The five people finally stopped at the border of a stone desert. The boulders had been turned into weirdly shaped forms by the elements and were all too suitable to let enemies hide behind them.
Yun Bei Fen looked up at Mei Chao Bing. Even though he had been told to listen to Gongsun Chen for now, he still couldn't shake this habit of relying on his senior martial brother Mei.
Mei Chao Bing patted his head and then turned to Gongsun Chen himself.
Gongsun Chen's gaze flitted over the stone formations uneasily before he looked over to Mei Chao Bing. He did want the position of leader but he also felt that it was quite good to have somebody with them who had been in the core formation for many years. Not many of their Teng Yong Sect's disciples could boast to have that kind of cultivation. So with him around the four of them would be much safer.
"We've explored until here in the last two weeks. So far, we couldn't find any clues but this formation seems slightly odd so that may change soon. It's not only the stones themselves but as far as we could see from here, the way they are positioned is also quite peculiar. This might be part of a larger array that the demonic sects have put up."
Mei Chao Bing nodded and took a closer look at the stones. He still felt that their shapes were the result of being exposed to the wind and rain and not something a cultivator had done. It also didn't seem as if they had been placed there purposefully but he couldn't be sure without investigating one of them from up close. It wasn't his call to make that decision though. If this wasn't their first day in this group and if his reputation was any better, then maybe he would've made a suggestion but as things stood, he didn't dare to do so. No, it was better if he held back for now and waited what Gongsun Chen would decide. Otherwise, other problems might arise that would be worse than one wrong decision.
Gongsun Chen looked at Mei Chao Bing, wondering if he really wouldn't speak up. A minute passed by and finally, he realized that Mei Chao Bing really didn't intend to do so. He hadn't just said that he didn't want the position of leader, he really thought so.
Gongsun Chen heaved a sigh of relief and then motioned into the stone desert. "We should take a closer look at this place today. Make sure that you investigate every part of it and don't overlook any clues. This could be an important place in the plan of the demonic sects. Well …" He looked at the two people he had been working with before and then at the two that had been added today.
Before, he and the other two had always stayed together. They couldn't really form any smaller groups without risking to be at a disadvantage if they met demonic cultivators anyway. Today, things were different though. They didn't need to advance with five people. In fact, that might hinder them in their investigation. He wasn't sure if it was a good idea to make the two new people that hadn't had any experience so far go off on their own though. Then again, the two of them were precisely the strongest and the weakest in terms of cultivation. So splitting them up wasn't a good idea either. Furthermore, they were also a couple so who knew if they wouldn't be distracted if he split them up?
He glanced at Yuan Lei and Kui Min, wondering what to do. As things stood, he could only send one of them with the two and then team up with the other person. That also meant that his own group would lose some strength. Well, for the time being, that was the best course of action he could come up with.
Gongsun Chen finally nodded at Kui Min. "Mei Chao Bing and Yun Bei Fen don't know how we've proceeded in the last two weeks. You go with them and show them. Yuan Lei and I will search in the other direction."
Kui Min nodded and then jumped to Yun Bei Fen's side, grabbing his hand. "Ah! Did you hear that? We'll be working together from now on!"
Yun Bei Fen looked at her with wide eyes and then looked up at Mei Chao Bing. As if asking what he thought of that.
Mei Chao Bing just smiled and patted his head. He didn't know this Kui Min but apparently, Yun Bei Fen knew her so that was good. He'd rather have somebody with them that was familiar with the little bunny and would pay a bit of attention to him than to be paired with a stranger that didn't care about him or even worked against them because he was affiliated with that Yang Wu Huang or something.
He wouldn't be surprised if something like that happened. He had seen it often enough in the past even before his Master betrayed the Teng Yong Sect. Some people just felt safer picking sides and gaining somebody's support than to be on their own and contrary to him, Yang Wu Huang had always liked to have people trail alongside him to show off how great he was.
Well, that was in the past. Right now, he only had to concentrate on the mission.
Gongsun Chen was also satisfied when he saw that Kui Min didn't have any issues with his order. He heaved a sigh of relief and then motioned for them to begin with the task while he turned to Yuan Lei and vanished in the other direction.
Mei Chao Bing smiled and turned to Kui Min. "Alright, then how do we proceed?"
Kui Min blinked her eyes and looked from Yun Bei Fen to Mei Chao Bing. "The two of you …"
Mei Chao Bing raised his brows. "I've been on missions before." That should be what she wanted to know, right? It couldn't be that she would somehow deem it important to know what exactly was going on between them as a couple, could it?
Kui Min narrowed her eyes and stared at him for half a minute before she motioned to the desert. "Sure, that was exactly what I wanted to know. Let's go then!" She pulled Yun Bei Fen along with her, not asking any further.
Obviously, Mei Chao Bing didn't want to talk about it. She'd just ask Yun Bei Fen when they were alone. Even if that Mei Chao Bing wasn't a spy from the demonic faction, he was still a little intimidating. It was much easier to ask this little bunny for the juicy details.