Chapter 3: Shuhu Part 4

The so-called “Heaven’s Mandate Box” differed from Xiang Xian’s expectations. He had imagined a small wooden box, but what Gongsun Bang held was a full foot long, wide, and high.

“To which of you?” Gongsun Bang asked. “It’s finally here. I’ve waited so long.”

Neither Xiang Xian nor Xiao Kun took it. Xiao Kun keenly sensed something off and asked, “Is that it?”

“I don’t know; I haven’t seen it,” Xiang Xian said. He wanted to step forward but hesitated, wary of Xiao Kun’s earlier words about seizing it upon sight. Fighting here risked injuring Gongsun Bang and drawing enemies, letting some third party profit—a foolish outcome.

“Wait,” Xiang Xian said to Gongsun Bang. “I recall Master Liuyun said if you couldn’t hide it, destroy it?”

Gongsun Bang replied, “Sirs, I thought so at first, but I couldn’t destroy this box.”

“Why?” Xiang Xian asked, puzzled.

“You’ll know when you see it,” Gongsun Bang said hurriedly. “It’s yours.”

Xiao Kun said, “You hand over the magic treasure without even verifying our identities?”

Gongsun Bang held the casket with an expression as if he were about to burst into tears. He said, “It told me that as long as I stayed here, someone would surely come to take it! You just need to take it away. This matter truly has nothing to do with me, so please let me go!”

“Who?” Xiang Xian hadn’t quite caught on yet. He said, “Who told you?”

Gongsun Bang gestured toward the Bronze Casket in his hands.

“It was I who told him.” A voice emanated from the casket. “Xiang Xian and Xiao Kun, you’ve finally arrived.”

Xiang Xian and Xiao Kun both jumped in fright. Although they were exorcists who dealt with demons and magic treasures all the time, they were still caught off guard and badly startled in this unprepared moment.

The… Imperial Jade Seal could speak?! That was Xiang Xian’s first thought.

Seeing that neither of them would take the ancient casket, Gongsun Bang could only set it down on a nearby rock.

“I-I-I… I have to go now.” Having handed over the Heaven’s Mandate Box, Gongsun Bang didn’t even bother with his lunch and hurried back out the way he had come through the cavern.

Xiang Xian and Xiao Kun exchanged a glance, their faces both strangely contorted. The casket spoke again. “Come closer. Untie the yellow cloth on the outside and open the casket.”

The scene was utterly bizarre. The valley was deathly silent, with only this one casket wrapped in yellow cloth speaking. No one knew what kind of demon or monster was locked inside.

“Why not come closer?” the voice from the casket said. “Are you afraid the other will strike to seize it? Mm, quite right, but there’s no need. You’ll know once you open it. I am not a monster.”

Xiang Xian felt a chill run down his spine. The existence of this so-called Heaven’s Mandate Box was far too eerie, and the voice was filled with temptation.

Xiao Kun was at a loss for a moment as well. Then the Heaven’s Mandate Box spoke again. “Gongsun Bang once thought of destroying me. I warned him that if he did, he wouldn’t live much longer either.

“Don’t you want to know the ‘Heavenly Mandate’? Come on, open it. I can tell you everything you wish to know—about the past, the present, and the future.”

Suddenly, Xiang Xian understood.

This so-called Heaven’s Mandate Box wasn’t the Imperial Jade Seal at all—it was a magic treasure! This magic treasure could foresee the future! It could answer the inquirer’s questions about what was to come, thereby “revealing the Heavenly Mandate”!

Xiao Kun reacted in that brief instant as well. He said gravely, “You can point out the Heavenly Mandate for us?”

“Exactly.” The voice from the casket replied, “There is a seal placed by King Tang on the box, blocking the flow of Spiritual Qi. You must allow me to connect to the power of the Heavenly Veins before I can prophesy for you.”

Xiao Kun moved to step forward, but Xiang Xian said, “Wait.”

“This casket has tried again and again to trick us into opening it,” Xiang Xian said. “It always makes me feel like there’s something fishy about it.”

Xiao Kun thought the same, but if they didn’t open it, they were at a deadlock, and all their efforts along the way would have been for nothing.

“Think whatever you like,” the voice from the casket said. “But you have to do it anyway, don’t you?”

Those words finally steeled their resolve.

Xiang Xian made a gesture, but Xiao Kun said instead, “You’re not planning to take it back and present it to the Song Emperor?”

“Let’s see what’s inside first.” Xiang Xian said. “It’s not yet time for a big fight over the magic treasure.”

Xiao Kun used his Tang Dao to undo the knot on the yellow cloth, revealing an ancient square casket made of bronze within. Its sides were covered in taotie motifs.

The copper walls of the square casket slowly tilted open on all four sides, revealing the magic treasure stored inside—

A human head.

“Come before me. This is fated by the Heavenly Mandate. You may ask me three things,” the head said, “and all questions will receive answers.”