Chapter 2113 — Not a Hard Question
The Blossom Guardian · Page 1 of 2
"From here on, all the Hidden Han family needs to do is rest, recover, and devote yourselves to cultivation. Since you have money, stay out of those money-making ventures the hidden families run!" Wei Zhao said. "I will help you step by step as well, though I fear I cannot be of much use for the moment. Once your Han family produces several experts at the peak of the late Earth Rank, your position among the hidden families will be secure. And if by some stroke of fortune one of you breaks through to the Heaven Rank, who is to say you might not become the leader of the hidden families?"
Han Xiaohu nodded and fell into thought.
"As for the materials for the Qi Gathering Pill—gather as many more portions as you can," Wei Zhao said.
"Understood!" Han Xiaohu had no idea what Wei Zhao wanted with so much Qi Gathering Pill material, but the fate of the Hidden Han family had, over the course of this summit, become bound to Wei Zhao. Only if Wei Zhao grew stronger would the Hidden Han family rise with him.
They arrived at the Zhao family's council hall. Following the usual procedure, they registered the names of the contestants and their wagers. When the others saw that the Hidden Han family had again put forward Wei Zhao's name, they were not surprised—they had gradually grown numb to it.
"This contest is a test of identifying poisons!" Old Master Zhao waited until everyone had finished registering and taken their seats, then spoke slowly. "The rules are simple. We have here one hundred poisons made from all manner of venomous insects and toxic herbs, loaded into the computer's poison-mixing machine. The machine will randomly draw ten of these hundred poisons and combine them into a new poison. The mixture is random, and every draw is different, which rules out any chance of cheating by memorizing the formulas in advance! Once the poison is made, everyone will draw lots to select one of the prepared poisons and identify it within the allotted time. Whichever contestant correctly identifies the most poisons wins! Naturally, the answer sheet may list up to ten poisons. If anyone tries to hedge by listing a whole pile of names, anything over ten counts as an automatic forfeit!"
"That does not seem right," Han Xiaohu objected again.
"What is your objection now?" Old Master Zhao glared at Han Xiaohu in irritation. Was there anyone who found more fault than this one?
"Your rules have a loophole. If several contestants all get everything right, how do you decide the winner?" Han Xiaohu was a clever fellow, and he made a specialty of sniffing out loopholes in rules.
"Everything right?" Old Master Zhao frowned. "Do you think that is possible?"
These venomous insects and toxic herbs were utterly bizarre and varied. Even the disciples of the Hidden Tang family and the Hidden You family might not identify them all correctly in so short a time; mistakes were likely. So even if one person identified everything correctly, it would be a fluke—how could there be several?
"What, then? How about this: if anyone else gets everything right, the same as our leader, then count it as our leader's victory. How does that sound?" Han Xiaohu asked.
"Before the contest has even begun, you already know Wei Zhao will win?" Old Master Zhao sneered. "I think your heads have been turned by your earlier victories. You suppose all the victories to come belong to your family?"
Wei Zhao's medical skill was formidable—that Old Master Zhao knew well. But however formidable, could it surpass that of people who had devoted themselves to this study?
"If several contestants get everything right, then the deciding factor shall be the time taken to identify," Old Master You added.
"Indeed. Does that answer your question?" Old Master Zhao nodded and asked.
"It does," Han Xiaohu said with satisfaction.