He encountered Yu Fan, who asked him where his bodyguards were. When Sun Ce told him that he had ordered his bodyguards to join the rest of his men in attacking the Shanyue, Yu Fan exclaimed, "This is so dangerous!" He then asked Sun Ce to dismount from his horse and said, "The terrain here is deep and dangerous. You can't control your horse well under such conditions, so you should travel on foot, guide your horse along, and arm yourself with a bow and arrows. I'm good in using a spear and I'll lead the way." After reaching flat ground, Sun Ce mounted his horse again and asked Yu Fan, "You don't have a horse. What are you going to do?" Yu Fan replied, "I can travel on foot. I'm capable of travelling 300 "li" in a day. Since the start of the campaigns, no one has been able to match my pace. You can try letting a horse run and I'll catch up with it on foot." They encountered a signaller at the main road. Sun Ce took the signaller's horn and blew it. His men recognised the sound of the horn and rushed there to join him. They patrolled the area and pacified the three commanderies. The "Jiang Biao Zhuan" recorded that in 199, when Sun Ce was leading an army to attack Jiangxia Commandery (江夏郡; around present-day Xinzhou District, Wuhan, Hubei), he passed by Yuzhang Commandery along the way and wanted to conquer it. He invited Yu Fan to meet him and asked Yu Fan to persuade the Administrator, Hua Xin, to surrender. Yu Fan travelled to Yuzhang Commandery and succeeded in convincing Hua Xin to surrender by pointing out that he stood no chance against Sun Ce. Hua Xin surrendered to Sun Ce the following day. After capturing Yuzhang Commandery, Sun Ce led his army back to Wu Commandery (around present-day Suzhou, Jiangsu), where he rewarded his subjects for their contributions. He told Yu Fan that he heard that many officials serving in the Han imperial capital, Xu (許; present-day Xuchang, Henan) had the impression that Jiangdong had no talents, so he wanted to send Yu Fan there to meet them and prove them wrong. He also considered sending Zhang Hong, but he still preferred Yu Fan. Yu Fan refused and said, "I'm like one of your treasured possessions.