Ch 15 - Mobei Village

Early in the morning, near the crack of dawn. The birds were just beginning to sing their morning song, and it was still quite cold.

A young boy huffed as he practiced his spear stance, stabbing into a tree, practicing his movements.

For about 10 minutes straight, he did not stop, and continued training his training. After his spear training, the young boy immediately went into his body training.

That boy was Xu Ming, and he didn't have any intentions to slack off, even if he was on a mission outside of the sect. Although he regrettably did not have the materials to perform his morning medicinal bath, he could still cultivate his body according to the body art.

He'd been awake for more than 2 hours at this point. Yesterday, Xu Ming and the kids moved out of the sect at about 2:00 in the afternoon, and had made some great progress. Just as night fell, they made camp near a small bamboo grove.

Well, by "they", it was really just Xu Ming. The rest could be considered to be meatheads that were only good at fighting, and so they didn't know how to set up camp at all. Xu Ming spent a good part of his time teaching this motley group how to set up a camp. He was also going to teach them how to start a fire, but to his surprise, the girl named Huo Ning had a fire attribute spirit root, and could conjure up a bit of fire, and thus he didn't need to spare effort to teach them.

After that, he entrusted the ladies to cook for them while the males set up camp and gather materials. However, again to his surprise, they managed to char the pork rations to a perfect black inedible mess, leaving them to eat only rice and some bread for their dinner. Xu Ming knew he was working with rookies, but his patience was running a bit thin by this moment.

And now it was morning.

He was the only one awake, for a long time. He'd awoken as soon as the sky changed colours, and worked on his training. But a few hours later, the group were still snoring contently. He felt a bit of pity for the peak leader of the combat peak, and understood his concerns about them.

Xu Ming took a big pot, and banged it crazily, disturbing the peace around the forest immediately.

"Attack! Wild beast attack!", Xu Ming shouted at the top of his lungs.

Taken awake by surprise, some of the kids woke up immediately and looked confused as they stared around them.

Guoyi even got up and almost started dancing in his panic, and was joined by Guo'er.

The ladies seemed to be scared, and hid underneath their blankets. The only one who got ready to deal with the threat was the arrogant Huang Dong. It wasn't immediate, but he eventually picked up his sword and asked Xu Ming, "Where?"

Incredibly, Mo Xiao was still asleep in spite of all that. Huang Dong seemed to somewhat figure out what was going on and kicked Mo Xiao awake.

"Huh? What's going on?", Mo Xiao screamed with a start.

Xu Ming put on an unhappy face as he looked at them.

"The combat peak members are truly incredible."

The kids seemed to be somewhat ashamed, but Mo Xiao spoke up, "Well, anybody would be startled to be woken up like this!"

Xu Ming wasn't impressed and retorted, "I kept guard for the entirety of last night, since none of you were willing to take up the responsibility. In spite of that, I woke up the earliest after a small nap and started my training a few hours back. I've been sweating, working my butt off even as a member of the Longevity Peak."

"Now, look at the state that you people are in. The future of the combat peak. Hah! What if some dangerous beasts or people were to attack while you princes and princesses were enjoying your sleep? Even in the face of an attack, you guys sure would be enjoying yourselves. Only Huang Dong is somewhat commendable, since he dared to pick up his weapon and fight."

"But what about the rest of you? Truly shameful!"

Mo Xiao seemed to be hurt, and blurted out, "Well, it doesn't seem like your place to teach us these things, right? I'll remind you that you're just an 8 year old child, while we're 12!"

Huang Dong seemed to look somewhat conflicted after receiving praise from Xu Ming and barked, "Shut up, Mo Xiao. It's our fault this time, and it's not about age."

Ning Wei looked upset too, but not at Xu Ming. Rather, she seemed to be in reflection. This sentiment seemed to be shared by the rest of the group, as they bowed their heads in shame. Mo Xiao didn't seem too apologetic but bowed his head too, in fear of Huang Dong.

Seeing the attitude of these people, Xu Ming internally nodded and thought, "They're not lost. They can actually ponder on their mistakes."

"Well, as long as you recognise your mistakes. How will you make up for it?", Xu Ming put a question forwards.

"From tonight, we will take turns guarding the group as we set up camp, and wake up earlier in the morning to train.", Huang Dong spoke out after a small pause.

Huang Dong seemed to have grown a bit after he was able to admit his mistakes. He truly took charge of his group, and didn't blame Xu Ming for the interruption to his sleep. This truly surprised Xu Ming, as he was ready to deal with this arrogant person from yesterday first.

But it wasn't just Xu Ming who was surprised. The rest of the group were also slightly intimidated and had respect for this junior brother who seemed much more mature beyond his years. Facing him, they seemed to see the Peak Leader Kai's shadow in his way of doing things.

"Well, good. You guys aren't hopeless after all. Boys, clean up the camp, and get ready to move. Ladies, prepare the meals. Take extra care and precaution not to burn the meal. Ask for help if you need it.", Xu Ming gave out his commands.

Hearing this, they felt lighthearted and didn't mind the interruption from earlier. The group immediately sprang to action and started on their work. It was a miracle, but the morning meal wasn't burnt to a crisp this time. The two girls took extra care this time to make sure that the meals were perfect, and didn't hesitate to ask Xu Ming for his advice. After eating their meals and cracking a few jokes over their food, the group felt closer to each other. The only one who felt a bit estranged was Mo Xiao, who didn't seem to fit in well.

After their food, they set off once more towards their destination. On the way, they spent a lot of time with each other.

They improved their teamwork, and Xu Ming even held training sessions together in the morning. By the fifth day, there was a certain synergy among them, and they got along together well. Huang Dong, after being together with Xu Ming and getting rid of his misconceptions, was actually decent to be around. The only point was that he was still a bit prideful, but Xu Ming didn't think that was a bad thing at all. He would find it worse if he were to become a humble joe all of a sudden.

The two boys, Guoyi and Guo'er also seemed to stop being so interdependent on each other, and the ladies meshed well with the group. Mo Xiao also seemed to be getting better mentally, and actually cracked a few jokes at times, which was helped by Huang Dong laughing along at them.

In this manner, they were riding on their horses through the jungle path when they encountered a carriage passing by them.

The man in front of the carriage stopped them and asked, "We're from the Candle Chamber of Commerce. May we know who you guys are?"

Xu Ming pointed at his robe and said, "We're disciples of the Ming Sword Sect, on a mission."

The man cupped his fists, even if it was towards a group of kids. There was no seniority in the Jianghu, only strength. He knew the cultivators weren't to be messed with.

"Esteemed cultivators, we just want to warn you in advance that there's a group of bandits up ahead on this road that cause trouble for everyone. Please be wary of an ambush.", the man spoke.

Xu Ming cupped his hands in response, and said, "We thank you for the warning. May you reach your destination safely."

After some complimentary greetings, they set off opposite from each other.

Huang Dong, on his horse, spoke out loud with some disdain, "What bandits? I can take on a hundred of those mortal bandits any day. Don't be afraid of them."

"Well, don't be too confident, Huang Dong. Arrows will still pierce through your skull if you're not prepared. Swords will still penetrate flesh. We might be stronger than them, but we musn't underestimate anyone.", Xu Ming spoke, shaking his head.

Huang Dong heard this and scratched his head as he seemed to agree.

Mo Xiao, on the other hand, wasn't too amused.

"Even I can take on five mortal bandits. They're not too scary to deal with.", Mo Xiao spoke.

Xu Ming merely chuckled and said, "Well, we'll try to evade them either way. Since we've been warned, keep out an eye and an ear for them."

The group then travelled through the jungle for another 4 hours before they made it out onto the open plains. The route they took led them to a gravelly path that went through a small village, and they finally reached the outskirts of the village.

"This should be Mobei Village. But why is it so silent?", Xu Ming wondered aloud.

Getting down from their horses, the group made their way into the village to seek refuge for the night.

Just then, a small young girl ran up to them and said, "Help my daddy! He's been taken by the bandits!"

Huang Dong was about to speak out when an old man wearing a white robe and carrying a brown stick came out, reprimanding, "Don't misbehave, Rou'er. Go back, and don't disturb our guests."

Xu Ming pat the little girl who was about to shed tears, and asked, "What's going on?"

The little girl named Rou'er didn't hesitate and said, "Daddy has been kidnapped by the bandits! They dragged daddy and some uncles out of the village and won't return them back!"

The old man merely sighed and said, "It's helpless, Rou'er. They're just kids too, and they can't help us. We should wait for the lord to send some soldiers to help us."

Xu Ming looked at Huo Ning, who nodded and proceeded to materialise a flame on her fingertips.

Looking at this, both the old man and Rou'er looked surprised and fell to their knees as they begged ,"Oh immortals! Please help us!"

Xu Ming and Mo Xiao helped them up first.

Xu Ming then spoke, "We're cultivators. We may be able to help. Please, start from the beginning."