Samuel’s brow twitched. At the side, Zack stepped back, vigilance visible in his eye.

Eyes narrowed, Samuel turned towards the old high-priest and asked, “High-priest, is this the way your Long Huo Monastery treats its guests?”

His voice carried a mild irritation, as if a fly buzzed around in his ear. One of his pinkies dug through his ear, giving him a picture of nonchalance. With a gaze as clear as spring water, he acted as if all the people before him were no more than clouds of air.

Inwardly, he thought, ‘Stay calm, me. Stay calm. Yes, they’re all very much stronger than me, but my backing isn’t anything to scoff at. Treat them as a basket of slightly bigger eggs. Yes, they’re egg-heads. Rotten eggs.’

Before the old high-priest could reply, the man from before shot back, “You disrespectful brat, answer what I asked. Otherwise, don’t blame me for teaching you etiquette in your master’s stead.”

Samuel’s expression turned graver as if the buzzing fly tried to bite him. Taking his finger out of his ear, he pointed at the standing man, rebuking, “You egg-head *cough* I mean pig-head *cough* *cough* Let’s not talk about heads.”

Stopping himself from laughing at his own joke, he put on a stern voice before continuing, “You idiot, are you that self-absorbed to think that you’re a high-priest? You think I was talking to you? Have your ears rusted with your age or did you simply went senile with no progress in your Ki? Don’t you know how rude it is to disturb when two people are talking? Were all your aevis wasted for nothing? Do you even know who my master is? Do you think you’re qualified to stand in his stead? You better shut up and sit down and not spew any more nonsense. Otherwise, don’t blame me for teaching you basic human manners in your master’s stead.”

Inwardly, he sighed, ‘Seems this idiot is here for causing trouble. But in front of three high-priests… that shouldn’t have happened, unless…’

Samuel’s gaze wandered off to the unknown man in his thirties at the last seat, representing his status as a high-priest.

Outwardly donning a displeased expression, Samuel glared at the bald man as if to bore a hole through him. Whereas inwardly, he made all sorts of considerations, putting in as much consideration as he could manage.

‘I remember Teacher Zhu talking about him with the old High-Priest. He must be—Damn! No wonder those two will support me. Hah, couldn’t they have said it openly? Then it would be way easier.’ The light in Samuel’s eyes turned grim. ‘But the question is, to what degree will those two support me… Although I have dad and mom as well, they’re still far away. And I am not the only one I need to worry about. But as for this idiot, does he think he can beat me in a staring contest? Try me, little one. This master hasn’t lost a single staring contest to anyone else besides my father.’

Minutes passed in silence as both the standing man and Samuel glared at each other, their eyes unblinking. The man’s eyelids twitched before blinking. When he opened his eyes, he met with an expression of clear disdain in Samuel’s azure eyes, filling him full of rage. Clenching and unclenching his fists time after time, he stood there, hesitating over what to do.

At that moment, the Second High-Priest, the unfamiliar high-priest in his thirties, spoke, “Bo Chalin, sit down.”

Gritting his teeth, Bo Chalin sat down. Next, a shrewd looking old man stood up from one of the seats nearing the back. Bowing to Samuel, he asked, “Greetings, young friend Augustus. I’ll be representing our council and apologise to you for the rudeness of Elder Bo Chalin. Next, I would like to inquire about your identities.”

Smiling coldly inside, Samuel put on a confused expression while looking at the old man.

In an instant, the council room once more fell silent.

As if feeling Samuel didn’t hear properly, the old man repeated his question, articulating every word the best he could, “Esteemed guest, on behalf of the council, I would like to inquire about your identities.”

Samuel opened his mouth. ‘Old man, are you toying with me? Do you really not know who I am? How did you utter my name then?’

But before he spoke it out, he saw Zhu at the back, whose eyes darted back and forth.

‘Is he trying to say that this old man is one of our people? Well, if I mistake his signal, so be it. His fault for not explaining even a thing beforehand.’

Putting on an expression of understanding, he replied, “Sir, my name is Augustus, the lone son of your monastery’s benefactors, Lord William and Lady Aria from Emriticia.” Next, a crafty glint flashed through his eyes as he looked at the sitting Bo Chalin like a wolf eyeing its prey.

Suppressing his smile, he put on an indignant expression before continuing, “About forgiving your elder Bo Chalin. That I can’t do. From what I know, in the north, insulting someone’s master or teacher is treated the same as insulting their parents and families, if not far worse. And for me, if someone were to insult my parents, I’ll slap them senseless before stabbing them with my sword at the very least. As for that idiot from before, hmph! He didn’t even know who my master is.

“Does he think that the eldest one here, most senior one of all, the First High-Priest is a joke? How dare he insult him? Now, wouldn’t disrespecting him be the same as disrespecting the monastery as a whole? Biting the hand that feeds it? Hmph! Not only that, it shows his blatant disregard for traditions of the monastery. And can you tell who taught him those traditions? It’s his parents and his master.

“Not wanting to be rude, I won’t say anything about them teaching him anything wrong. But in that case, it would be him disrespecting teachings of them. And disrespecting the teachings of his parents and master is not any different from disrespecting them and spitting on their faces. Disrespecting his parents and master, biting the hand that feeds him, and he dares call himself an elder of this place? Hmph! Even dogs on the streets are better than that.

“Now, tell me. How is he even fit to be an elder here at the monastery if he can’t even be a decent human? Going further, I would say that the only thing he would teach his disciples will be how to disrespect and spit on others’ faces. What’s the point of keeping someone who turns capable humans into scum worth less than dogs?”

The old ender nodded, feeling stunned inside. Realising the implication of his master, his eyes flickered with the slightest of shock. He turned to look back, seeing the old High-Priest with a relaxed smile.

Feeling more confident, the elder turned to Samuel. “You’re correct. He went too far. So, little friend, how should we deal with the matter?”

Looking at Bo Chalin turning paler in his seat, Samuel smiled inside. With a hoarse voice full of suppressed rage, Samuel shouted, “He disrespected the monastery! The same monastery that was built with your ancestors’ blood and painstaking effort over the generations! It’s the same as personally slapping all your brothers and sisters, fathers and mothers, masters and grandmasters in their faces!”

The volume of his voice lowered, becoming like sweet whispers of a devil. Waving his hand, he put on a grim look. “To wash off such disrespect, there’s only one way.”

Involuntarily, one of the people from the front seats asked, “What is it?”

Turning his voice an octave louder, Samuel pointed at the pale as paper Bo Chalin. His voice burning with rage, he shouted, ”BLOOD TRIBUTE! CUT OFF HIS HEAD AND OFFER IT TO BEG FOR MERCY FROM YOUR ANCESTORS!”

A majority of the people in the front and middle seats stood up, weapons materialising in their hands.

“Kill him! Use his head to atone for his sins!”

“Wash off this disgrace with his blood!”

“For forgiveness from our god!”

“We’ll clean such scum from our monastery!”

Similar shouts filled the hall as people here surrounded Bo Chalin in an instant, weapons aiming at his throat.

Finishing his sentence, Samuel snapped his head away as if looking at someone like Bo Chalin would be dirtying his eyes. Flicking his sleeve, he turned back to find a stunned Zack looking at him with reverence.

He smiled.

However, in the next instant, his smile froze.

“Enough! We’ll deal with Elder Bo Chalin after this. For now, let’s get back to the topic.” The old High-Priest’s voice resounded through the hall, causing the hall to drop into silence as people returned to their seats.

Samuel’s eyes narrowed. He turned back to look at the old man, who now had his eyes closed, as if sleeping in his chair. His brow creased up as he tried to assess his actions.

‘Just why?’

Moving his eyes a bit, he realised the answer. His brow creased as his expression relaxed once again.