Chapter 277

It had been more than half a year since Tang Ling became a Dream Seed .

Even since he departed from Safety Sector No . 17, his journey might not have been long, but he had met a lot of people and had gone through half of the Herrocky Mountain Ridge with many soldiers from the Stardust Council chasing him .

He also met many Purple Moon Warriors and young genius prodigies like that Young Master Long and Draconic Seven, but…he had never met another Dream Seed before!

As a matter of fact, Tang Ling had always worried about the identity of the Dream Seed blowing his cover because no matter how good his disguise was, if he met another Dream Seed, the other person would know his identity as well .

If his opponent was a Dream Seed, he would also know the meaning of the Dream Domain and what the identity meant . Tang Ling would not even need to hide in the crowd and lay low anymore in front of them .

For instance, this man’s gaze was prying his identity brazenly .

Not wanting to cause trouble, Tang Ling turned a blind eye and continued forward, but his eyes would peek at the man who lay down on the stairs from time to time . The man looked free and unrestrained . He was actually leaning on the stairs rather than lying down with one of his legs shaking on top of the other and he seemed very comfortable .

The morning sun in the early winter was not hot . It was rather warm and comfortable to the skin . Plus, they were beside the sea, so the climate was not harsh .

Why would Tang Ling say that the man was sunbathing? It was because next to the man was a bottle of alcohol and a bunch of crispy grains .

Since the bottle was uncorked, the aroma of the alcohol was pronounced even from a distance . A decent bottle of alcohol was considered valuable regardless of the location in the Purple Moon era .

As for the crispy grains, they were not common either because they were a mutated species of peanuts from the old civilization which were the best kind . They were a lot bigger than the peanuts from the old civilization and the nuts inside the shell were round and as big as half a thumb .

When one’s teeth sank into it, it was crispy and its aroma would explode in the mouth . It released the right amount of oil in the mouth but was not surfeiting . It retained the good of the peanuts and elevated its scent and texture to the next level .

He merely placed such good snacks and alcohol on the ground . At times, he tossed a peeled crispy grain into his mouth and took a sip of alcohol from the bottle . He was brazen with his enjoyment . When the warm sun cast its light on him coupled with the windy breeze, the loud chewing of the grains plus a sweet sip of good alcohol made the man smile .

His smile was charming to look at . People might instinctively stay away from him, but when he smiled, many ladies would pause their gazes on his face for a while .

Was he handsome? Not exactly .

His black hair had white strands mixed into it, hence making him look slightly aged . However, his face was young . His brows were thick and his chin had a clean luster to it which was only possible when one cleanly shaved his beard . The man should have had a scruffy beard, but he shaved it clean .

His facial features were not exactly dedicate . His nose was not tall enough and while his brows might be thick, the shape was off . The eyes under his brows were not large and his lips were rather thin, but when he smiled, his charm overflowed . His eyes became clear and the curve of his lips curled up in the perfect angle, revealing a lengthy dimple on his left cheek .

His free and unrestrained look coupled with a thin veil of mystery combined all his traits into an alluring charm . He exuded a tender yet rigid impression and seemed clean as well .

However, it was difficult for one to identify him as a good or a bad person . His smile was so charming that no one would want to believe he was a bad guy, but he was by no means a good guy either . There was a veil of enigma over his presence which made him feel a little evil .

Even Ro Xin spared a few glances at the strange man . When she saw the man’s crystal clear eyes, they reminded her of Tang Ling . She wondered if Tang Ling would become like this man 10 or 20 years down the road . He wouldn’t, would he?

Tang Ling possessed a keen aura like a sheathed precious sword who knew his own sharpness, unlike the man who was mysterious and unpredictable .

Tang Ling also gave out a faint sense of unfriendliness, so people would have a hard time getting close to him at first and he would behave like a child at times . On the contrary, he would sometimes show kindness and warmth, unlike the man who possessed a strange kindness from the start .

With all that in her mind, Ro Xin blushed . She did not know why she would compare the two of them . Was it because their eyes were so similarly clear, thus she could not hold back the urge to compare?

Tang Ling had no idea what was going through Ro Xin’s mind, and the man could not care less . His eyes were fixed on Tang Ling the moment he appeared .

Together with the flow of human traffic, the closer Tang Ling got to the man, the more the man smiled in a profound manner . His smile attracted lots of attention from the ladies . Bashful gazes were sizing him up relentlessly .

It was then that he fished something out from the black short robe that he was wearing .

The item shone in five different colors under the sun, and anyone who was heading into Darkness Port would know it was a Black Sea coin . No one knew why he would take out a Black Sea coin at that moment though he seemed to be enjoying himself .

He put the coin on the stairs beside him, followed by a second one beside the first one .

When Tang Ling was close enough, the man had taken out more than 20 Black Sea coins and laid them neatly on three flights of stairs . The Black Sea coins with the alluring luster were laid out like they were goods for sale, but no one had the slightest thought to snatch the coins from him except for Tang Ling!

Tang Ling wished he could bag all the Black Sea coins into his pocket . As the atmosphere grew awkward, he slowly approached the man .

What was the worst that could happen? They would probably pass by each other without any interaction . Even though both of them were Dream Seeds, there was no benefit in conversing .

Still, it was just Tang Ling’s one-sided thought . The man’s curiosity of him was brazen, to the point that it upset Tang Ling slightly . He turned away from the man and strode forward towards the city, but then he suddenly tripped and landed on the man’s neatly arranged coins .

“You’ve gotten yourself into trouble . ” A rich and magnetic voice came from above Tang Ling . He looked up to see the man’s smiley face, but in his eyes, that charming countenance was comparable to an old fox’s cunning grin .

“What trouble have I gotten myself into?” Unlike other people, Tang Ling had a strange sense of reverence for the man . The man’s relentless prying gaze frustrated and disgusted him .

Tang Ling might look calm but his heart was not . How did he trip over? How did he land on the coins that the man laid out on the stairs? Did the man do something to him? How was that even possible?

Tang Ling had his Precise Instinct, an ability that granted him a sensitivity that was countless times sharper than a normal person! He believed he could even sense the ambush of a high-tier Purple Moon Warrior even if he was not able to dodge it .

He did not want to accept the fact that the man had quietly ambushed him in a flash without him noticing . Still, that same question remained: how did he trip over?

Tang Ling had no answer to the question .

The man reached out to grab him by the hand and Tang Ling instinctively wanted to move away . He had many ways to dodge the man, but he could not for some reason, so the man easily seized him by the hand .

Tang Ling wanted to free himself from the grasp . Although he might not be a Purple Moon Warrior, the strength of eight bulls should not be underestimated either . Even a high-tier Purple Moon Warrior would need a little effort to completely pin him down .

The man, however, grabbed his bottle of alcohol to take a sip and slightly tightened his grip on Tang Ling’s hand, which dissolved Tang Ling’s strength and rendered him helpless .

Not only was he trapped by the grip, but the strength that he prepared to break free with was also somehow transformed into another force that lifted his body up naturally . To an outsider, it looked like he stood up naturally as the man lifted his body up .

As Tang Ling got back on his feet, the man finally answered his question . He pointed at the stairs while holding Tang Ling by the arm . “Look what have you done . ”

Tang Ling looked down, a raging grievance instantly rising in his heart .

The 20-odd Black Sea coins that the man had arranged on the stairs were all crushed! They were crushed into smithereens and were beyond repair .

“Pay up,” the man stated briefly . He seemed to be after money .

Tang Ling was very upset and he did not want to believe the situation before his eyes . Although Black Sea coins were made from big pearls, they should not be this fragile for a simple fall to crush everything to smithereens .

Tang Ling’s body was not made of metal . Even if it was, he would need to pound the coins at least a few times! Moreover, how did it even happen? All he did was trip . The Black Sea coins were spread over the three flights of stairs and he did not even touch some of them, yet they mysteriously shattered .

“Pay up!” the man bellowed .

Ro Xin stepped up at that moment, wanting to say something to defend Tang Ling, but with a single glance from the man, she realized she could not speak . It felt like her lower jaw was locked and she could not even open her mouth .

Her heart sank . She knew this man was after Tang Ling and the coins were just an excuse!

If Ro Xin could understand the situation, so could Tang Ling!

What in the hell? Isn’t this a little too much? 20 plus Black Sea coins just to trap me? You can just give them to me and I’ll follow you wherever you want me to go! Tang Ling grumbled furiously in his heart, but he still took the remaining four Black Sea coins out and placed them with his entire backpack in front of the man .

“Here . ”

Tang Ling looked like an honest kid, but deep down inside, he knew he was unable to fight this man, so it might be best for him to solve the problem at hand first .

The man took the four Black Sea coins without sparing a glance at the big backpack . “You’ve crushed 27 Black Sea coins, so pay me back 27 Black Sea coins . Nothing else is accepted . ”

“Fine, I don’t have any left . ” Irate, Tang Ling snatched the Black Sea coins back from the man’s hand and stuffed them into Ro Xin’s hand .

Strangely, the seemingly invincible man allowed him to freely take the coins away and it seemed like he was almost happy that he did so .

“Great, you are done . ” The man flashed his signature smile again and then uttered word for word, “Let’s go . It’s time for you to work . For 27 Black Sea coins, you’ll have to work for me until you die . ”