Joining Liangshan
The three bandit leaders claim that they will conquer Liangshan Marsh one day, provoking the outlaws from Liangshan to attack them. Shi Jin of Liangshan leads the vanguard army to attack Mount Mangdang, but loses the first battle against Fan Rui's forces, and manages to escape only when reinforcements arrive.
The next day, Gongsun Sheng deploys the Liangshan troops in the Eight Trigrams Formation to counter Fan Rui. Fan Rui uses magic to darken the sky and conjure a sandstorm to throw the enemy into confusion. He orders Xiang Chong and Li Gun to lead 500 men to break the formation. Gongsun Sheng engages Fan Rui in a battle of magic powers and defeats him. Both Xiang Chong and Li Gun are captured in the formation and Fan Rui escapes in a frenzy.
Song Jiang treats Xiang Chong and Li Gun with respect and succeeds in persuading them to join the Liangshan cause of "delivering justice on Heaven's behalf". Xiang Chong and Li Gun are touched and they return to Mount Mangdang and persuade Fan Rui to join Liangshan as well. Fan Rui becomes Gongsun Sheng's apprentice and learns Taoist magic from him.
Read more about this topic: Fan Rui
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