Rubbing his eyes, Samuel walked out of the room. His eyes were still hazy as he looked around. Next to the door, he saw Shi Mei standing there silently, waiting for him.

Looking at Samuel, she asked, “Why didn’t you change?”

Samuel yarned before asking back, “Change? What do you mean?”

Realising her mistake, Shi Mei lowered her head slightly before saying, “There were robes on the table inside the room. Uncle Zhu said to ask you to change into them before taking you to his room. From there, he will take you and your companion to Uncle-Grandpa.”

“What about you?” Samuel asked. Tilting his head, he looked at Shi Mei before shaking his head.

Nervous inside, the little girl thought, ‘He is shaking his head. Is he disappointed? I did forget to inform him. So he is justified. Why am I always this incompetent?’

Samuel exclaimed, “Damn, there was a table inside? I didn’t notice. My bad.”

Feeling dumbfounded, the little girl looked at Samuel oddly.

Rubbing the bridge of his chin in embarrassment, Samuel said, “You should try smiling more. Maybe you’ll feel better. My dad used to say it’s not always a good thing to be so serious all the time.”

Without waiting for her to reply, he stretched lazily before walking back into the room, still feeling drowsy.

Looking around, he saw a bed with a side table in the centre with a table at one corner and a closet in another. Atop the table lay a set of saffron robes, similar to Zhu’s.

Picking and unfurling the clothes, Samuel exclaimed, “Damn, these are smooth.”

Running his hand over the cloth, he nodded. However, after remembering Shi Mei waiting outside, he didn’t tarry, quickly changing his clothes.

Running his finger through his sleeve, he smiled. “Nice fitting.”

Feeling refreshed after a change of clothes, he tidied his hair before swaggering out.

Not meeting his gaze, the little girl walked forward. Air carried her three words to Samuel’s ears, “Follow after me.”

Shaking his head, Samuel walked forward.

Going down two floors, Shi Mei stopped in front of a room. Taking a breath in, she knocked on the door.

A few moments later, Zhu opened the door.

Looking at the two kids outside, he waved his hand, gesturing at them to come in.

Samuel nodded before walking in. On the other hand, Shi Mei shook her head before walking back up the staircase.

Within the room, besides Zhu, Samuel saw another figure.

While doing his best to hold back his smile, Samuel’s expression distorted. He asked, “Zack, what happened to you?”

Zack’s head drooped down, his sole eye focusing on the floor below. Samuel turned serious as he patted Zack’s back. “Who hit you? Tell me. I’ll go beat that idiot up. Don’t worry.”

Zack raised his head, looking at Samuel. Seeing sincerity in his eyes, Zack felt moved. A faint smile appeared on his face as he said, “Thanks.”

To the side, Zhu nodded, feeling touched.

However, after getting no reply, Samuel’s brows creased. He pressed the question, to which Zack didn’t reply.

In the end, Samuel turned to Zhu, asking, “Teacher, can you tell me who beat him up? I’ll quickly go break that idiot’s legs and come back. How dare he touch my friend? I’ll show him how bullying works.”

Zhu’s expression turned odd at Samuel’s words.

Looking at his expression, Samuel’s confidence wavered as he meekly asked, “Is the one who beat him strong?”

Zhu hesitated before replying, “He is rather weak amongst—”

Samuel clapped, “Good! I’ll show him what it means to get hit. If he dared hit, he better be prepared to be beaten back.”

Awkwardly, Zhu coughed before remarking, “As I was saying, he is rather weak amongst the sages.”

Samuel clicked his tongue, “Damn, he’s a sage. He must be strong. Wait a second…”

With eyes full of shock, Samuel pointed at Zhu in horror. “So you hit him? Why?”

Turning his head to the side, Zhu replied, “It’s a technique to help him better assimilate with Ki. It’s an old and tested technique. And I made sure to not injure him severely. Do you want to try it?”

Shaking his head, Samuel smiled, “How can I…? Haha…. Don’t mind me. Why did you call me here?”

Zhu smiled. “If you remember, your father asked me to do anything to make you strong enough to hit people, beat people, break their legs and arms and whatnot. Now, why don’t we try?”

Grabbing Zack’s shoulders, Samuel pushed him in front, hiding behind him while shaking.

Zack’s expression turned odd.

Holding back his laughter, Zhu said, “Alright. Get ready. In around half an hour, you’ll have a meeting with the council of elders here to make your formal introductions. More or less, they’ll ask you a few things about your background and whatnot and tell you about some rules.”

Samuel nodded before tilting his head. “Shi Mei told me that the high-priest wanted to meet me. Where’s the…”

Looking at Zhu’s expression turning dark, Samuel stopped midway. His expression seemed to say, ‘What should I do with you?’

Next, as if remembering something, Samuel stood up and bowed. “Apologies. I greet the third high-priest.”

Zhu shook his head. “Uncle-Master couldn’t come. He had stuff to attend to. He asked me to pass you a message. But looking at it, I probably don’t need to. Still, I’ll do what I should.” A meaningful smile appeared on his face as he said, “The council will be a test of all your knowledge of the ways of the world. Don’t disappoint us.”

“So you mean to say that this will be big trouble…” Samuel leaned forward, covering his mouth with his hand. After a while, his eyes lit up as he asked, “So you mean to say, if someone tries to make trouble, I am free to—”

“Shh. Some things are better left unsaid.” Zhu smiled, saying, “I look favourably upon you. Now, let’s go.”

Without another word, the group of three descended the tower. Exiting, they walked through the plaza and entered a building a few minutes from the tower.

When inside, Samuel’s eyes widened as he saw a large group of people sitting in neat arching rows with a stage in the middle. The seats grew higher and less numerous the further they went.

People filled the seats in front. However, the ones in the middle were relatively empty, with an average of two in ten being unoccupied. At the highest and the last row, there were only three seats, with two of them occupied and one empty. In one of the seats, Samuel saw the old high-priest, whereas the other one had a middle-aged man in his thirties, who he didn’t know of. To Samuel’s astonishment, everyone present here had bald heads, making him want to laugh.

Leaving the two boys on stage, Zhu walked towards the back before occupying the last remaining seat.

“Alright, we can start.” The old high-priest said before waving his hand.

The next moment, someone from the middle seats shot up. Pointing at Samuel and Zack, he ordered, “State your identities.”