Zhenzhu went to inspect suspicious areas to find the source of the dark character—the kitchen, the laundry, and the soldiers’ sleeping quarters—with Yong Saiweihao accompanying her. She frowned as she inspected these areas. There was nothing suspicious; all the food and items were ordinary, and the utensils were common, carried no trace of the dark character for her to sense it. “I found nothing, Brother Hao,” Zhenzhu turned to him with a serious expression. “Are there any other places?” She asked. “Besides these, there’s only the training grounds and the areas around the training camp, the foothills, and the river,” Yong Saiweihao replied. “Let’s go inspect those areas, then.” She wanted to find the true source of the dark character as soon as possible. The longer it took, the more people would fall ill. Yong Saiweihao nodded and personally led her on the inspection. Along the way, some soldiers wanted to greet Zhenzhu, but upon seeing her with the Young General, they retreated. As they continued, Zhenzhu realized just how vast the military camp was. After nearly a whole day of searching, they hadn’t even covered half of it. It would take several more days to thoroughly inspect the entire area. “Brother Hao, you can assign a soldier to guide me. I don’t want to take up more of your working time,” Zhenzhu suggested, feeling sorry for taking up his time. Having a general personally lead her for several days seemed too much to ask. “Alright.” Yong Saiweihao nodded. He had many other duties to attend to, and several high-ranking soldiers were waiting for him to join strategy meetings. The next day, Yong Saiweihao sent a soldier to guide Zhenzhu, providing a fine warhorse for her to ride while exploring the camp. She brought Xiao She and Baihu along, hoping their semi-divine beast senses could help locate the source of the dark character, as they had a keener perception of power of the character than humans. Zhenzhu rode her horse following the guiding soldier to a small stream not far from the military camp. "This stream flows into the large river downstream, Miss," the guiding soldier explained respectfully. "Is all the water used for washing and drinking sourced from here?" "No, Miss. All the water used in the camp comes from the large river we just passed. This is just a small stream where animals and occasionally guards come for security patrols. It’s a cool and pleasant spot, so the patrolling guards often stop here to wash their faces and drink some water." "Are there guards patrolling here every day?" "Yes, Miss. The Young General is very strict about the rules and safety of the army, so we have patrols here every six hours." "Several days ago, the Young General also inspected this area himself but found nothing unusual." "I see." Zhenzhu nodded before dismounting. She had been inspecting almost the whole day and felt sticky. This stream was clear and slowly flowing. Thus, she intended to go and wash her face. She hopped off her horse and approached the clear stream. "A’Zhu! The dark character is there!" Suddenly, Baihu’s cry made her stop in her tracks. "Where is it?" Zhenzhu asked excitedly. Why couldn’t she sense the power of the dark character at all? "It’s in the stream," Baihu said before running to sniff around. Zhenzhu moved closer to the stream but still couldn’t detect any power of the dark character. "Baihu, are you sure it’s here? Why can’t I sense anything?" She looked at the clear, inviting water that made her want to drink it to quench her thirst. "It’s underwater," Baihu said. At that moment, Xiao She grew slightly larger and slid into the water. It wasn’t long before it emerged, carrying a small, dark, ink-colored stone in its mouth. Xiao She dropped the stone on the ground. Instantly, Zhenzhu felt an overwhelming, nauseating power of the dark character stronger than anything she had encountered before. It made her momentarily breathless and uneasy. The soldier guiding her immediately coughed up blood and collapsed, since he was just a low-ranking soldier with only blue-tier spirit energy, he couldn’t endure such intense power of the dark character. The power of the character is so strong! Zhenzhu thought in panic. "Baihu, quickly go and fetch Brother Hao and Brother Lang here!" Zhenzhu shouted to Baihu, while she appraoched the soldier lying on the ground. She took his water flask, plucked off the cork, then dropped in the dragon blood amber before making him drink it. Then, she dragged him away from the area. "Xiao She, throw it back into the water!" Xiao She reluctantly picked up the stone and placed it back in the stream. These humans were so weak, it thought disdainfully, that even this small amount of power of the character made them cough up blood. After assisting the soldier, Zhenzhu returned to the stream. Why was its power masked underwater, preventing her from sensing it, but once it was out, its strength was overwhelming? It was possible that whoever placed the inscribed dark character stone here must have also inscribed a Concealment Characters somewhere around the stream. This realization filled Zhenzhu’s head with dread. Upon entering the area, she hadn’t detected any power of the character, indicating the inscriber possessed a higher tier of spirit energy and was highly skilled in inscribing perfect dark characters. Zhenzhu felt the stark superiority of her enemy. Meanwhile, Baihu, tasked with seeking help from Yong Saiweihao and Wenlang, arrived at a residence where the generals and commanders were meeting. At that moment, a deputy general was presenting a military formation plan. Suddenly, Baihu leaped into the middle of the mock battlefield. "Hey! Where did this cat come from?" exclaimed the deputy general in surprise, mirroring the shock on everyone else’s faces, dropping their jaw. Baihu cast a haughty glance at Yong Saiweihao and Wenlang before leaping out the window. "Meeting adjourned." Yong Saiweihao quickly followed it, with Wenlang right behind him. The generals and commanders exchanged puzzled looks but quickly followed the two men once they came back to senses. Now, the soldiers saw a procession of high-ranking soldiers on horseback heading toward the foothills. "Where are the general and Taizi heading so urgently? Has something happened?" "How should I know? I’m here with you. Look, even the deputy generals are following. Maybe it’s something serious." "Should we follow them?" "We’re on duty. If you want to face military punishment, go ahead and follow them." "I just want to know what’s happening over there." "Go on, then, and let me know afterward. I’ll look after you once you come out of jail after being punished." "N... Never mind," the soldier gave up the idea. Yong Saiweihao, Wenlang, generals and deputy generals hurried to the small stream where Zhenzhu stood. Upon arrival, Yong Saiweihao saw the guiding soldier lying motionless nearby. He quickly dismounted and rushed to the worried-looking girl by the water. "A’Zhu, are you okay?" he asked. "Brother Hao! I’ve found the dark character!" Zhenzhu reported eagerly. "A’Zhu, did you say you’ve found the dark character?" Wenlang, arriving just in time to hear, asked excitedly. "Yes, it’s under the stream. Xiao She brought it up once, but its energy was so intense that this soldier couldn’t withstand it and coughed up blood. I’ve provided first aid. Brother Lang, please have someone take him to rest," Zhenzhu pointed to the soldier before explaining. Wenlang then instructed the guards to take the unfortunate soldier to rest. "You said it was under this stream? Why couldn’t I sense anything?" Yong Saiweihao asked. He had once inspected this area before but hadn’t detected any abnormalities. "There is likely a Concealment Character here. When I first came here, I couldn’t sense any power of the character. Fortunately, Baihu and Xiao She were with me; they can see through the Concealment Character. Such a character not only conceal visually just like its name but also mask the power of the character if the inscriber has a very high tier of spirit energy. I suspect the person who inscribed these characters has a higher tier of spirit energy than mine," Zhenzhu reported, indicating that this enemy was hard to conquer. She couldn’t tell if the inscription master was still among the soldiers or had left the camp. Baihu, who had discovered the dark character, stood proudly, as if he were the great benefactor of the Yan army. "A’Zhu, can you bring it up from the water?" Wenlang asked. "Yes, but the power of the dark character is very strong," Zhenzhu said, glancing at the deputy generals and commanders. They were deputy generals and commanders with presumably strong spirit energy. If she had Xiao She brought the thing up, she hoped they could remain safe without coughing blood like the soldier had. "Bring it up," Yong Saiweihao said. "Yes." Zhenzhu turned to Xiao She, asking him to bring it up again. Xiao She grew slightly larger before slithering into the water. "Hey! It’s a beast!" exclaimed one of the deputy generals out of shock upon seeing Xiao She transform. This lady even has a beast as a pet. Was the white cat that had leaped into the meeting also a beast? Xiao She returned shortly after slithering into the water, bringing back a black stone in its mouth. As soon as he dropped it on the ground, the atmosphere grew heavy. The oppressive energy made it hard for them to breathe, and the generals and commanders had to channel their spirit energy to avoid collapsing. Some commanders couldn’t withstand it and fell to the ground. "It’s known that soldiers patrol here every six hours. I believe those soldiers stop to drink from this stream to quench their thirst, which is why soldiers fall ill every day. It was because they drink from here." Zhenzhu deduced. The soldier had told her that patrols regularly passed through here. The water in this stream had not been taken for uses or drink, making it an inconspicuous spot for hiding the dark character. Yong Saiweihao’s face grew more worried. Did that mean the water flowing downstream was contaminated with the power of the dark character? The water from this stream would flow down the big river which was the army’s water supply. "It might be undetectable because the power of the character is profound. Soldiers on patrol here ingest concentrated power of the character, making them sicker than those drinking downstream. If we continue using the river’s water, the whole army might fall ill soon.” Yong Saiweihao’s face grew heavier with concern after hearing her words. "So, if we remove this stone, will the water be purified?" Wenlang asked anxiously. Did the enemy intend to destroy the whole army of Yan Region? "The water won’t be purified. The power of the dark character wasn’t inscribed on this stone but rather on the area around here. To remove the dark character, you’d have to dig up the entire hill and move it elsewhere. This stone is merely a decoy for fools," Baihu answered. Zhenzhu’s eyes widened in shock upon hearing this. "So, what should we do?" "The other way is to remove the character," Baihu said. Zhenzhu’s face turned pale upon listening. They had found the source of the dark character, but it was the extremely powerful power of the character. The only way to eradicate the power of the dark character was to destroy it. "A’Zhu, what do you think?" Wenlang asked again, seeing the girl suddenly turn pale. "Even if we remove the stone from the water, it won’t solve the problem. The only way is to remove the character so the power of the character would be gone.” At this moment, Yong Saiweihao, Wenlang, the generals and commanders all wore worried expressions. "Call an emergency meeting with all the generals, commanders, cooks, launderers, and all camp workers. Everyone should gather at the training ground in an hour." An hour later, everyone involved with water usage in the army gathered for an urgent meeting, including those who disposed of waste. The generals, deputy generals, and commanders were tasked with disseminating the news to their subordinates. The Young General quickly addressed the immediate crisis by sending fast horses to fetch water from other rivers. The method was storing the water barrels in dimensional rings to bring them back to the camp. The Yan army, if excluded the troops from various cities, numbered in millions, necessitating a large amount of water. Zhenzhu recognized that this was the true crisis of the region. She generously lent five of her own dimensional rings to Brother Hao. "Brother Hao, these are my dimensional rings. I have 5 left. I don’t use it. You can use them, Brother Hao. I let you borrow.” "Will you charge me?" "No, just take them," Zhenzhu clicked her tongue. Did he really think she was that money-minded? If you want to spend money, you can buy something from my family business later after the crisis is over. News about the dark character inscribed object under the stream spread quickly, making soldiers avoid the river completely. They had to adjust their behavior and conserve water. "The supply unit has only allocated 500 barrels of drinking water for our division. We need to ration it carefully," one commander told his men during a meeting about drinking water allocation. "For now, let’s conserve as much as we can. Once the inscription master removed the character, things should improve." "Understood, commander." Their hopes now rested on the royal court’s inscription masters and Lady He Zhenzhu. They prayed for a swift removal of the dark character. Meanwhile, Zhenzhu and several royal inscription masters were intensely focused on removing the character. They couldn’t solve the problem yet because they had no character patterns to study, relying only on the emitted power of the character. The area around the stream was cordoned off as a dangerous zone. Yong Saiweihao ordered the soldiers to set up a tent to serve as a consultation space for the inscription masters. Inside the tent, the atmosphere was tense. Zhenzhu and several inscription masters were working tirelessly to remove the dark character, but despite their efforts, they couldn’t succeed. This was because they couldn’t decipher the character patterns from the power of the character. Generally, when dealing with unknown characters, inscription masters would sense the power of the character emitted from the object since each type of power of the character has a unique aura and characteristics. They would use the method of tracing from its tail to find its head, and upon finding the character pattern which was like a head, they would then know what kind of character it was and be able to remove it. However, this task was proving to be the most difficult they had ever faced because the power of the character was the power of the dark character, and no one had any experience or expertise in handling dark characters. "Lady He, with just the power of the character, I’m at a loss as well," Qingxin said humbly. Although he was an inscription master that held a position as a noble serving in royal court, he couldn’t underestimate Lady He’s abilities. She had managed to locate the dark character object and was a silver-tier inscription master, so he had to show her considerable respect. Among them, besides Lady He, the only person they could rely on was Master Yue, a gold-tier inscription master. "Master Yue, do you have any solutions?" Even the royal inscription masters couldn’t solve the problem, so how could she? She was just a novice inscription master who had learned through self-study from books. How could she compete with inscription masters who had received proper training and guidance from the instructors? Master Yue closed his eyes in deep thought, his silver beard swaying gently in the breeze. "The only way to find the character pattern is to trace it from the emitted power of the character. There is no other way," the old man said, equally at a loss. If it were regular power of the character, they could have guessed it from the aura and compared it with character manuscripts. But this was the power of the dark character, which they were unfamiliar with, so how could they easily trace? The small, jet-black stone placed by the stream had numerous inscription masters taking turns to sense it. However, they could only endure its energy for a short while as the intense and oppressive power of the character made it hard to breathe. Still, no one had been able to decipher the character pattern. Days passed with no progress. They couldn’t study the energy for long as their bodies couldn’t withstand the intense power of the character. Only Zhenzhu, protected by the dragon blood amber, could endure the stone’s energy longer than the others. However, even she couldn’t decipher the character pattern. Today was like every other day. She woke up early. Last night, she couldn’t fall asleep until the yin period and had only a short rest before rushing back here to sense the power of the dark character. She was determined to unravel it completely! The young girl’s eyes were bloodshot, veins visible across the whites, indicating her lack of rest and intense dedication to this mission. The more difficult it became to solve, the more her desire to conquer it grew. How could she not overcome this? Zhenzhu sat in front of the black stone. Even though the dragon blood amber could protect her, the feeling of pressure and discomfort from the energy still lingered. She was curious about how high the tier the person who inscribed these characters was. "White tier," Baihu’s lazy voice remarked. He lay sprawled by the stream, seemingly unaffected by the oppressive power of the dark character. "White tier?!" Zhenzhu’s eyes widened in shock, and the veins in her eyes became even more prominent. "What should we do, Baihu?" Zhenzhu asked, feeling discouraged. Was there any way to decipher the character pattern other than relying on sensing the energy? "This is the only method but given the two-tier difference between your power and that of the inscriber, the chances of you exposing the person are very slim," Baihu reiterated Zhenzhu’s lower status for her to hear. Hearing this, the young girl’s face fell. The gap between silver and white tiers was vast. Should she return to train her spirit energy to quickly reach the gold tier? But how could that be possible now? Her spirit energy was only at 458 channels, and it would be a long time before she could reach the gold tier. Moreover, high-tier spirit energy cultivating was extremely slow. How could Yan Region’s army afford to wait that long? ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀᴛ 𝓷𝓸𝓿𝓮𝓵※𝓯𝓲𝓻𝓮※𝓷𝓮𝓽 Zhenzhu pulled at her hair, making it a tangled mess, just like a big nest of a bird. "Baihu, Baihu. Xiao She, Xiao She. What should we do? What should we do?" she repeated over and over. However, she refused to give up. Zhenzhu placed her hand back on the stone. This time she focused her mind. There must be a moment when she could grasp its tail. Suddenly, a complex character pattern flashed in her mind but disappeared in an instant. Zhenzhu’s eyes widened with excitement. Read ‘Rebirth: This Farmgirl Has Spirit Fish Scales’ before anyone else with more Chapters at https://www.jinovel.com/en