Chapter 26: Token

"Wood, we have already delayed too much time in Hegu Town."

Silver-white hair strands drifted in the wind, and Haian said softly to his most loyal guard beside him.

Like those "long ears" who lived in the deep forest reaching into the clouds, although the Half-Elf had a good nature cultivated under the teachings of his elders, he would occasionally show his stubborn side.

"Mother once said that the waters of the Vina River never stop (Elven proverb); we cannot drag this out any longer."

As if hearing a key word in his speech, Wood, who had originally wanted to be a bit tougher and express his attitude, opened his mouth, but finally swallowed his words back into his stomach.

Although he didn't seem very reliable usually, Lali's suggestion just now was not a bad choice.

Haian estimated in his heart.

He himself hadn't completed his job advancement, and his strength was limited; although he had mastered several combat techniques learned from his mother, they were all biased toward long-range combat;

Lali's appearance seemed flashy, but his family was wealthy, and he had been specially trained by professional adventurers since he was a child. He had some combat power, but not much;

Doris…… let's not mention her for now;

Wood was a real professional. There were practically no magical beasts on the outskirts of the Mist Forest that could threaten him, but according to his performance in previous outings, no matter how intense the battle was, he would only stay by his side.

Since the destination was still some distance away, and they were in the Mist Forest, it was naturally impossible to avoid battle completely.

With this as a premise, their squad indeed needed an adventurer who had decent combat power and could fight at close range.

Haian raised his head and gazed at Xia Nan, who was standing in the clearing opposite with a vigilant expression.

He paused for a few seconds, organized his language in his heart, and then spoke slowly:

"As the price for accidentally involving you, I will leave 30 gold coins as compensation."

Under normal circumstances, no matter how good-natured one's personality was, one wouldn't go to such lengths for a stranger.

But in order to make up for the image of his squad in the other party's heart, and even more so for the invitation to join the squad later, Haian chose to express his sincerity in this most practical way after a struggle in his heart.

"Then I hope to hire you for 70 gold to assist our squad in the mission we are currently undertaking as a temporary member."

Hearing this, Xia Nan, who was hesitating in his heart whether to just run away with the gold coins or hand over the spoils in his hand to the other party.

Suddenly paused.

And his first reaction was—

30+70=100 gold.

"No, no, no." Xia Nan reined in his thoughts and judged the authenticity of the other party's invitation.

First, he possessed items worth nearly 80 gold coins (Glow Garlic Vines + spoils from the duo).

As long as he could bring them back to Hegu Town, that would be a huge profit; there was no need to take unnecessary risks for these 100 gold coins.

As a low-level adventurer acting alone, he had to consider that the other party was just pretending to invite him, actually wanting to trick him into getting close and taking the opportunity to surround and kill him.

Second, for these four people in front of him, Xia Nan felt somewhat awkward.

Even for the most bottom-tier adventurer squad like the previous Rotten Fish and Shrimp squad, they possessed a configuration of front-row warrior (Gagu) + long-range shooter (Maji) + assassin (Erji).

What about the four people opposite?

The Half-Elf and his guard were still normal, but what was the positioning of that fatty who didn't even have fitting equipment and looked even more like a novice than himself?

Not to mention the golden-haired lady at the end of the squad, whose face was pale as if a gust of wind could blow her away.

Compared to being an "adventurer squad," they looked more like rich kids from the city coming to the countryside for an outing.

Thinking of this, Xia Nan's thoughts couldn't help but pause.

Then he looked at the few people again with a strange expression.

"They wouldn't really be……"

He couldn't help but feel ridiculous, almost getting tricked onto a pirate ship.

"With this kind of squad, let alone 100 gold, I wouldn't dare join even for 10,000 gold."

Although he thought so in his heart, his face remained expressionless.

Facing Haian's invitation, he shook his head firmly and decisively.

"100 gold! I'll give you 100 gold!"

Seeing Xia Nan refuse, the plump Lali beside the Half-Elf seemed a bit anxious and raised his index finger to say loudly.

"I said, not even for 10,000 gold!" Xia Nan muttered to himself.

At the same time, he shook his head silently again.

"You……" Facing his repeated refusals, Lali's face turned red, waving his arms, his mouth opening and closing silently, as if brewing a number that would make the other party unable to refuse.

Slap—

A fair, slender hand with distinct joints pressed on his shoulder.

"Forget it, Lali." Haian's silver-grey eyes reflected Xia Nan's figure, who seemed to be able to disappear into the dense forest at any moment.

"No need to force it."

Although the other party didn't speak, the Half-Elf could feel the determination expressed by this human youth when he refused.

Taking a money bag from the backpack behind him, he threw it far to Xia Nan across the clearing.

"30 gold, keep it."

Xia Nan was surprised, but he didn't relax his vigilance at all.

Using the tip of his sword to pry open the bag mouth, he checked it carefully, confirming there were no tricks hidden inside.

Only then did he put the money bag into his bosom.

"So trustworthy?"

Even though he had confirmed that he wouldn't join the squad, he still threw the thirty gold coins promised orally to himself.

Was it his personality, or were all Elves in this world like this?

Feeling the heavy weight of the money bag, Xia Nan couldn't help but feel that the other party seemed more pleasing to the eye.

At the same time, seeing Xia Nan refuse, Wood, who had been silent on the side, subconsciously breathed a sigh of relief and said:

"Young Master, the Mist Forest is still too dangerous. It's hard for me to guarantee your safety alone. Why don't…… we go back to Hegu Town to rest and reorganize for a few days before making other plans?"

"Our destination is only on the outskirts. Aren't you a professional? What's there to be afraid of?" Having been refused by Xia Nan twice in a row, Lali was in a bad mood, and his words carried some complaints.

To this, Wood just glanced at him coldly and didn't speak. Lali instantly shrank his neck as if falling into an ice cellar and closed his mouth.

He was respectful to Haian, but Wood didn't need to make any expressions to the others in the squad.

"Besides, that group of people just now didn't look like adventurers." Seeing Haian seemed to be moved by himself, Wood struck while the iron was hot. "I suspect it's from Niumu……"

He only said half of it, but Haian clearly understood what he meant, and his expression instantly sank.

"No, it's not time yet…… they shouldn't go that far."

Haian seemed to be comforting himself, muttering, and took out an ink-black token from his bosom.

"Wait!"

In the air, Xia Nan's voice suddenly came.

He, who had originally planned to leave this place with a massive fortune of over a hundred gold coins, stopped his footsteps abruptly.

The ink-black token in the Half-Elf's hand, which was narrow at the top and wide at the bottom, with some ancient symbols vaguely carved on the surface, just one look brought him an extremely strong sense of familiarity.

That highly characteristic classical style, he had seen countless times in his memory.

But the "memory" here did not come from the predecessor.

It was truly—

Previous life.

(End of Chapter) ===== CHAPTER 27 =====