There was a big sturdy looking double gate made of metal, this gate was approximately 20 meters high and 10 meters wide.

Guards were posted to the side of the gate where there was a smaller human sized gateway cut into the big gate for conveniently moving back and forth without having to open the massive gate.

There was a well built outpost building that looked like a hut outside the gates,  guards in white robes with the black rose insignias embroidered on it, were milling about, these guards looked relatively mature, not like students or disciples.

It was relatively early in the day and sunshine was cascading across the hut-like building as it  splashed out onto the red metal gate.

As Hartley was approaching the gate a couple guards holding long red spears with silver spearheads alighted from the outpost building and sternly shouted,

"stop, who goes there? What business have you got inside the Lou clan?"

Hartley stood there in his exquisite yellow custom robe with a capital H embroidered on the right breast pocket.

 His black shiny hair was tied back with a simple string showing off his delicate looking facial features with saphire blue eyes as deep as any tropical ocean.

Hartley bent at the waist cupped his fist and respectfully replied, "Lou Hartley here to see elder Lou Chingham.

The guard that had earlier spoken was a tall sturdy mature man, almost pushing a height of 2 meters, he looked Hartley up and down squinting his small beady eyes.

A pang of jealousy surged through his intestines, he had never seen or heard of this young man claiming to be apart of the Lou clan and could not hold himself back from uttering "Imposter!"

With a menacing face he commanded

"Break both of your hands and legs and crawl away from here and you will be allowed to keep your life," he snorted coldly with a righteous look on his face, with his chin  pointed to the sky, then finished by saying, "impersonating a member of the Lou clan is a serious offence, I'm letting you off lightly."

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A look of surprise flashed on Hartley's face then quickly disappeared, his first interaction with the Lou clan in so many years was like this, it didn't bode well as to what was lying behind the big metallic gates, if guards were behaving this rampant even when he had requested with the name of an elder, how would the behavior of the prideful young lords be?

He had planned to keep a low profile gaining access to the educational facilities but this guard had forced him to change to his plan "B" as soon as he had arrived.

Yes he wanted to keep a low profile but he would not live under the foot of another human being.

Hartley waved his hand like he was shooing away a fly and said in a discontented voice, "Just go and get the elder and be quick about it."

The burly guard face lit up like a Christmas tree, now was his chance to teach this pretty boy a harsh lesson in pain.

He made a stance with his left leg forward and his right leg back, his spear pointed forward assisted by wind element, the spear as if it had a mind of its own dived at Hartley like a serpent, contorting and curving unpredictably with the assistance of the wind elements.

Hartley too was delighted at this outcome he had switched to his plan "B" which was to subdue all stumbling blocks with absolute strength.

All petty schemes and squabbles shall be washed aside with absolute dominance.

Hartley did not use state of focus, he simply stepped forward into the range of the spear and used his minute movement dodging technique to evade the first 3 stabs of the spear.

 Still walking forward, the 4th move of the spear was a wide arc horizontal slash. Hartley quickly moved back one step and to the side a little and the spear passed harmlessly, now the guard was wide open..

Hartley took one forward step and appeared right in front of the guard whose eyes went wide with disbelief.

Pah! He casually slapped the guard with his open right palm

The guard spun around like a top and flew out with a clang as he crashed into the metal gate, the sound rang out like the first stroke of the morning bells in a catholic church.

The guard fell to the ground and half the teeth on the left side of his face turned to powder, he spat out blood while shouting "Schill shim, Schill shim" with a hysterical look on his face.

Pointing and beckoning at his partners at the outpost building.... No one could understand a thing he was saying..

After witnessing the confrontation the other guards wanted none of it and sprinted through the mini gate cut into the big gate, they had heard when Hartley mentioned the name of Lou Chingham so the smart guard went straight to get him...

When Lou Chingham appeared at the gates after a short while the leader of the guards was hunched beside the big metal gate in the fetal position sprouting the unrecognizable ramblings of a mad man.

Lou Chingham smiled at Hartley, bowed respectfully and said "sorry this elder was not here to receive you" Hartley also smile then bowed from the waist respectfully and replied

"no worries"

Lou Chingham ordered the main metal gate to be opened and they both entered the Lou Clan