The Three Kingdoms: The entire Cao Cao camp thought I was weak and frail.

Inside Liu Shi's mansion, everyone was filled with unease.

Liu Shi kicked open the door with a bang and roared into the yard, "What's going on! Go see! Which beast is barking! Kill it!"

Before the guards could receive their orders, the rooster crowed again, this time seemingly coming from another direction, elusive and impossible to pinpoint. Meanwhile, the barking of dogs throughout the city blended into a chorus, as if all the dogs in the city were howling.

On the hilltop, Cao Hong listened to the commotion emanating from the city, his mouth agape, wide enough to fit an egg. He stared dumbfounded at the composed Xun Hao beside him, stammering, "Yan...Yan Ruo...this...this was also arranged by you? How did you manage that? Can you really command the chickens and dogs of the city?"

Xun Hao finally opened his eyes, a hint of a smile appearing in his usually cold gaze. Looking at Cao Hong's naive and unsophisticated expression, he deliberately kept him in suspense: "It's a secret of heaven, not to be revealed."

"No!" Cao Hong cried out anxiously. He moved closer to Xun Hao, grabbed his arm, and shook it. "Good brother, just tell me! I promise I won't tell anyone! This trick is amazing!"

Xun Hao felt a little dizzy from being shaken, and helplessly pushed him away: "Want to know?"

Cao Hong nodded like a chick pecking at rice.

"It's not impossible," Xun Hao said slowly. "If you agree to three conditions, I'll tell you."

"Three conditions? Don't even mention three, I'll take thirty!" Cao Hong patted his chest and readily agreed.

Xun Hao's smile deepened: "In this world, there is a kind of extraordinary person who is good at imitating the sounds of all things, which is called 'ventriloquism.' Gongda happens to have such a person among his men in the city. I just need to arrange a time with him in advance and have him imitate a few rooster crows near Liu Shi's residence on time."

"As for the barking..." Xun Hao paused, "Dogs are easily startled. If one barks, the ones nearby will hear it and bark too. One tells ten, ten tell a hundred, and naturally the sound will echo throughout the whole city."

After he finished speaking, Cao Hong stood there stunned, taking a long time to process what he had just heard. So… it was that simple?

Feeling mocked, Cao Hong was both angry and amused: "You...you brat! With such a pathetic method, you dare to ask me for three conditions!"

"General Zilian agreed to it personally." Xun Hao stood up leisurely, brushing the straw off his cloak. "A gentleman's word is as good as his bond. I've remembered these three conditions."

Cao Hong was furious at his smug, self-satisfied expression, but there was nothing he could do. After all, he had agreed so readily.

The first night's "divine retribution" had an unexpectedly good effect.

As dawn broke, Xun You's spies in the city spread the news. Liu Shi hadn't slept all night and summoned the city's famous sorcerers and diviners early in the morning. They performed rituals and divinations in the mansion, while the Yellow Turban soldiers in the city were filled with fear. They gathered in small groups to discuss the strange phenomena of the previous night, and many of them had fear on their faces.

Upon hearing the scout's report, Cao Hong rubbed his hands excitedly: "Yanruo, your trick really worked! Liu Shi is practically going crazy! Shall we try it again tonight?"

"No rush." ​​Xun Hao was writing something on a simple wooden table. "Psychological pressure should be applied layer by layer, not statically."

He handed the note he had written to Cao Hong. It contained only a few words: "At Hai hour, the commander's flag was broken."

Cao Hong was puzzled: "The wind will be strong at Hai hour (9-11 PM), and the flagpole might break, but how can the time be calculated so precisely? What if the wind isn't strong enough and the flagpole doesn't break? Wouldn't our 'divine oracle' become a joke?"

Xun Hao glanced at him and slowly held up three fingers: "Want to know? Agree to three more conditions."

"You—" Cao Hong nearly choked on his breath. He pointed at Xun Hao, stammered for a long time, and finally flung his hand away in frustration, "I'm not doing this business! Who knows what kind of bad scheme you're plotting this time!"

He finally understood that when dealing with this kid, you can't gain the upper hand verbally, or you'll have to pay him back with interest later.

Xun Hao did not force him, withdrew his hand, and turned his gaze back to the direction of Shanyang City.

He is certainly not a god, but he can indeed predict the future.

He had already used the "Legacy Plan" to deduce that the flagpole of the general's flag in Shanyang City had developed fine cracks at its base due to days of wind and rain.

Tonight at 9 PM, there will be a strong gust of wind in this area, strong enough to break it.

This was the will of Heaven, and what he had to do was turn this will of Heaven into the last straw that broke Liu Shi's back.

In order to give Liu Shi no time to react and reinforce the flagpole, he deliberately timed the release of the prayer lanterns precisely.

After Liu Shi saw the "divine oracle," he had no time to take an effective response.

"Pass down the order," Xun Hao's voice was exceptionally clear in the night wind, "Prepare to release the lanterns."

Although Cao Hong had some doubts, military orders were paramount, so he immediately went to make arrangements.

A moment later, hundreds more "prayer lanterns" swayed and rose into the air, carrying new prophecies, drifting towards the city that was already a frightened bird.

Inside Shanyang City, Liu Shi was pacing anxiously in the hall.

The strange phenomena of the previous night had unsettled him, and his eyelids had been twitching all day. When his personal guards, their faces deathly pale, presented him again with a lantern that had fallen to the ground, he snatched it away. The prophecy on it read: "Heaven's will cannot be defied; the flag breaks at the hour of Hai (9-11 PM); divine punishment is imminent; you shall be the sacrifice!"

He suddenly looked up at the tall flag standing in the courtyard, which fluttered in the night wind.

"Snap—"

With a clear, teeth-grinding snapping sound, the flagpole broke.

The large banner embroidered with the character "Liu" collapsed with a crash, smashing heavily onto the bluestone slabs of the courtyard, kicking up a cloud of dust.

Liu Shi witnessed this scene firsthand. He felt his legs go weak and he collapsed to the ground, his face ashen.

Human strength has its limits, but how can we resist such unpredictable divine intervention? First came the rooster crowing at midnight, then the commander's flag snapped – this "divine retribution" is real!

The scouts reported that Liu Shi had locked himself in his room and was not seeing anyone, only having a shaman chant incantations and prayers outside the door.

"Yanruo, what's the next step?" Cao Hong had completely become Xun Hao's "little fanboy," and he had to ask for his opinion on everything first.

On the third day, Xun Hao used the same trick again, having his spies put quicklime into the wells in the city. This quicklime had been burned by Tao Sheng while he was firing the kiln, and it came in handy.

At noon, people came to draw water, and they saw that the well water was boiling, bubbling with white bubbles and emitting a scorching heat.

"The well water is boiling! The Dragon King is furious!"

The people were terrified and knelt by the well, kowtowing repeatedly.