Chapter 2 — The Prophet Awakens: Shedding the Worthless Shell

At night, Nguyệt Trạch is immersed in the warm yellow oil lamp light. Tiểu Nguyệt had changed into her soft cotton pajamas, curled up in the blanket, her eyes wide and waiting.

"Dad, tell a story! Yesterday's story was unfinished."

Vọng Thần sat down on the edge of the bed, his hand gently pushing the child's hair away from his forehead. "How much do you remember?"

"At the part... the part where there are nine heavens, there is a prophet who knows all about the past and future, but he has to sleep for a long, long time."

"Right." He smiled slightly, his voice lowered as if telling an ancient story, but in his heart, every word was as heavy as a stone. "Once upon a time, there was a place called Thiên Cơ Các, where people who could read the destiny of heaven and earth lived. They recorded everything they saw in a book called the Nine Heavens Prophecy — the oracle of the nine heavens. But one day, disaster struck, the book burned down, and almost no one survived."

"What about the prophet?"

"That prophet," Vọng Thần paused for a moment, his distant eyes looking out the window where the crescent moon was hanging, "was still a child, hidden by his master before disaster struck. The boy survived, but from then on he carried a huge fear in his heart - fear that if one day he revealed he was still alive, disaster would come again, not only to him, but to the people he loved."

"So did that boy find someone to love?"

His daughter's innocent question made Vọng Thần pause. He looked at her, then suddenly smiled, a smile that was both warm and sad.

"Yes. He found the strongest woman he's ever met, and the cutest little girl in the world."

"Is that you?" Tiểu Nguyệt chuckled and snuggled into her father's arms.

"Yes, it's me." He held the child in his arms and patted her back until her breathing was steady and she fell asleep.

When the door closed behind him, Vọng Thần stood silently for a long time in the dark hallway, his face no longer smiling. The story you just told is not a fairy tale. It was his entire life, packaged into lullabies for a child not yet old enough to understand the truth behind them.

***

From the other side of the hallway, Xa Tuyết Doanh stood against the pillar and heard almost the entire story. She didn't intend to eavesdrop, she was just passing by looking for her daughter to advise her about tomorrow's studies, then accidentally stopped by the unusually warm voice of her husband whom she used to call "useless".

There was something about the way he told the story that made her strangely uncomfortable. Not the discomfort of being bothered, but a feeling of... being lost. It was as if she had just heard a familiar song but suddenly realized she had never really understood the lyrics.

"Great story telling," she spoke as he turned around, trying to keep her voice calm as usual.

Vọng Thần was startled for a split second - just a very short split second that if he wasn't a delicate person like Tuyết Doanh, he would definitely miss it - before putting on his familiar naive look again.

"Ah... just a little story I overheard at the pub, let me tell it to her for fun." He scratched his head and laughed. "Are you looking for Tiểu Nguyệt? She's asleep."

"I know." Tuyết Doanh looked at him for a long time, her sharp eyes as if trying to find something hidden behind the familiar drunken fog on his face. "What pub did you... overhear that story at? I've never heard anyone tell the story of Thiên Cơ Các, Nine Heavens Legend."

"It's just the gossip of a drunkard, don't pay attention to it, ma'am." He waved his hand, his drawling voice returned, then staggered away as if his legs were no longer steady, leaving Tuyết Doanh standing there with a vague doubt that had not yet formed but was extinguished by himself.

But that night, while lying alone in bed, Tuyết Doanh kept tossing and turning and couldn't sleep. She remembered every word of the story — about a boy living in fear of being discovered, about having to hide himself to protect the one he loved. For some reason, those words kept echoing in her head like a premonition that she could not yet explain.

***

Three days later, bad news reached Nguyệt Trạch: a large trading group of Bắcương, loaded with salt and cloth in exchange for food from the eastern mountains, departed early in the morning, expected to pass through Hoàng Thạch pass before dark.

"Your Highness," Tô Bạch Vũ hurriedly walked in, a rare worried face. "The scout just came back and said that dark clouds are gathering very quickly towards Hoàng Thạch Pass. If heavy rain falls, the only road through the pass may collapse, and the trade caravan will be trapped or worse."

Tuyết Doanh stood up. "Send someone to chase and report the news immediately, tell them to turn around!"

"It's already sent, but it's a long way, I'm afraid we won't be able to make it before dark."

While the whole palace was in confusion preparing a plan, no one noticed Cố Vọng Thần quietly left Nguyệt Trạch from the back door, put on a tattered coat, and walked towards the stables. He didn't say a word to anyone, just quietly led the oldest, skinniest horse that no one paid attention to, then galloped towards Hoàng Thạch pass.

On the way, he looked up at the sky, his eyes gradually changing from the familiar naive look to an unusually sharp focus. The clouds rolling in the distance not only signaled a normal rain — there was a strange flow of air, an unusual rhythm that only those who had been trained at Thiên Cơ Các could recognize. This is not natural rain. There was a human hand involved - perhaps a specially crafted technique of changing the direction of the clouds using smoke and fire, an ancient trick that he had read about in the master's forbidden books and thought had long been lost.

"Someone is deliberately pushing this rain towards Hoàng Thạch Pass just as the trade caravan passes by," He frowned and urged his horse faster. "Ước Liêm Phong, you acted faster than I thought."

When approaching Hoàng Thạch pass, he saw the trading group going down the narrowest road, with steep cliffs on both sides. There is no more time for verbal warnings. He pulled out a handful of light gray powder from his body - an ancient elixir that his master had taught him how to make, which could create a loud concussion sound when exposed to moist air - and threw it hard towards the cliff above the group.

A loud explosion rang out, not enough to cause an actual landslide, but enough to make the entire trading group panic. The leaders instinctively urged their animals to run quickly forward, getting out of the dangerous narrow road just an inch before an unusually heavy rain poured down, dragging dirt and rocks from the cliff down to the exact position they had just stood.

Standing hidden behind a large rock from afar, Vọng Thần watched the group of people narrowly escape and breathed a sigh of relief. No one saw him. No one knows where that explosion came from. People in the group only told each other that they were lucky to escape death thanks to a strange sound of thunder.

"Lucky." He laughed at himself, turned his horse back to Nguyệt Trạch before dawn, and had time to lie down on the bamboo bed and pretend he had never left there all night.

***

The next morning, when news of the merchant group's narrow escape spread, the whole Nguyệt Trạch was buzzing about the "heavenly good luck". Tuyết Doanh sat listening to the report, her eyes stopped for a long time at the window overlooking the backyard, where Vọng Thần was sitting in the sun, holding a jar of wine, looking lazy as usual.

"The coachman recounted that the explosion sounded at the right time and place, as if someone had calculated every moment." Tô Bạch Vũ reported, his voice still somewhat skeptical. "It doesn't look like a coincidence at all."

"It's not like it's a coincidence," Tuyết Doanh repeated, her eyes still not leaving the lazy figure in the yard. In her head, the fairy tale from the night before suddenly echoed back - about a boy who had to hide himself, had to live in darkness to protect what he loved.

She shook her head, laughing at herself for the thought that had just crossed her mind. A beggar who is drunk all day long, how could he be involved in such a mysterious matter? But from that day, in her heart, the first seed of doubt silently sprouted, even though she had no idea how quickly it would grow in the coming months.

***

That afternoon, Tiểu Nguyệt was taken by her nanny Đoàn Thư Nhạc to the small market near Nguyệt Trạch to buy cakes, a usual habit every time she obediently finished studying. Thư Nhạc was a gentle middle-aged woman who had taken care of Tiểu Nguyệt since she was still young, loving her as if she were her own child.

But as soon as they got close to the familiar cake stall, a few children of the merchant family gathered around. One of the oldest children in the group pointed and laughed.

"Hey, there's the beggar's daughter! I heard that your father only knows how to lie around and drink all day, and doesn't even know how to hold a sword, right?"

Tiểu Nguyệt blushed and was about to argue back, but before she could open her mouth, another child continued speaking with a mocking voice. "I also heard that because of your father, the whole of Bắcương had bad luck! White silver was scarce, the wood warehouse burned down, it was all because of him!"

"Not!" Tiểu Nguyệt choked, clutching Thư Nhạc's sleeve. "Your father is very good, he knows in advance that it will rain, he knows in advance that bad things are about to happen so he can avoid them! You guys don't understand anything!"

The children laughed loudly, thinking that it was just a naive excuse of a child who did not want to accept the truth. Thư Nhạc quickly pulled Tiểu Nguyệt away from the children and rubbed her head to comfort her.

"Don't pay attention to what children say, young lady. They only repeat what they hear from adults." She gently wiped the child's tears. "I believe in you, miss, your father is a good person."

"Does your nanny also think your father knows everything in advance?" Tiểu Nguyệt looked up, her eyes were still filled with tears but there was some hope.