It was said that Hu Third Great-Grandfather had an extremely nasty disposition and loved nothing more than playing tricks on others. He was especially fond of making people play "choose one of two."
From rewards of priceless natural treasures to something as small as an ordinary meal, he always worked some bewildering twist into the choice.
For instance, if you worked for him, you deserved a reward.
He would set a stone giving off mysterious spiritual energy and a seemingly unremarkable feather before you, letting you choose one.
Moreover, there was almost never any standard right answer to these choices.
If you happily chose the stone with spiritual energy, you might well discover after taking it home that its surface had merely happened to pick up a little spiritual liquid, which was why it gave off spiritual energy. The stone itself was nothing but an ordinary rock from the roadside.
Worse still, it might be a stinking stone casually pried out of some privy, leaving you nauseated for days.
Of course, it was also possible that, after taking the stone home and carefully nurturing it for a while, you would be delighted to discover that it was not a stone at all, but a spirit beast egg brimming with powerful vitality.
Once it hatched, you would have a loyal pet beast with considerable fighting strength.
Even then, however, you still could not rest completely easy, because the spiritual resources needed to feed the beast after it hatched might be enough to bankrupt you.
Perhaps some people would learn their lesson and do the opposite, choosing the seemingly worthless feather.
In that case, after taking it home, you would most likely discover that the feather really was just an ordinary, unremarkable feather, leaving you with nothing but false hope.
Yet sometimes,