Chapter 164

Fifth Grade of the Prime God Realm.

Cheng Guang passed the information about the crown prince to them, stood up, and lazily stretched, “Our mission this time is to find the crown prince. You five, follow me closely, and let’s aim to find the prince’s whereabouts within a month.”

As Cheng Guang spoke, he smiled at the five people, revealing a faint and incredibly gentle smile.

However, upon hearing Cheng Guang’s words, Xu Hongfei and the others were so scared that their faces turned a shade paler.

“Ah???”

Their mouths hung open in shock, their eyes nearly popping out, somewhat reminiscent of a minor demon in ‘Journey to the West’ being ordered by the demon king to capture the Tang Monk.

Who was the crown prince?

The deposed prince of the former dynasty, who had contended with Emperor Zhou of Great Zhou for decades and still managed to exist unscathed, was not someone easily apprehended.

The Princely Heir must be out of his mind…

To actually consider leading them, a group of non-regular members, to find the prince…

Xu Hongfei’s lips moved hesitantly, unsure of what to say, but after a moment’s hesitation, he couldn’t help but speak up:

“Princely Heir, forgive my directness, but the task of finding the crown prince is not something we can touch. It’s a challenge only for those above a Silver Lantern Catcher…”

“If we were to complete this mission, I’m afraid we wouldn’t be able to locate the crown prince within a month, wasting both time and effort.”

Xu Hongfei dared not offend Cheng Guang, so he was extremely cautious with his words, carefully watching Cheng Guang’s expressions to avoid angering him.

Cheng Guang wasn’t as sensitive as Xu Hongfei feared. It was entirely within his expectations for them to think this way.

Regarding Xu Hongfei and the others, he was indifferent to whether they participated or not; it was merely a formality. Therefore, he immediately responded with a smile:

“I don’t insist that you join me in this mission, as it might indeed waste a month’s time without gaining anything. So I’ll leave the decision to you; decide for yourselves whether you want to join me.”

“I won’t hold it against you.”

Upon hearing Cheng Guang’s words, the faces of Xu Hongfei and the other four became much more conflicted.

They really didn’t want to waste time.

Time was even more valuable than money for these non-regular members.

The reason was simple: the more missions they could complete, the sooner they could officially join the Bureau of the Lamp and become a Black Lantern Catcher.

There, they could take on missions themselves, earn merits, and exchange them for various resources to further enhance their strength.

Moreover, the salary of a constable from the Bureau of the Lamp was not low. Just being a Black Lantern Catcher guaranteed thirty taels of silver a month, which was equivalent to a commoner’s annual income.

Without a doubt, the remuneration of a constable from the Bureau of the Lamp was indeed very tempting to ordinary people.

These two factors combined left few non-regular members willing to waste their time on a futile month-long venture to seek the elusive crown prince and attempt to complete this intangible mission.

However, undertaking a mission with someone as distinguished as the Princely Heir, even if it didn’t make any progress in the end, securing his favor would be extremely beneficial.

But was someone as important as the Princely Heir approachable by non-regular personnel like them?

If a mission turned out fruitless, displaying their incompetence, not only would they fail to gain the Princely Heir’s favor, but he might even blame them.

Nobody could bear the Princely Heir’s blame.

For a time, all five fell silent.

Cheng Guang didn’t rush them and simply continued to drink his tea quietly.

After a while, someone hesitantly stepped forward.

He was rather thin and his face was somewhat sallow as if suffering from malnutrition.

He looked timidly at Cheng Guang and said softly, “Princely Heir, I, Chen Qing, am afraid I cannot join you on this mission. My mother is currently seriously ill, and each month requires a large sum of silver for treatment, so I need to complete more missions as quickly as possible to accumulate enough merits and advance to become a Black Lantern Catcher. I simply don’t have the time…”

“I’m sorry.”

After Chen Qing finished speaking, Cheng Guang’s expression remained unchanged, with a gentle smile still on his lips, “Who else wants to drop out?”

Following Chen Qing, several more non-regular members stepped forward.

They were the two women among the remaining five.

Actually, they were a little envious of Cheng Guang’s physique, their gazes sneaking glances at him from the beginning. Although they coveted Cheng Guang’s body, they didn’t dare go on this mission to find the crown prince directly with him.

Even many Gold Lantern Catchers lacked confidence in finding the crown prince.

How could the Princely Heir, who had never handled a case and had little information gathering ability, lead them to find the prince?

It was essentially an impossible task.

To find the crown prince relying only on these non-regular members, plus the Princely Heir alone, was downright fantasy.

Thus, the two women quickly stepped forward as well, their voices soft and somewhat delicate.

“Princely Heir, we can’t do it either. With our poor family backgrounds, we don’t have so much time to waste.”

At the same time, aside from the two women and aside from Xu Hongfei, another male member also stepped forward.