Chapter 131: Otter Gall Smears the Silver Hairpin, the Flying Maiden’s Peach Blossom Miasma

The world is never short of sleight of hand, nor of those willing to be deceived.

"Otter? Bile?" Yi Rushi and Ji Duoduo exchanged looks of disbelief. They could never have imagined that the trick involving borrowing wine from a celestial being would be so cruelly carried out using otter bile.

Gao Ming nodded nonchalantly. "Yes, otter bile."

Yi Rushi asked, "What’s so special about otter bile?"

Gao Ming replied, "Actually, this is an ancient trick called the Golden Cup Dividing Wine."

Song Mo had heard of the Golden Cup Dividing Wine before.

In the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, the sorcerer Zuo Ci used this very trick when playing with Cao Cao.

Upon hearing that Song Mo was familiar with the Golden Cup Dividing Wine, even Gao Ming turned to him for the story. Song Mo, unable to refuse, began to explain.

...

Zuo Ci, a native of Lujiang, was a learned scholar. At the end of the Eastern Han dynasty, witnessing the turmoil engulfing society, he retreated to the Tianzhu Mountains to study the Way. Within a stone chamber in Tianzhu, he discovered a scripture called the Nine Elixirs of Golden Liquid. After decades of contemplation and cultivation, he reached a level where he could command spirits with ease and perform supernatural feats.

Having attained enlightenment, Zuo Ci often amused himself among mortals, and tales of his wondrous exploits soon spread far and wide. When Cao Cao heard of him, he was skeptical and decided to test him personally.

Cao Cao arranged a banquet and invited Zuo Ci as his guest. After several rounds of drinking, Cao Cao smiled and said, "What a grand feast this is, yet it’s a pity I couldn’t obtain the perch from Songjiang. Otherwise, we could have a famous dish from Wu—perch sashimi." (It was said that Zhang Han, while serving as an official in Luoyang, reminisced about the delicious watershield soup and perch sashimi from his hometown during the autumn west wind and promptly resigned to return home.)

With this, Cao Cao deliberately glanced at Zuo Ci.

Zuo Ci understood Cao Cao’s intention and said, "That’s no trouble at all. Please have a copper basin of clear water prepared." Taking a chopstick, he tied a thread to it as a fishing line and dangled it into the basin. In an instant, the "fishing rod" lifted gently, revealing a lively, gleaming four-gilled perch. The guests erupted in applause.

Cao Cao clapped enthusiastically, saying, "A pity there’s only one..." Zuo Ci cast his line again into the basin and immediately pulled out another perch over three feet long. Cao Cao personally sliced the fish into sashimi, remarking, "Alas, it still lacks fresh ginger from Shu to season it!" Zuo Ci then said, "I shall fetch it from Shu at once."

Cao Cao thought to himself: Shu is over a thousand li away. Don’t think you can fool me by buying it nearby. So he said, "I’ve already sent men to Shu to purchase brocade. You might as well instruct them to buy two more bolts." Zuo Ci nodded and left.

After Zuo Ci departed, Cao Cao continued slicing the sashimi and distributed it among the guests. Not long after, Zuo Ci returned, holding fresh ginger from Shu, and told Cao Cao, "I have conveyed your orders to the envoys you sent to Shu." Cao Cao nodded but remained unconvinced.

Months later, the envoys from Shu indeed returned with two extra bolts of brocade. Cao Cao asked, "Who instructed you to buy two more?" The envoys answered, "On such-and-such a day in Shu, a Daoist holding fresh ginger handed down your orders."

Cao Cao resented being outwitted before his own eyes. The more he failed to understand Zuo Ci’s abilities, the more relentless he became. He ordered Zuo Ci imprisoned in a stone chamber, strictly guarded, given only water but no food. He remained confined there for a whole year.

One day, Cao Cao visited him and was amazed to see Zuo Ci’s appearance unchanged. Thinking him a sinister sorcerer, he contemplated killing him.

Zuo Ci had already read Cao Cao’s thoughts and requested to retire to the mountains for the rest of his days. Cao Cao asked why he wished to leave so suddenly, and Zuo Ci bluntly replied, "Because you intend to kill me!"

Cao Cao, who hated anyone seeing through his mind, feigned magnanimity: "I have no such intention. Since you wish to return to the mountains, I shall bid you farewell." He ordered a farewell banquet, personally poured a large cup of wine, and handed it to Zuo Ci.

Zuo Ci took the cup in one hand and removed the pin from his Daoist crown with the other. "Since we part ways today, please share this drink with me," he said.

With that, he sliced the cup with the pin, dividing it into two halves—wine and all—without spilling a drop. He drank one half, then pushed the other half toward Cao Cao, who was stunned and didn’t accept it. Zuo Ci said, "Then I shall drink it for you," and tossed back the remaining half.

Then, Zuo Ci merged the two halves back into one cup and suddenly tossed it toward the ceiling beam. The cup hovered in mid-air, gently swaying like a bird in flight, teetering yet refusing to fall. Everyone looked up, mesmerized. After a while, the cup dropped, spun across the table, and stopped before Cao Cao.

At that moment, everyone thought of Zuo Ci—but he had already vanished without a trace.

...

When Song Mo finished recounting the tale, Gao Ming’s eyes gleamed with excitement.

“A master of illusion! Zuo Ci must have been a master of illusions,” Gao Ming declared confidently.

After a pause, Gao Ming took all the silver coins he had and handed them to Song Mo. "Sir, could you help introduce me?"

Song Mo smiled wryly. "I don’t know Zuo Ci personally, but Luo Guanzhong might know where he lived."

Gao Ming’s eyes lit up, but Song Mo quickly added, "Luo departed west long ago. It’s best not to disturb him."

Gao Ming, feeling deflated, stuffed the silver back into his pocket, his expression heavy with disappointment.

Ji Duoduo hurriedly asked, "Well, hurry up and tell us—what’s the connection between the Golden Cup Dividing Wine and the otter?"

Gao Ming’s face lost its earlier pride as he explained dryly, "The Golden Cup Dividing Wine trick is actually quite simple. You extract the otter’s bile and apply the bile onto a jade hairpin. Once it dries, it’s used to slice the wine. The wine naturally separates—quite magical."

He thought for a moment and continued, "That night, my master hid a silver hairpin in his sleeve and found a full wine jug. While shaking the jug, he secretly scraped the hairpin inside the jug along the wine, then poured the wine, naturally only pouring out a small portion."

"Between guests exchanging cups, who would notice whether the jug was half-empty or full? So when the wine poured out in that small amount, guests naturally assumed the jug was empty."

"What they didn’t know was that the jug still contained a large amount of wine. After a while, the otter bile’s effect wore off, and the wine would pour out freely."

Yi Rushi and Ji Duoduo listened in astonishment. After a moment, Yi Rushi gathered herself and asked, "What about the flying celestial maiden? What’s the story there?"

Ji Duoduo nodded eagerly. "Yes, yes! That was incredible too. Another illusion?"

This time, Gao Ming shook his head and spoke deliberately, "No, that is the Peach Blossom Miasma."