Paektu Mountain

***LEI***

We were still all gathered in the room and was waiting for Seven to spill whatever he wanted to tell us. I noticed he looked worried and I could see a glint of guilt in his eyes. I could understand him though. With such a secret he had been holding, I would also keep it to myself if I were him. Although, I did try to not tell my friends about my life in a world called Agymista, I told them because I trusted them. And for what it was worth, Seven seemed to have realized that and was ready to spill the beans.

"So, where do you want me to start?"

"How about, from the beginning?" Calvin suggested.

Seven sighed. "Right, the beginning. You already know I study martial arts and cultivate under a Chinese master, right?" we nodded. "Uhm, my teacher slash master... he's... sort of... my grandfather."

""'Sort of?'""

"Err… He 'is' my grandfather, my mother's father to be exact. Don't ask who my father is, I don't know either. Anyway, he's kind of the current leader of Shadow Garden?"

It was my first time seeing Seven being very nervous and uncertain at his statements. He was usually the reliable and stern leader of Guardians, both on and off camera. He had a habit of giving dad jokes though which I couldn't understand sometimes, but he was good at keeping the members in line.

"My mother died giving birth to me and I never met my father. My grandfather brought me up personally. When I was seven, I inherited my mother's seat as the seventh successor disciple."

"But isn't Shadow Garden like, a secret group? How are you here? With us?" Leo asked motioning to the people inside the room.

"Once a disciple reaches a certain level of cultivation, there is a rite of passage they have to undergo."

"The seventh disciple is right." Chu Mo inserted. "Unless they have a mission in the outside world, a disciple will have to stay outside for fifteen years."

"Isn't it supposed to be only a year?" I asked, remembering the bits of information I knew about the jianghu[1] from the Chinese wuxia[2] dramas I had participated into.

"Shadow Garden has a different system." Chu Mo answered.

"During the years we spend outside, we must find a way to strengthen out cultivation ourselves without getting distracted by the things of the mundane world. We will be left alone, unless there's some emergency. And whether we pass or fail will depend in our leader's eyes and our actions here." Seven added.

"After fifteen years? What then?" Leo asked.

"We will go back to Shadow Garden and be judged. If we pass, we will continue with our cultivation and be stronger, away from the influence of the outside world. And if we fail, there's a possibility that we would be stripped of our current rank, have our cultivation sealed and be casted away." Seven smiled bitterly. "I have about six years left, give or take."

"Seven-"

"Guys, six years is a long time. And I plan to spend my ups and downs with all of you until then. Whether I pass or fail, I will accept whatever decision will be given to me.."

Coby, the youngest in our gathering, started crying like the big baby he was.

"Seven-niichan[3]!"

As much as how concerning the piece of news Seven told us, I couldn't help but grin as I watched the scene. Coby was a lot taller than Seven and the former was hugging the latter like a life-sized teddy bear. Meanwhile, Seven was trying not to laugh at Coby's actions.

"Coby, stop that. Let go already." Seven grunted as he tried to pry Coby off of him only to fail. "Hey!"

"Seven-niichan! Don't leave us and live like a hermit!" Coby pleaded in broken Korean.

"It's six years Coby. It's a long time. You'll probably be tired of me by then."

But Coby refused to let go. Calvin did the same thing and latched himself on Seven's side. The two became a blubbering mess. Meanwhile, Guardians' leader already sported a panicked expression.

"Chu Mo… can you just bring us… to HQ?" Seven asked as he struggle.

"Well…"

"Don't you know where it is Seven?" I asked.

"Would I be investigating with you guys if I did?" he retorted. He grunted for the last time and successfully pried off the two koalas, err… I meant, the two boys, who were latched onto him. "I was born in HQ and I was also raised there. I have never stepped out of the sect territory back then. And when my grandfather sent me to my foster parents, who were also members of Shadow Garden stationed outside, we kind of teleported, so I never really knew the location nor the way."

"Oh. That's... a little concerning."

I heard Chu Mo sigh.

"Successor disciples who are outside for the Rite of Passage can go back at most thrice a within the span of fifteen years." he said, as if reminding Seven, no he wasn't just reminding Seven, he was reminding all of us, of the rules of the Rite of Passage.

"I am aware Chu Mo. And this is me using my first chance." Seven answered.

"But, do we really have to bring outsiders? The Masters and the other successor disciples will not be happy about it."

"They have to come. On the contrary, I think my senior brothers and sisters will actually find my friends interesting."

Fine. I'll lead you there. But you better not give me any trouble." Chu Mo said, giving up at the idea of leaving us behind.

"Sure Uncle Chu Mo!" Leo replied enthusiastically.

"So," Chen had already recovered from the effects of the drugs. "Where is Shadow Garden HQ?"

"North Korea. Near the border of China. To be more specific, at the top of Paektu Mountain."

We were all too dumbfounded to react.

***

We left Baishan City in Jilin Province at the dead of the night. We passed through Fusong County and well… made many stops along the way; for rest and restocking our supplies. The trip was not easy, especially when we had to hike towards up the mountaintop.

From what I knew, Paektu or Baekdu Mountain is a volcano with the record of eruptions every one hundred years. I asked Seven and Chu Mo why Shadow Garden was located there in the first place and their answer was…

"Oh, people wouldn't think there's an entrance to the hideout of a secret organization there." –Chu Mo.

"Especially when it's near the caldera." added Seven. "Now that I think about it, the Heaven Lake in the early morning is really beautiful."

"You're serious right?" I asked skeptically with a stoic expression. "And didn't you say you didn't know where it was located in the first place?"

"Well, it slipped my mind. Why are you looking at me like that? Okay, I didn't know back then. We don't exactly have internet in there." he confessed.

"But what if it explodes?" asked Leo.

"Hmm… I don't really know. Only grandfather would know how Shadow Garden is safe during its eruptions."

Three days later, we reached the peak of Paektu Mountain and we continued heading to Heaven Lake, the volcanic crater-lake where different legends also run about.

According to the records, Kim Jong-il, the second Supreme Leader of North Korea was born near Heaven Lake. And according to it, North Korean news agencies reported that on his death in 2011, the ice on the lake cracked so loud it seemed to shake the heavens and the earth.

Heaven Lake is also alleged to be home to many monsters in different shapes and sizes. The most famous one was the Lake Tianchi Monster that resembled the Lochness Monster in Scotland, United Kingdom.

Scientifically, it is impossible for any living creatures to live within the lake, considering it 'is' a volcanic crater, but considering the magical side of the world? I suppose nothing is impossible.

I asked Seven about the monster rumor and he said;

"Oh, then that would be Lan and Hong!"

"Lan and Hong?"

In my mind, the terms that popped up were colors; Lan was Chinese for blue meanwhile hong was the Chinese term for red.

"Yeah, they're dragons that act as guards to the entrance of Shadow Garden HQ. They were originally Hauria's pets? Or was it friends? I'm not sure but they became protectors of Shadow Garden."

"Hauria had dragons for pets?" Chen inquired, his voice filled with disbelief.

"I wouldn't be surprised." I replied. "She kind of sounded like that sort of person."

We continued chatting as we made our way to the lake, and before we knew it we reached an area filled with boulders. We stopped in front of two boulders that had a gap that perfectly fit a person.

"This is too cliché, don't you think?" I heard Leo mutter.

"Sometimes, the most clichéd ways are the easiest to miss." Chu Mo said. I did not argue with him.

Chu Mo bit his thumb and drew some blood from the wound he made. He then pressed it to a small carving of a blooming lotus at the center of the boulder to my left.

"Come on in then."

Notes:

[1] jianghu - The Jianghu is a shared world and an alternate universe. It consists of several martial artists and pugilists gathered in the Wulin, who are usually congregated in sects, clans, disciplines and various schools of martial arts.

[2] wuxia - Wuxia, which literally means "martial heroes", is a genre of Chinese fiction concerning the adventures of martial artists in ancient China.

[3] niichan/nii-chan - Japanese term/endearment for older brother.