Night of the Broken Gliph

Tse Yu Bak left the inn and went back to the Tse Mansion. The Tse Mansion was the strongest authority in Night Lion City. The Tse Clan members had been mayor of Night Lion City for generations and they controlled the city, only having to pay a yearly tax to the Lam dynasty yearly to show their respect and loyalty. 

On his way home, whispers from passersby filled the air. It wasn’t a strange sight to him. After he was found to have an innate heart chamber, the whole clan placed their hopes on him. All sorts of precious g-food, cultivation styles, gliphilities and many more were supplied. The clan was filled with joy, knowing that they had someone to take over the clan. 

But as years passed by, after he turned thirteen, things changed as he still didn’t break through. His father no longer smiled at him, with only sighs left while his mother wept all night. Soon, his father took in other concubines, giving him a few younger siblings. Tse Yu Bak only knew when he grew older that his father was trying to give birth to another successor. 

He was no longer being provided with g-food, gliphilties and cultivation styles. When he turned eighteen, as if knowing there was no more hope in him, they allocated the Lion Dance Inn for him to manage so he could contribute to the clan. But Tse Yu Bak only spent his time drinking away his sorrows at the inn’s top floor. 

Everything ended today. The Tse Clan members sensed that Tse Yu Bak was no longer the same. He was more energetic, lively and flourishing. The weak, sickly and hopeless Tse Yu Bak was gone. He now finally… looked like the young man he should be! 

Bang! 

The Tse Clan’s hall was abruptly opened. A group of old men surrounding a seated man looked over in shock at the sight. This was the Tse Clan, one of the strongest clans in the South, and they were currently having a meeting. It was undoubtedly an important meeting, and no one dared to interrupt. When they saw who it was, they turned to the man in the main seat in unison. 

The man had a muscular body and hair that reached his cheeks, almost covering his mouth, resembling a lion’s mane. However, the snowy white hair couldn’t hide the passing of time. Despite his age, everyone still respected him as the current clan leader of the Tse Clan and the Lion King, the “White Lion King”, Tse Chun. 

Tse Chun was shocked to see Tse Yu Bak enter the meeting. What surprised him more was the look in his son’s eyes; it was just like six years ago, an energetic lion cub. 

“We shall stop here today. Everyone may leave,” Tse Chun ordered. He had such a low voice that it felt like a lion’s growl. Nobody dared to disobey him, and all the elders immediately left after bowing, only taking a few glances at Tse Yu Bak. 

The father-and-son pair were left alone in the huge meeting hall. Tse Chun’s heart pained at the sight of his son. He once placed all his hopes on him too. What could be better than having an innate heart chamber as a cultivator? Just like Tse Mun Tin, their ancestor. Everybody believed that Tse Yu Bak was the sign of the Tse Clan’s prosperity, but just as the saying goes, the greater the expectations, the harder the fall. Hope turned into hatred when Tse Yu Bak couldn’t reach the one-chambered state by twelve. 

Things became hard for Tse Yu Bak in the clan, and it was Tse Chun’s idea to have him manage the Lion Dance Inn so he wouldn’t have to suffer all kinds of slander in the clan. 

“Speak up. What’s the matter?” Tse Chun might be feeling a pool of emotions, but he held his composure as the head of the clan and city mayor should. He stared at Tse Yu Bak from his chair. 

And Tse Yu Bak made eye contact with him, eyes shining bright. “Father, I finally found the reason why I was unable to break through.” 

“Oh?” Tse Chun was slightly shocked and asked subconsciously, “Why?” 

“I was poisoned!” Tse Yu Bak clenched his fists and answered with hatred. 

“What did you say?” Tse Chun stood up abruptly while Tse Yu Bak took a deep breath. 

He kept his cool in front of Chui Yim, when it wasn’t the case. Tse Yu Bak was very gifted, the one with the most potential to succeed the clan. Just because of somebody who poisoned him, he was already later than others even if he could now cultivate again. One step late was equivalent to being late at every stage; Tse Yu Bak knew well that it would be very challenging for him to reach the three-chambered state someday. Why would he not hate the one who caused this? 

But he tried to remain calm and told his father everything, from how he met Chui Yim and how it was discovered. Despite knowing that it was a kid who checked on his son, Tse Chun listened to the entire story, only to lightly put his hands on the chair rest when Tse Yu Bak talked about how Chui Yim found the lump and deduced the poison in him was the snow centipede’s dissolved tendon powder. 

In no time, the chair he sat on for many years, which represented the Clan Leader’s position, was crushed into pieces.

“Get Doctor Chi here.” Tse Chun’s voice rang out. 

Soon, an elder arrived at the meeting hall with the help of many others. The elder frowned at the sight of the broken chair and waved his hand while holding his walking cane, signalling for the person who helped him to step back. “What’s the matter, Clan Leader?” 

“Doctor Chi, you have been a guest doctor of our clan for ages, and I’ve never doubted your skills,” Tse Chun said slowly, caressing his white beard. “Have you ever heard of the snow centipede’s dissolved tendon powder?”​​​​​​​

Hearing him, Doctor Chi caressed his beard and replied. “Snow centipede’s dissolved tendon powder? I’ve heard of dissolved tendon powder, but not this. Are they perhaps related?”

Tse Chun stared at Doctor Chi calmly as if trying to read him. After a long pause, Tse Chun then spoke up. “Nevermind, please head back to rest, Doctor Chi.” 

“I apologise for being too uneducated to be able to answer the Clan Leader’s question. I’ll take my leave first.” Doctor Chi bowed slightly and left with his cane. 

After that, Tse Chun then turned to Tse Yu Bak. “Keep this a secret and get your friend over to the clan to help you cure the poison.” 

“Yes, father.” Tse Yu Bak nodded.

He once hated his father, but Tse Yu Bak understood that it was all for the clan. Life in a clan was cruel. No matter how much his father doted on him, the clan would have to come before him. Seeing how angry Tse Chun got today, to the point that he destroyed his chair, Tse Yu Bak knew that he still had a place in his father’s heart. 

And he no longer hated him.