Small Teams

Uncle Ding flicked his sleeve, and the youths were wrapped in brilliant, multicolored specks of light. The light lifted them into the sky, giving Cheng Buzheng an experience that the technological world could never have offered him.

After boarding the White Jade Boat, Cheng Buzheng hurried to the edge. His actions immediately drew the other youths after him.

Before long, a row of little heads appeared along the edge of the White Jade Boat, suspended high in the air.

Uncle Ding lightly stamped his foot on the stone ground and shot toward them like a roc spreading its wings. The eight Martial Brothers followed close behind, some using Sword Flight, some Saber Flight, and even one using Ring Flight. It was a dazzling sight.

The scene left the youths utterly amazed.

Uncle Ding, dressed in a black robe, looked them over, then walked to the bow and sat cross-legged. The eight Martial Brothers followed him, sitting down behind him and closing their eyes to rest.

At that moment, the White Jade Boat hanging in the air shot away like an arrow loosed from a bow, leaving County Square behind. At the same time, an invisible membrane enveloped the boat, so the youths leaning over its side felt neither a trace of cold wind nor the slightest jolt.

After a brief spell of unease, the youths soon grew accustomed to the situation and began whispering among themselves. With the Martial Uncle and Martial Brothers there, they didn't dare get too rowdy.

Cheng Buzheng noticed that both the Martial Uncle and the Martial Brothers were taciturn unless there was something they needed to say. They sat cross-legged in silence, each with his eyes closed.

Was it because the Martial Uncle was here, and the Martial Brothers didn't dare act up? Or was it...?

Cheng Buzheng glanced at the youths again. They were still speaking quietly among themselves, without raising their voices, but they were talking to one another much more often.

He didn't join them. Instead, he turned and leaned over the side of the boat, quietly watching the scenery outside.

Mountains and rivers swept past beneath them as the jade boat raced onward, disappearing from view in the blink of an eye.

Over the course of a month, batches of youths boarded the White Jade Boat one after another.

By now, there were eighty or ninety people aboard. The smallest batch had only two or three youths, while the largest was their own first batch, with a full seventeen.

As more youths came aboard, they quietly formed little groups. Cheng Buzheng found it most interesting that youths who had boarded in the same batch were the most likely to band together.

At this point, only a handful remained alone. The youths from his batch should have formed the largest group, but because they each knew different people, they had split into three smaller groups.

The number of groups aboard the White Jade Boat grew rapidly. The smaller ones immediately tried to recruit any youths from their own batch who hadn't joined a group.

Since Cheng Buzheng kept to himself, he still hadn't joined one.

The three groups formed by youths from his hometown soon took notice of him.

Before long,

a slender youth walked over with a smile.

"My name's Nan Ye. You can call me Brother Ye. We're all from Ping'an County, so we're fellow townsfolk. I've formed a group, and there are four of us, counting me. We can look out for one another once we're in the sect. If you go it alone, there'll definitely be times when you can't keep track of everything.

"What do you think?"

Cheng Buzheng looked at the youth before him. He had the same aptitude as Cheng Buzheng: Three Spiritual Roots.

After thinking for a moment, he replied, "My name's Cheng Buzheng. Just call me Buzheng. But let me make one thing clear: no matter what kind of group activity it is, you can't force anyone to take part.

"If you agree to that, I'll join your group."

Nan Ye paused, then smiled. "Of course. I formed this group so we could stick together and keep each other warm. There are no requirements, and anyone can leave at any time!

"Come on, let's go over there. Our teammates are waiting!" As he spoke, he pointed toward a corner.

Following the direction of his finger, Cheng Buzheng took a look.

There were three people in the corner. One of them looked somewhat familiar: he was the other youth who, like Cheng Buzheng, hadn't said goodbye to his family in the square. At the time, Cheng Buzheng had wondered whether he was simply cautious or had no family nearby.

He had barely spoken to the other boy and girl; they were familiar strangers. He also noticed that he was the youngest in the group.

As Cheng Buzheng sized up his teammates, they had been quietly observing him ever since deciding to invite him in.

In the blink of an eye,

Cheng Buzheng and Nan Ye reached the corner where the group had gathered.

Nan Ye smiled and said,

"This is our little brother Buzheng. He'll be joining our group from now on! Introduce yourselves to him."

As soon as he finished speaking,

a petite, pretty girl who looked about fifteen or sixteen beamed at Cheng Buzheng and said,

"My name's Wang Min. You can call me Big Sister Xiaomin from now on. If you run into trouble, little brother Buzheng, come to me!"

Cheng Buzheng smiled and nodded at the lively girl.

Then a sturdy-looking youth with an honest face rubbed the back of his head and said in a simple, earnest voice,

"I'm Xu Shi, but everyone calls me Stone. I make really good barbecue. You can all try some sometime."

Wang Min looked at Xu Shi in surprise. "Brother Xu, you really know how to barbecue? Teach me next time, will you? I've wanted to learn for ages, but no one's ever taught me!"

Xu Shi smiled bashfully.

"Sure. I'll teach you when you have time!"

"What's so good about barbecue, Xiaomin? Just tell me what you want to eat!"

A handsome youth who looked about fifteen or sixteen glanced at Xu Shi with disdain.

"Gao Li, how can you say that? Brother Xu was only trying to be nice," Wang Min said indignantly.

Xu Shi, still wearing his honest expression, waved it off.

"It's fine. Don't get upset, everyone!"

Seeing this, Nan Ye hurried to smooth things over.

"All right, stop arguing. Buzheng's watching! Let me explain how our group can stick together and look out for one another from now on!"

The others immediately turned their eyes to Nan Ye. They wanted to know how the group would work in practice.

Seeing that, Nan Ye continued.

"We've all just joined the Immortal Sect. From now on, you're all my brothers and sisters. We're banding together so we can cultivate better in the future. Whether we're trading items or exchanging information, we should do it within our group first!

"We're all on the same side. That'll make things easier for everyone and help prevent anything from going wrong.

"What do you think?"

At this,

Cheng Buzheng couldn't help but think more highly of Nan Ye. In a situation where no one knew anything yet, Nan Ye had come up with a way to help the group stay united. It was still crude, with plenty of details left unworked, but it was enough to show that he'd make a decent leader.

When no one objected, they began discussing the specifics. The other two had no suggestions of their own.

In the end, Nan Ye and Gao Li worked together to refine the plan. Both came from merchant clans and had been trained in such matters from a young age.

Cheng Buzheng, meanwhile, kept a low profile. If he hadn't worried about having no source of information inside the sect, he wouldn't have joined a group at all.

After all, he was completely in the dark. It couldn't hurt to be a little better prepared.

So Cheng Buzheng, Wang Min, and Xu Shi quietly gathered together, chatting about strange happenings in the county as they waited for the other two to finish their plan.