Under the faint starlight, Zhang Xiaohua looked carefully and saw that it was indeed Chen Fengxiao and Wu Zhouxu. The two seemed to be discussing something; from time to time, Wu Zhouxu even gestured animatedly, as if opposing something.

Zhang Xiaohua found it extremely strange. Instead of talking on their own turf, these two had run off to the side of the bamboo grove to whisper—if it were a man and a woman, it would be understandable, but two men…?

A chill ran through Zhang Xiaohua!

Not long after, the two seemed to have reached some sort of agreement. Wu Zhouxu cupped his hands and turned to leave. Chen Fengxiao watched his departing figure without moving. Only after Wu Zhouxu had gone far away did he turn around and head straight toward Zhang Xiaohua’s small courtyard. In the moonlight, Zhang Xiaohua could clearly see a faint smile hanging on Chen Fengxiao’s face.

Retracting his divine sense, it wasn’t long before he heard the sound of knocking outside. Zhang Xiaohua stepped forward to greet him, feigning surprise as he said with a smile, “Wasn’t Boss Chen drinking with them? How did it end so early?”

Chen Fengxiao waved his hand. “Those brats—once they start drinking, there’s no end to it. How could it break up so early? I was just thinking about you going on stage tomorrow, so I came over to take a look.”

“Many thanks for your concern, Boss. It’s nothing much. After watching today’s matches, I more or less have some confidence.”

Chen Fengxiao’s eyes lit up. “Not at all, not at all. Right now, you carry the heavy responsibility of helping our Herb Division wipe away its past humiliation. If I didn’t show more concern, what kind of talk would that be? By the way, since you say you have confidence, just how certain are you about tomorrow?”

Without hesitation, Zhang Xiaohua replied, “Shouldn’t that be something I ask you instead, Boss?”

Chen Fengxiao was taken aback, then laughed. “Little brother, you truly are clever—seeing through the subtleties in one glance. Hehe, although our Herb Division can avenge past defeats this time—at worst, we can still win about twenty percent—this twenty percent alone is worth more than the gains from ten previous gambling matches. For that, we really have to thank you.”

Zhang Xiaohua pursed his lips in a grin. “No, no. The part I can play is small. It’s all thanks to your planning, Boss. I haven’t even gone on stage yet, and you’ve already defeated Wu Dalang.”

“Hehe,” Chen Fengxiao no longer hid his smugness. “That’s also because of the deterrent you showed yesterday. Still, I have to ask about your situation. It wouldn’t do for our Herb Division to reap the benefits while you end up gaining nothing.”

Zhang Xiaohua didn’t take it seriously. He was no longer the naive youth who had just left Guo Village years ago. It wasn’t as if he had never displayed his martial skills before. Chen Fengxiao’s words were merely a gesture of concern. As for whether he would truly gain anything, it wasn’t something Chen Fengxiao genuinely worried about. One could even say that Chen Fengxiao had already calculated all the ways Zhang Xiaohua might benefit.

During this afternoon’s matches, Wu Zhouxu had fallen into Chen Fengxiao’s scheme and sent out all the elite fighters he was confident in. For tomorrow, those who could still take the stage—or even match Zhang Xiaohua—were already few. Under such circumstances, Chen Fengxiao simply didn’t believe that Zhang Xiaohua lacked confidence.

Zhang Xiaohua then said, “Boss Chen has arranged everything so meticulously. If I still fail to gain any benefits, then that’s my own issue. I certainly won’t harbor any resentment toward Boss Chen.”

Chen Fengxiao quickly waved his hand when he heard this, realizing that Zhang Xiaohua had misunderstood his intention. “Actually, with your martial skill, little brother, even if you had gone on stage this afternoon according to Wu Dalang’s plan, you would still have won. I won’t boast about other things, but when it comes to judging people, I still have some confidence. My arrangement today had another purpose.”

Zhang Xiaohua was taken aback and frowned. “I ask Boss Chen to enlighten me.”

Chen Fengxiao thought for a moment, then began to explain slowly. “When I was young, my mother told me a story. Long, long ago, there was a fool. He understood nothing—not even the difference between copper coins and silver. Whenever someone tossed out a copper coin and a piece of silver, he would only pick up the copper coin and never even glance at the silver. Because of this, many people found amusement in it and would toss copper coins to him in front of others.”

Zhang Xiaohua didn’t understand and said with a smile, “That child was truly foolish. If it were me, I’d have long since tucked the silver into my pocket.”

“Exactly. The villagers all said the same and never grew tired of playing this trick on him. It went on until the child grew up and suddenly disappeared from the village. Years later, he achieved great success elsewhere and returned. Only then did the villagers realize—the foolish ones were not the child, but themselves!”

“Ah?” Zhang Xiaohua opened his mouth wide. “Why is that?”

But just as he spoke, Zhang Xiaohua suddenly drew in a cold breath and understood. “So that’s how it is!”

Seeing how quickly Zhang Xiaohua reacted, a trace of surprise flashed in Chen Fengxiao’s eyes, though he quickly concealed it and smiled. “Exactly. If that child had been like an ordinary person and could distinguish between copper and silver, who would have kept tossing copper coins to him day after day, year after year, for amusement? If he had picked up the silver even once, how could he have accumulated so many copper coins later on?”

“So Boss Chen means…” Zhang Xiaohua was beginning to grasp his intent.

“I believe little brother already understands. The reason I didn’t arrange for you to go first and face the Herb Division’s experts is twofold. On one hand, it was to disrupt Wu Dalang’s deployment and win his pills. On the other hand, it was so you wouldn’t reveal your true strength right away. I know you can defeat the First Vajra and Second Vajra without any problem—but what about after that? Not only would the gambling matches lose much of their suspense, but you yourself would also lose many benefits!”

“Boss Chen, I both understand and don’t understand what you’re saying. Hiding one’s strength can indeed conceal ability and allow for surprise attacks, but in these gambling matches, only the order is sealed—others don’t even know who is fighting. What does that have to do with strength?”

Chen Fengxiao said: “That’s just one format of gambling matches. On Tianmu Peak, there are other formats for the Herb Division and the Pill Division to choose from, such as calling out opponents by name. It’s just that our Herb Division has always been at a disadvantage, so we’ve never dared to casually agree to those formats.”

Zhang Xiaohua immediately understood and thought to himself, Wow, this Boss Chen truly lives up to being the Boss—he’s really thinking far ahead. Still, I never planned to spend much time on these gambling matches anyway. What do I care about hiding strength or not?

Zhang Xiaohua cupped his hands and said: “Many thanks, Boss, for your guidance. In truth, I’ve never harbored any resentment toward you.”

Chen Fengxiao shook his head. “Little brother, you still haven’t understood what I mean.”

“Huh? Isn’t it just about hiding one’s strength?”

“Hiding one’s strength doesn’t mean you must lose. What I mean is, little brother, you have three matches tomorrow. I just asked Wu Dalang—though he dodged the question, from his expression, I could tell that the opponents in those three matches aren’t particularly impressive. What I want to say is this: when you go up, don’t knock out their teeth right away. At the very least, let everyone enjoy the spectacle. Make your opponent feel that you’re only slightly stronger than him, or about equal in skill—just that your luck is a bit better.”

“Uh… Boss, that sounds rather difficult.”

Chen Fengxiao gave a mysterious smile. “Just do as I say. You’ll naturally understand the benefits afterward.”

“I see.” Zhang Xiaohua fell into thought. As long as I’m not being told to lose, that’s fine. That’s fifty taels of gold worth of pills—I don’t intend to throw that away casually.

After a moment of silence, Chen Fengxiao coughed lightly and said, “Little brother, this place is rather simple—are you used to staying here?”

Zhang Xiaohua was taken aback and said, “Boss, you jest. I only stayed one night so far—it’s fine. I wouldn’t say I’m unaccustomed.”

Chen Fengxiao smiled awkwardly, then added: “Actually, the reason I came so late to see you is that there’s something I wanted to ask you in detail.”

Zhang Xiaohua frowned. “What matters are so important? You could’ve sent Senior Brother Bai or Senior Brother Qiu—why trouble yourself to come personally?”

“It’s like this, little brother. During the day, I heard you had Qiu Weicheng pass a message to Lü Fengmeng and the others, saying you wouldn’t compete with them for the Arhat title. I know this shows your noble character and disdain for such things, but… but does that mean you don’t plan to participate in these kinds of gambling matches in the future either?”

“Of course I’ll participate! Why wouldn’t I?” Zhang Xiaohua was taken aback and blurted out. Nonsense—if I can gain benefits without lifting a finger, why wouldn’t I join? Even if the stakes won’t be this high in the future, a fly is still meat. Bit by bit, it all adds up. If one doesn’t even pick up copper coins, then that’s just pure foolishness.

Hearing this, Chen Fengxiao’s face lit up with joy, and he said happily: “With little brother answering like this, I can finally rest easy. To be honest, when you said this afternoon that you wouldn’t compete for the Arhat title, I thought you weren’t interested in these gambling matches. Just like those old Elders—they’re clearly itching to join, but they care too much about face and can’t bring themselves to lower their status. So they can only sit there as judges, watching us eat meat while they drink the soup. It seems little brother isn’t someone who chases after empty reputation.”

Zhang Xiaohua waved his hand. “Boss doesn’t have any Arhat title either, yet you still participate in the gambling matches, don’t you?”

At these words, Chen Fengxiao’s expression changed slightly. Seeing this, Zhang Xiaohua quickly said, “Ah, that analogy wasn’t quite right. Boss, rest assured—after this round of gambling matches ends, I’ll go up to the summit of Tianmu Peak, find a secluded medicinal field, and focus on growing herbs. I definitely won’t get involved in any affairs of the Herb Division. Oh, right—just arrange the matches as you see fit. When the time comes, just call me up the mountain. I won’t refuse.”

Only then did Chen Fengxiao’s expression ease somewhat. He chuckled and said, “Listen to you—if you could help me, I’d be more than happy. How about this: why not let you be the Second Boss?”

“No, no—such a famous title should be left to others. By the way, I think Senior Brother Qiu would be quite suitable.”

“Qiu Weicheng?” Chen Fengxiao was taken aback, then said, “That’s not a bad suggestion. If one day Junior Brother Qiu becomes the Second Boss, I’ll have him thank you in person.”

Zhang Xiaohua smiled and said no more. It was just a joke anyway—who became Boss had nothing to do with him.

Then, Chen Fengxiao put away his smile and said seriously, “Little brother, there’s another important matter I came to discuss with you so late!”