Side Story 31. The Three Outer Disciples (1)

Jun Myung set out on a long journey and arrived in Tianzhu.
He delivered the letters to Yi-gang and received his replies as well.
And then he returned to Azure Forest.
It was a journey that took well over three months.
Even that, in truth, had been astonishingly fast.

Time passes differently for each person.
To Jun Myung, those three months spent traveling to Tianzhu and back from Azure Forest must have felt very long.
Walking the roads, quite apart from the danger, was an extremely tedious thing.

But to the three who had entered Azure Forest, the past three months carried a different meaning.
The three had all lived lives far removed from anything ordinary.
Cheongho, Tsering, and Baek Sang-ye.
How hectic and busy must it have been for them to enter the Daoist sect known as Azure Forest and adapt to life within it.
Their three months passed in the blink of an eye.

There was so much for them to learn, and the talents they each possessed were anything but ordinary.
The Golden Needle Phantom had inwardly thought all three would have a hard time adapting to Azure Forest.
But contrary to expectations, the three somehow managed to adapt.

They were striving to embroider a third flower onto their robes.
At Azure Forest, the Three-Flower Disciple examination for the third-generation disciples was being held.
And though they were outer disciples, the three, who were still second-generation in rank, also took part in that examination.

Spirit Spring Valley.
A numinous valley where the vital energy of Mount Heng gathered.
This was a place where Azure Forest cultivated and gathered all kinds of rare flowers and spiritual herbs, and movement arts tests were often held there.

Today was no different.
A contest to gather spiritual herbs in Spirit Spring Valley was underway.
The rules were simple.
From around sunrise until before sunset, they had to search Spirit Spring Valley and gather spiritual herbs.
The herbs they brought back in their carrying baskets would be sorted, and points would be assigned according to their rarity and value.
If they failed to return within the time limit, they were disqualified, so they could not afford to get too greedy.

“They’re all working hard right to the end.”

A number of still youthful-looking third-generation disciples had gathered atop the cliff leading down into Spirit Spring Valley.
Azure Forest had selected only clever and upright-hearted people among this batch of third-generation disciples as well.

“Not one of ‘that’ trio is back yet.”

Not all of the third-generation disciples were taking part in the Spirit Spring Valley exam, but most had come to watch.
And part of their attention was fixed on the much-talked-about trio.

“Yeong-yeong, did you run into any of the three in Spirit Spring Valley?”
“I didn’t.”

The girl with round cheeks shrugged.

“I think Senior Brother Jae-gyeong and Senior Brother Cheok did.”

In the direction Yeong-yeong glanced with her eyes stood the two boys she had just mentioned.
Those three, including Yeong-yeong, were the most promising among the third-generation disciples.

It was a curious thing indeed, but in every generation of disciples, there always seemed to be a trio that stood out.
Among the current first-generation disciples, there were Jinmu, Jin Li-yeon, and Dam Hyun.
Below them were Son Hee-il, Jun Myung, and Yu Su-rin.
And finally, among the third-generation disciples, there were the three disciples Yeong-yeong, Jae-gyeong, and Cheok Mun-dae.
And even the trio of outer disciples.
Perhaps Azure Forest had some kind of rule of three.

“Did they fight? They fought?”

One of the third-generation disciples asked cautiously.
What was being held in Spirit Spring Valley was certainly a movement arts examination.
But this time, a new rule had been introduced.
If one challenged another person to a spar and won, one could take a spiritual herb the other had gathered.
That was why sparring had taken place in Spirit Spring Valley as well.

Yeong-yeong nodded at the question.

“I didn’t, but Senior Brother Cheok did.”
“Wow! What happened? He must’ve won!”

The third-generation disciples became excited.
Naturally, the fellow third-generation disciples felt closer to them than the outer-disciples trio who had suddenly appeared.

“Ask him yourself.”

Yeong-yeong tilted her chin toward the disciple named Cheok Mun-dae.
The third-generation disciples looked toward their dignified lead disciple.
From the side, his face looked fine. His stern expression, too grave for his age, seemed to proclaim victory.

“Senior Brother…?”

And when Cheok Mun-dae turned his head, the third-generation disciples could finally tell the outcome clearly.

“His face!”
“Huk!”

Only the left side of his face was intact.
His right eye was swollen dark blue. It looked as though he had been pummeled with a fist.

“Who did that? Who did this to you!”
“Martial Aunt… Tsering.”

The one Cheok Mun-dae had crossed hands with in Spirit Spring Valley was Tsering.

“That’s some terrible ill fate between them….”
“Twice already.”

The third-generation disciples whispered among themselves.
In truth, this was not the first spar between Cheok Mun-dae and Tsering.
About three months earlier, Cheok Mun-dae had heard about the newly arrived disciples.
The problem was that he had not heard it properly, only in rough outline.
The disciples who had appeared with only one flower on their robes were around the same age as Cheok Mun-dae.
Naturally, he assumed they were third-generation disciples, yet one of them had the gall to greet Cheok Mun-dae in blunt informal speech.
As the lead disciple among the third generation, Cheok Mun-dae tried to straighten out the discipline.

He only found out after being thoroughly beaten by Tsering that they were outer disciples and on top of that, ranked a generation above him.
Son Hee-il, the lead disciple among the second generation, had comforted him with a pitying expression.

‘How did you lot make the exact same mistake we did?’

Son Hee-il told him the story of how, back in the day, he had not realized the rank of that Martial Ancestor Heavenly Pillar Baek Yi-gang and had gotten beaten after acting up.
It had been the same situation as Cheok Mun-dae’s.

“Oh, another one’s coming up!”

At the commotion rising from the cliff, everyone turned to look that way.
Speak of the tiger and it appears. The one who emerged at the edge of the cliff was Tsering.

“No way….”

Startled exclamations burst out from all around.
And no wonder. The carrying basket Tsering had brought back bulged enough to be compared with the others’.
She seemed to have gathered nearly three times the average amount.

“Am I first place!”

She dumped out the herbs she had collected in her basket.
Yeop Su-nam, the current Hall Master of the Herb and Flower Hall, looked over what Tsering had gathered with a delighted grin.
But Yeop Su-nam’s expression quickly fell.

“Oh dear, you’ve gone and swept up even useless weeds along with everything else.”
“U-useless?”
“And even the rare ones that are in there, what use are they when they’re all crushed like this!”

Instead of praising her, Yeop Su-nam scolded her for handling valuable spiritual herbs so carelessly.
Fortunately, among what Tsering had brought back, there were still a few spiritual herbs worth high points.

“Still, you’ll rank around the middle.”
“Kuh….”

Tsering received a low score compared to the number of spiritual herbs she had brought back.
Seeing that, some of the third-generation disciples looked disappointed as though it were their own matter.
Tsering’s popularity was not bad at all.
Anyone who had spent even a little time with her immediately realized that she possessed a good and kind nature.

“Tsk tsk, that’s why you’ll never do.”

The one who appeared saying that was none other than Baek Sang-ye.
Compared to Tsering’s, her basket was positively slender.
But the moment she confidently poured out its contents, Yeop Su-nam jumped in delight.

“You little thing, this is Red Spirit Mushroom… and Eastern Blood Red Fruit. You’ve brought back nothing but the best pieces. Euhahaha.”

Baek Sang-ye had completely mastered the one hundred spiritual herb specimens.
On top of that, she had separately studied the herbology texts in the Five Flower Great Library, so she had selected and gathered only valuable spiritual herbs.

“Looks like first place is yours after all.”

At Yeop Su-nam’s declaration, exclamations of admiration burst out from all around.

“As expected of Martial Aunt Baek….”
“Maybe it’s because she’s from the Baek Clan. They say Martial Ancestor Baek Yi-gang used to take first place too.”

Among some of the third-generation disciples, especially the female sect members, there were quite a few whose eyes on Baek Sang-ye were far from ordinary.
Baek Sang-ye was very popular thanks to her distinctive beauty and lofty bearing.
If the third-generation disciples’ feelings toward Tsering were affection and familiarity, then their feelings toward Baek Sang-ye were closer to admiration.
Baek Sang-ye herself knew that as well.

“Thank you.”

Though she had rummaged through Spirit Spring Valley just the same, her clothes, unlike everyone else’s, were not dirty.
She brushed back her hair neatly and took a rest.

So, two of the trio had returned.
But Cheongho, the senior brother of the two, still had not returned.

“Did he get lost?”
“Martial Uncle Cheongho is kind of a space case, isn’t he?”

The third-generation disciples’ assessment of Cheongho did have a certain sharpness to it.
In truth, unlike the other disciples, Cheongho did seem somewhat simple and absentminded.

“No, I don’t think that’s it.”
“Well, he’s eerie like that after all.”

But Cheongho’s inhuman senses and outstanding martial arts were strengths that could not be hidden.
A few of them did not let go of their expectations for Cheongho, who still had not returned even at the end.

And their expectations were shattered the moment Cheongho crawled up the cliff.

“The basket… where did it go?”

Yeop Su-nam asked that with a dumbfounded expression.
Cheongho did not have his carrying basket with him.

“I lost it.”

And what a shocking answer that was.
Influenced by his master, the former Herb and Flower Hall Master, Yeop Su-nam had developed a fiery temper.
But he swallowed back the shout he had been about to let loose.
Because he recognized the spiritual herb Cheongho had taken out of his pocket.

“T-t-t-t….”

The other disciples did not immediately recognize the bulb and flower in Cheongho’s hand.
That was only natural.
The one hundred spiritual herb specimens kept by the Herb and Flower Hall were in fact only ninety-nine.
The most precious spiritual herb was so rare that they had not even been able to preserve a specimen.

“Three-Element Sacred Flower!”

The Three-Element Sacred Flower, last found more than ten years ago, was in Cheongho’s hand.

“You little!”

Yeop Su-nam grabbed Cheongho under both armpits and hoisted him right up.

“You’re first place! First place!”

After Yi-gang, Cheongho too had found a Three-Element Sacred Flower in Spirit Spring Valley.
It was the moment a legend continued on.

Naturally, the one who took top place in the Spirit Spring Valley exam was Cheongho.
The Three-Element Sacred Flower was an extremely rare spiritual herb that was found perhaps once every half century.
No one had even expected it, yet Cheongho had found it.
Perhaps it was something made possible because the world had become warped and spiritual energy and yokai energy had both grown denser.

Yeop Su-nam looked ready to drag Cheongho away and throw a feast on the spot.
The one who rescued Cheongho from Yeop Su-nam was none other than the Forest Lord.

“The Forest Lord is calling for you.”

The Forest Lord had summoned the trio.
The three headed toward where the Forest Lord resided.
They climbed White Cloud Peak, the lofty summit rising high in the middle of Mount Heng.

Living here in Azure Forest, they had come to understand just how exalted a figure that easygoing Yu Jeong-shin really was.
Summoned by the sect leader, they straightened their clothes and then entered.

“You’ve come.”

Yu Jeong-shin greeted the three with a smile.

“I called you here to tell you something and to give you a gift as well.”

There were three boxes set out in Yu Jeong-shin’s room.
The three sat down, curious about what they might be.

“Open them and put them on.”

The fact that he said to try them on meant they were clothes.
When they opened the wooden boxes, there were indeed three sets of clothing inside.

They were the martial uniforms of Azure Forest’s official disciples.

“Waaah!”

But there was a separate reason Tsering was so overwhelmed.

“There are… three flowers on them.”

The uniforms were embroidered with the three flowers that symbolized a Three-Flower Disciple.
Even before entering Azure Forest, the trio had all possessed outstanding martial arts.
But flowers could not be earned through martial arts alone, so the three had worked hard to become worthy as disciples of Azure Forest.

“I’ve heard many things about how diligently you’ve all been working.”

And Yu Jeong-shin had decided to give them that reward personally.

The three quickly put the uniforms on.
Cheongho, having become an Honor Flower Disciple, had purple flowers.
Tsering and Baek Sang-ye, as Martial Flower Disciples, had blue flowers.

However, the three flowers were not yet complete.
Two of the flowers were fully filled in, but the last, third flower was still only outlined in thread.

“Still, you must take one final test in order to truly become Three-Flower Disciples.”

They had taken tests until they were sick of them ever since entering Azure Forest.
So all three simply accepted it, but then Yu Jeong-shin said something unexpected.

“That test will be taken by the three of you together when you go out into the Kangho.”

Yu Jeong-shin smiled faintly.