WangXian Forever Book 8

Chapter 54 Confounded

There was another box right in front of them.

Hui Gai glanced at the Grandmaster, who wore a mysterious smile.

"Do you know what's in there?" He asked her.

"I think you should pick that up and we can examine it when we are of appropriate size." She replied, somewhat mysteriously.

"So...you know something but you're not going to share." Hui Gai surmised. "Well, there's only one way to find out what's in that...just know, if you're going to play games, I'm very competitive. Just saying..." He grinned at her.

To his surprise, she beamed at him.

"Bring it, Demon."

"One day, you're gonna use my name..." Hui Gai repeated, picking up the box.

Immediately, he was suffused with an extraordinary power. It flooded through his system, momentarily stunning him. The force of it ran through his veins, electrifying  his whole body.

A white light clouded his vision and he had to close his eyes to shield them.

When he came to, they were back in the library, the Forbidden room to be exact. Zago was munching on another blue lollipop this time, having a stare-off with the Grandmaster, who wasn't looking away either.

"I'm alright, if anyone's interested." He muttered, sitting up.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm in the middle of something." Zago waved a hand in his direction.

He glanced at both of them and since neither looked ready to give up yet, he concentrated on the box.

The first thing he noted was that it was white.

And beautiful.

Celestial...almost because it had an inner glow...as if its contents were something precious. He wondered if the Celestial Immortal knew what was inside...because she certainly had an idea.

If so...then why wasn't she telling him?

Was it because that would make it too easy?

Was this another test?

He had a feeling he was right, especially when he glanced up and saw the secret smile on her face.

So he had to earn whatever was inside. And he suspected that the challenge wouldn't end there.

Therefore...whatever was inside was going to be something good...something just for him...given that the Grandmaster had not touched it...in fact, refused to.

And...she had brought them both back from the cavity within the foundations...so why hadn't she taken them down there in the first place? Why make him demonstrate his powers?

And all of that made sense in the context of whatever it contained.

She wanted him to do it. By himself.

There were strange markings on the outside...and as Hui Gai concentrated on whatever was inside, he could feel his instincts taking over. His dark fingers fluttered over the box, searching....for something.

At first the box looked impossibly smooth except for the engraved characters...and yet...something told him to keep looking, but not with his eyes. So he closed them, feeling the hardness of the wood, the way parts of it was smooth and as his fingers felt along the grooves of the surface...he discovered a part that seemed to dip. He pressed down and heard a satisfying click.

Hui Gai opened his eyes and watched as the mysterious box split apart by opening in levels that slid aside to reveal a black stick. It was smooth and about the size of his palm.

What an anticlimax!

He picked it up and felt a jolt of power run through his system.

But it fizzled out into nothing.

All of his adrenaline rushed out of his body and Hui Gai began laughing in disbelief.

He looked up to find both the other two staring at him now.

"Who won?" He asked, finding that more interesting.

"It was a draw." Zago replied, reluctantly, but her eyes held a measure of respect for the Grandmaster.

She was sucking on a red lollipop now so Hui Gai figured out it must have taken him a good few minutes to open the box...and as it turned out, contained nothing much.

"Do not hasten to dismiss that." Baoshan Sanren said, with grudging approval.

"If I knew what it was...I might feel differently." He said, testily.

The truth was, Hui Gai felt quite disappointed.

The tiny stick fit in the palm of his hand quite comfortably but while he could feel a sparkle of power running through it...it seemed as if the stick was...waiting for him?

"What is it?" He asked, finally, thoroughly fed up.

Zago grinned at him and threw him a yellow lollipop.

Hui Gai threw it back, making a face.

Zago shrugged and put it away.

"I need to report back to the Celestial Warriors." The Grandmaster said, cryptically.

She looked at both of the demons.

"I must admit...it has been...refreshing to work with you. I am...looking forward to...more." All of her words seemed to be said with much reluctance, making Hui Gai laugh again.

"But...you haven't explained about this!" Hui Gai held up the black stick.

"Do I need to? And where's the fun in that?" She grinned. "I can tell you that you have to do something to activate it. A favour for a favour."

When Hui Gai looked puzzled, she spoke.

"You are keeping my secret from my grandson. Consider us no longer in debt." She inclined her head ever so slightly.

It was almost a bow.

"It was for free." Hui Gai told her. "It's not my secret to tell, and besides...I thought there was no debt between family." He did bow towards her, out of respect. "But I do have a question..."

"What do you want to know?" She inquired, looking so much like Wei Ying, that Hui Gai immediately felt a pang in his heart, missing his friend so much, it hurt.

"Why don't you want him to know?"

She barked out a laugh.

"Do you even know my grandson?" She laughed again, as if it was really funny that Hui Gai had no idea why. She wiped the tears from her purple eyes, still shining in mirth. "Do you know what goes on in that head of his? He's one percent genius and ninety-nine percent thinking about his husband, how beautiful he is, how good he is, how no one's better, and how lucky he is...yada, yada, yada....and don't get me started on his fantasies..." She made a disgusted face. "Some things are best kept to himself. And I've learned my lesson."

She waved her wand and vanished in flurry of silver sparks.