Night of the Broken Gliph

Despite knowing that Chor Huet Zhin was putting on an act, Chui Yum still agreed to the deal; firstly, he was in urgent need of the money, and secondly, Chor Huet Zhin didn’t have much time left. There was no reason why he shouldn’t respect the last wishes of a man at death’s door. 

“Okay, deal!” 

Chor Huet Zhin immediately “recovered” from his cough and extended his hand, laughing. “High five as a promise.”  

Pat! 

Chor Shing Chit stood at the side, feeling muddled as he watched his grandfather and Chui Yim glare at each other while trying to trick each other. 

A million silver taels was a lot. But they were the Chor Clan, one of the most powerful clans in the South, and it wasn’t that significant for the clan as a whole. However, the clan still cared about what they exchanged for the money. 

As Chor Shing Chit mentioned, one might be able to put a price tag on grade three gliph weapons but there was only absolute demand and lack of supply for it. 

Superior grade three gliph weapons weren’t easy to forge; only grandmasters could forge them and the success rate was only seventy per cent. Not just that, but grandmasters were innately prideful and usually wouldn’t spend their time making grade three gliph weapons, instead challenging themselves to forge a grade four weapon.

Moreover, there weren’t even twenty grandmaster smiths in this world, making them rarer than alchemists! That was why superior grade three gliph weapons were harder to find than grade four gliph weapons—which were strong enough to become a clan’s heirloom. 

The gliph weapon ranked last on the famous Celestial Weapon Rank was a top-notch grade three gliph weapon, while most other gliph weapons on the rankings were of grade four.

Thus this deal could never end up in a loss for Chor Huet Zhin. 

If Chui Yim could really pay them back with a top-tier grade three weapon, it would definitely be worth the 1,000,000 silver taels! But even if Chui Yim didn’t, he’d have to tattoo gliphs for Chor Shing Chit in the future, who would definitely become a pillar of the Chor Clan. It was worth 1,000,000 taels to have a genius like Chui Yim personally tattooing gliphs for Chor Shing Chit. 

Without any connections, it cost at least a few hundred thousand for a ten-gliphic gliphist to tattoo one gliph, let alone a hundred-gliphic gliphist. The complexity of the gliph was also considered; if it was a complex gliph, it’d cost millions, and that’d be considered cheap. 

Glipher were common in this world while gliphists were more important existences. Without gliphists to tattoo gliphs on gliphers, gliphers wouldn’t exist. They complemented each other and neither could survive alone. 

But what gave Chor Shing Chit mixed feelings was how Chor Huet Zhin and Chui Yim acted. 

The Bloody War Strike was too cheap to exchange for the mineral tattooing method, and the silver taels was actually a gift from Chor Huet Zhin since Chui Yim likely wouldn’t charge a single cent to tattoo gliphs for Chor Shing Chit in the future for their friendship. 

What they did was just an act. It was secretly an exchange of favours. 

One party hoped to help his clan as much as possible before he left this world, whilst the other was just helping him fulfil his last wish. The thought of his grandfather passing away made Chor Shing Chit sad again. 

Chui Yim was similarly upset to know that Chor Huet Zhin didn’t have much time left, but death was no stranger to him having lived once before. 

He had a headache thanks to the costly school fees he had to pay, so he left immediately after receiving a stack of banknotes from Chor Huet Zhin at the Chor mansion’s bookkeeping room. 

South Imperial City was so huge that it was hard to travel without transportation. Luckily, Chui Yim’s destination was relatively close by. 

“Haha, little brother Chui, you’re finally here! I’ve been waiting for a long time.” Tse On laughed and welcomed Chui Yim enthusiastically. “I heard from Yu Bak that little brother Chui loves wine, and I happen to have some here…”

 “Thank you, uncle Tse, I appreciate it. But I indeed need some help this time.” 

 “Oh?” 

Only two other Tse Clan servants followed Tse On and Chui Yim as they left. This was South Imperial City, a region which didn’t belong to the Tse Clan but the capital of the South instead. The Tse Clan had a strong foothold here for many purposes. For example, the Tse Clan could immediately receive news on precious items at auctions and make swift decisions on whether to bid or not. They could help replenish stocks for Night Lion City too. 

Since this wasn’t the Tse Clan’s territory, they didn’t have as many members in South Imperial City and most were of a low cultivation state.  

“Little brother Chui, you’ve come to the right person. I wouldn’t be able to help if you wanted me to help you deal with an enemy.” Tse On laughed while leading him to his destination. “South Imperial City is large enough to be a country by itself; I’m serious. There are even gliphic plant plantations in the city, and the tributary of the Mother River here allows the city to be self-sufficient. They don’t need any external support.”  

“It’s confusing for an outsider, but I’ve stayed here for decades; I know this city like the back of my hand,” Tse On said proudly. “There are twenty-six weapon shops in South Imperial City, and more than half of them are helmed by great masters, making them special. Grandmaster Choh Hang Sang’s weapon shop, the Straw Hut, is the most well-known among all. Every glipher wants a weapon from him.”

“The shop that little brother Chui is looking for is near grandmaster Choh’s Straw Hut. It’s about three to four shops away from it,” Tse On said as he pointed to a faraway green three-storey building. Even from where they were standing, they could feel a strong sense of vitality. It was hard to believe that it was a weapon shop. 

“Let’s go and take a look.” Chui Yim turned back to the shop in front of him. 

This shop was larger than normal shops. It was said that the original owner sold wine; it had a wine cellar and two stories for his customers to sit and drink. 

After touring the shop, Chui Yim nodded in satisfaction. “Not bad. It’ll be a great shop after some renovation.

“So how much does it cost?” He turned to Tse On.