Night of the Broken Gliph

Tse On left with the night wolf after greeting them. He invited them to stay at the Tse Clan’s residence in South Imperial City, but he conceded when Chor Shing Chit rejected him. Before he left, he gave his contact method to Chor Shing Chit and Chui Yim to find him in case they needed help. 

The night wolf wasn’t willing to part with the trio that it had travelled with for such a long time, yet it was happy to be free from Chor Shing Chit’s foggy night onyx eagle that had been disturbing it all this while. 

Bak Wun, Chor Shing Chit and Chui Yim were left at the city gate, watching the bustling city. It was only now that Chui Yim felt a sense of unfamiliarity. He heard Chor Shing Chit breathe deeply before turning towards him.

“Let’s go home,” Chor Shing Chit said determinedly, but Chui Yim caught a slight tremble in his voice. 

It was obviously not Chui Yim’s home which was miles away in a village near Southary, nor Bak Wun’s, whose identity was still a mystery. 

Chor Shing Chit meant his home, the famous Spiral Dragon Chor Clan! 

Humans living in this ever-changing world were absentminded creatures. As the saying goes, countless changes take place every ten years. It had been twenty years, and many things weren’t the same. 

Chor Shing Chit was once a brilliant talent that was so well-known that even the powerful organisations in the North knew of him. But twenty years later, he could walk on the streets without anybody recognising him. 

He looked around, mentally tired due to the changes that took place in the past two decades. Many landmarks were the same, but countless shops had been washed away by the passage of time. The stationary shop in front of him had once been a breakfast shop he adored as a kid that sold deep-fried dough strips and porridge, and the eatery by its side was previously the weapon shop where Chor Shing Chit got his first training rod from. 

These changes didn’t seem obvious, but nothing was the same. Not just the shops and people, but the clans as well. 

And the changes were beyond imagination. 

In such a huge city, travelling from one part of the city to another required transportation as walking would take too much time. All you needed was ample money; you could buy anything in the South’s capital. Hardyhorse coaches were the cheapest transportation in South Imperial City. 

The most well-known coach in Southary was the bronze-horned rhinos used by the Chan Clan. People in Southary were respectful and envious when they saw a bronze-horned rhino coach in the streets. But in South Imperial City, bronze-horned rhinos were just a gliphic beast slightly better than hardyhorses. 

Countless beautiful and exotic beasts pulled coaches in the city. From gorgeous magipigeons to ferocious sharp-toothed lions, it was evident how great and powerful the capital of the South was. 

Chor Shing Chit and Chui Yim arrived at the Chor Clan. Bak Wun left them before they boarded the coach, saying, “I’ll check on my buddies and find you guys when needed.” Thus, Chor Shing Chit and Chui Yim were left alone. 

The Chor Residence. 

Poker-faced guards were standing outside the residence with a long rod in each hand. No emotions could be seen in their eyes, but the observant Chui Yim caught the slight cautiousness and readiness to fight despite them standing as still as a stone statue. 

He looked at both guards and then at Chor Shing Chit, muttering. “Indeed your family, the blockhead clan.” 

Chor Shing Chit pretended to not hear him and sped up. Chui Yim chased after him, expecting to see the guards stop Chor Shing Chit. However, they didn’t stop him and let him pass. 

“Why didn’t they stop you?” Disappointed with the boring turn of events, Chui Yim asked after they entered. 

“Because those who cared already knew,” Chor Shing Chit replied coldly as always. 

Yes, the Chor Clan was aware of Chor Shing Chit’s return. 

Chor Shing Chit swaggered into his old home. Despite having left the clan for twenty years, all the Chor Clan members who passed by pretended not to see Chor Shing Chit. Chui Yim expected to see many conflicts, and he was disappointed that there weren’t any, thus he started looking around the Chor Clan. 

Chui Yim had been to the Tse and Ping Clans, which were similarly renowned, and concluded that all clans had their unique style. The Tse Clan had a mysterious style; there weren’t any plants besides a single huge tree. Chui Yim only knew that it symbolised a lion resting in the woods. Their clan’s gliph was the night lion, and the lion was the king of all animals, so the tree taught their disciples to remember their might while remaining respectful towards heaven and earth. 

As for the Ping Clan built atop a mountain, they had a natural style. Due to the countless Elixir Halls, the scent of elixirs could be smelled even with a scent gliph formation blocking the smell since the scent was on all the Ping Clan members. Their simple clan design resonated well with nature, giving off a comfortable vibe. 

It was totally different in the Chor Clan. Their clan residence was a pitch-black building; not that it was painted black, but made of black wood. 

Chui Yim immediately identified it as glibony, a common gliphic plant that was usually ground into powder by doctors to mix into various medicines to protect patients from side effects. As the saying “medicines are thirty per cent poison” goes, even the best medicines had side effects, and gliphony helped reduce these side effects. 

Thus, glibony represented protecting one’s country and home since it was ordinary yet protected their loved ones. 

The entire clan residence used glibony for all their pillars, windows, bridges, and everything else; basically, it was the only wood they used. There weren’t any decorations, and the clan looked like an army base. 

The Chor Clan was the same as when Chor Shing Chit left—except for its residences.