Chapter 398: Carrying the Charlatan Act to the End

"Th-th-this..."

"What is going on?"

At this, Huobu Quli stared in a daze.

That Great Bimo Chierhadu was also stunned.

Who had ever seen such a thing?

As the saying goes, drawing water with a bamboo basket is all for nothing. But today, this child of the Alu Clan had actually brought water to you using a bamboo basket! Not only did he bring it, but not a single drop leaked out!

If this isn't Holy Water, then what is?

If this isn't spirit-communication, then what is? If this isn't divine art, then what is?

Looking at the "Holy Water" in that bamboo basket, so clear, so fluid, it seemed as if the divine will of the Liangshan ancestors was flowing within it.

Kneel!

Everyone knelt down.

Including the Bimo and Suni beside Chierhadu. The people of Liangshan respected ghosts and gods above all else. Seeing such a divine miracle, who would dare to be disrespectful? In the end, even Chierhadu could not help but tremble all over, rolling off his carriage to kneel honestly on the ground.

Full marks!

Liu Zheng exchanged a glance with Qin Zhangfeng and Pei Yanran behind him, unable to stop a smile from appearing at the corners of his mouth.

Pei Yanran's mouth twitched.

This actually worked?

Others might not know, but she certainly did. In order to package this Xiao Heitan, she had taken a group of the Jiangzhou Army and spent the entire journey to Meigu catching frogs...

That's right.

All this talk of being born with spirit-communication, all this talk of divine art, was entirely packaged by this Prefect Liu.

Drawing water with a bamboo basket.

What was the principle behind this?

It was simply using frog spawn, adding a little Qingshui, stirring it into a colorless gelatinous substance, and then coating the bamboo basket with it... to ensure that every gap in the bamboo basket was covered with this gelatinous substance, and then drawing the water...

In this way, viewed from afar, the bamboo basket was indeed a transparent bamboo basket.

But the water simply did not flow out.

A divine miracle!

What Pei Yanran saw as such a simple matter, others saw as a divine miracle.

Of course...

Pei Yanran also had to admire Liu Zheng's ingenious ideas—how did he think of this? Even after she had joined the Wangbei Academy, she had never known this principle.

"Zimo! Zimo!"

The people of Liangshan at the scene had already erupted.

At this moment, they had no heart left to welcome any distinguished guests; they were here to welcome the god in their hearts.

Huobu Quli was even more excited as he tugged at the totem on his body—the Black Dragon Totem. Dragon totem worship in the Liangshan region represented the descendants of the Zimo, as well as some associated collateral descendants. Zimo meant monarch, and they were the worshippers of the dragon totem.

"Zimo! Zimo!"

He also followed along, shouting loudly.

At this time, the opinions of others were no longer important. Their Huobu Clan was going to follow the Zimo and return to Liangshan! The true Zimo had returned! He also held the status of a Great Bimo; he was the messenger of the dragon, he was the messenger of the gods!

That group of Yi men and women were even more overjoyed, once again singing and dancing, their faces streaming with tears.

While singing and dancing, they did not forget to kneel and kowtow along the way.

However...

Who would have thought that Aluba's divine miracle had not yet been fully displayed.

Next, he wore a look of "tolerance and kindness" and smiled faintly: "My people, welcome the grace of this Holy Water!"

He stood slowly on the horse carriage, then used his hand to scoop up the "Holy Water" from the bamboo basket bit by bit and sprinkled it down. At this moment, a miraculous phenomenon occurred again. Although this Holy Water fell from the four candles beside him, the burning candles were not extinguished!

"My god!"

"Th-th-this, divine fire!"

"Holy Water, divine fire!"

Chierhadu and his group were completely dumbfounded.

Divine fire?

They had clearly watched the water being poured down over the candles, yet the fire was unaffected? Seeing this, even Chierhadu began to believe at this moment.

This Aluba was truly extraordinary!

He was the Temple Envoy!

The atmosphere at the scene suddenly became celebratory. The Yi people seemed to have found their backbone in an instant.

"Young Master, what is going on with these candles?"

Pei Yanran asked curiously, tugging on Liu Zheng's sleeve from behind.

Liu Zheng chuckled: "Remember when I asked you to go to the pharmacy to buy alum, camphor, and saltpeter? If you dissolve eight qian of alum, five qian of camphor, and five fen of saltpeter to make a candle, and add a little camphor, these candles can withstand wind and rain! How could a mere bit of water extinguish them?"

Pei Yanran was left stunned.

She couldn't help but take a deep breath and smile bitterly: "Young Master has great talent!"

She suddenly realized that on this journey, following this Prefect Liu, she had indeed learned many things that were not in books—what she did not know was that these were not things absent from books; they might exist in this world, but truly, no one else could understand these principles of Chemistry.

Liu Zheng smiled slightly.

This was only the beginning.

This time, for the sake of Xiao Heitan's "Temple Envoy" image, he intended to bring out everything he had kept in reserve!

Originally, according to the hospitality customs of the Liangshan Yi, this should have been the time for the second blessing wine, which was to offer two cups of fine wine to the distinguished guests from afar at the banquet.

However...

For this Small Trouser Leg Tribe, this eight-year-old Great Bimo was no longer as simple as just an honored guest.

At this moment, Liu Zheng truly felt the power of religious belief. These people tremblingly invited Xiao Heitan to the central position, then knelt down with a boom, muttering in the Yi language that Liu Zheng could not hear clearly.

Pei Yanran understood the Yi language and translated from the side.

It was roughly about praising the gods and praising the ancestors.

Xiao Heitan Aluba upheld what Liu Zheng had instructed him along the way: keep his mouth shut.

Pretend to be mysterious, don't speak!

To the inquiries of some people, he only maintained the "inscrutable" expression he had practiced on the road for so long that his facial muscles had stiffened, making these people feel even more that this Temple Envoy was truly extraordinary.

"This, this, this..."

"Why is the Great Bimo not speaking?"

"The Great Bimo should give us a prophecy about how our Liangshan will fare in the future!"

"Yes, in this chaotic situation now..."

A group of people discussed among themselves.

Those Bimos and Sunis felt their doubts rising again.

"The final step is here!"

Liu Zheng smiled mysteriously.

He nodded slightly toward Aluba, and saw the latter smile "inscrutably" once more, sparing words like gold as he said: "The divine decree, the will of heaven, can only be understood and not expressed in words. But as it concerns the stability of Liangshan, I shall make an attempt!"

Swish, swish, swish.

On the spot, he took out four talisman papers and placed them separately at his feet.

The crowd knelt down again.

Was he going to perform magic?

Those Sunis very consciously surrounded Xiao Heitan and began to dance; the ritual implements of the Sunis were the sheepskin divine drum "Geze" and the ritual bell "Zier"! These ritual implements were used to communicate with ghosts and gods!

The female Sunis' postures were light and graceful, while the male Sunis were wild and rugged.

All the people of Liangshan present were also muttering to themselves.

An ancient and mysterious ceremony.

It made Liu Zheng and the others also look solemn.

At this moment.

Liu Zheng really wished he had a camera to capture this very primitive, yet fascinating scene.

This is the charm of history... this is the charm of nature, isn't it?

Aluba suddenly opened his eyes, shouted loudly, and splashed the "Holy Water" in his hand onto the four talisman papers respectively.

Under the pious and dumbfounded gaze of everyone.

On each talisman paper.

Four large characters appeared!