The old man had a bald head with no hair and wore saffron robes, looking similar to Zhu. A string of rosary beads as big as a baby’s fist hung around his neck, half hidden under his thick grey beard. His eyes, surrounded by countless wrinkles, seemed to have a light reflecting the vicissitudes of life. With a warm smile on his face, he gave off the air of a kind old man.

One of his hands held a wooden cane, while the other wrapped around the hand of a little girl looking to be around eight aevis in age.

The cane in the old man’s hand had the golden engravings of two servants wrapping around each other with the cane in the middle. At the head of the cane rested a dragon, clutching an orb between its jaws.

Looking at Zack, Zhu replied, “Some things happened and now I’m taking both of them under my wing. Well, I also have taken a liking to this little brat. He’s not as weak as he looks.”

To the side, Zack’s brow twitched faintly, but he chose to keep his silence.

The old man looked Zack up and down as if reading through him like an open book before nodding. “I can see why he looks so frail. But wouldn’t pushing him too far spill trouble? I’m sure I’m not the only one who can sense—”

“Uncle-master, so what about it? There wouldn’t be any issues with me keeping him here, right?” Zhu asked hurriedly, giving the old man a meaningful look.

The old man groaned, “Ah, my mouth. Guess it came loose like my underpants because of my old age…”

Zhu looked at the old man oddly before pressing on. “So, what about it?”

“What trouble?” asked the old man, smiling wryly.

Heaving a sigh, Zhu replied, “That Jie Wei bastard.”

The old man shook his head. “What’s to come will come and what’s to happen will happen. We can’t do anything about it. It’s all a part of the cycle of fate. All we have the power to do is to work upon ourselves to face it head on. Just think about it, is getting angry even worthwhile in the slightest? Enough of that. What’re you dilly dallying for? Start with introductions, will you?”

Scratching his head, Zhu started, “This naughty looking boy is Samuel, William’s son. He’s the one I told you about before. As for this other one, he’s Zack. Samuel’s friend. He had his own conditions and came here to learn alongside Samuel.”

Turning to the two kids, Zhu continued, “He is the first high-priest, Shi Yuan Mo. He’s my late master’s brother, and like an uncle to me. Same way as Zack and William are, I guess. As for the young lady beside him, she’s my late master’s granddaughter, Shi Mei.”

Releasing his hold on the girl’s hand and patting her back, the old man said, “Little Mei, go ahead and greet them. It’s rude to not greet guests.”

The girl hesitated before walking forward. Her silky black hair flowed down to her back, contrasting against her fair skin. Although her face carried the traces of baby-fat, her distant gaze spoke of something else other than the naivete of youth.

In a well-practised yet stiff motion, the girl bent at the waist. “Greetings, visitors from afar. Welcome to our Long Huo Monastery. It’s our honour for you to visit our humble abode. My name is Shi Mei. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance.”

Zack bent at the waist slightly, returning the bow. “I am Zack. Nice to meet you too.”

On the other hand, Samuel walked forward, shaking her hand. With a smile, he stuttered, “This, uh… humble one, is called Samuel. Where I come from, people give each other greeting gifts to express sincerity. I don’t have much on hand, so, here. Take some candy.”

Receiving the candy with both hands, the girl bowed before timidly retreating behind the old man. In response, the old man laughed, “Little one, the more I look at you, the more you resemble your father. Little Zhu, go ahead and show our other guest his residence. As for you, little Samuel, come in and sit. Let’s have a small chat. I don’t have any candy though, so you won’t mind it, would you?”

Samuel nodded, “Don’t worry, gramps. I have enough candy for the both of us.”

The old man turned, entering the tower behind with Shi Mei. Following his lead, Samuel entered the tower, his eyes constantly moving around and surveying his surroundings.

Looking at the three figures vanishing into the tower, Zhu asked, “Missing him already?”

Giving Zhu an odd look, Zack shook his head. Looking up at the sky, he asked, “So, where will I be living? And what will we be training? Also, when will it start?”

“For living, it’d be mostly like how other people here live. We’ll give you a small room and you can stay there in the meantime. As for training, it’s naturally learning about Ki. For the last one, we can start today, but you seemed tired. Also, it’s necessary to take some time to adjust to your new surroundings. So we’ll do it tomorrow.”

Zack nodded in understanding, not saying another word.

Following Zhu’s lead, both walked towards a corner in the monastery. After a twenty-minute walk, both arrived in front of a small square building, all but the door made up of stone. Walking forward, Zhu touched the wooden door, a bunch of keys in his other hand. Of those, he put a single key in the middle of the keyhole, unlocking the door.

“This much should be alright, no?” Zhu asked, his voice lacking any emotion.

Looking inside, Zack saw a minimalistic setup of a desk, a closet, and some sheets to the side to act as a mattress. Within the room were two other doors, one leading to the restroom, while the other led to an impromptu kitchen.

Zack nodded in agreement before entering the room. With eyes full of curiosity, he looked around left and right.

As if remembering something, Zack said, “Oh, my stuff’s with Samuel.”

Tilting his head, Zhu asked, “Huh? Well, what was in it?”

“Some clothes.”

“Then why be so worried? The closet has roves for you to wear. If you wear your clothes from Emriticia, it’ll look quite conspicuous and draw attention. So we prepared some robes which match the clothing scheme here. I hope you don’t mind. Is there anything else?”

After hesitating for a moment, Zack replied, “I had some trouble regarding Ki. If you know, in the starting step, when we drag the strand of Ki to form a cycle using our blood and heart, I drag it to where the heart should be. But nothing happens. It stays there and disappears.”

Furrowing his brows in thought, Zhu asked, “Did you try nearby areas as well?”

Zack nodded his head. “I tried sending it to the areas around where the heart is. But nothing happened.”

Zhu rubbed his chin in thought, saying, “This is odd. Go on and demonstrate.”

Taking a deep breath, Zack sat down on the floor. Closing his eyes, he focused on his meditation, drawing a strand of Ki to the left of his chest.