Kunlun Mountain Part 4 - The Return

Chapter 53 - Trials and Rank

Leading his Disciple brothers to the front of the Grand Hall, each of them took their places while watching as Bai Qian took a seat next to Mo Yuan on the Platform.  Thinking back to her short conversation with Zi Lan, it was only just dawning on her as to much her brothers had an issue with her place among them.

Being the youngest and lowest ranked of them all in terms of Discipleship, she understood the issue they had.  She certainly was not immune to their unease,and nor was she vain enough to consider herself now too good for them.  However, in her mind, she had worked very hard to get to where she was, had suffered terribly to become a High Goddess, and she may have made a mistake in keeping them in the dark, but to have informed them, could have ended much differently.  

For one, Mo Yuan might not be sitting in front of them breathing and full of life and ready to tackle yet another issue, 

"It seems there is an issue that cannot wait.  But I will say this." Mo Yuan began.  "Be mindful of your words and how you address one another." he said before turning his attention towards Die Feng.

Entering the hall behind them, Gaogui and Ye Hua, who had been busy preparing the broken down rubble for recycling, did not need anyone to tell them there was dissension in the air, they could feel it.  So taking a seat beside Zhe Yan, they too waited as the Disciples looked towards Die Feng to open the discussion.

Rising, he remained in place before turning his attention directly towards Mo Yuan.

"Shifu, we have two issues." he began.  "The first is the fact that we were not informed by Seventeen of your whereabouts during your long slumber.  Every single one of us gave up forty five thousand years to search for you both.  Much of that time, we missed out on many precious moments because we took the Discipleship seriously."

"Even though we may not have known she was female, we saw her as our brother and our responsibility.  And of course we are all very grateful to have you back Shifu, but you are also our father, the man we all gave our lives to serve, yet since your return, no mention of what we also went through has been acknowledged.  Several here were hurt in their endeavor to find you both and one among us still carries the scars." he said before moving to their second issue.

"The second issue we have concerns our ranks.  The rule of rank has always been firm in our minds.  When within the grounds of Kunlun Mountain, our places are strictly kept.  This rule has been strictly adhered to for hundreds of thousands of years.  Now I do understand that some of us hold much higher ranks than the rest outside of Kunlun, however, one should not be using their titles and position if their Disciple rank is lower than the rest." he said and finishing it before taking a seat.

Waiting patiently for them to settle, Bai Qian rose to address them, only to have Mo Yuan gently pull her down.  Even though both issues concerned her, it was his place to address them.

"Alright.  Does anyone else have anything to say, before we address your concerns?" he asked as the Disciples turned to face each other.

"No Shifu." Die Feng answered for them.  The small personal issues did not matter, the main ones covered them all.

Remaining seated Mo Yuan first looked towards his son and brothers who both gave him a small smile of encouragement but he did notice that Zhe Yan and Ye Hua were not looking pleased with the events so it was possible they might step in.

"Thank you for raising your concerns, and I can assure you they are being considered seriously.  However I will address your first concern.  That Seventeen did not inform you of my whereabouts concerns only her and I.  Outside of Kunlun Mountain, as you say, she was not bound by rank nor Discipleship.  She did for me what I ultimately asked her to do.  She did not owe anyone an explanation, and nor is she responsible for the actions you each took."