At the central sacrificial platform,
Under He Heng’s consecutive questioning, Wu Yuansi found himself at a loss for how to respond for a moment.
On the high platform, however, the emperor’s interest was piqued by He Heng’s words.
“I find this method of his quite interesting. Since that’s the case, why don’t you two have a little competition and demonstrate to me who the true envoy of light is?”
Upon hearing this, Wu Yuansi’s eyebrows nearly formed the shape of the character 川. He immediately stroked his long beard and looked at the emperor.
“Your Majesty, do you doubt your old minister?”
The emperor, however, was more interested in the spectacle than concerned about the matter. “Ah, Master, your words are wrong. Does His Majesty believe there is any contradiction between me not doubting Master and Master not wanting to compete with him?”
Wu Yuansi: “…”
Seeing Wu Yuansi remain silent, the emperor appeared somewhat displeased.
“What’s this? Does Master mean to say he’s unwilling?”
Wu Yuansi, in no position to defy the emperor’s will in front of the entire court, quickly shook his head. “Your old minister has no objections.”
Satisfied, the emperor leaned back on the dragon throne.
“Does anyone else have objections to this?”
Upon hearing this, all the civil and military officials present spoke in unison, “We have no objections.”
“Alright, let’s begin.”
With that, the emperor waved his sleeve, signaling the palace attendants to tidy up the area.
To ensure fairness, the topics for this competition were decided through consultation between the emperor and the courtiers. To comprehensively assess the true abilities of the two individuals, the competition was divided into two rounds.
The first round aimed to test their divination skills, while the second round allowed them the freedom to showcase and employ their respective magical abilities.
Before the start of the first round, the emperor specifically instructed someone to find an elderly woman outside the sacrificial site. With her daughter’s assistance, the elderly woman slowly approached the two individuals on the sacrificial platform.
To increase the difficulty of the competition, the emperor had their eyes blindfolded with black cloth, preventing them from deducing information through external features.
He Heng and Wu Yuansi couldn’t see the elderly woman’s appearance or movements, but everyone else present could see clearly.
All they witnessed was the elderly woman, supported by her daughter, blindly reaching out into the air, her steps unsteady, indicating she was visually impaired and unable to see the path ahead.
It was not difficult for the onlookers to deduce that this elderly woman was likely blind.
On the sacrificial platform,
He Heng stood there with his eyes blindfolded, his expression calm.
However, he secretly communicated with 996 in his mind: ‘Help me out, my good friend. I’m counting on you this time.’
996: [?]
[What do you mean?]
He Heng: ‘In other novels, isn’t it the system that helps the male lead cheat and assists them in reaching the pinnacle of life? Look at you now; I’ve completed the tasks in three small worlds for you. Is it too much to ask for your help in this situation?’
996: [Well, well, so the reason you charged onto the sacrificial platform directly is because you were sure I’d help you?]
He Heng: ‘I guess you wouldn’t want to see me being taken as a fraud by the emperor and then dragged away to be executed, right? That would make our missions all in vain, wouldn’t it?’
996: […]
He Heng was quite straightforward; now that he needed help, he kept saying “we.”
Following that, it heard He Heng continue:
‘I’ve completed so many tasks before. Don’t I have any points or rewards that I can exchange?’
996: [Hold on, let me check for you.]
After a few seconds, accompanied by a “ding” sound, the mechanical electronic voice resounded again,
[After completing three mission worlds, your “sand sculpture” index has reached 9999999, and the love received from the protagonist and the love you feel for the protagonist has also reached 9999.]
It was the first time He Heng heard about a “sand sculpture” index, and he couldn’t help but wonder why his “sand sculpture” value was higher than the love value.
He resisted the urge to complain and instead asked, ‘So, what can I do with this ‘sand sculpture’ value? With such a high value, can I destroy the world or something?’
[Darling, no, the ‘sand sculpture’ value can only make people smile; it doesn’t have any other use.]
He Heng’s mouth twitched. ‘And what about the love value?’
[It’s used to show that you two are deeply in love.]
He Heng: “…”
Why is it so difficult to come up with a cheat on my own?
[Sigh.]
At this moment, 996 suddenly sighed.
[Forget it, I’ll help you one more time, considering you’ve done exceptionally well in completing three missions.]
He Heng: ‘Thank you. You’re an excellent system.’
In that moment, the corners of his mouth curved up with a confident arc once again.
With the system helping him cheat, isn’t everything secured?
At this moment, the emperor and his ministers had finished discussing the details of the divination. The emperor instructed a palace maid to bring a bamboo tube containing two slips of paper in front of the two individuals. The plan was to determine their order of appearance by drawing lots.
Wu Yuansi was the first to choose a slip.
After seeing the number “one” on his slip, he subtly smirked.
The art of divination was essentially similar, often involving using clever words to deduce the other person’s background and offering ambiguous predictions. The most crucial aspect was to discern the thoughts and concerns in the mind of the person seeking the divination.
In a situation where both individuals were equally skilled in their ability to manipulate words, the one who appeared first would undoubtedly have an advantage. After all, the former had already covered much ground with their conversation, and by the time the latter came on stage, even if they managed to extract useful information, the novelty had already worn off in the eyes of the onlookers.
Wu Yuansi was convinced that He Heng, at best, was just a swindler from the rivers and lakes.
He couldn’t believe that the other party could come up with anything new.
With this mindset, Wu Yuansi calmly began his performance.
He didn’t go through much trouble and quickly gleaned from the old woman that the other person was blind, had two children – a boy and a girl, and the one accompanying her today was her daughter.
After Wu Yuansi concluded his performance, everyone present couldn’t help but marvel, and even the daughter of the old woman praised him repeatedly, “Master truly understands things like a god!”
Amidst the exclamations and applause of the crowd, Wu Yuansi confidently lifted the corners of his mouth, removed the black cloth covering his face, and stepped aside, ready to witness He Heng’s embarrassment.
As the man with colorful patterns on his face and a blindfold over his eyes was slowly led onto the sacrificial platform, Wu Yuansi immediately displayed a disdainful expression.
He had already covered all the crucial information in his performance. Could He Heng’s skill in manipulating words be stronger than that of an old man who had wandered the rivers and lakes for many years?
At the same time, He Heng stood on the sacrificial platform with a thick black cloth covering his face, blocking out any trace of light. He couldn’t see anything.
He cleared his throat and began his questioning following the standard process of a fortune teller,
“May I ask for your name and date of birth?”
The old woman immediately answered his question with a voice filled with age.
After the other party provided their name and date of birth, He Heng fell into silence. He nodded to himself, wearing an expression of contemplation.
The entire venue also quieted down, with everyone holding their breath, anticipating the “master” to utter some profound words. However, they were surprised when He Heng spoke in a deep voice:
“She is a woman.”
“And she is an elderly woman.”
Onlookers: “…”
Does this even require divination?
Wu Yuansi, standing beside, almost couldn’t help but burst into laughter. Considering the other party’s previous confident demeanor, he thought He Heng had some remarkable abilities. Who would have expected this?
This wasn’t even considered mystifying; at best, it was fooling someone with low intelligence.
Indeed, after hearing He Heng’s words, even the emperor seemed displeased.
“He Heng, is this all you have to say?”
“Hold on,” He Heng shook his head and continued with his process, “Could you come forward and let me feel your palm? Only this way can I see through the life lines.”
Seeing this, the old woman walked cautiously towards He Heng, with some doubts.
As he held the old woman’s hands, He Heng urged in his mind:
‘Hurry up, why are you checking the information so slowly?’
996: [Bad signal, just wait a moment.]
[Oh, got it. She is a widow in the village, has had three children, and currently lives with her daughter. Her husband probably passed away about three years ago.]
With the information provided by the system, He Heng first spoke some vague philosophical statements and then cleverly transitioned into the main topic.
“Just now, through the study of your palm, I deduced that you’ve had three children.”
As soon as he said this, the daughter of the old woman immediately shook her head, interrupting He Heng,
“No, that’s not right. My parents only have me and my older brother. Where does the third child come from?”
Upon hearing this, even the emperor furrowed his brow. He initially thought He Heng had some skill, but now it seemed that compared to Wu Yuansi, he lacked a certain level of proficiency.
But at this moment, the old woman’s hand suddenly trembled. She grabbed He Heng’s arm, her expression excited, and her voice quivering.
“Master, I’ve never mentioned this to anyone. How could you know about my eldest son who died young?”
The scene fell into a profound silence. After a while, the daughter of the old woman snapped out of her shock and asked her with a furrowed brow,
“Mother, didn’t you and father only have me and my older brother? What’s going on here?”
Sighing, the old woman sighed several times and began to recount the long-buried past.
“In fact, your father was not my first love.”
“The uncle next door was. But I’ve never mentioned this to anyone before.”
“Master, how did you deduce this? Could it be that my deceased child’s spirit revealed it to you in a dream?”
Facing the old woman’s numerous compliments, He Heng simply said in a calm tone,
“It’s not that I have any special ability; everything was revealed to me by the gods.”
Upon hearing this, the old woman burst into tears of joy and exclaimed to the sky, “Heavens have spirits! Heavens have spirits!”
After witnessing this unexpected turn of events, the scene erupted into a clamor once again.
The emperor, who had been dozing off, even stood up excitedly from the dragon throne. His address to He Heng also changed,
“My lord, please continue. What else did the gods tell you?”
Meanwhile, Wu Yuansi, observing from the side, had a grim expression. He cast a resentful glance at the man on the sacrificial platform, thinking that such a fortunate coincidence had occurred. It seemed like blind luck had favored this man.
He wondered if this stroke of luck would continue for He Heng.
Following the hints provided by the system, He Heng continued to narrate some details about the old woman’s background, similar to what Wu Yuansi had previously mentioned but with a few variations.
In the final act of his performance, to make the act more convincing, He Heng improvised,
“The lines on your hands indicate that your fortune is quite good, but…”
The old woman asked, “But?”
“But, there are clear signs of a break in the lines on your hand. This signifies that on the second day of the lunar new year, you will face a calamity in your fate.”
Upon hearing this, the old woman became anxious and immediately asked, “Master, please tell me, how can I avoid this calamity?”
He Heng, with a serious expression, stroked his chin, “On the second day of the lunar new year, when you are walking, you must…”
“Pay more attention to the road beneath your feet.”
The old woman asked in confusion, “Ah, this?”
Before the old woman could comprehend the meaning behind He Heng’s words, her daughter preemptively inquired,
“But my mother lost her eyesight five years ago. Now, she can’t see, and she needs assistance to walk. How can she possibly pay attention to the road beneath her feet?”
As soon as she spoke, a murmur of quiet discussions arose from the audience,
“Yeah, asking a blind person to pay more attention to the road beneath their feet. Isn’t that making things difficult for them? How does that make any sense?”
At the same time, someone countered,
“Don’t be in such a hurry. I thought he was quite amazing earlier. Maybe he still has some hidden tricks up his sleeve. After all, the will of the heavens is not easily fathomed.”
He Heng’s words did manage to pique the emperor’s interest again. His previous performance had already solidified his identity as a “master” in the emperor’s mind.
However, the “master” in the eyes of the crowd was currently frantically seeking help from the system,
‘? Damn it, is she blind? Why didn’t you tell me earlier?’
996: [Actually, no. She’s just severely nearsighted. But you know, in ancient times with underdeveloped medical knowledge, there wasn’t much distinction between being severely nearsighted and blind in their eyes.]
He Heng: ‘How severe is her nearsightedness?’
996: [Why are you asking about that?]
He Heng: [Can you help me get a pair of glasses for her nearsightedness?]
996: […]
After a moment of silence,
[Okay, but the money for the glasses will be deducted from your future earnings.]
He Heng: ‘Fine, got it.’
As people whispered and discussed among themselves, they saw He Heng at the center of the sacrificial platform suddenly tear off the black cloth covering his face. From his sleeve, he took out a pair of reflective lenses and placed them on the old woman’s nose.
In the next moment, the old woman miraculously opened her eyes, which were previously squinted into slits. Her hunched figure straightened, and she started dancing around the sacrificial platform, expressing overwhelming joy. She seemed on the verge of leaping with happiness.
As she ran around, she shouted joyfully,
“My eyes are healed! I can see again! I can see again!”
With tears in her eyes, the old woman rushed to He Heng and grabbed his hands, expressing her gratitude earnestly,
“Master! You are my savior, my reborn parents! Thank you!”
“Cough! Cough!”
Faced with the old woman’s enthusiastic praise, He Heng felt a bit embarrassed. He cleared his throat and said with a feigned modesty, “You don’t need to thank me. I’m just a messenger of the gods. The restoration of your sight is the will of the gods.”
After his words, the old woman immediately knelt down, repeatedly kowtowing to the air, chanting, “Thanks to the heavens, thanks to the divine lord for sending the messenger of light to cure my eyes.”
Witnessing the “miracle” of He Heng curing the blind woman, the old emperor was shocked and remained speechless for a long time. He opened his mouth, hesitated, and finally stammered,
“Minister He, you actually have the ability to cure blindness! I’m starting to believe that you are indeed a messenger of light sent by the heavens.”
“I actually attempted to have the messenger of light serve as the princess’s husband. I really underestimated you, Minister He.”
Upon hearing the emperor’s words, Fu Yunyu, who stood beside the sacrificial platform, felt a twitch in her temple and couldn’t help but twitch the corners of her mouth.
She also thought it was a pity to have He Heng serve as her husband. He was born to be a charlatan.
Witnessing the emperor already considering He Heng as a messenger of light, Wu Yuansi couldn’t hold back any longer and said, “Your Majesty, you must not be so hasty! The second round of the competition has not yet taken place. Based solely on this fortune-telling technique, how can you determine if he truly possesses any extraordinary abilities?”
Upon hearing this, He Heng sneered inwardly.
It was amusing to be accused of “playing tricks” by a charlatan.
Indeed, defeating magic with magic was the correct way to open up possibilities.
Seeing the emperor fall into silence, Wu Yuansi continued, “Your Majesty, you can make a decision after we finish the second round. Let us see what talents each of us possesses.”
After a moment of consideration, the emperor nodded and said, “Alright.”
“Let me see what real skills you all have.”
“The second round of the competition will be held inside the Wen Hua Hall.”
With the emperor’s decree, the attendants nearby began clearing the sacrificial platform of the items placed on it.
In the magnificent Wen Hua Hall, the emperor, adorned in bright yellow dragon robes, sat high on the throne in the center. The civil and military officials were arranged on both sides of the hall.
At the center of the hall, there was a stand with a copper basin filled with water. This was brought in at the request of Wu Yuansi under the emperor’s command.
The order of the second round was the same as the first, with Wu Yuansi taking the stage first.
The atmosphere in the hall became tense as Wu Yuansi, who had suffered a setback in the first round of divination, approached the copper basin. His hands were tightly clenched, and beads of sweat had formed in his palms.
As he stood before the basin, Wu Yuansi closed his eyes and began chanting incantations. From his sleeve, he produced a talisman and used it to mark his shoulders and forehead. Then, to the astonishment of the onlookers, he dissolved the talisman into the water in the basin, turning it a miraculous deep red, resembling fresh blood.
Amidst the gasps of the crowd, Wu Yuansi took a handkerchief from the side of the basin, wiped his hands, and respectfully bowed to the emperor on the high throne.
“Your humble servant has shown his inadequate skills.”
In those brief moments, the civil and military officials witnessed the transformation of the clear water into a vivid red before their very eyes.
Most of the people present were amazed by Wu Yuansi’s magical performance, and even the emperor expressed his admiration with a couple of approving remarks. However, the only person unaffected was He Heng.
He sneered inwardly, dismissing the tricks of this charlatan. The deceptive techniques of this trickster might impress those who had not seen the world, but in his eyes, it was nothing more than adding some chemicals to the water for a simple color change.
If this were in the modern era, even elementary school students would probably scoff at such childish tricks.
At this moment, Wu Yuansi regained his confidence. He turned to He Heng and said, “Considering the calm expression of this ‘Messenger of Light,’ I suppose my ‘petty tricks’ from earlier were nothing challenging for you, right?”
“How about we let the ‘Messenger of Light’ showcase his skills this time?”
He Heng waved his hand dismissively and chuckled, “You already called it ‘petty tricks.’ I think I’ll pass.”
“As I’m appearing as the Messenger of Light, it’s only fitting to let everyone witness the abilities of the God of Light. Your Majesty, please close the palace doors and extinguish all the lamps and candles in the hall,” He Heng said, looking directly at the emperor with a serious expression.
Upon hearing him say this, the emperor’s interest was piqued, and he immediately waved his hand to instruct the servants in the hall to follow suit.
After closing the doors and extinguishing the candles, the entire hall plunged into darkness. Everyone eagerly waited, holding their breath, for what would happen next.
996: [What are you trying to do?]
He Heng: ‘Isn’t my intention obvious enough?’
‘I’m going to generate electricity. Let these people who have never seen the world witness the power of light.’
‘And the special effects should be cool, preferably like Magneto’s.’
996: [?]
[Even though I’m a system, I can’t help you cheat on the laws of nature, you know?]
[“Generating electricity” fundamentally involves the directed movement of matter. To create the effect of generating electricity, you need to provide the energy to make electrons move. How are you magically generating this energy right now?]
After 996 expressed these thoughts, instead of reconsidering, He Heng smiled lightly.
‘Isn’t this energy readily available?’
[What?] 996 was completely puzzled.
He Heng raised an eyebrow, ‘My love value of 9999, isn’t it readily available? I’m going to generate electricity now for the sake of love.’
The moment his words fell, even the experienced 996, a gold-medal system that had guided countless hosts across different eras, was stunned by He Heng’s thought process.
After struggling for a while, it finally managed to squeeze out a trembling “Okay.”
In the next instant, the entire dark hall suddenly exploded with divine light. Accompanied by the thunderous sound of crackling lightning, sparks flew from He Heng’s hands. The dazzling light, shaped like branches, rose from his palm, reaching several meters high and extending all the way to the beam on the roof of the Wen Hua Palace.
At this moment, He Heng appeared like a walking light source, resembling a thunderous sage descending from the heavens. A trail of lightning and sparks followed him as he walked towards the center of the grand hall.
His face, adorned with those colorful patterns, appeared even more terrifying under the intense light. Some of the more timid individuals were scared to the point of collapsing on the ground.
He Heng’s electrifying performance lasted for about the time it takes to brew a pot of tea. When he finally ceased the lightning from his hands, everyone in the hall was left speechless and in awe.
After relighting the candles and lamps and opening the doors, the Emperor regained his composure. He looked at He Heng, admiration shining in his eyes.
“Minister He, I believe in you! You are indeed the divine messenger sent by the heavens!”
Seeing that the Emperor was completely inclined towards He Heng, and realizing that the position of the Imperial Advisor, which was almost within his grasp, had been disrupted, Wu Yuansi rushed towards He Heng in frustration. At the same time, he shouted:
“I’ll fight you, you fraud!”
His sudden actions caught the guards off guard, and before they could react, Wu Yuansi had already pounced on HeHeng.
However, the moment Wu Yuansi’s hands touched He Heng’s skin, a surge of electricity quickly traveled from the top of his head to the soles of his feet.
Just moments ago, he thought that He Heng had exhausted his electrical power since no more lightning was emanating from his palms. Little did he know, at this moment, He Heng was like a seemingly harmless Pikachu. His face appeared ordinary, just like any other person, but secretly, he was charged with a hundred thousand volts.
The next moment, everyone saw Wu Yuansi suddenly stiffen like a block of wood, his eyes rolling back, and he fell straight to the ground.
As Wu Yuansi collapsed, He Heng sighed softly. Electrocution was not his intention, but who could blame the other for rushing at him?
Seeing this, the Emperor became even more convinced that He Heng was the Messenger of Light sent by the heavens. It was because of Wu Yuansi’s actions that he angered the gods, leading to his collapse when he approached the Messenger of Light. Thus, he fell to the ground, never to rise again.
With the entire court of officials and military personnel gazing in awe, the Emperor rose directly from his dragon throne and walked step by step toward He Heng.
Walking up to He Heng, the Emperor waved his hand, indicating that there was no need for excessive courtesy. Then, he declared in a stern voice:
“From this moment on, I hereby appoint the ‘Messenger of Light’ as the new National Teacher of Daliang.”
With the Emperor’s command, the entire court of officials and military personnel simultaneously knelt before Ha He, shouting loudly:
“We respectfully welcome the esteemed National Teacher!”
Author’s note: In the next chapter, please enjoy: “The Charming Mermaid with Blind Eyes: The Devilish National Teacher’s Devoted Affection” also known as “The Devilish National Teacher’s Excessive Doting on His Wife.”
