Chapter 9 — The Prophet Awakens: Shedding the Worthless Shell

Ước Liêm Phong sat in the study room, his fingers lightly tapping on the ebony table, his eyes glued to the map of Bắcương spread out in front of him. Three times in a row, his most sophisticated sabotage plans were foiled by some invisible force at the most important moment. This cannot be a coincidence.

"Kỷ Thường," he called, even though this butler was still recovering from the fake beating earlier, "what do you think about setting a trap to reveal the person protecting Bắcương?"

Kỷ Thường, even though his body still ached, still responded quickly. "What is the Count going to do?"

"I will create a fake disaster — not to cause real harm, but to lure that person into revealing himself. If he always appears at the right time to prevent disaster, I just need to set up a trap that looks dangerous, then have people ambush around to observe who will appear."

The plan was implemented quickly. Liêm Phong told people to spread false news that an important Bắcương food reserve in the town of Hà Câu, near the border, was about to be attacked by a group of "bandits" on the upcoming full moon night - serious enough to attract the attention of anyone secretly monitoring the situation in Bắcương, but in fact just a stage with soldiers posing as robbers, with no intention of causing real damage.

Around the grain warehouse area, Liêm Phong arranged dozens of archers and sharpshooters to ambush discreetly on rooftops and behind bushes, waiting for the "invisible hero" to appear so they could be identified and even captured alive if given the opportunity.

Rumors about this fake attack, although intentionally revealed discreetly by Liêm Phong, still reached the ears of Bắcương's reconnaissance network, and of course, also reached Vọng Thần's ears through his sharp sensing ability.

On the full moon night, Vọng Thần once again found an excuse to leave Nguyệt Trạch, but this time, just as he reached the back gate, a voice rang out, making him freeze.

"Where are you going in the middle of the night?"

Tuyết Doanh stood there, wearing a dark cloak, sharp eyes looking straight at him. She had been silently monitoring his unusual "drunk outings" over the past few days, and tonight, she decided to find out the truth with her own eyes.

"I... I was just going out to get some fresh air." He tried to remain calm, but a great worry arose in his heart. If Tuyết Doanh followed him to Hà Câu, she would directly face Liêm Phong's ambushing archers, and worse, she might see him actually use magic.

"If you want to enjoy the wind, why are you going towards He Cau town?" She stepped closer. "I heard rumors of a fake attack there tonight. What are you going there for?"

Vọng Thần knew he couldn't delay any longer. The grain warehouse in He Cau will be "attacked" within half an hour, and even though it is just Liêm Phong's stunt, he still needs to be present to ensure that no innocent civilians are harmed in the chaos, and at the same time find a way to expose this trap without revealing his identity.

"Madam," he said, his voice suddenly serious, different from his usual foolishness, making Tuyết Doanh stunned, "I need you to trust me this once. Tonight, something dangerous is about to happen in Hà Câu, but if you come with me, you may be in real danger. Please let me handle it, and go back to my room to wait for me."

"Do you think I'm the type of person to sit back and wait while danger lurks among my people?" Tuyết Doanh stiffened her voice and pulled out the long sword at her waist. "If you go, I'll go with you. That's the final decision." Vọng Thần looked at her, knowing there was no other way to stop this stubborn woman. He nodded, secretly calculating how to protect both her and the people of Hà Câu, while not revealing too much about his true abilities.

***

On the way to Hà Câu, Vọng Thần deliberately led Tuyết Doanh on a further detour, under the pretext of avoiding roads that could be ambushed, in fact to buy time, calculating the time when he needed to separate from her to take action.

Approaching the town, he pretended to detect suspicious signs in another direction. "Madam, I heard a strange noise to the east. You go there first and check, I'll go around to the west."

Tuyết Doanh, despite some doubts, still trusted his judgment in this emergency situation and separated to the east as he suggested.

As soon as she was gone, Vọng Thần immediately used his body techniques, moving as fast as a ghost to the food storage area. He immediately realized that this was just an act — the gathered "bandits" were just Liêm Phong's soldiers in disguise, and around them, dozens of archers were waiting in ambush for the real prey.

"A trap." He frowned and quickly thought of a way to deal with it. If he tried to stop the "attack" with magic like the previous times, he would definitely be in the sights of the archers. But if nothing is done, the soldiers pretending to be robbers will still burn down real food warehouses to create a realistic scene, putting nearby civilians in danger.

He decided on another option - instead of attacking directly, he quietly approached from behind, using a specially made powder to spray into the air, causing the fake bandit soldiers to suddenly sneeze continuously, losing the ability to coordinate actions accurately, the effect looked like a strange random phenomenon. The archers ambushed around, waiting forever but did not see the "invisible hero" appear in a clear way to identify the target, only to see Liêm Phong's accomplices suddenly in disorder and had to retreat in confusion.

When Tuyết Doanh turned back from the east, not finding any suspicious signs, she saw Vọng Thần standing absentmindedly in the middle of an empty road, panting as if he had just run a long distance.

"What's wrong with you? Is there anything wrong in the west?" She asked, her eyes undisguisedly worried.

"No...nothing," he replied, trying to keep his breathing even. "Maybe I heard wrong. Let's go home, ma'am, it's already late at night."

Tuyết Doanh looked at him for a long time, her eyes full of doubts but could not find anything specific to question further. On the way home, she glanced at him walking next to her, his steps still a bit unsteady from exhaustion, and in her heart, the question about this husband's true personality grew bigger and bigger, unable to be extinguished anymore.

"Vọng Thần," she suddenly spoke up as she neared Nguyệt Trạch, "are you ever going to tell me the truth?"

He paused for a moment, then turned to look at her, his eyes complicated in the moonlight. "Yes. But not now, my lady. I beg you, please be patient a little longer."

Tuyết Doanh did not answer, just quietly walked on, but in her heart, a vague premonition that the truth, when revealed, would completely change her life, was becoming clearer and clearer.

***

In Nam Xuyên, news of the failure of the ambush plan at Hà Câu made Ước Liêm Phong so angry that he broke a precious antique vase in the study room.

"The archers waited in ambush all night but couldn't capture a single soul!" He roared, his face red. "They said the fake robbers suddenly sneezed endlessly as if hit by a poisonous wind, and the 'invisible hero' disappeared without a trace. What is this?"

"Count," Chu Bình bowed his head, his voice trembling, "perhaps the enemy discovered our trap in advance, so they only sabotaged it from afar without appearing directly."

"Discovered before?" Liêm Phong frowned, a scary thought suddenly flashed in his mind. "That means that person not only has the ability to act secretly, but can also predict my plans before I execute them? That's not an ordinary warrior skilled in martial arts. That's someone with the ability to predict."

Chu Bình was stunned by his owner's reasoning. "The Earl's suspicion... is it related to the legend of those who can read the fate of heaven and earth?"

"I can't confirm, but I can't rule out that possibility." Liêm Phong sat down, rubbing his chin in thought. "Anyway, that person cannot stop me forever with tricks. I will change direction and go straight to the root of the problem - Xa Tuyết Doanh's legitimacy. If that mysterious person really exists and is protecting Bắcương, he will be forced to reveal himself when I corner Tuyết Doanh at Đại Thí Trường, where law and honor are the decisive weapons, not magic or hidden tricks."