Zhang Mingyu found it somewhat amusing: Why is this kid so wary? Am I that scary?
He released Cheng Anlang's wrist and comforted him slightly, "Don't be afraid, I won't do anything to you, we're just chatting..."
Zhang Mingyu's magnetic voice sounded gentle and peaceful in the quiet night. If it were someone else, they might have been bewitched by his voice, but Cheng Anlang was more nervous. His nervousness was not because he felt danger, but because of the huge difference in their social status.
He was speaking to an imperial general, and it was this man who initiated the conversation.
...
The highest-ranking person he had ever met before was the captain of the guard team that transported energy waste to the garbage planet. Even after coming to this school, and even if he might serve Shen Rui in the future, it would still be a superior-subordinate relationship. He had never spoken to someone of such a high rank on equal terms, especially since this person was sitting right next to him, and he could touch him with the slightest movement of his arm.
Cheng Anlang stared down at his toes, nervously unsure of what to do with his hands.
Zhang Mingyu asked softly, "You used to live on a garbage planet?"
Cheng Anlang nodded haphazardly.
Zhang Mingyu continued, "So what do you usually do on the garbage planet?"
Cheng Anlang: "Fighting, no, just, just picking up trash..."
His voice trailed off as he spoke.
Damn! The more I talk, the more pathetic I get!
Cheng Anlang inwardly scorned himself.
This is nothing like me!
What else can a garbage planet do besides pick up trash? What's so shameful about that?
Once Cheng Anlang thought this through, he immediately regained his confidence, startling Zhang Mingyu, who was about to offer him words of comfort.
Zhang Mingyu: Why is this kid so easily startled?
Zhang Mingyu then casually asked a few more questions about his life on the garbage planet, and Cheng Anlang answered them all.
The atmosphere gradually became less tense.
Zhang Mingyu tapped his hand on his leg, his tone completely flat: "If that's the case, where did you get that potion from?"
Cheng Anlang blurted out, "That medicine... um?"
Why would Zhang Mingyu ask me about the medicine?
Was he the buyer?
How did he know that I sold the medicine?
No wonder Zhang Mingyu wanted to chat with me, so that's why?
Cheng Anlang immediately realized what was happening and looked at Zhang Mingyu nervously: "What medicine?"
Zhang Mingyu looked directly into his eyes and slowly moved closer to him: "What do you think?"
He was just talking, why was he getting closer and closer?
Cheng Anlang leaned back slightly, clutching his pants before letting go: "I don't know what you're talking about."
Zhang Mingyu seemed not to hear Cheng Anlang's words. He moved closer and closer until his breath was on Cheng Anlang's face: "I bought two copies. The other one is with Shen Rui, the one who sponsored you."
Zhang Mingyu was standing way too close. Cheng Anlang had never been so close to anyone before. He could see his own flustered and bewildered face reflected in Zhang Mingyu's pupils.
His hands kept touching the chair.
Then it fell down.
Cheng Anlang was on edge, feeling somewhat confused. He looked at Zhang Mingyu's face so close to his own, and could hear his own breathing all around him. He felt the air was oppressive, and he was not comfortable.
Their noses were almost touching. Zhang Mingyu looked intently into Cheng Anlang's eyes: "Don't want to admit it, huh?"
Cheng Anlang's eyes widened instantly, and he abruptly turned his head. He stared haphazardly at the floor, his pupils flickering slightly, and his shoulders seemed to slump suddenly: "How did you know those potions were mine?"
Zhang Mingyu stepped back abruptly.
Cheng Anlang calmed his breathing and gradually regained his composure. Recalling the scene just now, he realized that he had fallen into his trap.
On a garbage planet, this kind of conversation would be resolved with fists. It's a different story—no physical contact, no verbal abuse, just a brief face-to-face stare that made them nervous.
He had never encountered such a chaotic situation before.
After Cheng Anlang had calmed down, Zhang Mingyu said something useless: "If I want to know, I will naturally find out."
Cheng Anlang: "..."
He should be more cautious about using anonymous trading markets in the future.
Zhang Mingyu seemed to have guessed what he was thinking, and said as if to comfort him, "I just have some resources. That market is quite confidential."
Cheng Anlang: Ha, a little bit of resources.
Zhang Mingyu had calculated the students and mutated beasts recently admitted to the school, but none of them matched up. Only Cheng Anlang and that flower with unknown abilities were the most likely candidates, and the location ultimately shown by the locator was the building where Cheng Anlang lived. Zhang Mingyu originally planned to go check it out tomorrow, but unexpectedly, he ran into them directly in the training room tonight and easily extracted information from them with just a few words.
Zhang Mingyu: "Do you have an even higher concentration of that medicine?"
Cheng Anlang was surprised: You know that?
He thought for a few seconds, then nodded: "There should be."