Chapter 377

Xiao Ningxun's fingers twitched slightly; although he had heard it before, seeing it with his own eyes still made his heart pound.

Tuan Tuan lifted her head, pointed at the characters, and said, "Third Brother, what do these words say?"

Xiao Ningxun fell silent for a moment, then said softly, "These are bad words written by bad people, cursing Father and Lie Kingdom."

Tuan Tuan's little face immediately scrunched up, and she glared at the characters, huffing angrily.

Father is so kind, and Imperial Uncle is too—why would anyone curse them!

Lu Qi walked around the stone stele twice, reached out to touch the edges of the characters, then crouched down to examine the stele's surface.

"It looks like this stone has indeed been soaked in water for many years, but the chisel marks on the characters are too fresh."

"If it had been carved years ago, the grooves should be filled with silt and grime, but look."

He traced the grooves with his fingertip: "This must have been done by first finding an ancient stele, carving the characters, then putting it back underwater to make it look old."

He leaned close to the stele and sniffed carefully: "This stele was once coated with fermented soybean cake, which makes moss grow extremely fast, so in just a few days it can appear aged for years."

Xiao Ningxun stared at the ferocious characters: "Ordinary people couldn't do this; it requires substantial resources and manpower, plus the involvement of a fangshi, to be accomplished."

Xiao Er asked, "What does Third Young Master mean?"

Xiao Ningxun thought for a moment: "Besides the Da Xia National Preceptor Wu Luo, I can't think of anyone else."

"He's best at this kind of trickery—pretending to be divine, confusing people's minds."

"It seems he has probably emerged from seclusion."

Upon hearing Wu Luo's name, Tuan Tuan clenched her tiny fists—again, that evil National Preceptor!

"This scheme is vicious enough." Xiao Ran took a deep breath, "Let the common folk see the omen and personally fish out the ancient stele."

"The character style contradicts the stele's apparent age, directly pointing to this border war."

"The more contradictory it is, the more supernatural it seems, and the more it can bewitch people's hearts."

Xiao Er nodded: "Indeed, if the soldiers at the front learned that their hometown elders were fleeing their homes, how could morale not waver?"

Xiao Ningxun nodded: "Winning hearts is paramount. Wu Luo is trying to make the war god's impending death seem like heaven's decree."

Tuan Tuan tugged at Xiao Ningxun's sleeve.

"Third Brother, these characters are so ugly; just looking at them makes me dislike them."

"Can I erase them?"

Xiao Ningxun blinked, looked down at her, and said, "Tuan Tuan, can you erase them?"

"Yes." Tuan Tuan nodded vigorously, her little hand reaching for the embroidered pouch at her waist.

Xiao Ningxun's heart stirred; a thought flashed through his mind like lightning.

"All right." He crouched, pressing down on his sister's small hand, "But Tuan Tuan, just erasing them isn't enough. These characters have already frightened many common folk."

"We need everyone to see these characters disappear."

"Only if they all firmly believe the war god will surely win can Father win this battle more quickly."

Tuan Tuan blinked her big eyes: "Oh, then how should we do it?"

Xiao Ningxun stood up and said to the two bailiffs, "Take me to see your prefect."

After an hour, several bailiffs beat gongs and shouted along the streets:

"Tomorrow at noon! By the White Water River bank, the Lie Kingdom Immortal Envoy will execute heaven's mandate, eliminate evil! All city residents may come to witness the ceremony!"

Upon hearing this, the townsfolk murmured in discussion.

"The Lie Kingdom Immortal Envoy?"

"Could it be the Princess Jiayou who prayed for rain and relieved our drought?"

"Has the Immortal Envoy come to our place?"

This news spread like wildfire, quickly engulfing the entire city.

The townsfolk whispered to each other, half-believing, half-doubting, yet everyone resolved to go at noon tomorrow to see it with their own eyes.

The next day, the sky was just right.

Both banks of the White Water River were packed solid with crowds.

The people supported the elderly and carried the young; merchants closed their stalls; even the city school's instructor halted lessons, bringing his students along.

Everyone craned their necks, eager to see the famed Lie Kingdom Immortal Envoy.

The barriers had been removed; Xiao Ningxun and Xiao Ran took Tuan Tuan's hand and stood before the stele, with Xiao Er and Lu Qi positioned to either side.

The prefect and his officials stood respectfully behind them.

At noon sharp, the bronze gong sounded.

Xiao Ningxun stepped forward, his gaze sweeping over the dark sea of people, and spoke loudly:

"Recently, an omen appeared on the White Water River; the stele bore characters, and the whole city grew uneasy."

"This is not heaven's will; it is the work of villains! Their aim is precisely to confuse and disturb the people's hearts!"

The crowd erupted in an uproar.

"How could it not be heaven's will? That stele was hauled up from the riverbed by dozens of us with our own hands!"

"It's lain who-knows-how-long underwater, yet the characters are freshly carved! If not a divine manifestation, who could carve characters underwater?"

"Exactly! My family has lived by this river for generations, and we've never seen night-glowing or daytime-bubbling anomalies! If this isn't the river spirit revealing itself, what is?"

"Don't try to fool us, officials!" a young man with the air of a scholar shouted in a sharp voice.

"The 'Record of Portents' says: 'When stone emerges from water and bears ominous inscriptions, the state will fall!'"

"This is the black-and-white word of sages! You dare not admit it—do you have to wait for Da Xia's iron cavalry to break the city gates before you understand?"

Xiao Ningxun shook his head, gently patted his sister's shoulder, leaned close to her ear, and whispered, "Tuan Tuan, did you hear that? They've all come to believe it."

"Got it! Don't worry, Third Brother!" Tuan Tuan nodded and walked up to the stele.

She tilted her head to look at those ferocious large characters, then reached out her small hand and lightly pressed it against the stone surface.

Xiao Ningxun glanced at the yamen officer beside her; the officer understood, struck the gong, and the common folk fell silent.

Tuan Tuan shouted, "These characters are so ugly! They frighten everyone, and they also upset my father."

She lowered her head, untied the Embroidered pouch at her waist, pulled out a crooked, burnt candle stub and held it in her palm, turned around, spread her little arms and said, "Third Brother, hold me."

Xiao Ningxun lifted her up and covered her two little hands with her wide sleeves.

Tuan Tuan muttered softly, "Burn all these bad characters! Replace them with good ones for everyone to see!"

She released her little hand, a faint light flickered, and the candle stub vanished.

The next moment.

The six characters on the stone tablet suddenly erupted from deep within the inscription groove, a cluster of golden‑red flames!

The flames slowly burned along the strokes of the characters.

"Look! It's on fire!" countless people shouted in astonishment.

The crowd stared in amazement at the path of the flames, the characters on the stone surface being smoothed away inch by inch as if by an invisible giant hand.

The script gradually grew faint and blurred, and finally vanished completely.

Soon the flames were entirely extinguished, and the stone tablet's surface became impeccably smooth, as if those six characters had never existed.

All around was a dead silence.

Suddenly, the stone tablet emitted a warm, multicolored radiance from within.

The light swirled and coalesced, gradually revealing clear patterns.

A brilliantly scaled, five‑colored mysterious serpent coiled at the center of the tablet, its body agile, head and tail joined.

Around the serpent, auspicious clouds swirled upward, supporting its body as if it were about to break through the stone and soar to the heavens.

It is the family crest passed down through generations of the Ning Prince's Mansion, the five‑colored mysterious serpent known throughout the Blazing Nation!

A beam of sunlight struck the tablet, the serpent's scales reflecting dazzling brilliance, while the adjacent auspicious cloud pattern seemed to come alive, flowing slowly.

Tuan Tuan looked at the tablet, her dimples deepening in a smile, and pointed at the serpent, "Now that's beautiful!"

An elderly man with white, hoary hair staggered shakily out of the crowd, "Thud—" as he fell to the ground, old tears streaming.

"Auspicious clouds protect the mysterious serpent! This is Heaven's blessing on Prince Ning! Heaven blesses the Blazing Nation—!"

Thousands of townsfolk on the riverbank awoke as if from a dream, collapsing in a wave of kneeling.

Cries, laughter, exclamations, and prayers merged into a surging wave of sound, dispersing the lingering gloom.

"The Immortal Envoy has manifested!"

"This is a great omen from Heaven!"

"The war god will surely raise the banner and win!"

"Blazing Nation will prevail!"

A man who had just been shouting for everyone to flee now hung his head in shame, pounding the ground heavily, "I was blind and foolish! From now on, my whole family will die defending our home, awaiting Prince Ning's triumphant return!"

The mansion dignitary seized the chance to shout loudly, "The celestial serpent descends, protecting our royal army! This battle will be won!"

"All citizens of the Blazing Nation, unite in heart and effort, together repelling foreign aggression!"

The people's spirit ignited like a raging fire.

Xiao Ningxun whispered into her sister's ear, "Tuan Tuan did a wonderful job."

Xiao Ran patted Tuan Tuan's little head, "Well done, little one!"

Xiao Er and Lu Qi looked at Tuan Tuan, their faces full of pride and indulgence.

Tuan Tuan nudged her brother's face, "Third Brother, can we go find father now?"

"Hmm, let's go now."

The group did not linger, boarded the carriage, and continued northward.

The townspeople in the city still gathered by the river, debating endlessly, and the talk of auspicious signs spread through every street and alley.

No one mentioned "Prince Ning's fall, the Blazing Nation's collapse" any longer; instead, the refrain became "The mysterious serpent appears, victory is assured."

That night, outside a hidden camp of the Da Xia border troops, a weary gray pigeon landed.

A royal guard removed a bamboo tube and slipped a one‑inch‑wide strip of paper into the tent.

The candle flame inside the tent flickered.

A moment later, a crisp "crack—" sounded, as if a tea cup had been snapped in two.

"That stone tablet actually became Prince Ning's merit monument?"

"I used the river prophecy technique, powered by three years of my own yang life, to make a wedding dress for that stinky girl?"

Two days later, the carriage finally arrived at the border Main Camp.

Tuan Tuan scrambled with her short legs into the big tent, "Father!"