Night of the Broken Gliph

After being obstructed by Chor Shing Chit a few times, Chan Ching’s attitude was no longer as nice as before.In fact, he started to get angry. So what if he’s a two-chambered glipher? We have lots of them in our clan, and a two-chambered glipher isn’t worth my attention.  

“We are here for little brother Chui because we hope to settle things in private. If he had stolen the gliph weapons out of greed, the Chan Clan would let this matter pass and let bygones be bygones on the condition that he returned it to us. But if he had already sold it, then he’d only need to pay for the cost of the Water Reflected Moon, and we’ll not pursue it any further. 

“However, if little brother chooses to deny responsibility… Then I’ll take it that little brother Chui does not view the Chan Clan seriously. 

“And nobody in Southary dares to do so.” Chan Ching sneered. 

“Are you threatening him?” Not buying it, Chor Shing Chit asked coldly, only to receive a shrug and glare from Chan Ching.

“So what if I am? What can you do about it?” 

Ever since ten years ago, the Chan Clan had prospered in Southary; there was nobody in the city that they feared. Their clan leader had made it clear that even if they had to threaten the child, they must let those watching the show know that the Chan Clan wasn’t a pushover. 

Chor Shing Chit looked at Chan Ching in disbelief. He had previously put all his heart into cultivation, thus he rarely took notice of worldly affairs. This was the first time he had to deal with an aristocratic family, and he didn’t expect them to be so overbearing. 

Currently, the Chan Clan was pushing all the blame of the stolen gliph weapons to a ten-year-old kid because they had no strategy left to catch the thief. It’s incredible how shameless they are. 

“Our academy won’t accept this proposal.” 

Chor Shing Chit stood up. He was roughly aware of Chui Yim’s background. Well, how wealthy would a single-parent family from a village in the south be? Moreover, Chui Yim was asked to pay for a grade-two weapon; his family couldn’t afford it even if they sold their whole house. Chor Shing Chit couldn’t accept this kind of situation, where one pressured the other with their power. 

Chan Ching narrowed his eyes at Chor Shing Chit. “Sir, is this your personal stand, or are you able to represent the entire academy and become enemies of the Chan Clan?” he said sternly.

This made Chor Shing Chit pause shortly. He might be a glipher, but he was only a teacher at the school. He indeed wasn’t able to represent the entire Riding Clouds Academy. 

“How much does a grade-two weapon cost?” Just then, Chui Yim spoke. 

Hearing Chui Yim, Chan Ching turned to him disdainfully. He didn’t even bother checking the scapegoat’s background. “The Water Reflected Moon is a grade-two weapon, which is rather popular in the South. Its price starts from at least ten thousand silver taels.

“However, the Chan Clan is generous, so we’ll take it as ten thousand silver taels. We won’t investigate further as long as you pay us ten thousand silver taels.” 

Chui Yim’s mouth opened slightly. He didn’t expect weapons to be so costly in this world. A meal in school cost two silver taels, so a grade-two gliph weapon is worth five thousand meals? 

“Don’t be afraid, Chui Yim. The school will help you with this.” Chor Shing Chit turned to Chui Yim and lowered his voice.

I have eaten more salt than you have eaten rice, this much is nothing to me. Chui Yim thought to himself and shook his head. “Mr Chor, thank you for your kindness, but this is a personal matter, there’s no need to drag the school down for this.

“What do you think if I exchange it with a grade-two gliph weapon?” Chui Yim said slowly, turning to Chan Ching. 

A grade-two weapon? Do you think gliph weapons are a dime a dozen? Chan Ching thought gladly. “Of course, we will not look further into this matter even if it’s the gliph weapon that you stole from us,” he sneered.

Yeah, we wouldn’t investigate further! If he hands up one of the stolen gliph weapons, we’d just send him to the city’s government as the thief immediately. 

Chui Yim smiled at Chan Ching’s answer. His smile stunned Chan Ching, as the smile that the ten-year-old boy wore was one of arrogance and disdain. “Steal? I wouldn’t even want your gliph weapons if they were free. What’s there to steal?

“After a month, I’ll send the gliph weapon to you. But please leave now; I still have classes to attend now.”  

Chor Shing Chit was still frowning on their way back to class. Even though he was confused by Chui Yim’s confidence, he still couldn’t imagine how a ten-year-old village boy would be able to come up with a grade-two weapon.  

Could it be that he’s posturing and planning to flee Southary? 

Letting his imagination run wild, Chor Shing Chit couldn’t help but speak up. “I say, Chui Yim, you don’t need to put on a brave front. If you really can’t settle things, I can try to ask the principal for help. He still has some status in Southary.” 

Chui Yim looked up at Chor Shing Chit in surprise. I didn’t know that he was so nice, I’ll view him differently from now on. 

“It’s really fine, Mr Chor; I can settle this on my own. It’s no big deal for me, but I really appreciate your support.” Chui Yim patted his bald head and stuttered into the class. His footsteps were so light and fast that he seemed to not care about what just happened. 

Even if the problem wasn’t solved, life still had to go on. 

Chor Shing Chit forced himself to focus and started his lesson. “Today, I’ll teach you all about cultivating energliph. Students who are able to cultivate energliph already should have gotten your style from the Cultivation Style Pavillion previously and given it a shot, am I right? And today, the lesson will be in regards to cultivating energliph. 

“Gliphism is about transforming heaven and earth’s energy for our own use, as energliph is heaven and earth energy that we have transformed into one that belongs to us. There are six energliph storage positions corresponding to the six chambers. The wind chamber is the one that has the largest storage of all.

“Since every one of you has a different style, I’ll not go into too much detail on how to do it, as everyone’s talents are different, which results in different styles. However, it’s the same in that everyone is just going to follow the route given by the style and use your innate chamber as the core to store energliph.” 

Suddenly, a student raised his hands. Chor Shing Chit raised his eyebrows. It was Chui Yim. 

“Mr Chor, then what is considered a one-chambered state?” 

Chor Shing Chit nodded. “Good question. What is considered a one-chambered state?”