The Water Margin Tavern: The Heroes Are Losing It

Lu Ping'an transmigrates to the Northern Song Dynasty. With no hope of passing the civil service exams and no connections in the bureaucracy, he spends his days idling in Yuncheng County and opens a tavern. Little does he know he’s been bound to a mind-voice broadcaster that randomly leaks his thoughts to specific people.

One day, Song Jiang, a minor clerk in the county office, comes for a drink with two other men. They casually mention the Dragon in the Clouds, Jieshi Village, and the like. Lu Ping'an can’t help grumbling to himself:

[Holy crap! Liangshan Marsh really exists?]

[What the hell, if you’re going to become an outlaw, just become one. Why start a business? Do you think you’re some big shot?…]

[There’s nothing wrong with rebelling, really. The Northern Song is going to fall anyway…]

[They say there are 108 heroes, but except for no more than five of them, the rest are born bandits!]

[Song Jiang is ruthless, too. He claimed Ximen Qing, the Heavenly Cannon Star, stole the birthday gifts…]

[…]

And so:

Officials like Lin Lingsu and Zhang Shuye took Lu Ping'an for a Daoist child immortal;

Gongsun Sheng, Luo Zhenren, and the others thought Lu Ping'an was the one destined to answer the sign of a guest star invading the Emperor’s Seat;

The heroes all had their own suspicions. Liangshan believed Lu Ping'an was the person indicated by the guest star, while Fang La in Jiangnan thought he was a Liangshan spy. Others suspected he was a government informant…

The entire Water Margin story went completely off the rails. Yet years later, when the Jurchen marched south, they were met with a crushing counterattack…