Chapter 1184: Bad Luck

Elder Fu Junrang said, "Sect Leader, by rights every Elder of Zijin Cave should be present for something like this. Shouldn't we summon everyone before deciding?"

"That's right!" Yin Yide and the others immediately echoed him.

Gong Lince understood exactly what they meant.

The Elders stationed outside in the various commanderies and prefectures were all his people. Put another way, the various regions were all under his control.

If they could send one of those men into the Sacred Realm, then a vacancy would appear in the region he had been overseeing, and someone from among the Elders here would inevitably have to be selected to fill it.

That was precisely what Gong Lince did not want to see. It would divide his real power.

He replied indifferently, "We were given three days, and one has already passed. By the time we send messages and wait for everyone to return for discussion, I'm afraid there won't be enough time."

Yuan An said, "Sect Leader, I suggest we hear the opinions of the venerable elders on this matter. Why not invite them here? As long as we settle on a candidate promptly, even if the Elder selected is currently away, there should still be time for him to make the journey to the Sacred Realm."

Fu Junrang nodded. "I think that is reasonable."

Gong Lince swept them with a glance.

How could he fail to understand what they were thinking?

They wanted to bring out the masters behind them and use those venerable elders to pressure him.

Then again, if these men had not all possessed powerful figures behind them, Gong Lince would long ago have cleaned out the entire Council Hall and replaced them all with his own people.

But the sect rules established by the founding patriarch had been created precisely to prevent one person from running wild and acting arbitrarily. To a certain extent, they also existed to restrain the Sect Leader's power.

At a time like this, Gong Lince directly invoked those rules. "According to sect law, anyone promoted to Supreme Elder may no longer enter the Council Hall and participate in sect decisions."

Yin Yide said, "They need not participate in the decision. There is no harm in hearing the older generation's opinion."

This matter was different from ordinary affairs.

By now everyone had roughly guessed what the Nine Saints intended.

Once they entered the Sacred Realm, whether they ultimately achieved what the Nine Saints wanted or not, they feared they would still find it difficult to escape disaster.

This was far more dangerous than the Tiandu Secret Realm.

It was not the sort of danger where fighting hard enough and doing one's utmost might win a path to survival.

Go there, and the final result would probably be death.

No one wanted to go.

Gong Lince said, "There is no need to make it so complicated. You all say you have difficulties. Even if the other Elders returned, problems would arise in the various commanderies and prefectures as well. They would say they had difficulties, that they were needed to hold their posts and could not leave."

"If everyone keeps doing that, we'll never reach a decision."

"I said already: the matter of the Sacred Realm must be settled today."

"To avoid anyone claiming I favor one person over another, I will favor no one. We will decide the candidate by drawing lots. Whoever draws the marked lot will go."

"This method is fair and impartial. We leave the result to Heaven. I doubt even the venerable elders could find anything to object to."

"Draw lots?" everyone murmured, looking at one another.

Mo Lingxue asked, "How does Sect Leader intend to conduct the draw?"

Gong Lince swept his gaze over the five Elders present, then turned his head. "Bring a bamboo cylinder and five chopsticks."

"Yes!" A disciple in the corner accepted the order and left.

A little later, the disciple returned with the cylinder and chopsticks.

Gong Lince did not take them. Instead, he lifted his chin. "Let the Elders inspect them."

The disciple stepped down and presented the items to the group.

The Elders were all somewhat reluctant, but Gong Lince had already carried the argument this far and produced a method that appeared fair and reasonable. Anyone who still refused would make it far too obvious that he simply did not want to enter the Sacred Realm.

One after another, they could only inspect the items.

And since they were inspecting them, they naturally did so carefully.

Some hoped to discover a mark. Others tried to memorize tiny differences between the chopsticks so they could choose accordingly during the draw.

But once the bamboo cylinder and chopsticks reached Gong Lince's hands, he flipped the cylinder upside down against his palm.

Snap!

One chopstick was inserted through the opening into the bottom.

Snap!

He took another from the disciple and inserted that one too.

One after another, all five chopsticks were pushed into the inverted cylinder.

Gong Lince displayed them for everyone to see.

Then he turned his back on the group.

Crack!

A moment later, he turned back around. In his other hand was the broken-off end of one chopstick.

His voice was heavy. "Five chopsticks. One has been broken. Whoever draws the shortest one will lead the group into the Sacred Realm and take over Elder Niu's duties as inspector."

The hall fell silent.

Those who had memorized tiny differences among the chopsticks were dumbfounded.

They had not expected the draw to work like this.

Half of each chopstick was hidden inside the bamboo cylinder. Remembering minor marks was useless. Even if the five protruding lengths were uneven, no one could tell anything from them.

Who could possibly know which one had been broken inside the cylinder?

"No one may use magical power to probe during the draw. Everyone will supervise everyone else." Gong Lince asked evenly, "Who will go first?"

For a long moment, no one answered.

Gong Lince slowly said, "Since no one is volunteering, I'll call names. Yan Li, you go first."

"Yes!" Yan Li answered and stepped forward.

He remained quite calm.

Surely his Sect Leader senior brother would have some method to signal which one he should draw.

"Wait!" Yin Yide suddenly called out. "Sect Leader, I'm older. Let me draw first."

The others exchanged glances.

They immediately understood why he had rushed to the front.

There was only one broken chopstick. The earlier one drew, the more likely one was to avoid it.

Of course, the first person could also draw the broken one immediately, in which case no one behind him would need to draw at all.

Gong Lince said, "Fine. I've decided. We'll draw in order of age."

Yin Yide cupped his hands, stepped forward, and reached toward the cylinder.

Then he hesitated.

He had no idea which one to choose.

His hand moved slowly back and forth over the chopsticks, and everyone's eyes followed it.

"Elder Yin, does bearing responsibility for the sect really make things this difficult for you?" Gong Lince suddenly challenged.

Yin Yide gritted his teeth, seized one chopstick, and yanked it free.

His heart pounded as he looked down.

It was intact.

He immediately relaxed inside.

First he showed it to Gong Lince, then turned and displayed it to everyone else.

Though inwardly delighted, he kept his face calm as he withdrew.

Next by age was Yuan An.

He stepped forward and drew.

To his relief, his chopstick was intact as well.

Fu Junrang came next.

He too drew an unbroken chopstick, then quietly stepped aside.

Only two chopsticks remained.

The last two men were both growing nervous.

Even Yan Li now felt uneasy.

With each safe draw, his chances seemed to be getting worse.

Still, he was calmer than Mo Lingxue.

He believed Gong Lince had some way to favor him.

Yan Li was just about to step forward when Mo Lingxue suddenly said, "If we're drawing by age, I am the youngest. That seems rather unfair to me."

Gong Lince coldly swept his gaze over the others. "Do the rest of you also think it unfair?"

Fu Junrang immediately said, "If you thought it unfair, why didn't you say so earlier?"

Yuan An added, "Elder Mo, that's hardly reasonable."

Those who had already drawn safely naturally had no intention of allowing fresh complications.

Of course they all insisted the method was fair.

Yan Li had not drawn yet, but he stood on Gong Lince's side, so naturally he said nothing against it.

Mo Lingxue began arguing heatedly with the others.

The situation had become completely one-sided. With everyone supporting his position, Gong Lince ignored her and said to Yan Li, "Draw."

Yan Li stepped forward.

He had planned to watch his Sect Leader senior brother's expression for a clue.

To prove his impartiality, however, Gong Lince closed his eyes.

Yan Li was somewhat dumbfounded.

What happened next left him even more stunned.

He gritted his teeth and pulled out one chopstick.

The argument in the hall stopped instantly.

Every eye fixed on the chopstick in his hand.

A section was missing from the end.

Yan Li's aged face twitched.

Gong Lince opened his eyes and tipped the bamboo cylinder slightly toward the last person. "Elder Mo."

Mo Lingxue immediately hurried forward and pulled out the final chopstick.

As expected, it was completely intact.

Overjoyed and more than a little embarrassed, she withdrew.

Only Yan Li remained standing stupidly beside Gong Lince.

Gong Lince looked at him. "Elder Yan, the heavy responsibility entrusted by the sect will fall to you."

Holding his own safe chopstick, Fu Junrang abruptly cupped his hands and called out, "The Sect Leader is upright and impartial!"

The others, delighted to have escaped, immediately echoed him. "The Sect Leader is upright and impartial!"

"Then the matter is settled. You may all withdraw." Gong Lince waved a hand.

Everyone knew he would need to console Yan Li now.

They answered together, "We obey the Sect Leader's command!"

Then they withdrew one after another.

Before leaving, each cast a sympathetic look at the dumbstruck Yan Li.

At the same time, they were genuinely surprised.

They had not expected Gong Lince to keep the scales so level this time. His handling of the matter left them with nothing to criticize.

Gong Lince also waved the disciples in the hall away.

Once only the two of them remained, he sighed. "Junior Brother, you've been wronged this time."

Yan Li said mournfully, "Sect Leader Senior Brother, when it was the Tiandu Secret Realm, you sent me. For the sake of the larger situation, I gritted my teeth and went. Why is it me again this time?"

Gong Lince said, "The draw decided it."

Yan Li said, "Couldn't Senior Brother have given me some kind of signal?"

Gong Lince flared. "Nonsense! Signal what? With so many people watching with their own eyes, how was I supposed to signal you? Did you think everyone else was blind?"

Yan Li said, "Then you could at least have warned me beforehand. Couldn't you favor your own junior brother a little? We're senior and junior brothers from the same lineage!"

"Favor you?" Gong Lince's voice rang forcefully through the hall. "Wasn't this favoritism already?"

"The four of them had four draws out of five. You alone had only one draw out of five. Which side was more likely to draw the broken lot?"

"For me to resort to this method was already the greatest favoritism I could give you."

"I'm not only your senior brother. I'm also the Sect Leader of Zijin Cave. How much more do you expect me to favor you?"

Then his tone softened. "Junior Brother, with odds like that and you still drew it... with the Founding Patriarch above us, all I can say is that your luck was bad."

Yan Li looked utterly dejected.

Yet he understood the reasoning.

The other four had four draws out of five and still failed to hit it, while he alone had only one draw out of five and somehow drew it.

From the standpoint of probability, he had possessed the overwhelming advantage.

His senior brother had indeed gone very far to favor him by inventing this method.

His luck had simply been terrible beyond belief.

With a face on the verge of tears, he said, "Senior Brother, Niu Youdao was such a cunning man, yet even he lost his life inside. If I go, can I possibly survive?"

Gong Lince became angry again. "Then what do you want me to do?"

"Everyone watched the draw with their own eyes. Do you want me, the dignified Sect Leader, to go back on my word?"

"The matter was settled beyond dispute inside the Council Hall. If I now act unfairly, how am I supposed to explain myself?"

"They will immediately invite the Supreme Elders to come uphold justice."

"Then not only will you still have to go, I will be left covered in disgrace."

"Afterward, they will keep using this matter against me. How am I supposed to preside over sect affairs? Who will still obey me?"

"Do you want Zijin Cave torn into factions and divided against itself?"

"Junior Brother, being Sect Leader of a great sect is not so easy."

"At a time like this, if even you won't help me, who will?"

[End of Chapter 1184]