Night of the Broken Gliph

Therefore Chor Shing Chit left the home that was too suffocating for him. 

His father who currently stood in front of him was just like a familiar stranger. Only now did Chor shing Chit know that the strict father he knew was merely a facade. Chor Chun Ping was in fact the gentle father that carried him back to his room every time he fainted from exhaustion, and the man that stared at him in pain when he trained hard. 

Nineteen years had passed, and Chor Chun Ping did not even blame him the slightest. He was more than glad to have Chor Shing Chit back. 

Regret filled Chor Shing Chit immediately. I shouldn’t have been so stubborn, which made me lose almost twenty years of companionship with my parents. 

Bak Wun and Chui Yim exchanged a smile and left the living room silently, leaving space for the father and son. 

Only Chor Shing Chit and Chor Chun Ping were left in the living room. They chatted all day and did not even light a candle when night fell. Chor Shing Chit who rarely spoke was now telling Chor Chun Ping about all that took place during the last nineteen years while Chor Chun Ping listened with a wide smile on his face. 

If any of the Spiral Dragon Soldiers saw this scene, they would definitely be thrown off their feet. Even soldiers that worked under Chor Chun Ping for more than ten years had never seen him wear a smile on his face. The number of times Chor Chun Ping smiled today was way more than he ever had in the past decade! 

Their chat lasted the entire night. 

When Chui Yim and Bak Wun woke up from the guest room they were assigned to, the Chor father and son pair was already waiting for them outside their room. After last night, Chor Chun Ping understood why they had the night wolf and many things about Chui Yim. Since  Chor Shing Chit did nothing but lead a peaceful life at Southary as a teacher and cultivator for the past nineteen years, there was not much to share about himself, unlike Chui Yim. 

Thus Chor Chun Ping was curious about the kid that his son thought highly of. He even jumped up from his seat when he heard that Chui Yim tattooed the Spiral Dragon gliph for Chor Shing Chit on his heart chamber. Actually, Chor Shing Chit still knew nothing about the gliph on his heart chamber. The only time he used it was to save Wong Kwan back at the Engraved Mountain Range. 

Chor Chun Ping had set up a feast for his guest. It wasn’t an extravagant one; they were at the fortified checkpoint after all, but sincerity was all that mattered. 

Per usual, Bak Wun only cared about food. There was nothing else other than that in his old but mysterious eyes. Chui Yim was also starving. He wasn’t sure if he was overthinking or what; he felt that after eating the drumstick that made his Heaven’s Flame grow, his food intake grew. 

At the dining table, there wasn’t anyone on the main seat as Chor Chun Ping sat on the guest seat with Chor Shing Chit, showing that everyone was the same.

“I’ve heard so much praise about our little friend Chui from Shing Chit,” Chor Chun Ping said. “And about how you tattooed a gliph onto Shing Chit with a mineral.

“However, as an old glipher who doesn’t have much knowledge on tattooing gliphs, may I ask what side effects it comes with? Pardon me for being an old man who cares alot about his child.” 

Hearing how Chor Chun Ping spoke to him, Chui Yim immediately stopped stuffing food in his mouth and took a mouthful of water. He wiped the stains off his mouth and looked up. “I chose minerals as the ingredient for elder brother Chor’s gliph because I had no other choice back then. It was an emergency. I have been monitoring his situation for the past half a year too.” 

Chui Yim spoke about the matter seriously. His playful self was long gone. Chui Yim’s serious expression was no forgein to Chor Chun Ping. He saw it on many gliphers, glipheons, and many other well-informed scholars. They always wore such an expression on their faces—a reflection of how confident and serious they were about their knowledge. 

But now, he was seeing it from a twelve-year-old…

“Gliphic plants are more gentle. There would not be much impact to the glipher’s body or character.” 

“Tattooing a gliph with gliphic plant would also make the glipher become more gentle, be it their character or will to fight. It’s a good thing generally, but bad for gliphers who have to battle,” Chor Chun Ping nodded in response and continued. As a member of Chor Clan, he was obviously  educated in gliphism, unlike what he said. 

“Yes.” Chui Yim nodded. “Tattooing a gliph with gliphic beast parts is not just more difficult, but it will affect the glipher mentally too. It increases their will to fight and makes them more bad tempered. However, it also increases their fighting ability.  

“Gliphism, especially tattooing gliphs onto chamber will bring changes to the cultivator. It is the process of fusing other lives into one’s body.” 

Chor Chun Ping nodded again. “That is what confuses me. Ingredients required for tattooing gliphs all have a common point, and that is signs of life. But not minerals, for even gliphic minerals are lifeless.” 

Chui Yim’s eyes lit up and looked at Chor Chun Ping with a meaningful look. Unlike what he said, he knows quite a lot about tattooing gliphs. I won’t be surprised if he’s a gliphist. But he’s a glipher, which means that he is a mysterious person. So this is how the backup of a clan looks like? 

“You’re right, but wrong at the same time,” Chui Yim answered immediately. “Right because minerals can’t be used as an ingredient because they are not a living thing, wrong because some minerals contain derivations of living things, which we can use. I used the frost dragon rock for big brother Chor’s gliph. Frost dragon rock is the feces of windy frost dragons which has gone through weathering for many hundred of years. Feces sounds bad, but the famous gliphic plants in the South all use feces as fertilizers. 

“On the other hand, feces contains the essence of the gliphic beast. Since gliphic beasts could not totally absorb all of it, they are discharged out of their body and after many centuries, the essences remain sealed in the rock. I melted the rock with fire into liquid and tattooed the gliph on big brother Chor. Gliphic minerals after weathering do not have the fierce character of gliphic beast, but calmness and stability instead.” 

Chui Yim went on and on like a confident researcher. “According to my observation on big brother Chor, tattooing a gliph with minerals allows one to have more control over his or her emotions. Rocks aren’t easily moved. They are as stable as a mountain, one that can remain unmoved even  through terrible rainstorms and typhoons. However, once it moves, it will mark its presence in the world with huge and shocking impacts. It will also make the glipher more silent. They are just as passionate as before, just that they put it in their heart and will only burst out like gushes of water when it’s time. Applicable for both will to battle and emotion.”