Chapter 16 — The Prophet Awakens: Shedding the Worthless Shell

With only two weeks left until the official challenge day at Đại Thí Trường, the atmosphere in Bắcương is as tense as a string. The Council of Elders convened a final meeting to review all procedures, but the meeting quickly turned into a fierce debate.

"My Queen, I know this is a sensitive time, but I have to speak frankly." A middle-aged elder stood up, his voice filled with worry. "If your husband loses in the preliminary round, the consequences will be extremely serious. Should you consider the option of fighting yourself instead of letting him represent you?"

"The ancient law clearly stipulates that it is up to the queen to decide who will represent her." Elder Bách Niên voiced his support. "If the queen believes in her husband, we should respect that decision."

"But this is not just a matter of personal belief, but the destiny of the entire Northern Cuong!" Another patriarch objected, his voice harsh. "We can't bet everything on such a vague gamble!"

The debate dragged on without end, the council divided into two distinct factions - one side believed absolutely in Tuyết Doanh's decision, the other side feared the risk of a disastrous defeat before the Treaty of Liêm Phong.

Tuyết Doanh sat and listened to everything, then finally stood up, her voice decisively ending all arguments. "I have decided. Cố Vọng Thần will be my representative in the preliminary round. I believe in this choice, and I will take full responsibility for any consequences."

Although some elders were still skeptical, no one dared to continue to object to the queen's determination.

***

After the tense meeting, when Tuyết Doanh was on her way back to Nguyệt Trạch, a familiar figure suddenly appeared blocking her way at a deserted turn - Vân Khinh Nhược, the first time she proactively came to meet the queen of Bắcương directly.

"Please forgive me, Your Majesty, for this suddenness." The old woman bowed, her sharp eyes looking straight at Tuyết Doanh.

"Who are you? How did you know I would pass by here?" Tuyết Doanh was alert, but also felt an unusual aura emanating from the old woman in front of her, not at all like an ordinary civilian.

"I'm just an old woman living in seclusion on the edge of Bắcương," Vân Khinh Nhược replied, her voice calm. "But I know that the princess has many doubts about her husband. I want to tell you something, even though you may not be ready to believe it right now."

"Say it." Tuyết Doanh signaled the entourage to step back, giving them private space for conversation.

"There are covers that are put on not because of weakness, but because of great love for those who need to be protected," Vân Khinh Nhược said, her eyes full of meaning. "And there are powers that are hidden not because they are small, but because they are so great that the person who carries them must learn to control them for a lifetime before daring to let them fully appear before the light."

"Are you talking about Vọng Thần?" Tuyết Doanh frowned, her heart beat faster.

"I only say what I feel, the rest, the queen will discover for herself at the right time." The old woman smiled mysteriously. "I just want to say one thing — when that moment comes, please don't be afraid of what you witness. Sometimes, the brightest light comes from the darkest and most misunderstood places."

Before Tuyết Doanh could ask more, Vân Khinh Nhược quietly turned around and disappeared down the path leading into the forest, leaving the Bắcương queen standing there with a series of new unanswered questions.

***

Returning to Nguyệt Trạch, Tuyết Doanh recounted the strange encounter Tô Bạch Vũ, unable to hide her confusion. "Have you learned anything about Vọng Thần's past?"

"My subordinates have been asking people everywhere for nearly a month, but the results are almost nil." Bạch Vũ shook his head, looking somewhat helpless. "No one had ever seen him before the day he appeared on the Bắcương border six years ago. It was as if he fell from the sky, with no trace of where he had lived and grown up."

"No trace?" Tuyết Doanh was thoughtful. The complete absence of any information, instead of reassuring her, made her even more convinced that Vọng Thần's past contained something far beyond what a normal human could have.

"Perhaps," she thought to herself, remembering Vân Khinh Nhược's mysterious words, "the answer lies not in finding his past on earth, but somewhere much farther away, a place that no longer exists."

That night, she did not tell Vọng Thần about her meeting with Vân Khinh Nhược, partly because she respected her promise to wait for him to voluntarily tell the truth, partly because in her heart, a silent psychological preparation was forming - preparing for a great truth that she felt was about to be revealed, not far away.

***

At the same time, in Nam Xuyên, Ước Liêm Phong was personally supervising Hàn Bạo's final training session before the challenge day. The giant warrior swung his heavy scimitar, repeatedly slashing at a row of thick wooden pillars, each slash causing splintered wood to scatter.

"Very good." Liêm Phong nodded with satisfaction. "But I want to reiterate, when facing that beggar, don't underestimate your enemy. During the past three months, he has twice caused my plans to fail in ways that cannot be explained by common sense. I cannot be sure that he is completely harmless as he appears."

"Don't worry, Count, even if he has a few petty tricks, he can't compete with my pure power." Hàn Bạo smiled arrogantly, tightening his hand around the hilt of the great sword.

"I hope so too." Liêm Phong turned to Chu Bình and lowered his voice. "But just to be sure, I want to have a backup plan ready. If the preliminary round doesn't go as expected, we'll need our final leverage."

"The Earl still intends to target the child?" Chu Bình asked, his voice a bit hesitant.

"There is no other choice," Liêm Phong replied, his eyes cold and unwavering. "I have prepared for three generations to get this opportunity. I will not let a single gamble decide everything. Prepare another commando team, more elite, more discreet than last time. This time, failure is not allowed."

Chu Bình bowed his head and obeyed, although he could not help but shudder at his master's increasingly evident cruel determination. The Uoc family has been in decline for too long, and now, Liêm Phong seems willing to trade any moral limits to restore their lost glory.

***

Returning to Nguyệt Trạch, after Tiểu Nguyệt had fallen asleep, Vọng Thần stood alone in the room, flipping through the ancient book that Vân Khinh Nhược gave him, trying to memorize each of the powerful hidden techniques recorded there. This was valuable knowledge, but it was also full of blurred and incomplete passages because it was copied from memory more than a hundred years later.

"If I had better control," he thought to himself, his fingers running across the yellowed pages, "I could get through the preliminary round without exposing my true strength. But if Ước Liêm Phong had another backup plan..."

An uneasy premonition suddenly rose in his heart, a familiar feeling that over twenty years of training, he had learned to never ignore. He closed his eyes, trying to concentrate his consciousness to feel further, but the image that appeared in his mind was only vague, not clear enough to accurately determine the danger - just an overwhelming cold feeling, related to Tiểu Nguyệt.

"Don't be subjective." He stood up and decided to increase security measures around Nguyệt Trạch, even though there had been strict guarding in advance. He didn't know exactly where the danger would come from, but the hunch of someone who had been trained to read fate had never been wrong in more than twenty years.

He came Tô Bạch Vũ that night and proposed a coordination plan that even the head guard himself was surprised by its detail and meticulousness.