Under Chu Qing's gaze, even the air seemed to freeze.
The gaunt old man swallowed with difficulty, his mind racing madly.
He knew that if they simply said they admired strength and wanted to follow Chu Qing, Chu Qing would not only refuse to take them in—he might even deal with them.
Faced with someone like Chu Qing, he ultimately chose to tell the truth:
"We were considered Top Experts in our former empires."
"Even when facing calamities, most of us could get through them without injury."
"But after encountering you, we realized that the gap between us and you was simply too great."
"So great that it filled us with despair."
"On one hand, we want to follow you because you are strong enough and ruthless enough. You are bound to accomplish great things in the future."
"On the other hand—we hope you can guide us along our paths."
"Each of our paths has reached the end of what we understand."
"We simply don't know how to proceed from here!"
"We all want to go farther on our paths!"
"I even want to use the body of a martial artist to slay an Otherkind!"
"I have about fifty years left to live."
"I don't want to remain unable to advance a single step for the next fifty years."
After saying that, the gaunt old man prostrated himself on the ground once more.
The others prostrated themselves as well.
Chu Qing fell silent. After a moment, he smiled. "Since you know of me, you should also know that following me comes with a very high death rate!"
The gaunt old man and the others grew excited. "We aren't afraid!"
"Back home, we had a saying—if one heard the Way in the morning, one could die that evening!"
Chu Qing...
Fine.