"Illness enters through the mouth—simple words, yet carrying profound truth."
Zhuge Liang spoke evenly. His learning was broad and unconfined; military treatises and medical classics sat side by side in his mind. "Take Chen Deng, courtesy name Yuanlong. His obsession with raw fish was what ruined him."
Liu Bei let out a long sigh, the weight of old memories pressing on his chest.
"When I was in Jing Province," he said slowly, "a traveler from the north once told me of Yuanlong's end. Later, after I governed Yuzhou, Chen Deng fell gravely ill. His face flushed red, his appetite vanished. The Divine Physician Hua Tuo took his pulse and declared that his stomach was filled with parasites—several liters' worth—already on the verge of forming internal ulcers."
The hall stiffened.
The image of liters of living worms writhing inside a human body made the hair on the backs of the generals' necks stand on end.
"Are there… truly worms inside us?" Ma Liang asked softly, his voice trembling. He lived near the Xiang River, where raw fish was a common delicacy among the people.
Liu Bei nodded grimly. "Hua Tuo prepared two liters of medicinal soup. After Yuanlong drank it, he vomited over three liters of red-headed worms. They were still crawling on the ground. The physician said they were larvae hidden in the raw fish. Yuanlong recovered—but Hua Tuo warned him: the illness would return in three years."
Liu Bei paused, then continued quietly, "Three years later, Yuanlong was in Dongjun. There was no skilled physician nearby. The disease returned—and this time, he did not survive."
Silence descended on the hall.
It was not ceremonial silence, but the silence of alarm—like a bell tolling inside every mind.
Ma Liang felt a chill run through him. Recalling the handful of times he had eaten raw fish in his youth, he suddenly felt as though he had narrowly escaped death. He resolved, without hesitation, to seek out Physician Zhang Zhongjing the moment the meeting ended.
"This," Zhuge Liang concluded, "is precisely the meaning of the phrase. The light screen warns against raw water and raw fish. This is the accumulated wisdom of a thousand years. We would be foolish not to obey it."
Even Guan Yu and Zhang Fei nodded solemnly.
To die in battle was a hero's fate.
To be eaten alive from within by worms?
That was humiliation beyond endurance.
"As for this Barefoot Doctor's Manual…" Zhuge Liang narrowed his eyes, turning the unfamiliar term over in his mind. "I suspect 'barefoot' refers to the common folk—the qianshou. A medical manual for ordinary people? A book small enough to carry in one's palm, allowing a layman to treat illness?"
He shook his head slightly. "This will require discussion with Physician Zhang."
Nearby, Jiang Wan watched his superior with mingled awe and dread.
The Military Counselor has just added another mountain of work.
As Chief Clerk, Jiang Wan already knew who would be responsible for organizing this coming medical upheaval. For a fleeting moment, he wondered whether requesting transfer to a distant frontier post might actually be a mercy.
"As for these 'Seven Continents and Four Oceans,'" Jiang Wan said quickly, eager to prove his worth, "they must be the future's map of the world."
He gestured as he spoke, imagination fully ignited. "A continent—land surrounded by water. In the eyes of the descendants, does the earth resemble scattered sandbars floating upon a vast river?"
"And to determine direction," Jiang Wan continued, gaining confidence, "they named the waters surrounding these seven landmasses the Four Oceans?"
"A reasonable deduction, Gongyan," Zhuge Liang said approvingly.
Encouraged, Jiang Wan pressed on.
"And this phrase—Plate Tectonics (Dike Yundong)…" He studied the characters carefully. "Perhaps it means that the land beneath our feet is like the shell of the Great Black Tortoise, Xuanwu?"
His eyes lit up.
"And that this tortoise swims through the cosmic sea, carrying the continents upon its back?"
His thoughts began to race.
"Seven Great Tortoises swimming through the void! Sometimes they draw close, sometimes they drift apart—explaining why the immortal Mount Penglai appears and disappears! And when the tortoises collide or play—those are earthquakes!"
The more Jiang Wan spoke, the more convincing it sounded—to himself, at least.
Liu Bei laughed warmly. "To think we dwell upon only one of seven such shells. The world truly is vast."
Then he asked, "But Gongyan—what of this Urban Jungle (Chengshi Senlin)?"
Jiang Wan froze.
The words were clear. The meaning was not.
"I… cannot yet see how forests relate to moving tortoises," he admitted helplessly.
"Record it for now," Liu Bei said kindly. "The light screen spoke truly—your talent is immense. Under Kongming's guidance, the two of you will be like fish in water."
Zhuge Liang fanned himself, smiling without comment.
Jiang Wan felt tears prick his eyes at the thought of future workloads.
The light screen flickered again.
[Wen Mang — Voiceover]
Incoming. A new donation from our 'Big Boss.' I'll say this much—his taste never misses. Truly top-tier.
A portrait filled the screen.
A rugged, majestic general stood tall, serpent spear in hand, his presence fierce and overwhelming. Beside it appeared a scroll—the Memorial on the Start of the Expedition—written in bold, unrestrained calligraphy, its strokes full of force.
The comment barrage erupted.
[[Live Comment Barrage]]
Art_Critic_77: Is this how the Big Boss imagines Zhang Fei? Not modern-handsome, but way better than those temple statues.
Shipping_Lord: Look at the signature—Painted by Lady Xiahou. Wait… are we shipping this historical couple? That's actually cute.
History_Buff_666: LOL at the seal—"Zhang Fei, Courtesy Name Yide, Marquis of Huan of the Han."
Scholar_Zhang: Fair is fair—records say Zhang Fei really was a capable calligrapher. Shame he didn't live long enough to leave more works. According to the timeline, he'd already been beheaded by Fan Jiang and Zhang Da.
Facts_Only: The ultimate Three Kingdoms irony. Liu Bei mastered people, but his brothers only mastered halves. Guan Yu was arrogant upward but kind downward—until he pushed his officers too far. Zhang Fei respected gentlemen but brutalized soldiers. In the end, Fan Jiang and Zhang Da didn't kill him in battle—they took his head while he was snoring, just to claim a reward from Sun Wu.
Sad_Hour: Because of those two, we lost real portraits and manuscripts. All we have now are obvious fan-works. Still… fun to look at.
In the hall at Gong'an, the atmosphere shattered.
Only moments ago, Zhang Fei had been grinning with pride. Now his face darkened to a bruised purple. The words beheaded, snoring in his tent, and the names Fan Jiang and Zhang Da burned across the screen like branding irons.
Those two men were currently officers in his own vanguard.
Almost instantly, Guan Yu and Liu Bei lunged forward.
They knew his temper. They knew that if they failed to restrain him now, blood would spill before sunset.
Guan Yu locked Zhang Fei's massive arms. Liu Bei threw his weight around his brother's waist. Zhao Yun and the others rushed in, barely holding the line.
"Third Brother! Control yourself!" Guan Yu roared.
Zhang Fei was a volcano on the edge of eruption.
His eyes were bloodshot, bulging with murderous fury. Through clenched teeth, two names hissed out—low, venomous, final:
"FAN JIANG."
ZHANG DA."