"What is it?"
The old man immediately grew wary, and the others in the camp also looked guarded.
"Relax."
Jiang Qiao smiled. "It's something good."
"Sorry."
"We appreciate the offer, but our abilities are limited. We only do what we can handle. We haven't even finished our own business yet, so whatever you want to ask of us, I'm afraid we can't help."
The old man flatly refused.
He would not even hear what Jiang Qiao had to say.
"Don't be so wary. We all make our living in the Ten Thousand Ghost Forest. We're bound to run into each other." Jiang Qiao was not surprised by his reaction. In fact, he rather approved of it.
Running into a stranger in a dangerous area and keeping one's curiosity in check—
That was no easy feat.
However.
Just because the old man could control himself did not mean the others could.
These people were a ragtag bunch to begin with, a team thrown together in the forest. They had neither mutual trust nor any authority over one another. The old man's strength and modest reputation in the city were the only things barely holding them together.
So, after the old man refused,
Jiang Qiao did not press him. He simply looked at the other members around him and smiled.
"There's no harm in hearing me out."
"You can decide afterward."
"Then tell us, Your Excellency. What do you need us for?" Sure enough, despite the old man's explicit refusal, some people could not resist asking. Quite a few of them, in fact.
Even those who remained silent pricked up their ears, wanting to hear what Jiang Qiao had to say first.
Jiang Qiao smiled faintly.
"I found a cave in the woods. I could faintly hear singing coming from inside. But