Spirit Stones

***LEI***

"Stop smiling." I growled at Xue-jie. "It's a little creepy."

"Seven is good at hiding his thoughts. You on the other hand Xiao Lei, not so much. I know what you're trying to achieve."

"That's invasion of privacy you know?" I pointed out.

"I am well aware but I can't help it. Your thoughts are very open and very loud. You should learn how to conceal them. I'll give you a book on how. You and your friends should study it. I'm not the only one in the world that can read minds."

I just nodded my head and thanked her. I thought it would be a good idea to learn it since we seem to have a lot of enemies.

"It's good to be prepared for anything." Xue-jie said.

"Stop that."

She smiled again and finally left the room. I released a sigh of relief. I suddenly noticed Seven staring at me strangely.

"What the hell's wrong with you?" I growled.

"Third older sister likes you. Not in a lover kind of way but in a 'you're-interesting' kind of way." he smirked. "You should be careful. Last time she got interested in someone they founded Facebook."

"Face – Mark Zuckerberg?"

"Wait, the most recent one should be Barack Obama. He became the forty-fourth and the first black American president of the United States of America."

"Bullsh*t!"

"They were friends."

"And you are not joking. Wait, how old is she?"

"She has been the third successor disciple for about two hundred years."

"Two…. Two hundred?"

"Yeah. I know, strange. I think she's a half-blood? Plus from what I know, before she became part of Shadow Garden she used to be an inner disciple of some immortal sect out there. Other than that her past is pretty much unknown."

"Girls are scary."

Seven nodded. "Artemis makes a good example for that."

Moments later, Chen, Leo, Calvin and Coby, arrived and asked a lot of questions. Seven and I took turns in answering.

Seven gave us a tour of Peach Mountain and true to its name there were many peach trees in the mountain. The fruit itself was sweet and delicious. The most delicious peaches I had ever tasted.

During the tour, we met Seven's sixth older sister, Maya Castellanos. And yes, she wasn't Chinese or Korean, she's Greek.

"Shadow Garden accepts all sorts of people as long as they have talent and skill, as well as follow our rules and principles."

His second older brother was a Filipino, Brian Canillo, while his fourth older brother was Japanese, Akihiko Yamamoto. So it was true that they really do accept diversity. We also met the ninth successor disciple; Wang Lu.

"Seventh uncle! No wait, it's seventh older brother now. Greetings!" said the kid and bowed. "Greetings to his friends as well."

Wang Lu had light brown hair, fair skin and small brown eyes. He also had a playful smirk which reminded me of Blake and Coby. But other than that, he was a nice kid.

"Xiao Lu! So you've become a successor disciple. I suppose I should call you ninth younger brother now." Seven said in a teasing voice.

"Please don't. I was just lucky to kill that fox demon. Just call me Xiao Lu as always." he bowed to us. "My name is Wang Lu, older brothers."

We introduced ourselves one by one to him. He then came with us on the tour. The dimension that housed Shadow garden was very beautiful and peaceful. It was amazing.

Dinnertime arrived and we all headed to the main hall. When we got there, a feast was prepared. The successor disciples arrived one at a time but Seven noted that one was missing.

"Well, fifth older brother is a busy person." I hear him mumble.

When the Master, Li Jia Er, arrived the feast was immediately started and we all ate to our heart's content. The feast was supposed to be a 'welcome back' feast for Seven who had been away for nine years already. And it was also apparently a welcome feast to us, the guests.

I watched as Seven headed to his grandfather and the two talked privately. The other successor disciples were wary of us, but Xue-jie and Xiao Lu weren't and hung out with us. I also saw Mr. Chu Mo and he turned out to be a student of the second successor disciple.

Once dinner finished, everyone returned to their own rooms. I stayed on the garden though and admired the crescent moon that was in the night sky.

'On Friday next week it will be the full moon. If we don't succeed Tim and Dean will lose their lives.'

"That's why you're looking for the Codex of Souls." I heard Xue-jie's voice behind me.

"Xue-jie."

"Xiao Lei'er, you're taking a very dangerous oath you know."

"I am aware of that, but my friends' lives are at stake. At the very least, I want to be able to do something for them."

"Hmm… You think it's your fault they ended up in that predicament. And you're bearing the guilt alone." I nodded. "That's not right or at least, that's not how it should be. You think it's your fault? That it's because of your complicated past that you're in this situation but let me tell you, it's all part of fate. Destiny."

"I hate being bound to that the most."

"Maybe but it's unavoidable. And besides, for the trouble that happened recently, it wasn't your fault. It's the people who infiltrated the Zhang Estate who should be at fault."

"What the hell are you talking about? How did you even know about that?"

"Pingjing."

That one name made me freeze.

"Ping…jing? How do you know Pingjing-ge?"

"Chill. He's my brother."

"Bro- brother?"

"Yeah. We were born from the same power pool. But he became a land deity and I became a fairy. A nature spirit. Then I came here in Shadow Garden HQ but Pingjing and I are still connected. We can communicate with each other mentally." she sat closer to me. "They just finished the investigation. The people who attacked the estate that day stole a spirit stone, one with the element of wood. Tim and Dean falling into a coma was just a distraction so you won't catch what's going on immediately. They also concluded that the attack was organized by the Sect. So those guys are still around?"

"Wait. Wait. Wait. You can talk to Pingjing but we had to figure out where Shadow Garden?" I asked a bit miffed at what I just learned.

"It's not like that. Pingjing tells me things but he doesn't know I'm affiliated with Shadow Garden. My brother's innocent in this regard."

"Damn! And the Sect? What's that?"

"It's a troublesome group of evil people. Rather than a sect, it's more like a cult. Anyway, Shadow Garden was created to fight against them. Or at least that's one of the reasons. I heard they were looking for Hauria's Book of Jade two years ago but they did not succeed in obtaining it. That book can only be used by the Maiden of the Moon and she wasn't very keen on joining them."

I froze at her statement. She was talking about us!

"That was you guys? Wow. Good job at that but the Sect won't stop at anything to achieve their goals."

"So, why did they attack my home?"

Xue-jie waved her hand and five different shapes in different colors appeared. There was a white circle, a yellow square, a green rectangle, a red sphere and a black square which seemed to have waves on its surface.

"In Chinese belief, we have the wuxing or the five elements; mu, huo, tu, jin and shui."

"Wood, fire, earth, metal and water. I know that much."

"Very good then. Anyway, spirit stones are also created according to those elements. They have levels, just like everything else, the highest being sacred level which holds incredible powers."

"And?"

"These spirit stones are in earth. That green rectangle represents the wood element and also what the metal spirit stone looks like. That one was stolen from your home a few days ago."

"That one's a sacred level?"

"Yep. Two days ago, the metal spirit stone, that white circle, was stolen in the Chen Manor in Changsha City."

"What?! We were just there! It was done by the Sect?"

"Yes. I don't know why they're stealing these specific spirit stones but I'm guessing it's definitely not for something good."

"Considering what happened when we crossed paths last time, I can already see that. Are the water, earth and fire spirit stones safe?" I asked.

"Not for long. The Sect is strong, unfortunately. They will be attacking anyone who comes in their way."

"Do ylou know where the other spirit stones are?"

"Nope. But the Sect will be coming for them soon." she answered. "Your quest to find the Codex of Soul is just something to get you guys out of the way."

"Why the hell would they want us out of the way?"

"Because your group, and the Maiden of the Moon are the biggest obstacles in their goals."

"And what 'is' their goal exactly?"

"I don't know. Maybe to rule the world and mold it to their wishes? It's usually what people like them want."

"Cliché much?"

"Or they have a whole other purpose. Anyway, you should rest. You will probably be busy tomorrow." she bid her goodbye and left.

Her words rang inside my mind. The Sect and Master Li, whom we encountered last year, were somehow messing with us again. My thoughts then drifted to her last statement; busy was an understatement.