Night of the Broken Gliph

South Imperial City. 

In Evergreen Palace, Three Thousand Hall, the main courtyard was still engulfed in darkness, just like the previous time. 

Dab dab…

A night heron flew across the dark sky, flying towards the main courtyard and landing on a window frame.It tapped with its beak continuously, as if informing the owner that it had bought a message. 

A snowy white hand reached out towards the heron, grabbing the slip of paper in its claw. “Hmm?” 

A coquettish gasp rang out, followed by a long pause. “Sit Ting… You won’t let me have peace even when you’re dead, huh?” The slender hands picked up a brush from the table, scribbling something on the paper. 

Within no time, she was done. “Kill them all” was all she wrote on the paper. 

She tied the letter to the heron’s claws and sent it off, watching it spread its wings and disappear into the night sky. This heron was no ordinary heron, but a Night Heron King, a grade three gliphic beast. Even a four-chambered glipher might not be able to catch it easily. It was a short message, skipping the details since she knew that they would understand her. 

Even with Kan Hang’s protection, that child must die. 

Chui Yim was feeling troubled. He could feel energliph in his body grow, but he was still nowhere near breaking through to the one-chambered state. Even though the later a glipher broke through, the stronger they were, it also meant that he was unable to exhibit his real power. 

By using Flowing Flame Finger, he was able to carve gliphs despite not breaking through. But this would put him at a disadvantage when facing an enemy. He was so slow that he would not finish carving a gliph even when the other party killed him. 

However, there was no way he could rush the process. It seemed that his physical ability had reached a limit of fifteen minutes, and there was no further progress to be seen despite Lam Ming’s cooking and Chui Yim’s daily physical training. 

After Lam Ming left, Chui Yim turned into a cranky kid who was unhappy twenty four-seven. And the main victim of his bad mood was none other than Kiu Chi Gong, who received numerous scoldings from the moody Chui Yim, lashing out whenever he made a mistake in forging. However, Kiu Chi Gong was not even slightly unhappy with Chui Yim. He actually respected Chui Yim more instead. 

Chui Yim rarely flared up, but when he did, he always hit the mark with his comments. Kiu Chi Gong, who learnt the incomplete Kiu Clan’s method from a young age had a good foundation. After some teaching from Chui Yim, his skills skyrocketed, and he could see a massive improvement in his gliph carving skills in just a few days. Kiu Chi Gong also realised that within a month, he could try creating grade two gliph weapons himself. 

This knowledge made him even more happy when Chui Yim lashed out on him. He was even willing to give Chui Yim water so he wouldn’t  get a sore throat from all the scolding. 

“Let me tell you, you’d better copy this Tornado Gliph a hundred times today. If not, you’ll get it from me tomorrow, hmph,” Chui Yim said before leaving, keeping Kiu Chi Gong on his toes. Chui Yim always ended off with a humph, but the unknown penalties always kept Kiu Chi Gong nervous, making him always finish Chui Yim’s homework with extra care and effort. 

“Yes, master! Take care!” 

Chui Yim ignored Kiu Chi Gong and left, walking out of Weapon Street. However, he failed to notice a shadow disappearing from the corner of the street after he left. “It’s the Kiu Clan’s Divine Weapons shop again. Could it be that there’s really something about the shop?”

Weapon Street, Chan Clan Leader’s mansion. It was a luxurious mansion. 

Unlike Chan Lai Faat, Chan Tiet put his heart and soul into the clan’s business. Without him, the Chan Clan wouldn’t be as prosperous today. Realising this, Chan Lai Faat stepped down and let Chan Tiet take over the clan, while he focused entirely on forging instead. 

Chan Tiet sat on the main seat, facing a man standing not far away from him while reading a report. “The Kiu Clan’s Divine Weapon shop again. This child is so persistent on going to the shop repeatedly. It seems like there’s indeed something off.” 

This man was Chan Ching. As the housekeeper of the Chan Clan, he was always busy with work. But he immediately reported to Chan Tiet about Chui Yim and Kiu Chi Gong’s shop after meeting Chan Lai Faat, all because Chan Lat Faat said that the grade two gliph weapon they got from Chui Yim was the work of a great master. 

What’s so special about being a great master? 

Well, the reason why Chan Clan was able to become the boss of Weapon Street was because they had a great master in their clan. Great masters were uncommon in the entire South. They were rare even in other cities. Great Master Chan Lai Faat was what attracted numerous talented metalsmiths to their clan. 

It was a virtuous circle that brought the Chan Clan prosperity. As long as Chan Lai Faat was doing well, the Chan Clan would continue to prosper and maybe another great master would emerge in the future. 

It was said that Chan Tiet’s son, Chan Ngou Tin had started learning forging from Chan Lai Faat, who said that Chan Ngou Tin had a talent for forging too. Everything was going well for them. 

However! 

The second great master in Southary must be part of the Chan Clan, or else the resources in Southary would be distributed away and not fall into the Chan Clan’s hands. Thus, Chan Tiet immediately ordered Chan Ching to investigate Chui Yim, and they discovered the Kiu Clan’s Divine Weapon shop at last. 

Chan Tiet had heard of the Kiu Clan that declined a hundred years ago. They were one of the founding clans that built Southary. However, a hundred years had passed and there was still nobody to inherit the Kiu’s skills. Because of this, the old weapon shop, Kiu Clan’s Divine Weapon, was but a joke for people to sneer at when they passed by. 

Could the great master be from the Kiu Clan? 

“Have you investigated Chui Yim? Does he have any mysterious supporters backing him?” Chan Tiet asked.

“Chui Yim is from a village near Southary, and I sent someone to ask around,” Chan Ching said, shaking his head. “His father is just an ordinary doctor in the village with brilliant skills. And a month ago, Chui Yim’s father left and disappeared into thin air.” 

“Hmm…” Chan Tiet pondered. “How much was the Fallen Star’s Rod sold for?” he asked subconsciously. 

“Fifty thousand silver tales.” Chan Ching gulped and smiled bitterly. “It’s way more than we expected, and there was an intense fight for it. Many could tell how good this weapon is. Clan Leader, usually a grade two gliph weapon, costs ten thousand silver taels or at most twenty thousand silver taels.

“I even received reports that after the auction, many gliphers tried to hunt down the glipher who managed to buy the weapon successfully to rob him. But the glipher already disappeared without a trace before they could. 

“Clan Leader, fifty thousand silver taels for a grade two gliph weapon.” Chan Ching’s face fell. “If it’s a great master who made this… He will cause great damage to the clan in the future!” 

“What did father say?” Chan Tiet asked after a pause. Of course, he was referring to Chan Lai Faat. 

“The Old Clan Leader said that this is normal due to the style of the weapon. It might be a rod, but it suits gliphers who fights fiercely. If it suits a glipher, its price could even go up to a hundred thousand silver taels. Moreover, the Old Clan Leader will never agree to any of our future plans.” 

Chan Tiet nodded. As the most powerful clan in the weapon street, normally no other weapon shops could survive, but due to Chan Lai Faat who had friendly relations with their grandparents or parents of the surviving shops, they left them alone and even gave them resources at times. They could be known as the opponents that Chan Clan raised. 

As for the Kiu Clan, they once had a Divine Master in their clan. Out of respect, the Chan Clan didn’t eliminate them. Thus Chan Lai Faat would definitely disagree if Chan Tiet wanted to lay his hands on the Kiu Clan. 

Chan Tiet might be the current Clan Leader, but everyone knew that Chan Lai Faat was the actual leader instead if he spoke up. 

“The possibility of Kiu Chi Gong being the great master isn’t high. We’ve looked into him in the past. He has skills but nobody to teach him. As a poor person who picked up forging on his own, grade two gliph weapons will be his limit.” Chan Tiet hummed, rubbing his teacup unconsciously. “I think we should focus on the teen. 

“Ever since he appeared at the Kiu Clan, a grade two gliph weapon appeared as well. It might sound impossible, but I feel that it has something to do with him for sure.” 

Chan Ching listened quietly as he bowed, waiting for Chan Tiet’s order. 

“I think it’ll be good to send someone to talk to Kiu Chi Gong and offer to buy his shop for ten thousand silver taels in the name of expansion. If he’s willing, we’ll take him in as a metalsmith and make him an elder.” 

“Great idea!” Chan Ching clapped. “Not only will the Old Clan Leader be happy with the arrangement, we’ll get to watch him forge if he becomes our elder too. Even if he’s stupid enough to reject the offer of becoming an elder, we’ll have one less opponent too.” 

“Hmm…” Chan Tiet replied, furrowing his brows. “I’m just worried that he’ll disagree. Southary’s Weapon Steet is the place where the Kiu Clan prospered and fell. It’s meaningful to the Kiu Clan descendants after all…”

 “If he doesn’t know how to appreciate favours, then he can’t blame us for being cold. If our Old Clan Leader is angered, this Chan Ching shall take the blame.” Chan Ching smirked. As the Chan Clan’s housekeeper, he was willing to do all sorts of work, whether it was dirty or not. 

“It’s our blessing to have you and your father as our housekeeper,” Chan Tiet said, looking at Chan Ching in gratitude. 

“You’re welcome, Clan Leader.” Chan Ching bowed.