, and at the third watch set fire to it all at once and burn everyone inside to death, no matter who they are; Wang Zhi himself will lead troops there in person to support him. Romance, Ch. 27 §35–36

Hu Ban, going to steal a look at Guan Yu, is filled with admiration on seeing him reading by lamplight; after reading the letter from his father Hu Hua that Guan Yu hands him, he secretly tells Guan Yu that Wang Zhi harbors evil intentions and means to set the fire at the third watch, and goes ahead to open the city gate. Guan Yu puts his two sisters-in-law in the carriage and slips out through the open gate, but before he has gone even a few li, Wang Zhi comes in pursuit with torch-bearing men and horses, shouting from the front not to run. When Guan Yu reproaches him for trying to burn him to death though there is no enmity between them, Wang Zhi spurs his horse and charges straight at him with his spear levelled, only to be cut in two at the waist by Guan Yu's blade, and his men and horses are all chased off and scattered. Romance, Ch. 27 §37–40

Guan Yu then slays Qin Qi, a lieutenant of Xiahou Dun, at the Yellow River ford and crosses the river. The Romance states that the passes Guan Yu went through were five and the generals he slew were six, and at the end of the chapter its verse runs, 'Six generals barred the passes and died in vain.' At Huarong Road in Chapter 50, Cao Cao asks Guan Yu whether he still remembers the time he slew the generals at the five passes, and in Chapter 77 Pujing asks Guan Yu's spirit in return from whom the heads of 'the six generals of the five passes' are to be claimed. Romance, Ch. 27 §42–45 · 51Romance, Ch. 50 §28Romance, Ch. 77 §22