The night has passed in a cave located in the middle of a forest, the light of morning sunshine glowing through the tree and leaves waking all animals lived in the forest up. Chan just woke up from his sleep to the smell of the food his team cooked outside the cave.
"Good morning, Chan did you sleep well? Here, Lotus is cooking" master Rahu smile at him like he usually does and hands him a bowl of soup. Chan woke up just in time the soup is ready, they are sitting in a circle with a bowl of soup in their hands
"So master the yesterday creature are the Ba rat?" Lotus asked nervously just for the sake of breaking the silence and intense atmosphere when Chan arrived
"That right they are the Ba rat creature, If you cut it by the neck it will die"
"Master I thought we haven't reached the town with no human yet, why do the Ba Rat creature appear?"
"Are you sure we haven't reached that town yet ?" he question Lotus certainty
"Oh maybe you're right that the only town with Ba rat after all, so we must have been travel very fast" she smiles nervously and sips the soup in her bowl
Master Rahu opens up the scroll and gets everyone attention
"In a forest with ongoing guest find a man with turtle stamp in the highest of thee land" he looked at the students faced seeing everyone has paid a little of their attention, he continues
"Let play a game, If any of you got the clue first then you'll get a reward" master Rahu smile and looked at his students expecting that it will be hard for them to figure the clue out, but surprise surprise the unexpected one is him instead. Mayu and Lotus pointed in the same direction toward North, which means they had known the clue for some time now because all of them except Chan and master went hunting early in the morning.
The master gives the students a sincere smile, not yet eating the soup he asked
"Where Chan?" he was so focused on the scroll and not noticing Chan present
"In the bush" Tachi replied with an obvious tone, she was squatting next to the bush and pointed to Chan
As for Chan, he is puking his gut out, nobody can tell what face he is making. When he is done he comes out of the bush with the same bandage covering his mouth and sits quietly on the log in the circle. His eyes were watery and red, but he doesn't say anything, so everyone let him be. A moment of silence and peace filling the air of the forest, the students eating their food until suddenly,
"AH, It burns It burns!!!!" Tachi fell on the ground and rolling around with her tongue out
"It good it very good" Mayu who sit beside Lotus holding back his tear and give her a thumb up then running around tried to find a river to put himself out of his misery
Ream and Chan, have disappeared out of nowhere, then coming back from the bush with fiery red and watery eyes, it seems Chan has one again sips that bowl of soup, while Ream was eating the soup like everybody else
As for the master seeing his students acting strangely after they have eaten the soup, he puts the food down and not having a taste of it
"Lotus what do you put in here?" he asked lotus who is eating her soup with delight
"It the chili paper I packed from my hometown, I add it to the soup to make it more delicious" she smiles brightly then proceed to fill her bowl with more of that firey soup
"I see" the master smile back then hide his bowl and doesn't dare to touch it again
After the students are done with their "meal" they packed up their belonging then heading north to the new village they had just discovered
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"The highest Gui" is the name of that village door gate, unlike the previous town full of Ba Rat creature, this village seems normal and peaceful with, but the same forest surrounding it.
"That is it, students, this is our final destination, now all we need to do is to find the oldest man in this village"
All of a sudden the chief of the village comes and greets the team happily as if he was expected their arrival.
"Ha Ha Ha, what wind brings you here children?" the old chief smile sincerely at all of them, with his long white beard and eyebrow he looks as old as the headmaster of their academy
"I am Rahu a teacher from the Chakava academy, greeting to you master, we come here to fulfill our mission"
"Ha Ha, what will that mission be?"
"Is to find an old man with turtle stamp"
"Ha Ha Ha, I don't know about the old man, but I surely know about the turtle stamp, Ha Ha come let me show you around my village first"
The chief happily showed the guests around his village and brag about how good their liquors are and then takes his guests to his mansion
"Children if you want to find the turtle stamp here is the places to find them"
The chief hands a piece of paper to each student and sent them on their way to find the turtle stamp, leaving master Rahu in the mansion
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After the students left the air started to change in the mansion, both mans kneeling (seiza) style discussing with serious looks on their face
"Master Rahu are you award with what happen?"
"Yes master Gui, I'm well aware"
"Who is it then?"
"The answer is uncleared, I'll inform the upper about this matter"
"Don't trouble yourself, master Rahu, just send a word to my old friend for me is enough, and in the meantime keep a close eye on one of your student"
"I already know that"
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As for the students, each one of them went on their separate way to fulfill what the paper told them to do
"The deepest places where a pearl turtle lived" Mayu with a bow carried on his back walking and thinking about the clue in his hand, then suddenly a sound of a kid out of nowhere caught his attention. He ran toward the sound and saw a gang of kids throwing a little boy into the pawn
"HEY! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" he shouted at those kids from afar and ran to them
But it too late the little kid was thrown into the pawn and so soon as Mayu arrived the gang has already escapes
"Help! Help me, please! I can't swim" the little kid who got thrown into the pawn is drowning with just a little strength left in his body he called out for help. Mayu jumped into the deep pawn without a second thought and pulled out that little kid to safety. The deep and muddy pawn making his expensive vermillion clothes dirty and wet, however, he doesn't seem to mind that at all. After the little kid gains his strength back Mayu offered to take him back to his family. When the kid reached his home, his mother quickly stopped what she was doing and brought out two towels for the two. She was shocked and repeatedly apologized to Mayu
"Thank you so much, big brother" the kid speak up after a while
"It ok I'll make sure this will never happen again" Mayu places his hand on the kid's head giving him a sense of security before his attention was caught by a shiny white purl shaping like a stamp hanging on the little kid's neck. It was buried under his second-layer clothes and only visible when the kid took his shirt off.
"That is from my father, it a purl neckless he gave me" the boy took off his necklace and show Mayu after noticed him staring at it
Then suddenly something click inside his head and Mayu speak out loud unaware of himself
"That IT... That is what I'm looking for"
The kid stood next to him unsure of what just happened, then his mother came out of the kitchen overheard their conversation
"Take it my dear child you deserved it" she took the necklace from her son's hand and give it to him
"What about your husband?"
"He isn't here anymore it ok, Now come and join us for lunch"
The mother smile and asked her son to come to help her prepared the food. The boy seems unwilling to give away his necklace, but none the less he didn't speak out a word and come to help his mother inside their small straw house.
"Thank you" a low and emotional voice carried by the wind hitting the little boy eardrum, he turned around no longer seeing Mayu around, but a vermillion pouch full of gold hanging on a tree branch outside of their house
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Inside the garden of master Wu's mansion sat three students already finished their mission. Mayu being the second last placing his purl turtle necklace next to the other three. Lotus has a wooden stamp, Tachi with sliver stamp and Ream got a golden stamp, that leaving Chan to be the last one
A minute later Chan had entered the mansion, the students were very eager to see what he brings to the table. The moment has arrived, Chan mission items are 2 chickens and 2 jars of wines
Master Gui was the happiest when he saw what Chan has delivered, he quickly takes the chicken and wine then went into his kitchen and started to prepare the food, leaving everyone in disbelief. After he comes back from the kitchen he started the test
"Now children, we have too many stamps and only one scroll, Which stamp will you choose to stamp your scroll?" master Rahu sitting beside him handing over the snow rabbit scroll
"Choose wisely my children" after finishing his sentence he went back inside to have lunch leaving the students thinking their head out
"What stamp should we choose?" Lotus started
"Er I don't know maybe the wooden one, it has an oldest looking turtle on it" Mayu replied
"My sliver stamp has a turtle on it too, let use it" Tachi also taking part then proceed to stamp the scroll
"Tachi, you can't just stamp it as that" Mayu stopped her before she could stamp that scroll and the two started to argue with each other
"Wait we can't stamp it without the red ink" Lotus realized that master Gui didn't leave them any red ink for the stamp
"Master Gui, may I please borrow your red ink, sir?" Lotus asked the master who sitting inside and enjoy his meal
"Child I never used any red ink in my whole life, how could I have one?" he replied lazily then continues his meal
"Then how are we going to use the stamp?" she said in a low tone, trying not to bother master Gui anymore
"Why don't we ask those guys?" Tachi pointed his finger toward the two students behind them. Ream sleeping back against the tree with his sword beside him and Chan also sits under a tree emotionlessly sharping his dagger. The two don't look like they want to participate in the mission at all
"Leave them be they don't even want to work together with us, why bother with them"
Just as the word left Mayu's lip, "Tsk" the sound of Ream clicking his tongue. It seems now Ream has awakened from his sleep and walking lazily into the group
"The real stamp is inside that old baldly" he pointed his index finger to master Wu who sitting inside the open mansion with food and drink in his mouth suddenly, "click" they all have everything figure out
"Tachi catch master Wu legs don't let him run away" Mayu shouting out to Tachi. The three of them went inside the mansion, catching master Wu off guard, and with Mayu, Tachi, and Lotus holding the old master down, he couldn't escape anymore
"Substitution"
But suddenly an old man's body turns into a straw dummy with the word turtle written on it. The master has disappeared out of thin air
"Ha Ha, not bad children, but not good enough" master Gui using substitution technic to escape the students. He was walking and skipping happily on the backside of the mansion thinking no one will see him, little did he know a sharp dagger was pointed at his throat from behind. Surly and finally he was caught. Chan brings master Gui back inside the mansion. Then Ream ordered everyone else to hold him down
"Asking us to bring you 4 useless stamps, never used red ink in your whole life and even had the "Bandage" running errands, Is that one of your best tricks, baldy?" Ream squatting down and asked master Gui who was held down tightly by the students
"Ha Ha aren't you a clever young man, you may find the stamp inside my clothes now"
"Ha Ha, you never give up do you, you old turtle ?" Ream doesn't bother checking master Gui clothes then slice his tump with a long sword and used his bloody thumb as the stamp
"How do you figure it out, Ream?"
"First, All of those stamps, or should I said a piece of jewelry that shapes like a stamp, it have nothing to do with our mission. It was just your tricks to turn us against each other. Second, you never use red ink your whole life which means you don't even have a stamp, instead, you would substitute use your blood as a stamp" After Ream finished answer the question he went into the mansion and ate the food on master Gui table without permission nor manner
"Ha Ha Well done children you had chosen the right stamp, Your mission is complete"
The students jump out with joy as soon as they heard that their mission is complete, then master Gui invited them to have lunch in his mansion. After they are finished the students prepared themselves and head out of the mansion
"Master please help return this pearl stamp to its owner for me sir" Mayu politely ask master Gui
" This is the Ting family pearl stamp belonging to miss Ting and her son, It is the pearl I gave to her husband a long time ago, don't worry child I'll bring it to them"
"Thank you very much, sir"
"Master Gui sir do you know where our master went?" Lotus question struck everyone attention, of all this time they haven't noticed that their own teacher is missing
"Ha Ha after handing me the scroll he went into the liquor shop, child"
The student's thanks master Gui again and went to find their teacher.