Something Similar

Mei Chao Bing nodded when Song Mu had finished introducing himself. He glanced at all the people again, trying to come up with a plan to ensure that everybody would be as safe as possible.

"Alright, since we know about our strengths and weaknesses now it's time to set out. Fen'er, you stay with me." He turned to his little bunny and gave him a long look. He wasn't too worried. Even though Yun Bei Fen wasn't strong, he had at least a few more capabilities now and he was especially obedient. If he told him to stay close, he would definitely stick to him like rice. As for the others …

Mei Chao Bing turned to Yi Ju next. "Junior martial sister Yi, I'd like to ask you to stay close to …" He hesitated. The strongest one after him was Song Mu but … he didn't trust him. That was hardly something he could say though and it was also a notion he should get rid of. He needed to trust these people if they were supposed to work together. If he didn't trust them, how were they supposed to trust him?

Mei Chao Bing sighed and finally opted for a compromise. "Well, it would be best if you stayed close to junior martial brother Song but I could understand if you would rather keep to junior martial sister Liu's side."

Yi Ju blinked her eyes and glanced at the two people in question. Liu Bao Ru was the senior martial sister that was good with martial arts. She was weaker than both Song Mu and Yuan Lei but still stronger than the other two senior martial brothers. It took Yi Ju a moment to figure out just why Mei Chao Bing had suggested her as an alternative. When she did, she couldn't help but look torn.

Song Mu was obviously Mei Chao Bing's first choice in terms of strength. But if the group was separated, then the implications of following a martial brother might be disadvantageous for her future. Also, this would bring a whole lot of issues in case one of them got injured. From that perspective, Liu Bao Ru was indeed the better alternative.

Mei Chao Bing didn't rush her and just waited for her to decide on her own. It was best if she was comfortable and he himself would also feel better if he knew that whatever happened, he hadn't condemned her to it.

Song Mu glanced at Mei Chao Bing but didn't say anything.

Yi Ju still couldn't decide after several minutes. "That … Senior martial brother Mei, how important is that decision? I mean I'm supposed to learn from someone. So does this mean …" She looked at him worriedly, not at all sure how to proceed. She was also afraid he would get angry that she couldn't even decide on such a simple matter.

"Don't worry. We will move as one group most of the time. This is just a safety measure for the worst case. If you can't decide now, then you can also take a day or two. But you should make your mind up soon. We can never know what'll happen in this place."

She nodded. "Alright, then … give me one day, please? I'll definitely tell you then."

"Very well." Mei Chao Bing nodded and then turned to the others. "Junior martial brother Yuan, junior martial brother Song, the two of you are the ones with the highest cultivation after me. If something happens and I'm unable to lead, one of you will have to take over. I trust you to make that decision on your own when the time comes since it'll depend on the circumstances."

Yuan Lei and Song Mu both nodded but didn't speak up.

Mei Chao Bing looked at the other two martial brothers but didn't say anything. These two were able to defend themselves and wouldn't need any arrangements. As for the other junior martial sister … She wasn't strong either.

"Junior martial sister Nong, the same goes for you. You should be staying close to somebody that is stronger than you. I would understand if that person was junior martial sister Liu. If you don't mind though … It would be good if you could stay with junior martial brother Yuan instead. If somebody had to protect two people, it might be too much."

Nong Xiu Ying nodded. "Alright. Then I'll also take a bit of time to think it through. I'll also talk it over with junior martial sister Yi if that's alright."

"That would be very good, yes." Mei Chao Bing nodded and then took out a paper scroll. "Now, we've all been in different groups before. The area we are supposed to investigate is also different now. I'd like everybody to pool our information together. That way, we won't go in blindly. Don't worry if you can't remember everything or have a hard time recalling something. Every detail we have is good but we can still check things later on to make sure. After all, everybody will return to this town in the evening so we will be able to ask. Everything else can be slowly found out afterward."

Mei Chao Bing turned to Yuan Lei and handed him the scroll first. "Let's start with junior martial brother Yuan again. Fen'er and I were in the same group as him before but since we joined later, he should have more information at hand."

Yuan Lei nodded, took the brush that Mei Chao Bing gave him as well and then started to draw and explain. There wasn't much to see. The border region didn't have much to see, after all, but he did explain about the stone desert they had seen and Mei Chao Bing mentioned that this was where the array had been located.

When he did so, Liu Bao Ru straightened up. "There was something similar in our region. We didn't notice any array but it could be that we didn't check closely enough. Part of it should be in our new area so maybe we could go and take a look again?"

Mei Chao Bing gave her a deep gaze and then nodded. "Yes, that might be for the best."