Wraith Ji Ping 妖吉平 (yāo jí píng)

Translated Description:
The Royal Physician of Han Dyntasty 汉之太医 (hàn zhī tài yī)

Why is he a Wraith:
This guy will forever be remembered as a martyr. He came incredibly close to assassinating Cao Cao 曹操, probably the closest anybody else ever did. In the earlier half of Cao Cao's career, Cao Cao managed to take control of the young Han Emperor and utilize the emperor's power to achieve his goals. Ji Ping, along with the other Han loyalists, was understandably disgusted at Cao Cao. Ji Ping was a physician that had already been regularly treating Cao Cao's headaches. His assassination plan was to simply mix poison into Cao Cao's medicine. Since Cao Cao had already been regularly taking Ji Ping's medication, Cao Cao would not suspect a thing.

But as with most things dramatic, shit happens. Cao Cao learnt about the assassination attempt from a disgruntled servant of the loyalists. Cao Cao then pretended to be ill and called for Ji Ping and his medication, but this time he made a special request for Ji Ping to drink the concoction first. Knowing that the ploy has been seen through, Ji Ping made a last ditch effort to force the poison into Cao Cao's mouth, but was promptly seized by Cao Cao's bodyguards. And boy did Ji Ping suffer a terrible death. With the cruelty that he endured before taking his last breath, it is justifiable that he becomes a Wraith to haunt Cao Cao for all eternity. Just how did he die? Read on to find out.



Character ability 1: Poisonous Gift 施毒 (shī dú)
In the action phase, you can use any equipment card or basic card with suit of "spades" as POISON 施毒 (unofficial tool card).

Character ability 2: Antidote 攻毒 (gōng dú)
Outside of your turn, you can use any on-hand card with the suit of "spades" or "clubs" as PEACH 桃.

Character ability 3: Evil Concoction 炼毒 (liàn dú)
Every instance that you receive damage, damage is limited to only 1 unit of health.

Ability's relation to story:
"Poisonous Gift" and "Antidote" are very much related to the story, since he did give Cao Cao poison and he is also a well-respected physician. "Dark Alchemy", on the other hand, has little link to ROTK. There was no mention that Ji Ping was an expert in concocting poisons. Anybody could add detergent into vodka to create a deadly brew!

Historical Basis:
After getting seized by Cao Cao, Ji Ping was severely tortured. It is said that Ji Ping was beaten for 4 hours straight just to get him to spew the names of his conspirators. Ji Ping kept mum and suffered the brutal punishment till his skin hung from his body, his flesh beaten to pulp and his blood flowed freely. Cao Cao kept him alive though. He needed Ji Ping to spill the beans.

In front of a staged banquet, where some of the conspirators attended, Ji Ping was dragged out and flogged relentlessly again. Cao Cao wanted him to speak the names of the conspirators in front of everyone in attendance. Every time Ji Ping fainted from the pain, he would be awakened with ice water. However the only words Ji Ping said were curses to Cao Cao. Obviously this further infuriated Cao Cao.

Ji Ping was to be beaten again, but the soldiers carrying out the beating said there was no where else on Ji Ping that could be struck without killing him. Unsatisfied, Cao Cao ordered all of Ji Ping's fingers to be cut off.  But Ji Ping was not ready to give up. He still had his tongue, and he cursed Cao Cao still! Cao Cao then promptly had Ji Ping's tongue cut off.

That seemed to be the last straw for Ji Ping. He finally begged for mercy and asked to be released from his bounds before he divulged the plot. But once the bounds were released, Ji Ping knelt on the ground and with all his remaining energy, smashed his own head into the ground and killed himself.

Ouch.

By the way, it is because of this assassination episode that Cao Cao became extremely distrusting of physicians. In an ironic twist, that became Hua Tuo 华佗's death sentence, which led to Cao Cao dying from an illness that only Hua Tuo could remedy.

Usage Comments:
It is easy to underestimate this character, especially since Poison is just another time-delay tool card. However Poison is capable of massive damage! Every Poison card can be capable of 1 unit of damage, and Ji Ping can use Poison like it was free. Worse still, it can be used repeatedly to as many players as he chooses.

Also, his Antidote ability can be a real pain if he is not on your side. Hua Tuo is already a bitch to kill, so this guy is no different... or is he?! No. Ji Ping is a lot harder to kill! That's because of his 3rd ability Dark Concoction. He practically has the Silver Lion Helmet 白银狮子 equipped by default. Even Lightning 闪电 would not make Ji Ping fearful.

His weakness, though, is that the cards needed for Poisonous Gift is "spades", and that overlaps with Antidote. Which means to say if he over uses his spades cards, he would have less for using Antidote.

Overall, Ji Ping is like a souped-up monstrosity that is Xu Huang 徐晃 gone mad, combined with Hua Tuo sitting in a tank. Hard to kill, and deadly in dealing damage!

Wiki Link:
Ji Ping Wiki