Night of the Broken Gliph

The group made their way up the mountain together. Shortly, they reached the halfway mark of the mountain where there were a few small residences located.

It was a village made up of five houses, more accurately.

Woo Nim turned to them with a bow. “Teachers, since it’s inappropriate for us to tag along for the visit to the palace master, allow me to take the sixth teacher’s assistant to her residence first.”

“Okay.” Yim Mo Chiu nodded.

Woo Nim nodded once again and waved at Lam Ming Sum. “Come with me, we assistants have our own residences different from the teachers.”

Feeling lost, Lam Ming Sum turned to Chui Yim and Kam Chin Kee anxiously. “Take your leave, nothing bad can happen here.” Kam Chin Kee smiled.

“Yeah, prepare a nice meal for tonight.” Chui Yim nodded.

After Lam Ming Sum left with Woo Nim, Cheuk Kwun, and Chu Wan Shue, the boys walked into the village with the other teachers. The village was somewhere the world would never associate with the world’s greatest Cloud Palace.

Extremely simple, but out of the ordinary at the same time.

“Senior Brother, I’ll take a rest first.” Wat Suen bowed slightly and went into one of the houses with the help of the walking stick, shutting the door behind her.

“Senior Brother and Junior Brothers, I’ll take my leave too.” Wong Kei nodded and went towards a huge tree in the village. There was a game of Go under the tree. Wong Kei sat in front of the game board alone, seemingly deep in thought.

“Junior Brothers! I’ll go prepare first!” Hui Sai Cheong’s eyes lit up brightly. “Tonight, Third Senior Brother here will make you a sumptuous spread to welcome you guys!” Before the boys could react, Hui Sai Cheong ran off.

“He…” Sung Tsz Hin felt his head pounding and gave the boys an apologetic smile. “Please bear with them; they have their passions and might seem slightly rude. Follow me, I’ll bring you to your residence.”

Chui Yim and Kam Chin Kee exchanged glances, as they were slightly weirded out. But they followed Yim Mo Chiu and Sung Tsz Hin into the village.

They were led to a space that was cleared out last minute.

“This will be your residence, Junior Brothers.”

“Senior Brother and Sister, there’s… nothing here.” Kam Chin Kee blinked.

“You need to build it.” Yim Mo Chiu stared at him weirdly.

“Yes, every new disciple needs to build their residence from scratch without help from others, a rule given by our master. It’s the tradition of Cloud Palace.” Sung Tsz Hin laughed.

Chui Yim was in great disbelief. Am I here to learn or be a construction worker? He was as confused and shocked as he was when he first arrived at the shabby temple of the Cloud Palace outer sect.

“You may start after we pay a visit to Master.” Sung Tsz Hin continued.

“I’ll go find Siu Chu, Senior Brother.” Yim Mo Chiu turned to Sung Tsz Hin.

“I’ll bring the both of you to Master.” Sung Tsz Hin nodded.

Thus, Chui Yim and Kam Chin Kee went up the mountain following Sung Tsz Hin. They passed by a worn-out two-story building that could only be described with one word: rundown. Sung Tsz Hin gave them a rough introduction. “This is Cloud Forest, our library. Feel free to come over for a look if you need references.”

Chui Yim and Kam Chin Kee exchanged glances. Both of them were speechless.

Cloud Forest was recorded in many legends and books. There were even sayings about how it had the biggest collection of the world’s gliphs, gliphilities, and other content, a place brimming with treasures for cultivators. Yet… it was so shabby in reality?

They even saw Cheuk Kwun sitting in front of Cloud Forest, lying down on his bamboo rocking chair, enjoying life.

The boys felt that the actual Cloud Palace and their expectations were like cheese and chalk. As they made their way up the mountain, they felt peaceful walking along the quiet trail.

As they progressed, the huge trees around them disappeared and were replaced by dark green bamboo trees that grew upright 

like many long spears. Without the sharpness though, there was only peace.

The entire trail felt mystical.

“Bamboo represents the state of mystery in the books. It’s hollow inside, its empty state normally used as a metaphor for the connection between the inside and outside of the world. This bamboo is just like a wall separating us from the world.” Sung Tsz Hin smiled, explaining Cloud Palace’s existence to his newly joined junior brothers. “Other than following your heart, nothing else matters.

“All of us; me, your fellow senior sisters and brothers feel the same. Other than following our heart, items and worldly affairs are just illusions, and Cloud Palace’s existence separates us from the worldly affairs. Everything here is the most basic. We get food and water from nature, build a house to deal with the winter’s cold, and enjoy the cooling lake water during summer.

“This is what Cloud Palace is.”

With Sung Tsz Hin’s words, they arrived at the peak of the mountain shortly, leaving the bamboo woods behind.

They were welcomed by bright sunlight that made their eyes hurt, but only slightly as they were located on a mountain surrounded by clouds and fog. The sunlight was less striking after piercing through the clouds and fog.

On the cliff was a huge rock with an elderly man sitting on it.

He was experiencing hair loss, and the few strands of his silver hair reflected brightly under the sunlight. The elderly man was short and had a slightly hunched back, looking just like an ordinary old man.

His back was facing the three of them as he held a long fishing rod with no bait, leaving it casually on the cliff.

“Master, the juniors are here.” Sung Tsz Hin greeted.

Chui Yim and Kam Chin Kee were very tense.

Cloud Palace was the most mysterious and terrifying cultivation location in the world, and every disciple of Cloud Palace became one of the greatest beings in the world, so how powerful must their palace master be?

The most reliable rumour was that the palace master was the only man that managed to break through the ultimate limit of cultivators in the world.

Whoosh. He retracted his rod and placed it next to the rock.

The elder turned around to face Chui Yim and Kam Chin Kee. There was nothing special about him; he looked just like any other ordinary old man on the streets. But under his wrinkles, his deep and huge eyes left a huge impression on the boys.

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