Chapter Twenty-Eight

In her previous life, Si Yanmo also lost her senses after falling into the water.

After the Lantern Festival banquet, she was betrothed to the Third Prince.

She assumed that even if married life wasn't blissful, it would at least be respectful and harmonious. At least for her father's sake, the Third Prince wouldn't treat her too badly.

But she never expected that she would die because of this marriage.

Under Lin Jiao'er's repeated framing, she was falsely accused of being a witch and tied to the sacrificial altar of the Digu Temple, waiting to be sacrificed with her heart cut out.

All of this happened less than a year after her marriage.

She still remembers being tied to that platform in her past life, looking down at her parents, sister, and the third prince in fear... but no one could save her.

The diviner in charge of the sacrifice picked up a dagger from in front of the statue of Emperor Di and plunged it into her heart inch by inch.

At that time, she was still conscious. She could feel the pain, not excruciating, but just a simple ache, so painful that all her attention seemed to be focused on the dagger.

She could clearly feel the dagger pierce her heart, and a hand reached in and grabbed her pounding heart.

Si Yanmo had already fainted from the pain by then, and could no longer feel the pain, but she could still feel the other person's movements, and then... that was it.

When her heart was forcibly ripped out and placed on the altar, she was already lifeless.

She never expected to wake up again, back to the day she fell into the water, and inexplicably gain the ability to see other people's destinies.

The first thing she did upon waking was to examine her destiny, and ironically, everything in her past life turned out to be a setup.

She was not a witch, her wet nurse was not a demon, and so many people were innocent, yet they were all put on the altar by so-called diviners, sorcerers, and fortune tellers.

At first, she thought these might be a minority, but Ning Qingzi's case made her realize the truth.

No, it's not a minority.

Those powerful and influential people, which one of them doesn't know the truth? But they can use the power in their hands to change the truth, while fortune tellers will sell their beliefs for money.

Si Yanmo didn't consider herself a beacon of light. Initially, she wasn't confident in her ability to perform divination; it was merely a delaying tactic against Zhou Yanqing, who wanted to kill her.

But now, she is too close to that position, too close to saving millions of lives.

She wanted to take a gamble. She was given this ability by God, and she was bound to use it eventually, otherwise she would have lived two lifetimes in vain.

But to Zhou Yanqing, she simply said, "It's nothing, just think of it as an obsession."

These past few days, she's realized that Zhou Yanqing isn't a bad person. His threats to her before were just verbal, but they haven't reached the point where they can be completely honest with each other.

Past lives and present lives... how many people would believe in such mysterious and enigmatic things?

"Fine, fine, I'll just consider it me meddling!" Zhou Yanqing was angered by her attitude, stood up, slammed the door, and left. "Whether you live or die is up to you, I'm not going to die with you!"

——

Soon, the written test for the shaman's assessment began.

To ensure fairness, the chief examiner was Wei Jingzhong, the Minister of Rites, while Mo Wenzhong, as the Grand Tutor, was responsible for assisting Wei Jingzhong in evaluating the diviners' performance.

The written test is divided into two parts. Astrology and divination must be conducted in front of the ancient statue of Emperor Di in the astrological platform and the divination hall, respectively. As for the categories of witchcraft, medicine, and sorcery, which are not the specialties of the Qin region, the requirements for the witchcraft and divination test are not strict. You only need to answer with a pen.

Fortunately, none of these were difficult for Si Yanmo.

After all, when she was in the divination academy, apart from astrology which was always ranked C because Qi Muchen targeted her, she was always at the top of the list for everything else. Not to mention that divination was his specialty.

Only seven people participated in this witch divination assessment, far fewer than she had imagined.

Besides, she had seen all of these people at the Academy before; they were all ranked after her during the Academy's assessment. Although she was still ill today, she was more than capable of dealing with them.

If we're talking about who can truly rival her, it would probably only be Qi Muchen.

As expected, after four rounds of assessments, she and Qi Muchen were tied for the top spot, neck and neck.

Even after the assessment, although the other person was better at astrology, she was slightly better at divination, so they were still tied.

If the written exam doesn't differentiate candidates, the martial arts exam will only be more difficult.

Si Yanmo finally had someone bring over the prepared Qi-restoring soup before the martial arts test.

Just before she was about to drink it, Zhou Yanqing, who had said he didn't care, still appeared.

"Are you really going to risk your life?" Zhou Yanqing leaned against the door frame, her hands still wrapped in white cloth, looking rather annoyed.

Having spent a lot of time with him, Si Yanmo could hear the concern beneath his sarcastic tone, and asked with a smile, "How's your hand?"

"Don't interrupt." He approached, pressing down on Si Yanmo's hand holding the bowl of medicine. His deep brown eyes seemed to plead with her not to drink it. "I'm asking you, what if something happens?"

"Isn't it you I have?"

Dewdrops on the green leaves traced their veins and dripped into the small pond in the backyard, creating ripples on the calm surface.

"What...did you say?" The man's voice was somewhat hoarse.

"I said, isn't it you I have?" Si Yanmo met his eyes, her eyebrows and eyes smiling slightly. "If something really happens, please save me. I believe in you."

I trust you……

A single sentence struck Zhou Yanqing's heart. With the sudden leap of the carp in the pond, both the water and her emotions were completely disturbed, and she could never return to calm.

His hand gradually loosened and finally slipped away. She still drank the medicine and got into the carriage to the military camp in the suburbs.

Looking at that determined figure, Zhou Yanqing called Chen Wu over, "Please ask Lin Niang to come over after the martial arts test."

Since she said she believes in herself, then he should be her support.

——

Unlike the diviners at the divination academy, the soldiers in the military camp trained every day. Although they had many recreational activities, opportunities to watch the excitement were rare, which made them eager to join in the fun.

Then, someone leaked the news that there would be a female diviner participating in the divination assessment, who was also incredibly beautiful, and even more soldiers surrounded her.

They were locked up in this military camp, facing each other's rough faces every day. There wasn't even a single mare in the entire camp, so opportunities to see beautiful women were even rarer, and everyone wanted to catch a glimpse of their beauty.

After all the diviners entered the training ground, everyone saw a woman in green standing with six male diviners. Her face was a little pale, but she still managed to stir up a storm of emotions at a glance.

Such beauty and talent appearing among these men only fueled their excitement. Some cheered, some whistled. A male fortune teller nearby rolled his eyes contemptuously and said disdainfully, "Mud pig and mangy dog."

The soldiers, of course, couldn't hear him; their jeers continued unabated until a voice rang out: "The King of Qin has arrived—"

The military camp fell silent instantly. Every single soldier turned to look in the direction Zhou Yanqing had come from.

The man, dressed in a black robe, walked step by step toward the examiner's position. Everyone bowed and knelt in greeting, "Greetings, King Qin."

"Those who spoke up just now, go down and receive ten strokes of the military rod."

Zhou Yanqing's voice was like a cold bolt of lightning, striking everyone like a thunderbolt from a clear sky, and no one dared to utter another sound.

This is the King of Qin! He's the King of Qin who can fight better than them on the battlefield!

Everyone here remembers that when they fought against Sak, Zhou Yanqing, alone on horseback, slashed through Sak's three thousand soldiers. When he returned, the hair under his helmet was dripping with blood, which streaked across his scarlet eyes, making him look like a demon from purgatory.

He didn't seem to be in a good mood.

No one dared to offend him at this moment, and could only reply, "Yes."

After they stood up, Zhou Yanqing gestured to the master of ceremonies beside him to read out the rules of the martial arts test.

The first test was a horse race, in which the seven fortune tellers set off from the starting point and ranked themselves according to their arrival order.

Although Si Yanmo can now ride a horse, she is still a little scared every time she gets on, especially since she is currently ill.

She gripped the reins tightly, took a deep breath, and mounted her horse.

With a clang of a gong, the crowd cracked their whips, and the seven horses leaped into the air almost simultaneously, galloping away and raising clouds of dust behind them.

Si Yanmo was lucky enough to squeeze to the front through the inner passage. She didn't dare look back, only praying that it would all end quickly, much faster.

This prevented her from noticing Qi Muchen relentlessly pursuing her from behind...

They were about to finish a lap, but the two were still a body length apart.

The man, harboring wicked intentions, conjured a pebble from his hand and flicked it at Si Yanmo's horse's hoof. The horse immediately stumbled and swayed.

Si Yanmo was already weak, and this frightened her so much that she couldn't hold onto the reins.

Just as she was about to fall off the horse, she suddenly remembered what Zhou Yanqing had told her when he taught her to ride: "When the horse charges forward, you lie on the horse and follow its rhythm so you won't fall off!"

She quickly bent down, gripped the reins tightly, and followed the horse's rhythm.

The horse's steps were disrupted, but its speed increased, carrying her forward at breakneck speed, and it was the first to cross the finish line.

After crossing the finish line, the horse gradually calmed down and slowly came to a stop.

Si Yanmo also let go. Terrified, she had no strength left in her body. When she dismounted, she was so weak that she almost fell backward, but luckily someone caught her.

She turned around and saw that it was Chen Wu.

Si Yanmo thanked him in a low voice, but the other party just smiled and gestured with her chin toward the stage, indicating that she was the King of Qin and had summoned him.

Just now, when she was taking the test, Zhou Yanqing sat on the stage, her eyes following her closely, afraid that something might happen to her, and she didn't notice Qi Muchen's little movements.

If anyone were paying attention, they would notice that the seemingly composed Prince Qin had secretly broken the armrest of the wooden chair, and beads of blood were seeping from the edges of his fingertips.

The final assessment was about to begin.

The rules for this assessment are as follows: the challenger and the defender will be selected by drawing lots. There will be one defender and six challengers.

After the first challenger and the defending champion compete, the winner becomes the defending champion, and the loser is eliminated. This continues until the last challenger and the defending champion compete, and the winner becomes the champion.

Each round of the competition lasts for the time it takes to burn an incense stick, and it ends when the contestant has reached his limit.

This seems fair, but if the defending champion faces challenger after challenger, the most exhausting aspect is physical strength. Everyone will often pray that they won't be the first to defend their title.

As if things weren't going to go wrong, Si Yanmo, who was already ill, was chosen as the first defender of the title.