after lü bu's downfall and death at the battle of xiapi, the red hare comes into the possession of the warlord cao cao. cao cao gives it to guan yu later in an attempt to influence guan yu to join him. after guan yu's death, ma zhong (馬忠) takes the red hare and presents it to his lord sun quan. sun quan returns the horse to ma zhong. the red hare starves itself and dies several days later.