The shout rang almost as soon as Samuel poked his head out. Raising his head, Samuel saw the dark sky.

Looking back down at Diego, he couldn’t help but yell, “You… Idiot baldie, the sun isn’t even up yet. Let me sleep for a while more. Get lost. Don’t cause a ruckus here. Go somewhere else.”

Finishing his words, Samuel closed the window, not forgetting to latch it, before walking back to his bed and jumping into it while wrapping a pillow around his head, blocking all sounds from outside. Feeling the comfort of the sheets, Samuel’s eyelids grew heavier. In a few moments, he nodded off.

As a result, Diego’s fury soared. Squatting down, he picked up a rock, an ominous glint flickering in his eye.

*Tak*

The rock hit the window, missing the glass just enough to hit the wooden frame around it. The sound of a pebble striking against a wooden plank reverberated through the room.

*Tak* *Tak* *Tak* *Tak*…

However, before it could end, one rock after another hit the window, all hitting the frame in different locations whilst missing the glass.

The repeated noise roused Samuel up from his sleep. An irritated mumble added to the noise in the room as Samuel walked up to the window. Unlatching the window, he just opened it when a stone hit him in the middle of the forehead, knocking him down in an instant. Not a moment later, more pebbles flew in through the window, hitting the roof and dispersing through the room, some hitting Samuel whilst others not even landed close to him.

Watching the extra stones fly in, Diego broke out in a cold sweat. ‘Uh-oh. Looks like I threw too many.’

Covering his head with his hands, Diego waited for the scolding to come. However, even after a few minutes, nothing happened. Adding the fact that there were no sounds of anything breaking onto the lack of reaction, Diego’s confidence soared. He raised his head.

Looking at the open window, Diego cheered. Standing back up straight, he patted his hands before clasping them behind his back. With the look of a victor in his eye, Diego raised his head to the sky, pointing to some place above the window with his nose, as if arrogantly looking down at the boy he just defeated. He stood there smirking, waiting for Samuel to come out.

Yet, as time passed, nothing happened. Even then, Diego stood there, calmly waiting for Samuel to appear.

Half an hour later, Diego’s shoulders and legs were sore and his pose grew stiffer and stiffer. A trace of annoyance flashed through his eyes as he shouted, “Augustus! Where the hell are you?! Come out!”

Diego shouted at the top of his lungs. But despite that, the window stayed deathly still. However, it wasn’t as if there had been no response at all. In response to the shout, the door below creaked open as an old man walked out, his cane with a head shaped similar to a dragon’s head tapping against the ground sonorously.

Smiling, Yuan Mo asked, “Little Diego, what’s the matter?”

“I came to fight and used a few pebbles, only a few, not a lot, to knock on the window. But that Augustus ignored me.” Diego replied.

An enigmatic smile from the old man responded to Diego’s words. The old man turned back, gesturing Diego to follow inside. Both the boy and the old man settled in the living room.

Whilst pouring a cup of tea for himself, Yuan Mo asked, “Why so early today?”

“Old man, what would you know?” Diego replied in a tone full of complaint. “That idiot master reserved my full day to prepare for the next mission. And he actually took all those coins back from me. Only if I knew earlier that they were weapons… Thankfully, I had hidden some in my secret stash a while back. But still… He gets to beat me just because he is strong?! It’s unfair!”

Yuan Mo put down his teacup. Trying to hold back his laughter, he replied, “It’s not that he wants to beat you. He just has no choice. If he doesn’t, there will be many others who will beat you, and even more violently than him.”

“I know, but can’t he be a bit more… gentle?”

“No. He can’t. Even if he’s gentle, others won’t be. This world isn’t as good as you think it is. All that matters is how strong you are. And the stronger you want to be, the more you have to suffer. And from my experience, the more you suffer early, the less you’ll have to suffer later. Think about it. You said it yourself in your last mission briefing. If little Zhu didn’t beat you with a whip to the point you can feel how it’ll attack, you wouldn’t have dodged its tongue.”

“You… You’re right. But even then… ugh. Fine. You win. I can’t say anything to you.”

Yuan Mo chuckled before picking up his teacup. Grabbing it with both hands, he slowly savoured the taste of his tea.

“Remember, life is like tea, sometimes sweet, sometimes bitter. But if you take it with a clear heart, you’ll always like it. As for how to get that clear heart, I can’t say. Everyone has their own way. What matters is finding it.”

“Wow! Although I don’t understand what you just said, it sounds cool! How do you do that?”

Yuan Mo couldn’t help chuckling. “You came here to fight that kid, right? He’s on the upper floor. Go wake him up. Say I’m calling for him. It’ll be a good test for him. But you can’t use magic spells. Otherwise I’ll stop the fight as is.”

“What about him?”

“Do you really want to bully him that much? You should know that I haven’t even taught him anything. Bullying a little kid shouldn’t be fun, no? Otherwise, you wouldn’t know anything other than beating up children, right?” Yuan Mo gave Diego a meaningful glance.

Feeling his face burning at the remark, Diego kept his silence.

Looking at Shi Mei walking past the door, Yuan Mo greeted, “Oh, Little Mei, you’re up. How about you join me for tea?”

“Grandpa, I don’t like tea. I want some water.” Shi Mei replied, still drowsy. She walked over before taking a seat, resting her head on the table as if she were about to doze off.

Yuan Mo gestured to Diego, who poured a cup of water from a jug on the table before passing it to Shi Mei.

“You’ll go back up after this?” Yuan Mo asked.

Shi Mei nodded.

“Then go wake up Augustus for me. Tell him to come down quick. I have some work for him.”

The little girl gave an unwilling look, but nodded in the end while asking for a refill. After finishing four cups of water, the girl got up unwillingly before going up the staircase.

With a pleased look, Diego opened his mouth. “Good! Now Shi Mei will send down Augustus and—”

“AAAGH!” A shrill shout cut through Diego’s words.

Immediately, Yuan Mo’s face turned serious. He stood up before vanishing like smoke.

“Th-that's… Shi Mei? What happened? Where did that old man go?” Only after Yuan Mo vanish did Diego react. Without a delay, he shot up the staircase to see Yuan Mo’s odd expression and Shi Mei with her usual expressionless face, albeit stiffer than usual. The corner of her lip twitched from time to time.

Yuan Mo turned to look at Diego, resulting in his expression turning odder than before.