Chapter 21 — The Prophet Awakens: Shedding the Worthless Shell

The ruined temple appeared in the middle of the deep forest, moss covered the ancient stone slabs that had more than half collapsed. There hasn't been a trace of anyone passing by for many years. Vọng Thần dismounted first, his eyes quickly scanning the area.

Something's wrong.

"Stop." He raised his hand to signal the whole team. "Someone got here before us," Bạch Vũ frowned and observed more closely. Weeds were trampled into new paths. A streak of soil was still damp, not yet completely dry under the morning sun.

"Within an hour or so," Bạch Vũ whispered, his hand on the hilt of his sword.

Vọng Thần walked to the entrance to the tunnel - a place that was previously hidden behind a large stone slab carved with an ancient eagle image. The stone slab has been pushed aside. Inside, the entrance was dark and eeriely silent.

"They found the tunnel," he said, his voice cold with a bad premonition. "I wish Liêm Phong knew we would come here."

"No way! Only Vân Khinh Nhược and we know about this tunnel!" A warrior in the team exclaimed.

"Unless someone else knows too." Vọng Thần gritted his teeth. A terrifying possibility had just flashed in his mind — perhaps the Uoc family, who had owned the ancient trade routes for generations, had unintentionally kept old records of the tunnel network that once existed underground in Nam Xuyên, without fully understanding their true origin.

There's no time to hesitate. He entered, expanding his consciousness as much as possible, even though he knew it would exhaust him faster.

Thirty steps deep into the ground, they encountered each other instantly. A group of ambush soldiers, nearly twenty people, were waiting in the dark.

"There's an intruder!" Cheers rang out and torches were lit simultaneously.

The battle broke out fiercely in the narrow space of the tunnel. Bạch Vũ and the elite team immediately fought, taking advantage of the narrow terrain to limit the number of opponents that could attack at the same time. Vọng Thần, no longer holding back as before, struck with the true speed and power of a Prophecy Mage, each strike was precise and decisive, defeating the opponent in just a few moves.

But in the midst of the fighting, a loud explosion rang out behind — the tunnel ceiling shook, and rocks and soil began to fall.

"They blew up the tunnel!" Bạch Vũ shouted. "This is a trap, they want to bury us alive in here!"

The only entrance was blocked by tons of rubble. Ahead, the road leading to the manor was still far away, and the ambush army had not yet been completely destroyed.

***

"Don't panic," Vọng Thần shouted loudly amidst the sound of collapsing rocks, his voice resounded powerfully, reassuring the whole team. "I still remember, this tunnel has a side branch, used to escape when needed. Vân Khinh Nhược didn't mention it, maybe because she didn't remember clearly, but I saw it while using my consciousness last night."

He closed his eyes and concentrated all his mind, letting the vague memories from his childhood studying at Thiên Cơ Các appear more clearly - lessons about the defensive tunnel structure, designed to always have at least two escape routes to avoid being surrounded.

"Here it is." He opened his eyes and pointed to a wall that looked no different from the rest, but contained a secret agency. He pressed firmly on the right position, a stone slab rotated, revealing another narrow passage leading deeper.

"This way!" He gave the order, leading the army that had already defeated the ambush team, and crawled into the new exit before the remaining ceiling of the main tunnel collapsed completely behind them.

The new path is darker and narrower, forcing the team to move slowly and carefully step by step. But just like the ancient knowledge that Vọng Thần still remembered, this path led straight to another exit, emerging right under an abandoned shallow well, less than a mile from the manor.

"We're on the right track." Bạch Vũ breathed a sigh of relief, even though his body was still covered in dust and sweat. "If it weren't for Mr. remembering this escape route, we probably would have been buried in there."

"This is not the time to celebrate hastily," Vọng Thần said, his serious eyes looking towards the manor that appeared dimly among the trees in the distance. "If they knew about the tunnel and deliberately blew it up to trap us, it's very possible that the entire rescue plan would have been revealed in advance. I wish Liêm Phong could have prepared other surprises."

True to his hunch, as the team approached closer to the manor, a sight stunned everyone — the manor was empty. There was no guard, no sign of Tiểu Nguyệt.

"Where is the baby?" Vọng Thần rushed in, checking each room, panic quickly rising in his heart.

On a wooden table in the main hall, a piece of paper was left, in the familiar handwriting of Ước Liêm Phong.

"If you can read these lines, it means you have passed through the tunnel that I deliberately left behind for you to find. Your daughter is now in another place — where the entire Northern Cuong will witness the outcome of this game. Đại Thí Trường, today at noon. Go there, if you are truly the person you are trying to become."

Vọng Thần clutched the piece of paper tightly, his face darkened. TƯớc Liêm Phong had foreseen everything - including the ancient tunnel, including the seemingly absolutely secret rescue plan. This is not a simple trap. This was a chess game that he had planned for a long time, focusing everything on a single convergence point.

"He wanted a publicity stunt." Vọng Thần gritted his teeth. “He wanted the whole Northern Region to witness the moment I was forced to reveal myself, to turn it into evidence that the Millennium Covenant had been broken in another way — not because I was useless, but because I was a force that did not belong to normal humans.”

"Then we must go to the Great Almsfield immediately!" Bạch Vũ urged.

"That's right." Vọng Thần nodded, his eyes glowing with an unprecedented iron determination. "And this time, I won't have anything to hide anymore."

***

At the same time, in front of the manor, Tuyết Doanh led the main attack force and had just broken through the outer defense line after a short but fierce battle. When she rushed inside, she was equally stunned to discover the strange emptiness of the entire manor.

"Something's wrong." She ordered the soldiers to thoroughly search every corner, but the intuition of someone who had experienced battle told her that this was not a victory, but a pre-arranged trap.

At that moment, Vọng Thần and Bạch Vũ's team appeared from behind the manor, both of their faces showing extreme tension.

"Tuyết Doanh!" Vọng Thần called out loudly and ran to show her the piece of paper from Ước Liêm Phong.

She read quickly, her face pale for a moment before regaining its familiar hardness. "He predicted everything. Not only the tunnel, but also my attack plan was in his calculations."

"He wants to put everything into the Great Alms School, turning it into a public stage," Vọng Thần said, his voice full of suppressed anger. "He wanted the whole Northern Cuong to witness this moment, so that no one could deny or hide the truth afterward, no matter what the outcome."

"Then we have no choice but to go there." Tuyết Doanh tightened her grip on the sword, her eyes determined. "But if he was so prepared, he must have also considered the possibility of us counterattacking. We need to be more careful than ever."

She turned to give orders to the entire army. "Gather up! We will immediately set out for the Đại Thí Trường! This is no longer a simple rescue - this is the final battle that will decide the fate of the entire Northern Cuong!"

The united army galloped out of the empty manor, heading straight towards the Dai Thien Truong under the sunlight that was almost overhead. The rising sun is approaching - the noon hour that Ước Liêm Phong has set, the moment when all secrets, all calculations, will be fully exposed before the eyes of the entire land.

On the way, Vọng Thần let his horse ride side by side with Tuyết Doanh. The two did not say much, only exchanging a look that was enough to convey their shared determination and concern. Bạch Vũ, riding behind, took advantage of the opportunity to quickly report to Lăng Chiêu Dương and Kha Vấn Thu, announcing the unexpected change of location, requesting all allied forces to adjust the direction of advance, approaching Đại Thí Trường instead of the manor as originally planned.

"Will they make it in time?" Tuyết Doanh asked, her voice filled with worry when thinking about the distance that the Thanh Lang Bộ army and the Tây Hải Bộ fleet needed to overcome in this urgent time.

"I don't know for sure," Vọng Thần replied honestly. "But I believe in what you've built up over the years. If there's any chance of them making it in time, they'll find a way." The group continued to rush forward, each beat of their horses' hooves was like the heartbeat of an entire land holding its breath waiting for the moment to decide its own fate.