"No way..."
Lombardo shouted and immediately sat up, stopping the words he was about to say. He touched his neck with both hands and found no signs of internal rupture.
He breathed a sigh of relief and also noticed that the situation around him was different from before.
This was his meditation room in Wofo Temple, but there were no monks from Wofo Temple, only the formally-dressed King and the three generals of the navy, army, and air force, sitting upright on their chairs.
Seeing him like this, the King felt a trace of unease but still clung to hope and asked, "Holy monk, did you successfully complete the trial?"
Hearing the King's words, Lombardo did not immediately respond, still lost in recalling the events that had just transpired. The boy's words indeed pierced his heart like a sharp sword, filling him with shame and anger.
Yet it also made him reflect on whether he had been blinded by fame and power.
