Caught off guard by the sudden question, Ma Sanlaizi was terrified, assuming Master Gong was here to settle scores.
He hurriedly responded with a mournful tone, “Don’t say that, Master Gong! You know this lock is terribly difficult to open. I just need a bit more time!”
It seemed like a typical excuse to buy time, but upon hearing it, Master Gong’s expression darkened instantly. He grabbed the teapot from the table and hurled it.
The purple clay teapot, worth hundreds of thousands, smashed directly into Ma Sanlaizi’s face, shattering on impact.
Scalding tea poured out, causing Ma Sanlaizi to scream in agony.
“Master Gong, why go to such lengths? It’s just a shame about that fine teapot!”
A servant attending Master Gong, witnessing the scene, wanted to intervene but immediately brought trouble upon himself.
“Get lost! Since when does a lowly servant like you get to meddle in my affairs?” Master Gong snapped, kicking the talkative servant aside before turning back to Ma Sanlaizi.
“Stop playing games! Between the last time we caught you and now, you’ve been here nearly a week and haven’t produced a single result!”
“I don’t think the lock is the problem. You just don’t want to open it, do you?”
When Master Gong first captured Ma Sanlaizi, he thought the treasure chest would soon be opened.
But Ma Sanlaizi came up with one excuse after another, dragging things out for days before eventually escaping.
After Ma Sanlaizi fled, Master Gong didn’t act immediately. Instead, he began investigating this old man he had previously dismissed.
Upon investigation, Master Gong discovered that Ma Sanlaizi wore a dragon-head jade pendant at his waist.
The origin of the dragon-head jade pendant was unclear, but it was undoubtedly connected to the treasure chest in Master Gong’s possession.
The reason was simple: the chest was engraved with a dragon and a phoenix, one on each side, and the dragon-head jade pendant matched the dragon’s pattern almost perfectly!
The dragon and phoenix carvings on the chest were distinctive, the dragon headless and the phoenix tailless, unforgettable at a glance.
Initially, when Ma Sanlaizi escaped, Master Gong assumed he was just incompetent and had slipped away, and he didn’t dwell on it.
But after learning about the dragon-head jade pendant, Master Gong realised the truth.
This old man Ma Sanlaizi had been playing dumb and acting all along. He likely knew exactly what was inside the treasure chest better than anyone!
Thus, having chosen to drop all pretence, Master Gong no longer showed him any courtesy and got straight to the point.
“Tell me! Where did the dragon-head jade pendant at your waist come from? If you don’t tell the truth, I’ll chop your head off right now!”
With that, Master Gong drew a gleaming blade with a sharp *shing*, holding it in his hand, clearly not joking.
Ma Sanlaizi, terrified by the situation, shouted and dropped to his knees with a thud, pleading, “I… I really don’t know, Master Gong! You know I’ve been scraping by in the streets. I bought this dragon-head jade pendant by chance from someone else.”
“If you’re interested, I’ll give it to you! Please, don’t kill me!”
Ma Sanlaizi seemed genuinely petrified, trembling as he removed the dragon-head jade pendant from his waist, preparing to hand it to Master Gong.
But Master Gong, overconfident, saw that Ma Sanlaizi still refused to tell the truth even at this point. Raising the blade high with both hands, he looked ready to bring it down with force.
