At that moment, Daoist Zhou made another move.

“Ah! What are you doing!” The sixty-year-old Grand Tutor, like Wu Song wrestling a tiger, lunged forward.

Startled, Daoist Zhou flung out his left hand, and the box fell to the ground, scattering black chess pieces everywhere.

Under everyone’s watchful eyes, without any external manipulation, the chess pieces suddenly began to tremble faintly. Then they started bumping into each other, slowly moving in the direction of Yuan Ruan.

The officials broke into a cold sweat.

Even the emperor instinctively stepped forward to shield the little National Preceptor.

Yuan Ruan was surprised: [Hiss, I didn’t expect my little nephew to have such strong support from the people. They’re all standing in front of him to protect him.]

The Crown Prince: …

No, this has nothing to do with me. They’re protecting you.

The system paused its background music: [Exactly. Not a single person is protecting your brother. Tsk tsk, what kind of emperor is this?]

The officials felt awkward. Those standing near the emperor—such as the Minister of War and the Minister of Revenue—shuffled slightly, as if they had been shielding the emperor all along.

The emperor glanced at them speechlessly before stepping forward to pick up Yuan Ruan.

At that moment, Daoist Zhou shouted from below, “Don’t move! There’s a grudge here—look! My ghost soldiers are attacking the evil spirit hiding behind her!”

The black chess pieces kept twitching and colliding with one another, occasionally leaving red marks on the ground. With no visible strings or manipulation, the scene indeed looked rather convincing, as though a fierce battle were taking place.

The emperor and the officials exchanged solemn glances.

The system commented: [Ah… so it’s just a trick. Wait, didn’t the rumors say that Daoist Zhou could find kidnapped children? Was that all guessing or staged? Let me check… Turns out it wasn’t guessing but fortune-telling and divination.]

Yuan Ruan: [Mm-hmm. Many ancient diviners, like Xu Mo Fu, Yuan Tiangang, and Liu Bowen, were renowned and stood the test of time. As for this magnetism trick, well, it’s a limitation of the era.]

Everyone: ???

Magnets? What limitation?

But from what the little National Preceptor said, does that mean there’s no danger?!

Meanwhile, Daoist Zhou continued exclaiming, “It’s getting fiercer—this is a great terror!”

The system: [Emm… he’s not accusing me, but I feel like I’m being blamed for being some great terror.]

Yuan Ruan: [It’s fine, System. Watch me take out this trick and see how he reacts.]

Moments later, several chess pieces joyfully formed a red heart symbol toward the system.

Suddenly, Daoist Zhou let out a loud cry. His hand trembled as he pointed at the heart-shaped chess pieces, his face turning pale.

Seeing his reaction, Yuan Ruan found it amusing and mischievously made the heart-shaped chess pieces collide with each other. Sometimes they moved toward Daoist Zhou, and other times toward her, as if the pieces were dancing the tango.

“Ah! Ah!” Daoist Zhou initially stepped back in fright but soon shouted again, “Fetch my peachwood sword! Watch me slay this ghost with one strike!”

The officials exchanged glances. Realizing the little National Preceptor was playing a prank, none of them moved.

“You… what are you all hesitating for?! Are you seriously relying on a child to handle this? She’s possessed by ghost soldiers—she’s a fraud!” Daoist Zhou scolded the crowd.

The officials’ expressions darkened, and the emperor’s face fell.

Oblivious, Daoist Zhou continued shouting, “Quickly! These ghost soldiers are powerful. If we delay any further—”

“Bang!” Before he could finish, the captain of the palace guards pressed him to the ground.

“Ah! Let me go! Your Majesty!” Daoist Zhou twisted his head to look at the emperor, pleading, “Your Majesty, you must trust the orthodox path! She’s definitely possessed by an evil ghost and is afraid I’ll expose her. Your Majesty, you can’t treat me like this—my fellow disciples will come for me…”

The emperor, seeing the man’s crazed behavior, felt foolish for having taken him seriously earlier.

He was about to order someone to drag Daoist Zhou away when the Crown Prince, noticing Yuan Ruan’s attention on the Daoist, suddenly said, “This isn’t any ghost possession. The heart symbol is the unique mark of our Da Xia’s National Preceptor. She demonstrated it using lightning at the Heavenly Altar, witnessed by tens of thousands.”

Yuan Ruan: [Hah, who would’ve thought my random act at the Heavenly Altar would lead to such a misunderstanding by my little nephew? Well, that works too—it saves me the trouble of debunking his fake magic.]

The system laughed: [Hahaha, exactly! He was so arrogant earlier, like a wannabe villain. But if his fellow disciples come later, do you think they’ll fool your brother and the others? After all, looking at you, it’s clear ancient people are very superstitious.]

The emperor and his entourage exchanged smiles.

Absolutely not. With you, a true immortal, here, we’ll never be deceived.

Daoist Zhou: !!!

He froze for a moment before shouting, “W-what?! That’s the National Preceptor’s mark? A heart symbol made with lightning, witnessed by tens of thousands?! That’s impossible! Absolutely impossible! You must be lying to me!”

The emperor, tired of his noise, waved his hand, and the captain of the guards began dragging him out.

As Yuan Ruan watched, she noticed Daoist Zhou staring at her with a mix of obsessive curiosity and disbelief. He continued shouting, “Impossible! You’re lying! Impossible!”

Thinking that the man was doomed anyway, Yuan Ruan decided to let him go out enlightened.

With a playful wink, she raised her small hand and formed a heart gesture.

The previously still chess pieces began buzzing again. Before everyone’s eyes, they rearranged themselves into another heart shape on the ground.

Although the officials had seen this before, they were still awed by the miraculous sight.

Noticing Daoist Zhou’s sudden silence and his dazed expression as he stared at the heart-shaped pieces, the officials couldn’t help but feel a strange sense of pride.

“Ahhhhh!” Daoist Zhou suddenly screamed, “I was wrong! So wrong!”

After his anguished cry, he twisted his body into an S-shape and lunged forward.

The sudden movement startled everyone. Even the guards holding him were dragged several steps forward by his unexpected force.

“Protect His Majesty! Protect His Majesty!” The eunuch’s sharp voice rang out.

Guards and palace attendants rushed in from all directions.

But in the next moment, everyone was dumbfounded.