Chapter 106 - Lead Peaks Mysterious Disappearances (1/2)
Shin Sumi felt a breeze pick up and opened her eyes. She was sitting on a large boulder at the edge of a bamboo grove. The leaves rustled and the smell of bamboo reached her nose, with something else.
”I know you're there, show yourself,” Shin Sumi said loudly.
”Eh, you got me, Sister Shin,” a young man walked out of the grove behind her. He was seventeen years old and had long shiny dark hair. His skin was fair like a girl's and his face seemed carved out of porcelain.
Fei Unwan was beautiful, young and talented, but unfortunately for Shin Sumi he was also very clingy.
”You shouldn't stand upwind if you don't want people to catch your sent. What do you want?”
”A few others and I are going to Wenan Lead Tavern, I thought I would invite you to join me- to join us!”
”Thank you Brother Fei but pass. I am cultivating.”
Fei Unwan's smile didn't weaken in the slightest after being rejected. Even more determined, he took half a step back and was about to turn when...
”You know, we are probably going to stop by Lead Library as well...”
Shin Sumi lifted her head, opening her eyes again. She sighed and looked at the young man, squinting to decipher if he was telling the truth or if it was just a ploy to get her to join him.
She sighed again.
”Fine, I'll come this one time,” she said, jumping off the boulder.
Fei Unwan's smile widened, his pale eyes suddenly full of light. Almost too casually, he lifted his bent arm horizontally in her direction, his heartbeats accelerating.
”I am not going to hold your hand, but I can break your arm if you insist,” Shin Sumi looked coldly up and down at him and the arm he was offering before starting walking.
It had been a week since Master Lead had taken ten new disciples under him and brought them to Lead Peak. They had been given a place to stay and rest at, a large training hall that had been empty for years. While some of them prefered to use the place to cultivate, Shin Sumi had found a nice spot behind the training hall, next to the bamboo grove.
While they were now residents of Lead Peak, they had not yet officially entered the rank of fully fledged disciples. One of Master Lead's helpers had told them he would prepare their entrance a week ago and since then had let them roam around as they wished ”as long as you stay within Lead Peak's lower half and avoid the Common Area,” he had said.
He had even given them a dozen spirit stones each to spend however they wanted, which apparently was drinks right this instant.
”Two Heavenly Ales please, Senior Wenan!” Fei Unwan's voice carried across the tavern, making the few onlookers turn their heads.
”Brother Fei, you're late” chuckled a young man, giving meaningful looks to the other people at his table, ”did you two get lost or...?”
”YOU can get lost, Brother An, if you think for a second that he and I-”
”Brother An, we were simply at the library, which is unfortunately closed right now” Fei Unwan interrupted Shin Sumi, taking his seat next to the other new disciples of Lead Peak.
”If you say so... What is your deal with the library anyway, Sister Shin?”
Shin Sumi took a sip of her Heavenly Ale. It was a fermented beverage that felt cold to the touch yet that brought heat in her belly. It had been mixed with various spirit fruits and was truly the best drink around.
”I... simply like books. There is so much you can learn in them. Some things that have even been forgotten by most people can still be found on papers and parchments.”
Unconvinced by Shin Sumi's answer, An Luo snorted and gulped down the rest of his fruity ale.
”I never really spent any time in the library back in the sect... you know, our old sect I mean...”
-Me neither.
-Same,” the other disciples shook their heads negatively.
”This is probably why I've never seen you before,” Shin Sumi smiled, ”Tell me, what branch were you in, back in the sect?”
Ale and nostalgia being a wonderful duo, the group quickly started talking, laughing, having animated conversations. Looking at the people around her at the same table, Shin Sumi thought back to her first days in the Dark Sky Starry Sect.
”If only there had been Heavenly Ale around at the time, I probably would have made a lot more friends faster. Yue, Sui Lin, Mei Yunei,... Let's all get a drink together someday, okay?”
***
”Is that true, An Luo?! Did they really make the new disciples fight for a place in Aluminium Peak?”
”I heard people talk about it near Lead Arena. And that in Copper Peak the disciples had to unleash their most powerful move in front of all the other disciples. The weakest ones were sent off to Cobalt Peak and the Common Area.”
”It seems like every Peak has its own entrance examination.”
”We've all been waiting for this moment for a week. Now it is finally starting in every part of the Blue Fire Sect. What do you think will be the Lead Peak's trials?”
The ten disciples thought about it for a while, in silence. Between their hopes and their expectations, they couldn't begin to guess at what the trial imposed by Master Lead would be.
”Aluminium Peak makes all-rounded fighters, doesn't it? And Copper Peak makes these black-eyed bastard geniuses whose legend says they can finish you off with a single move. I'm beginning to think that the Peak trials are simply a test for your abilities regarding the Master's speciality.”
Everybody seemed to agree on that, however...
”Does anyone here actually know what Master Lead's specialty is?”
... they also agreed they had no idea what they had gotten into.
***
”It seems like all the other Peaks have finished their trials. From what I gathered, about fifty percent of us Sky Earth cultivators have been accepted by the different Masters.”
One of the ten disciples Shin Sumi shared her current position with barged into the training hall.
”What about the rest, Duo Che?” asked a girl, hoping to hear good news.
”It... appears like the Blue Fire Sect Patriarch did not lie to us. All of the others are now in the Common Area, under Master Cobalt's jurisdiction. None of us were turned into slaves, everybody has a place here.”
”Oh I'm relieved, Jun Pei will be happy to hear that. Her brother was taken by another Master,” she replied, also happy to hear that all of her former comrades and fellow cultivators were safe. Despite the brutality they had endured during the war against their original sect and the fear they had had in their heart ever since, they were starting to think that the Blue Fire Sect wasn't as bad as they originally thought.
The reason behind the surprise war was still a mystery but in the cultivation world, war happened but what mattered was the aftermath. What the winning sect decided the fate of the losing sect would be.
”Where is she? I need to tell Jun Pei the news!” Lei Jing looked around, smiling in anticipation.
Shin Sumi replied, ”I saw her head out for a walk, she should be back soon.”
”I will find her, I can't wait,” Lei Jing stormed out of the training hall.
***
”Have you found her?” An Luo asked.
”Not yet,” Duo Che replied, ”I think we have a problem.”
Sitting on a training mat on the ground, Shin Sumi immediately understood what he was talking about.
”Where are Lei Jing and Xiu Ying?”
Duo Che sighed, his face somber and his brows knitted. Crossing his arms, he let himself fall down to the ground into a sitting position, his robes under him.
”Xiu Ying and I got separated during our search for Jun Pei. We couldn't find Lei Jing either. And now all three of them are missing.”
”Alright. From now on, nobody goes out alone. In fact, nobody should go out at all until we have a better idea of what is going on. Something outside is taking us out one by one” Shin Sumi and the others conferred.
The situation was definitely strange, and Shin Sumi's guts didn't even feel a sense of danger but something was happening.