```
"Cough, cough, cough."
Liang Qu choked on his tea and couldn't stop coughing; he took two deep breaths before he calmed down.
He sized up the elderly monk, full of disbelief.
Zenith?
The very Zenith that could subdue an entire prefecture, ones who are greeted as generals?
This formidable?
The old monk had a smile on his face, "So, would you like to take me as your master?"
"Oh, no, no, Master, please drink your tea, drink your tea."
Liang Qu laughed it off and still declined, leaning back in his chair to adopt a more comfortable position for conversation.
He figured it out by now; this old monk was pretty easy to talk to, just somewhat intimidating in appearance, but he truly had no intention of becoming a monk.
"Ha-ha, I indeed haven't misjudged you, patron. You have an amiable disposition and are not swayed by power or influence," praised the old monk.