After surveying the hall, everyone turned their eyes to the four Brocade Boxes on the table and the flat box on the long table. Everyone knew that these contained the focus of this mission—the treasures of this Secret Realm.
Still, everyone harbored doubts. By sheer coincidence, four factions had come this time, and there happened to be four Brocade Boxes on the table. If one faction had gotten lost in the dense forest earlier, or if only three factions had come, would there have been one fewer box on the table? These were merely passing thoughts. The boxes had sat here for over three hundred years; how could they suddenly vanish or suddenly appear?
Hermit Yanming remained as cautious as ever. He walked before the square table but did not rush to take the boxes. Instead, he carefully inspected everything in front, behind, left, and right. Holding a dagger, he first knocked about on the chairs, even flicking the meditation cushions onto the floor. Then he used the dagger to shift the Brocade Boxes from their positions, yet found no reaction. Still unconvinced, he went to the wall on his right and lifted the three paintings one by one, finding no mechanisms there either. Only then did he return to the table and say, "It seems there are no mechanisms here. What do you all think?"
Ever since entering the Secret Realm, the others had followed Hermit Yanming closely. Once they reached the hall, they had stood still, scarcely daring to move. There had always been tales in the martial world of formations, but by their era, formations had long become legend. There were occasionally a few so-called formation masters, but they were masters only in name. No one had ever heard of a formation expert using a few bamboo slips and stones to lay a formation and trap someone within it, much less creating a grand formation from an entire forest of wild jujube trees. This was plainly a grand undertaking from centuries ago. Everyone had long been shaken to the core and had obediently followed their masters' instructions, looking to Hermit Yanming as the horse's head to follow. Now that he asked for opinions, how could they possibly raise objections? They merely nodded in agreement.
Hermit Yanming was quite pleased with their attitude. Chuckling, he said, "The martial world is an unfathomable place. A little more caution is always good. You should all look around as well and see whether there are any other mechanisms in the hall. That too may be your opportunity. If you gain anything, it will be to your benefit."
Everyone exchanged glances and dispersed to inspect the hall. They too had misgivings. Could Hermit Yanming be plotting something? Switching the Brocade Boxes? But the hall was only so large; any movement would be plainly visible to all, so there was no fear of him making a move. Perhaps the senior truly meant to look after the juniors. In any case, there was no harm in looking around.
Sure enough, before long, everyone had finished searching without finding anything at all. It seemed the treasures in the hall were these few boxes.
Seeing everyone return, Hermit Yanming cleared his throat and said, "According to our previous agreement, each of our four factions may choose one Brocade Box. Though Gang Leader Situ belongs to the Fierce Tiger Gang, she should count as belonging to Young Hero Ma's faction, not as a separate faction. Does Gang Leader Situ have any objections?"
Situ Ping replied calmly, "I have no objections."
Indeed, how could she dare object? Her life had just been saved by others.
Hermit Yanming continued, "Then we shall take the boxes according to the order in which we held the hides, following the map's order from left to right and top to bottom. What each person obtains will be left to fate." With that, he stepped to one side of the table.
By that order, the Misty Sect should have been first to take a box. Wen Wenhai pondered for a moment, then stepped forward and carefully examined the four Brocade Boxes. They were identical, with no visible differences. All were covered by a layer of dust, clearly having sat there for a long time. After thinking for a while, he chose the second from the left. Just as he was about to open it and see what was inside, Hermit Yanming stopped him. "There must be treasures inside the boxes, and there are exactly four—one for each person, so everyone has gained something. But the contents may not necessarily be the same; there may be differences. If everyone knows what the others have received, they may inevitably grow greedy, like one who has gained Long but still gazes toward Shu. Why not keep things mysterious and refrain from opening the Brocade Boxes here? We can make further plans after leaving this place. What do you think?"
Everyone nodded in agreement. Wen Wenhai tucked the Brocade Box into his robes and stepped back.
Next came Ma Xiangyang of Ten Thousand Sword Peak, then Hermit Yanming, and finally Tan Wu stepped forward to take the last Brocade Box. No one inspected theirs, merely placing them in their robes.
Once the distribution was settled, everyone's gaze shifted to the flat box at the far end of the long table.
Hermit Yanming walked to the far end of the long table and picked up the box. It felt hard and rather heavy in his hand. On close inspection, it seemed to have been carved from an entire block of stone. It appeared to be meant for holding treasure, but why had it not been placed on the table, instead being tossed at the other end of the long table?
Hermit Yanming returned to the table and passed the box around for everyone to inspect. Then he set it on the table, looked quietly at the group, and said, "This is the only box left in the room, and there is no way to divide it evenly. Shall we follow what we discussed before and use rock paper scissors to decide who gets it?"
Everyone looked at one another, feeling the absurdity of it. Children of the martial world were actually going to use a child's game to decide such an important matter. Yet without this gentler method, faced with such coveted treasure, if blades and swords were drawn, who would hold back? Who could guarantee that someone would not become the fisherman reaping the profit?
They could only silently consent. At that moment, Ma Xiangyang spoke. "Senior, I have a suggestion."
With an unsurprised expression, Hermit Yanming said, "Young Hero Ma, please speak."
Ma Xiangyang said, "We have no objections to rock paper scissors. However, I have one small request: whoever obtains this box, I hope they will open it and let us see what is inside. What do you all think?"
Hermit Yanming considered it for a moment, then nodded in assent. The others shared the same thought. They would naturally learn the contents of their own treasures upon returning, but the item in this box might not be theirs. They had to see it for themselves.
Hermit Yanming then arranged the order for the game. It would still follow the order in which they had taken the Brocade Boxes: the Misty Sect against Ten Thousand Sword Peak in one match, and Hermit Yanming against the Tan Family in the other.
Wen Wenhai and Xue Qing of the Misty Sect exchanged a glance. Wen Wenhai nodded to Xue Qing with an encouraging smile, though his face was also filled with embarrassment. Xue Qing stepped forward to the square table. Only she knew why her senior brother looked so awkward. Anyone who had played this guessing game with her since childhood and lost from childhood all the way into adulthood would feel embarrassed whenever this guessing game was mentioned.
Ten Thousand Sword Peak had only Ma Xiangyang present. Naturally, he would not trust Situ Ping to come forward. In truth, even if he trusted her enough to let her play, Gang Leader Situ would not dare do so.
Seeing the two step forward, Hermit Yanming said, "The rules are simple: scissors beat paper, paper beats rock, and rock beats scissors. Before starting, we shall blindfold each person with a silk scarf. When I call one, two, three, everyone throws at the same time. Then the scarves will be removed, and we shall all see who wins and loses."
In the first round between Xue Qing and Ma Xiangyang, both threw scissors. In the second round, Xue Qing again threw scissors, while Ma Xiangyang threw paper. When Ma Xiangyang removed his gauze blindfold for the second time, he stepped back in regret.
Hermit Yanming and Tan Wen settled their match in a single round. Hermit Yanming threw rock, while Tan Wen threw scissors.
The final match was the crucial one. Hermit Yanming pondered for a moment, then gestured for Situ Ping to blindfold him and Xue Qing. After Ma Xiangyang counted to three, he threw scissors. Once the blindfolds were removed, he discovered that Xue Qing had also thrown scissors. They put the blindfolds back on. After thinking briefly, he again threw scissors once the count of three ended, only to find that his opponent had once more thrown scissors. He could not help but stare blankly. In truth, Hermit Yanming had proposed this game out of selfish motives. Since childhood, he had been skilled in all manner of miscellaneous arts—guessing games, gambling, and the like—and won more often than he lost. Yet because he had dabbled in too many things, his martial arts had never reached the summit. Now, at this critical moment, he discovered that his opponent was also an expert. His heart jolted, and he grew even more serious. But in the third round, Hermit Yanming threw paper, while Heroine Xue still threw scissors without the slightest change. As Hermit Yanming tore off his blindfold, he could not help sighing inwardly. He had spun a cocoon around himself. Had he known, it would have been better to settle this with martial arts.
Leaving aside Xue Qing's delighted expression, Wen Wenhai took the box and was about to open it when Hermit Yanming stopped him. "Wait. Put it on the table and use your sword from a distance to pry it open, in case there is a mechanism." Wen Wenhai obeyed, placing it on the table and prodding it several times with his sword tip, but he could not find the lid. He picked the box up again and inspected it closely, only then realizing that it was completely sealed. He exerted all his strength to pry it apart, but still could not open it. The others tried as well and failed. Hermit Yanming took out his dagger and attempted to pry it open, with no effect. At last, ignoring Wen Wenhai's stare entirely, he actually hacked at the box with his dagger, yet failed to leave even a mark.
At last, he understood why this box had been tossed so far away at one end of the long table.
He casually returned it to Wen Wenhai, who carefully tucked the box into his robes.
Seeing that there was nothing left in the hall, everyone's thoughts had long flown to the medicinal garden. Hermit Yanming led them there and said, "We were not sufficiently prepared, and we do not know whether we can carry away more medicinal herbs. I suggest that this time, we first take some mature medicinal herbs that can be preserved, dividing each kind into four portions, one for each faction. Matters such as seeds and transplantation can be discussed and decided by our four factions later. What do you think?"
Naturally, no one objected. Then, led by Hermit Yanming, they harvested the fields one by one, picking four portions of every mature Medicinal Herb and packing them into four bundles, one for each faction.
Only then did Hermit Yanming say to the group, "Since none of us has had the opportunity to gain anything for ourselves, we can only seek a little consolation here in the medicinal garden. What we gathered just now was for our respective sects. Next, each of us may pick only three kinds of mature medicinal herbs for personal use."
After saying that, Hermit Yanming led everyone through every herb field once more, gathering medicinal herbs according to each person's needs. In truth, the medicinal herbs everyone recognized were much the same—mostly several-hundred-year-old ginseng, He Shou Wu, Panax Notoginseng, mountain spirits, and similar things.
By the time they finished, the light in the Secret Realm had already grown dim. It was likely well past noon outside. Only then did everyone think about leaving. It had taken them a long time to enter; would they not be leaving at night? Hermit Yanming reassured them with a smile. "To leave, simply choose any direction and walk straight ahead. As long as you proceed in a straight line, you will get out. But judging by the sky, it is indeed time to depart. Let us leave now."
With that, everyone picked up their bundles and followed Hermit Yanming to find two jujube trees in the middle of the wild jujube forest. They walked straight ahead.
Yet none of them knew that just as they entered the wild jujube forest, a monster's head resembling that of a snake emerged from the lake, whose heat was terrifyingly high. It watched in the direction they had gone for a moment before sinking back beneath the water, leaving only ripples spreading across the lake's surface.