Chapter 118: Rules

After Xu Tianhai’s back disappeared from everyone’s sight, Xu Qi suddenly clapped his hands and said:

“Alright, everyone should return to the woods now. I have something important to tell you all.”

Xu Qi was, after all, the team leader arranged by the clan. Though Xu Ziyan was practically leading the group right now, since Xu Qi spoke, everyone immediately returned to the woods, formed a circle, and looked at Xu Qi.

Xu Qi seriously swept his gaze over everyone one by one, then said gravely: “Don’t you all think we are just a disorganized mob right now? This is all my fault as the team leader, for not fulfilling my duties. Moreover, given the current situation, I think Little Sister Ziyan is more suited for the team leader position. So today, I want us to have a meeting here. I am willing to pass the team leader position to Little Sister Ziyan. I don’t know what your opinions are?”

“I agree!”

“…”

Very quickly, everyone reached a unanimous agreement. After these past few days of fleeing, Xu Ziyan’s calmness and wisdom had already earned their trust. So when Xu Qi proposed this suggestion, it was immediately met with everyone’s unanimous approval. Xu Qi laughed at himself self-deprecatingly:

“It seems I really am an incompetent team leader! The moment I mentioned stepping down, you all agreed immediately! Hehe…”

“Hehehe…” Everyone else also laughed somewhat awkwardly.

“Little Sister Ziyan, you tell us, what should we do? We all trust you!” Xu Qi said seriously to Xu Ziyan.

Xu Ziyan knew this wasn’t the time for modesty, so she nodded towards Xu Qi, her expression serious, and said:

“Senior Brother Xu Qi just said we are a disorganized mob right now, and I very much agree. Right now, the ten of us have no division of labor, no discipline. If we encountered a sudden event, think about what would happen to us? For example, last night, everyone went for meditative rest, but there wasn’t even a single person on lookout duty. Let’s suppose, if someone suddenly attacked us, could we have reacted promptly and timely?”

After hearing Xu Ziyan’s words, everyone looked at each other, momentarily feeling a sense of dread. If what Xu Ziyan hypothesized had really happened last night, probably not many of their ten would have survived.

Seeing everyone’s reaction, Xu Ziyan felt quite satisfied inside. But she still kept a stern face and said seriously:

“Our time is very tight now. We can only make some simple divisions of labor. We’ll divide the ten people into three groups. Xu Lin will pick two people to form the first group, with Brother Lin as the group leader. The second group will have Senior Brother Tianlang as the group leader, and he will pick two people as members. The third group will have Senior Brother Xu Qi as the group leader, and he will pick two people as members.”

“What do we do after dividing into groups?” Xu Lin asked.

“If enemies appear, Senior Brother Tianlang’s second group will immediately rush forward, doing their utmost to entangle the enemies. Then, Brother Lin, who has the highest cultivation level, will lead the first group to kill the enemies as quickly as possible. As for Senior Brother Xu Qi’s third group, when a fight breaks out, you don’t need to pay attention to it. Instead, focus on the surroundings, be alert to the situation around. If more enemies appear, you must promptly step up to block them, holding the enemies off until the first and second groups finish killing the initial enemies.”

“I understand!” Xu Lin nodded.

“Mm, I understand too!” Xu Qi also nodded in agreement.

“Mm!” Xu Tianlang just nodded firmly without speaking. But from his face, one could see he was very satisfied that Xu Ziyan wanted him to be the first to charge at the enemies upon sight. He felt this meant Xu Ziyan valued him, thought highly of him. His temperament really was just like his father Xu Haoliang’s – fond of fighting and aggression.

“Does anyone have any other opinions?” Xu Ziyan’s gaze swept over everyone one by one. Everyone nodded in succession. The three group leaders Xu Ziyan selected were the strongest in cultivation within this team. No one had any objections.

Seeing that no one had differing opinions, Xu Ziyan continued: “Since we now have an organization, we must have corresponding discipline. I’ll only state one rule: Since everyone has elected me as the team leader, from now on, all actions must follow my commands. If anyone dares to disobey orders, they must immediately leave our small team. Otherwise, they are no longer our teammate, but our enemy. Does anyone have any objections to this?”

“I have no objections.” This time, the former team leader Xu Qi was the first to speak.

The others also nodded one after another. On one hand, they understood very clearly that in such a critical moment, everyone must unite closely, and discipline is the primary factor for close unity. More importantly, it was their confidence in Xu Ziyan.

“Good, since everyone agrees, Senior Brother Xu Qi, Senior Brother Xu Lin, and Senior Brother Tianlang, please start choosing your group members now!”

“Ziyan… little sister,” Xu Tianlang suddenly spoke up: “If each of our groups picks two group members, that makes exactly nine people, leaving only you alone. What will you do? What are you responsible for when a battle occurs?”

After Xu Tianlang finished speaking, everyone’s gaze focused on Xu Ziyan. At this moment, everyone was also very curious. Xu Ziyan had assigned everyone else out, what exactly was she going to be responsible for? Seeing Xu Tianlang ask, Xu Ziyan smiled and said:

“I will be responsible for central coordination. At that time, I’ll see whether to support Senior Brother Tianlang in entangling the enemies or help Senior Brother Xu Lin eliminate the enemies.”

Seeing that everyone had no further objections, Xu Ziyan clapped her hands and said: “Alright, everyone, start choosing your group members!”

Very quickly, the nine people were divided into groups. After seeing that everyone had formed their groups, Xu Ziyan lightly coughed, drawing everyone’s attention once again. She said with a smile:

“Alright, everyone has finished grouping up! So now, you should carefully study tactics with each other, go and devise ways to handle various situations, different enemies’ attacks and defenses. Combine spells, talismans, and sword flight. Coordination between group members, coordination between groups, sudden incidents during intense battles, how to respond if someone gets injured or dies? Ultimately, form all this into a perfect plan. Imagine, if we successfully pass through this situation of being blocked in front, pursued from behind, and surrounded from all sides, what kind of power will our combination unleash in the future? What kind of reputation will we establish in the Northern Region?”

Hearing Xu Ziyan’s words, everyone’s hearts immediately stirred with excitement. They promptly left Xu Ziyan aside and began studying with each other. Watching everyone’s high-spirited enthusiasm, Xu Ziyan sighed softly in her heart:

I hope they can grow up a little faster!

Right at this moment, footsteps came from outside the woods. Everyone vigilantly looked towards the outside of the woods, prepared to plunge into battle at any moment. Xu Ziyan was very satisfied with everyone’s performance. However, under her spiritual power perception, she already knew it was Xu Tianhai returning. So she smiled and said to everyone:

“Your performance just now was very good, resembling a sharp combination. However, everyone can relax now. It’s Senior Brother Tianhai coming back!”

“Oh~~”

Everyone relaxed awkwardly. By then, Xu Tianhai had already run into the woods, plopped down on the ground, wiped his sweat and said:

“That was close. If we hadn’t listened to Little Sister Ziyan’s words, changed into ordinary clothes, and concealed our cultivation levels, I might not have made it back.”

“What happened?” Xu Ziyan’s expression turned serious.

“The three great clans of the Northern Region – Canglang City’s Zhou Family, Nanlin City’s Yang Family, and Juque City’s Han Family – jointly issued a warrant. It has already reached Tiemu City.”

“A warrant? The three great clans are openly issuing a warrant for us?” Xu Qi jumped up from the ground: “Has something happened to the clan?”

Everyone fell silent for a moment. Xu Ziyan also sat there wordlessly. The three great clans of the Northern Region jointly and openly issuing a warrant for them and others meant that something must have happened to the clan; that seemed to be the only reasonable explanation. However, Xu Ziyan knew she absolutely could not admit this publicly right now. Doing so would be too devastating for this newly formed team. Once their spirits collapsed, their will to survive would decline along with it. This was a very dangerous thing for a young team. So, Xu Ziyan once again clapped her hands loudly, gathering everyone’s attention once more. She said loudly:

“Everyone, don’t speculate wildly. Believe in the clan, believe in the Clan Leader. After all, our clan has been passed down for thousands of years. It’s not something that can fall into crisis so easily. Based on my analysis, among the current Four Great Clans of the Northern Region, Canglang City’s Zhou Family, Nanlin City’s Yang Family, and Juque City’s Han Family have formed an alliance. Therefore, our Xu Clan must be at a disadvantage. As a result, the clan probably simply doesn’t have the energy to take care of us anymore. That’s why the three great clans dare to act so openly. So, I firmly believe our clan is indeed at a disadvantage, but it definitely hasn’t met with disaster. We must believe this, and improve our cultivation levels and combat power as quickly as possible. The faster we improve, the sooner we can return to help the clan.”

Everyone’s fighting spirit was roused by Xu Ziyan. Although they knew the credibility of Xu Ziyan’s words was very low, they were willing to believe her words. Even if it was a lie, they didn’t want to admit that their clan had been destroyed by others.

“Little Sister Ziyan, you tell us, what should we do? We will all listen to you,” Xu Lin said seriously.

“Senior Brother Tianhai, did you buy any food back?” Xu Ziyan gave a slight nod towards Xu Lin, then turned to ask Xu Tianhai.

“I did, I bought a lot!” As Xu Tianhai spoke, he took out a lot of food from his storage pouch. There were steamed buns, stuffed buns, roast chicken, roast duck, marinated beef…

Everyone’s mouths watered at the sight. Xu Ziyan waved her hand and said: “Let’s start eating now. Then we’ll divide into four groups. I’ll be alone in one group. The rest of you, act according to your small groups. Each group should be fifty meters apart. Enter the city in sequence, then we’ll go straight through the city without stopping in Tiemu City, heading directly for Xiangyang Town.”

Two quarters of an hour later, Xu Ziyan and the others slowly made their way towards Tiemu City…