Summary: We make virtually no progress in the narrative this week as we get tangled up in mysticism, superstition, and oh yeah, another conspiracy to overthrow Cao Cao.<br> <br> * <a href="http://www.3kingdomspodcast.com/2016/08/29/episode-088-digression-prognostications/#transcript">Transcript</a><br> * <a href="http://www.3kingdomspodcast.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/ep_088.png">Map of Key Locations</a><br> * <a href="https://www.google.com/fusiontables/DataSource?docid=1qVzCGWMnqH9NamWVKHd_oKlxEdGWksw-YXjjmiEn">Graph of Key Characters and Relationships</a><br> <br> <br> <a id="transcript"></a>Transcript<br> <a href="http://www.3kingdomspodcast.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/3kingdoms088.pdf">PDF version</a><br> Welcome to the Romance of the Three Kingdoms Podcast. This is episode 88.<br> So last time, Cao Cao had just become the King of Wei, but he got a strange visit from a strange Taoist priest named Zuo Ci. This guy first threatened to cut off Cao Cao’s head if he did not abdicate and yield his title to Liu Bei. Cao Cao threw him in prison for that, but Zuo Ci was impervious to all forms of torture and no chains could hold him. He then crashed a banquet that Cao Cao was throwing for his officials. At this party, Zuo Ci wowed the guests with one trick after another, but Cao Cao remained a nonbeliever and more than a little suspicious. So, when Zuo Ci offered him a cup of wine that allegedly promised long life, Cao Cao understandably declined.<br> “You drink first,” Cao Cao said.<br> Zuo Ci now pulled out a jade hairpin from his hair and with one stroke, he divided the wine into two halves, which was an impressive feat. He drank half and offered the other half to Cao Cao, but Cao Cao scoffed. Zuo Ci now tossed the cup up in the air, and it turned into a white turtledove and flew away. As all the officials looked up at the dove, they suddenly noticed that, hey, Zuo Ci was gone.<br> “He went out through the palace gates,” attendants told them.<br> “Such a black magician must be eliminated, or he will surely cause harm,” Cao Cao said. So he ordered the general Xu Chu to lead 300 armored soldiers to chase down Zuo Ci and arrest him.<br> <br> So Xu Chu and company rode out to the city gates, where they spotted Zuo Ci casually strolling up ahead in his wooden clogs. Xu Chu spurred on his horse, but no matter how fast he was riding and how slowly Zuo Ci was walking, Xu Chu just could not make up any ground on him.<br> This strange chase went on until they went up a mountain. A young shepherd just happened to be coming their way with his flock of sheep. Zuo Ci walked right into this flock. Xu Chu pulled out his bow and arrow, but could find no sign of Zuo Ci. Well then, better to be safe than sorry, Xu Chu thought to himself, and he proceeded to slaughter the entire flock of sheep before heading back.<br> The poor little shepherd was left weeping by the carcasses of his dead sheep, having lost his flock for seemingly no reason at all. But suddenly, one of the sheep’s head that Xu Chu had severed spoke to the child as it laid on the ground, “Put the heads of the sheep back on their bodies.”<br> Uhh … ok, now this is getting really freaky. The kid certainly thought so, as he covered his face and began to run away. But he soon heard someone calling out from behind, “No need to run away. Here’s your sheep back.”<br> The kid turned around and saw that Zuo Ci had already revived all the dead sheep. The kid was just about to ask what the hell is going on, but Zuo Ci simply flicked his sleeve and departed like the wind. In the span of just a few seconds, he had vanished.<br> <br> The shepherd, half frightened out of his mind and half relieved at getting his flock back, told his master what had transpired. His master thought that he best report this to Cao Cao. Cao Cao ordered that drawings of Zuo Ci’s likeness be posted everywhere, along with an order for his arrest. Well,
