Inside Shadow Garden

***LEI***

I woke up with a splitting headache. The last thing I remembered was entering the gap between two boulders in Heaven Lake, felt the sensation of falling, and then I got knocked out.

Not a good feeling.

I opened my eyes and looked around the room I was in. It looked a lot like the rooms I saw in wuxia dramas. It didn't have much furniture, but it was big and almost everything was made of wood. A tea set made of jade was placed in a wooden table and on the other side of the room was a study table with scrolls on it. I saw my backpack at the foot of the bed I was on.

'What the hell happened?'

I headed to the door and opened it. Once I laid my eyes on the view in front of me, I couldn't help but be amazed.

Spread in front of me was a vast valley filled with green trees and mountains. A river snaked within the green canvas and its very source was a water fall that was on the mountain next to the one I was on.

I was so busy admiring the view that I did not notice the person that was coming my way. Since I was so preoccupied, I accidentally bumped into her.

"I am very sorry." I said immediately and picked myself up from the floor.

"It's fine." answered a gentle voice. I looked in front of me and saw a girl only a few years older than me. "You should be one of seventh brother's friends, right?"

"Oh, uhm yes."

"Sorry about getting knocked out. It's a defense mechanism targeted at non-Shadow Garden members. But it's fine now, Shin Woo was quite angry when it happened."

"I see."

'Shin Woo is Seven's real name.' I thought. 'I forgot.'

"Let me lead you to seventh younger brother. He had been waiting for you to wake up. You were also the first one to wake up. I think it will improve his mood."

"Err…"

"My name's Li Xue Er, Shin Woo's third older sister, as well as the third successor disciple."

"Oh, my name's-"

"Zhang Lei. Am I right?"

I nodded. 'How did she know?'

"Shin Woo told us." she answered, as if reading my thoughts.

As we walked in the wooden hallway, I couldn't help but observe her. Unexpectedly she wasn't wearing clothes that made her look like a fairy, unlike the ones in wuxia dramas I had seen. Her hair wasn't adorned with much jewelry like gold or silver or those with gems, but it was up in a high ponytail with a single golden hair pin studded with emeralds. As for her clothes, she was wearing a school uniform; a white coat with golden buttons and blue lines and on the left side was the symbol of Shadow Garden; a black lotus inside a pentagram with traditional Chinese characters of Shadow Garden just below it. The inside was a white blouse and a red tie. She had knee-length dark blue skirt and a pair of knee-high black socks.

It wasn't what I expected really.

"You're thinking about my clothes, aren't you?" she said, as if she was reading my mind. Again.

"How did you-"

"It's not what you expected. I can understand how you feel. It's already the 21st century so we have to also adjust, you know. Wearing those awfully long dresses is a hassle nowadays. In six months, we will be installing internet as well as put computers and use smartphones. Those human inventions are very useful and convenient."

I just stared at her, unable to say anything.

"You're wondering how I knew what's going on in your mind. Well let me tell you, I can read minds." she smiled. "I'm a Special Latent Individual."

"Oh." was my smart response.

"Come on. Seven should be waiting in his courtyard."

Li Xue Er, but she insisted on calling her Xue-jie or Xue-jiejie, led me to an open pavilion where I saw Seven drinking some tea. He was wearing the same uniform as Xue-jie except he had a pair of dark blue pants,

"So you have uniforms." I stated and sat across him.

"Yeah. We seem more like a boarding school than a martial arts sect actually." he answered just as Xue-jie sat next to him.

"We only became a martial arts sect around five hundred years ago? Or was it a thousand years ago?" Xue –jie said and offered me tea.

"I see. Ah, Xue-jie can read minds?"

"'Xue-jie'?" he inquired, looking a little surprised. "Wah, third elder sister, you won't even let me call you that."

"Seventh younger brother, we have to follow Shadow Garden's rules. Lei is a visitor and is therefore an exception."

"Still unfair." Seven rolled his eyes. "By the way, the others still haven't woken up?"

"Unlike the others, he recovers rather quickly. Is it because of his special ability? He has healing powers, right?" Xue-jie smiled and poured me tea.

"His special ability lets him heal others and he also has an auto-regeneration function." Seven added.

"Hey! You make me sound like a computer game character!"

"It's true anyway." he shrugged. "By the way third elder sister, how have things been since I left?"

The two got into a discussion about Shadow Garden. I just listened in on their conversation, not saying a word about it.

"Oh right, two disciples rose to become the eighth and ninth successor disciples. Eighth younger brother is a few years older than you while ninth younger brother is currently sixteen."

"At least there are more of us in here."

I just stared at them, confusion swimming in my mind.

"Well somebody's a little confused." Xue-jie said.

"You don't say."

"Let me explain it to you and listen well. We usually don't tell outsiders our ways but since you're Shin Woo's friend as well as 'the' Lei Zhang, it's not a problem." she winked at me.

"'The' Lei Zhang?"

"You'll find out soon. Anyway, in Shadow Garden, we have three kinds of disciples; the outer disciples, who are newbies, have to study the basics and live in the dormitories at the bottom of Cloud Mountain. 'What's Cloud Mountain?' It's that mountain over there."

She pointed to a mountain in front of us, but it wasn't the mountain I saw that had the waterfalls.

'Her ability to read minds is scary.' Was my passing thought but then I saw her smile. Right…

"It's a pain for me as well. I can know things I don't even want to know. Anyway moving on-"

"Wait! Before you continue Cloud Mountain? Aren't we in Baekdu Mountain[2]? We did arrive in Heaven Lake before getting here."

"Oh that. We're actually inside another dimension the founder, Hauria Celestine, created to house the entire Shadow Garden members. Baekdu Mountain, specifically those boulders in Heaven Lake, is just the entrance to it. Although, according to our history, we change the location of the entrance every century but every five hundred years, it returns in Heaven Lake." she explained.

It probably has something to do with Lan and Hong." Seven said.

"Probably."

"Oh, I kind of get it now." 'A little.' I added mentally.

"Anyway, let's continue. The second type of disciple we have is called the inner disciples or just disciples. They live in Scarlet Peak. Inner disciples study under a teacher, an elder, or a successor disciple and learn the ways of Shadow Garden agents. They're the ones who usually go out in mission. They wear black uniforms.

"As for the last one, you already know and met two; successor disciples. They are also called core disciples but let's stick to successor disciples shall we?" she cleared her throat. "In terms of authority, we're just below the leader and on equal footing with the elders. A successor disciple is chosen every ten years through a series of tests, or if the leader recognizes one's skills and abilities and promotes that person himself. We receive orders directly from the Master and we live in Peach Mountain."

"But in the nine years that Seven was gone, two successor disciples were chosen?" I asked.

"Yup. Eighth younger brother passed the test. He was previously first older brother's disciple. Ninth younger brother was the second case. He used to be fourth younger brother's disciple."

"What did he do to become a successor disciple?"

"he slayed a fox demon while out on an errand in the outside world. It was harassing mortals so he had to do something. Or so he said. So yeah…"

"That's impressive."

"Tell me about it."

"So? When will we meet the Master? We have to talk to him about something you know." I inquired.

"The Master… That's… I'm not sure if he will meet you actually."

"What? But-"

"The Master is a very private person. Even successor disciples don't see him that much. Probably except seventh younger brother, being his grandson and all, as well as first older brother, since he is his closest aide."

"But-"

"Lucky for you guys, there will be a feast tonight. Master will come and the successor disciples present in Peach Mountain will be there as well. You can talk to him as well."

"I thought it will be hard to see him?" I asked.

"He dotes on his grandson so you don't really have to worry about that."

Xue-jie stared at me then at Seven. She then smiled which sent shivers up my spine.

Note:

[1] jiejie – Chinese endearment for older sister.

[2] Baekdu Mountain – another name for Paektu Mountain.