Night of the Broken Gliph

Lam Zaa was now sixteen, but he looked more mature than his age. There were traits of the current Emperor Lam on his face. When he frowned slightly, his thick eyebrows hinted that he was angry despite not writing it on his face. 

“Apologise to your elder sister.” Lam Zaa glared at Lam Mei Mei, face turning green. 

“I’m just stating the facts! A bastard like her does not deserve…” Lam Mei Mei retorted in anger, not buying Lam Zaa’s words. 

Slap! 

The elders at the side trembled at the scene, but they dared not express anything about it, only lowering their heads in silence.

“What do you think father will do if he hears you?” Lam Zaa asked. He had just slapped Lam Mei Mei on her face. 

Lam Mei Mei fell to the ground from the slap. She looked at Lam Zaa with disbelief swimming in her alluring eyes, holding onto her cheeks that had flushed red.

“How, how dare you slap me!” 

“I’m your elder brother. What’s the matter if I slap you? There’s nobody who dares to do so, that’s why you’re so spoiled and arrogant!” 

Kam Chin Kee who watched from the side was left speechless silently. Lam Mei Mei had always been the pearl in the palm of the palace. Having inherited Lee Fei Yin’s innocent look, she was the devil of the palace; no pranks in the palace were unrelated to her. However, due to her status and Emperor Lam’s doting, there wasn’t anybody who dared to say anything. 

But now, Lam Zaa had just slapped her on the face.  

Lam Mei Mei pouted, turning around to leave while bursting into tears. “I’m going to tell Mother Queen about this!” 

“Whatever!” Lam Zaa snorted. 

When Lam Zaa turned towards Lam Ming Sum, she only handed him the plate and mumbled, “Don’t blame Mei Mei, she’s just too young to be smart. Here’s a sweet for you.” 

Lam Zaa was taken aback. This was the first time Lam Ming Sum talked to him on her own accord in two years. He had always tried to speak to Lam Ming Sum, but she’d either escape or Kam Chin Kee would be around, stopping him from doing so. This was what make Lam Zaa fascinated. 

As the current crown prince, he got everything he wanted. Everybody treated him with respect, and even the bratty Lam Mei Mei had to greet him as brother prince when she saw him. 

Lam Zaa had never met anyone like Lam Ming Sum, and he was thrown off his feet to have Lam Ming Sum initiating a conversation with him. When he got back to his senses, Lam Ming Sum was already nowhere to be seen, and it was unknown when Kam Chin Kee left.  

He was only left with the colourful candy in his hand. Slowly, he ate it and a smile took over his charming face. “How sweet.”

Alone, Kam Chin Kee sat on his bed in his room. The items in his hands were none other than the carving knife and a piece of wood. Nobody ever asked about his intention to cultivate, nor did he take the initiative to ask. 

He seemed like a guest living in the palace, but he knew that he was just a bird in its cage. And power was needed to break free. 

Kam Chin Kee shut his eyes, remembering all about energliph that he had read from the palace’s Sacred Scripture Pavilion. After some time, he opened his eyes abruptly, lighting up the entire room. 

Kam Chin Kee’s hands moved rapidly. 

Szzzz…

Wood shavings flew around the room, but he remained focused on his work. Changes showed on the piece of wood; it started to take the form of a dog statue, but not exactly like one. 

Buzz…

Hearing the buzz, Kam Chin Kee stopped in his tracks. It was a cute dog that looked like an unknown beast if one were to look closely at it. It was also covered by mystic gliphs. Kam Chin Kee looked at the palm-sized beast in his hands and put down his knife, sticking his index finger out. 

Whoosh. 

A formless string appeared out of the blue. If any other was present, they would definitely be left astonished seeing how a teenager who was not even in the single-gliphic state turned energliph into a gliph. 

Even Man Chin Hung used a quick fix of using her ten fingers to draw gliphs before she stepped into the single-gliphic state. She was only able to turn energliph into gliphs after reaching the one-gliphic state. It was unheard of in the world that anyone could to turn energliph into gliph before actually reaching the single-gliphic state. 

Kam Chin Kee wore a peaceful expression as the gliph sting in the air landed on the wooden beast on his hands. Not after long, the beast gained life and was able to perform tricks like a somersault, handstand, sit and many more. 

“Huff…” Kam Chin Kee heaved a sigh of relief, smiling widely.

The green beast was the machine-operated beast of the lowest grade of the Thousand Mechanism Sect.  

Since it worked… Time to come up with something big.