"What strange event?" Xue Qing and Situ Ping asked simultaneously.
Yanming Hermit continued: "When the four of us climbed to the mountain top with food and wine in hand, it was morning, and the sun had just risen. As we approached the only big pine tree on the peak, we discovered someone had already occupied that spot."
"It was an old beggar with white hair and beard, a ruddy complexion, and an appearance of a Daoist priest. He was lying diagonally on a stone slab under the tree, bathed in the light of the rising sun, looking like an immortal." Yanming Hermit squinted his eyes and spoke slowly, as if recalling the past.
"But his clothes were tattered, obviously a beggar. We initially thought he might be an elder from the Beggar's Gang, but he didn't have a cloth bag on his back. The old beggar saw us approaching and asked, 'Do you know martial arts?' We all nodded, and then he asked again, 'Do you have wine and meat?' We nodded again. He said, 'Bring them here.' I was holding the wine and food at the time, and somehow, I listened to him and handed them all over to him. His eyes lit up when he saw the wine and food, no less than the sunlight shining on him."
"The old beggar took our wine and food without any politeness, eating and drinking ravenously. Strangely enough, the four of us just stood there watching him eat and drink until he finished all the wine and food. He wiped his mouth and said, 'Good wine, good meat, a worthwhile life.' Then he said to me, 'You, not bad,' and to the other three, 'You are also not bad.'"
"Then, the old beggar took out a piece of hide from his bosom, tore it into four pieces with his bare hands, and casually gave each of us a piece. After catching my bit, I was about to unfold it when the old beggar took out a small booklet from his chest and threw it at us. After doing all this, he lay back down on the stone and closed his eyes, ignoring us. The few of us were utterly confused, so we opened the hide in our hands, examined it closely, and found it to be the same as what you are holding now. We were still puzzled, so I opened the small booklet. The more I read, the more shocked and excited I became. Everyone else saw my excitement and knew that we had stumbled upon good fortune. When I finished reading, your teachers also read it in turn, and we finally realized we had picked up a treasure."
"According to the booklet, the hide is a treasure map left by a swordsman named Qu Da three hundred years ago. The treasure is hidden in the Sour Date Grove in front of us. Qu Da obtained this treasure map and found the sword manual and medicine here. He then practiced his swordsmanship in seclusion here for more than a decade, becoming a great hero in the Rivers and Gardens. After achieving great success in martial arts, Qu Da did not take the sword manual and medicine with him but left them here for someone of destiny from a later generation. The booklet also explains how to use the hide and when to enter the treasure hiding place. Frankly, the four of us were boiling with excitement, wanting to find the treasure immediately. But after checking the time, we realized that the opportunity to enter would only come on the 15th of the first lunar month every year. This realization calmed us down."
Yanming Hermit glanced at the fading darkness and went on: "To be honest, when we saw this huge pie falling into our laps, we were dizzy at first. When we sobered up, we felt it too incredible. However, the old beggar was still lying on the stone, so we waited with all our nagging doubts for him to wake up. But we soon found out that the old beggar was not sleeping; he was not breathing. We all went up and checked, he was indeed dead. So we gave him a good burial and then discussed the treasure hunt. Since it was still a long way from the 15th of the first lunar month, we each returned to our sects to verify the authenticity of this treasure and carefully plan the details of the treasure hunt. We also agreed on the time and place for our next meeting."
"When we met again, we all brought information we had collected separately. It turned out that three hundred years ago, there appeared a one-armed swordsman in the Rivers and Gardens named Qu Da, who was exceptionally skilled in martial arts and acted righteously. At that time, there were often stories of him fighting evil and protecting the good, but no one knew where he came from. People tried their best to find out about his background and sect, but it was all in vain. Qu Da never competed with anyone, claiming that his sword skills were all killing moves that could not be used for friendly contests. Furthermore, he was not interested in fame. Though his martial arts skills were high, no one could compare him to the top-ranked figures in the Rivers and Gardens. However, according to Daoist Qing Mao, who was considered the number one martial artist at the time, after witnessing Qu Da's swordsmanship, he felt that he couldn't compare to Qu Da's resolute, instant-kill sword intent. This statement caused an uproar, and no one dared to provoke Qu Da even more."
"Nevertheless, people seeking fame entangled Qu Da, asking for competitions. Qu Da avoided them all until one time; he happened to come upon the second-highest evil martial artist massacring a village. Out of righteous indignation, he drew his sword and killed the evil martial artist. After that, peace returned to his side, and no one dared to seek death again. The place where Qu Da lived, Cloudy City, was also known as Pingyang City three hundred years ago. Local bullies were too scared to cause any trouble."
"Actually, what we were most envious of was not his martial arts skills or the sword manual - only those at Sword Peak would be truly envious of that." Yanming Hermit laughed and said to Ma Xiangyang. "We found out that this Qu Da lived to be 120 years old.""Ah~" The six young people listening to the story all cried out in surprise.
People in Rivers and Gardens are not like ordinary people; they live their whole lives on the edge of a knife, inevitably suffering internal and external injuries. Although it may not be a big problem when they are young, these issues can cause serious trouble during old age. Unless one has profound inner strength, few people can live over eighty years old. Thus, Qu Da living to one hundred and twenty is indeed a miracle.
At this time, the eyes of the young people also shone with excitement, all wondering if they could find life-extending medicines in the dense forest. In fact, their attitude towards the secret manual is mostly the same – they haven't even finished practicing their own sect's martial arts yet, how could they have time to practice others'? Besides, even the most advanced martial arts would still require time and hard work to accumulate, right? The present company is not young, and their meridians are already set, so it would inevitably be doubly hard to practice; who would be foolish enough to attempt that? It's better to gain some personal benefits, like living an extra ten years. This would be much better than any ultimate martial arts. Of course, if there was an ultimate swordsmanship that could be brought back to improve their sect, that would also contribute to the development of the sect and earn their names a place in history. As they thought, it seemed as if they could see each other's drooling expressions.
Yanming Hermit saw the expressions of these juniors and smiled knowingly, then continued: "So the four of us discussed treasure hunting and treasure taking matters, and according to our respective power, we assigned different personnel to search for similar terrain. Heaven rewards those who work hard; as early as two months ago, we finally found this Stone Man Peak. In the end, according to our agreement beforehand, in order not to attract the attention of other sects, they stayed within their sects and only sent outstanding second-generation disciples to come, not even sending candidates like the sect leader's top disciple who might draw attention from others. I, a manor master without founding a sect, led people from various sects to retrieve the treasure."
Then, he added, "Of course, you are all reliable choices from your sects, the confidants of your sect leaders. We discussed it beforehand that if you have any adventures on your own in the treasure hiding place, it all belongs to you." Upon hearing this, their expressions soared, and they finally understood why their masters had sent them rather than other people. Yanming Hermit went on: "Now, let's talk about the most important thing, the allocation of treasures." As soon as the others heard this, their faces tensed, listening carefully "If the treasures can be evenly distributed, do so. If there are discrepancies, distribute what can be evenly shared, and for the remaining, how do you think it should be divided?"
The group was stunned, feeling incredulous; Yanming Hermit seemed quite humorous, challenging the juniors with witty questions at this moment. It was no wonder their masters had allowed him to lead a group of juniors alone. Wen Wenhai touched his nose and said, "Hermit, people in Rivers and Gardens have their own rules. We should use our martial skills to decide." The others also agreed. Yanming Hermit mysteriously said, "Your masters also said the same thing, initially suggesting a sword competition. However, aside from Sword Peak, no one else agreed. Then they suggested boxing, which was similarly opposed by everyone aside from the Piaomiao Sect, and leg-based techniques were met with the same response. So they said that they should have three rounds, each ending when someone scores a hit with the winner being selected after two rounds. However, how could people from Rivers and Gardens control their matches so well? They also worried about your safety, as you are all direct disciples or relatives, so they argued back and forth on the matter, until I came up with an idea and settled it in one sentence. What do you think the solution was?"
Everyone looked at each other, and no matter how they guessed, they couldn't figure it out. Yanming Hermit stood aside, encouraging them. In the end, Xue Qing blushed and stammered: "Senior… could it be rock, paper, scissors?" After saying this, her face turned red as if blood was about to drip from it. Yanming Hermit said in surprise, "Heroine Xue's Linglong Heart Aperture is so sharp that she guesses without even the slightest mistake." Everyone was astonished, and only Wen Wenhai had a strange look on his face.
Everyone looked with "admiration" at the gaunt-faced elder who looked like an old scholar. They couldn't help but feel a sense of affection, and muttered to themselves: "How could there be such a huge difference when comparing people? Our masters are always serious-faced every day; where is their elegance?"
Just as they were all secretly criticizing their masters, Yanming Hermit glanced at the sunrise on the horizon, slapped his forehead, and said; "Quick, go to the edge of the woods and try not to miss the Two Hours."
After speaking, he took the lead and ran to the edge of the woods.
At this moment, just as the rising sun peeked over the mountains, a shadow swept across the forest at lightning speed, passing between two trees at the edge of the woods and swiftly retreating towards Stone Man Peak.