Night of the Broken Gliph

Chapter 475

Lam Chi’s visit left Chui Yim puzzled. He saw this man back at the Cloud Palace outer sect and learnt that he was Lam Chun’s biological younger brother, but Chui Yim did not see any reason why he should visit.

He and Kam Chin Kee might now be disciples of Cloud Palace and bore important statuses in the world, but they were cultivators of an organisation that never cared about worldly affairs, so what could have brought Lam Chi here?

“Little Friend Chui, I’m specially here to apologize to you.” Lam Chi went straight to the point after a short chit-chat.

“Huh?” Chui Yim raised a brow. His thick eyebrows looked especially prominent on his smooth shiny bald head. “For what?”

“To be honest, I’m the mayor of Southary,” Lam Chi said apologetically. “It’s my incompetence that allowed Chan Shue Gun to perform such a malicious act.”

“Ah?” This piece of news shocked only Chui Yim, not Kam Chin Kee. Despite being a nobody, Kam Chin Kee still grew up in the palace and paid attention to everything that was going on around him.

Lam Chi, the current Emperor Lam’s – Lam Chun’s – biological younger brother.

About twenty years ago, the previous Emperor Lam passed on without leaving an official order of who would succeed the throne. There were many versions of the story, one being that before he passed on, the last thing he told the Imperial Physician – Doctor Kuen Hip – was that he selected Lam Chi as his successor.

However, Kuen Hip was long part of Lam Chun’s team. Thus, Lam Chun succeeded the throne with the claim of being the eldest son and Crown Prince.

Displeased with the outcome, Lam Chi and about a hundred officials worked together and tried to force Lam Chun to abdicate the morning right before Lam Chun officially took over the throne.

Yet Lam Chi was no competition for the skillful Lam Chun, who knew beforehand from a spy about Lam Chi’s plan and came up with a trap. On that fateful day, Lam Chun caught every member that was in cahoots with Lam Chi and had them thrown into the Imperial Prison, including Lam Chi who was imprisoned for half a year.

It was a chaotic period of time in the South, especially with the tragic Kam Clan Village incident taking place during the same time. Mysterious northerners snuck into the South to destroy many agriculture sites and took the lives of the entire village. Lam Chun acted strongly about this situation, unlike the previous emperor who prioritized peace and harmony. At lightning speed, Lam Chun sent armed forces to hunt down the Northern cultivators who did this and killed them on the spot, even hanging their bodies on the Southern walls near the Bloody War Frontier to give them a warning.

This angered the Northerners greatly, and they fought the South so fiercely that even hundred-gliphic and four-chambered state cultivators had to fight.

After three months, the war ended with a tie.

Lam Chun successfully calmed the public down and maintained the South as a peaceful, prosperous country where everybody could lead a comfortable life. Thus, his citizens followed his lead willingly, and Lam Chi was long forgotten by the South.

Instead of taking his life, Lam Chun sent him to Southary and crowned him the Duke in the name of having him to guard the city. This was no different from exile, just putting it in a nicer way.

Years ago, Chui Yim knew nothing about this and would never have linked the mayor of Southary with the mighty emperor. Putting everything else aside, even the South's Five or the Night Lion City Tse Clan, who crowned themselves as kings of that area, were much larger than Southary, yet they weren't of the Lam Clan's lineage.

“Little Friend Chui has outstanding talents, even burning the chamber check rock back at Southary. I've long heard about you back in the city, but it just never crossed my mind that Little Friend Chui would achieve such great success today.”

Lam Chi spoke politely.

He might have been exiled, but he was still a duke and the biological brother of today's emperor. It made no sense for him to speak to Chui Yim so politely normally, but with Chui Yim being the current seventh teacher, it all made sense.

Chui Yim did not have much dislike towards Lam Chi.

Chui Yim knew that he was the troublemaker, and it was his responsibility, not the mayor’s. On his way here, he also heard from Bak Wun that despite not stopping Chan Shue Gun from hunting them down, Lam Chi did his part to suppress the Chan Clan and secure the lives of the teachers and students of Riding Clouds Academy.

Moreover, the duke had specially come to pay a visit. There was nothing much Chui Yim could say even with his character.

After a long pleasant chat, Lam Chi got ready to take his leave. He looked at the dark sky and laughed. “It's getting late, and I'm going to return to Southary soon since the enrollment has come to an end.”

Chui Yim was kind of lost. It was hard for him to imagine that a duke would be chit-chatting with him like a friend. Lam Chi did not even use honorifics for himself; could it be the isolated Southary had turned him into who he was today?

“I have also ordered that nobody can break into Little Friend Chui's residence. There might be maniacs that would do so just to take a look at the seventh teacher's house,” Lam Chi said somewhat jokingly.

“That would be bad, I'll thank you in advance.”

Lam Chi flashed him a smile. “Alright, I'll take my leave first. I'll wait at Southary for the day that Little Friend Chui shakes the world.”

With that, Lam Chi left. It was as if he was here just to have a casual chat with Chui Yim, not harbouring any ulterior motives.

But this wasn’t seen as such by others.

Lam Chi, the mayor of Southary, came to pay a visit to Chui Yim, the seventh teacher as well as the last disciple of the generation, who was also from Southary!

Lam Chi came at such a sensitive time, and with all the connecting dots, some guessed that there might be some motives.

They were unsure, but they suspected.

The next day, the last day before leaving, Choh Hang Sang came once again.

It might sound mystical, but Choh Hang Sang only learned from his master for just a few days.

Choh Hang Sang's situation was indeed kind of odd. He was extremely proficient at forging already, just stuck at a bottleneck, but this was the exact reason that Chui Yim did not have to teach him as much as he did for Kiu Chi Gong.

It was more like simply giving him direction. Chui Yim only taught Choh Hang Sang the direction he needed to take as well as the important parts of weapon refining, which was what Choh Hang Sang really craved.

But the saying “master for a day, father for life” was accurate as guidance was so important to the disciples. Chui Yim might have only given him some advice here and there, but this gave Choh Hang Sang new ideas and helped Kiu Chi Gong avoid the wrong paths.

This was the kindness of passing down knowledge!