Nightmare s CallNightmare s Call
A crisp breeze blew through Lange in the café.
He knew as if by instinct and fate that Lin Xiao was his future wife, but it did not mean he knew his future brother-in-law was this quirky.
He was starting to doubt if his decision to see Lin Xiao as his future wife was a little too reckless. He paused, standing on the spot, giving himself a mental kick.
“Maybe we can have a cup of coffee now?” Lange suggested cautiously.
“Coffee?”
There was not a hint suggesting that Lange was moved. Lin Sheng knew his words had failed. Not that he was expecting he could win a powerful being of this class over to his side with just a few words.
He could already roughly make out Lange’s combat strength in the minute he saw him. He was at least on a Palatinate level, an advanced combat strength that was worth winning over. That was why he first taught Lange the lesson of life the moment they met. If he could convince Lange the first time around, everybody would be happy. If not, it did not matter much; he had nothing to lose.
“Coffee is not my cup of tea. Water, please.” Lin Sheng sat at the nearest coffee table, seeming really at home.
“Very well. Just a minute.” Lange sat down in a chair, turning to his staff. “Dongmen.”
Soon, two glasses of water drifted over and were placed in front of Lin Sheng and himself. Lin Sheng took a sip, eyes still on Lange as if he was about to find out what was in his mind.
“You have contact with Lin Xiao, my elder sister, haven’t you?” Lin Sheng did not beat around the bush.
Lange’s heart skipped a beat, but his face remained calm. “Yeah. It was just a chance encounter. Probably because we share the same kind of physique, it is a mutual attraction of the like-minded. It is fate.”
“Attraction of the like-minded? I don’t believe in fate. Tell me, what is your plan? Just selling coffee here?” Lin Sheng asked.
“There is nothing wrong with selling coffee. In a time like this, as one of the ordinary folk, I prefer to live a simple life. Is there anything wrong with it?” Lange asked back. Of course, he was anything but ordinary folk. He was trying to regain control of things.
“Of course, it’s wrong! You have the power; you’re destined to be anything but simple! Pretending to be like normal folk is just deceiving yourself,” Lin Sheng said.
“You… don’t you think you have gone overboard by talking like this?” Lange found his future brother-in-law a little too aggressive to his liking.
“You are not a normal person, and you should know that being extraordinary will attract trouble. Such trouble is disastrous to ordinary people like Lin Xiao,” Lin Sheng argued with his perverted logic.
“Are you suspecting that what happened to Lin Xiao was my doing?” Lange smelled what Lin Sheng meant.
“I’m not suspecting. You’re the one who did it!” Lin Sheng said unequivocally.
“What does it have to do with me?” Lange was indignant, almost choking. “It is something inborn in our elder sister!”
“Then tell me, for the years I lived with her, nothing had ever happened until she met you. Why is that?” Lin Sheng scoffed.
“How do I know?” Lange knew if he did not sort the things out now, he would find himself in a pile of sh*t soon—in fact, he was in one now.
“Take along, hard look at it. As a man of extraordinaire yet hiding your capability is a waste. During a challenging time like a Blacktide outbreak, we, the Sanctum, need people like you.” He got to his feet. “That’s all for today. Please think about it.”
Lange looked on as Lin Sheng headed to the door. He suddenly thought of something and called out, “Someone from the Dark Pantheon came to talk to me, wanting me to join them.”
“The Dark Pantheon?” Lin Sheng stopped in his tracks.
“Besides, please watch out for the Astral Mere. They have been collecting the abilities of the Paragons of Destiny. Something evilly fishy must be going on,” Lange reminded him.
“Thanks for the heads-up.” Lin Sheng turned his head partially, looking at him. “But you have a bad dark force inside you. If not careful, it could adversely affect your personality, making you like a boar with a sore head. You can seek help from the Sanctum if you need it.”
Lin Sheng was itching to test Lange’s strength, but Lange had remained diplomatic from the beginning. It ended up with Lange warning him about the threats he might face. With this, he felt he could not bring himself to fight Lange. At least not openly.
“I know.” Lange nodded in acknowledgment as if he was giving it a serious thought.
He knew he was facing the threat from the dark side of him. He had been content with the ordinary all along just so he could better control his dark personality. He looked down on organizations like the Sanctum. Those Palatinates looked like a degraded version of himself. He had defeated them many times and lost interest in them.
However, after meeting his future brother-in-law, his interest in the Sanctum was ignited. If there were powerful beings of this level in the Sanctum, maybe they could really help him suppress his dark personality.
“I’ll think about it.” Lange nodded at him.
“See you, then.” Lin Sheng felt a little disappointed that he did not get the chance to beat him. But it was all right; there would be another day. In fact, soon, he believed that they were going to meet again.
He strode out of the café. Looking at Hanyu and Nisse, who appeared like a bundle of nerves, and the powerful ones of the Sanctum, who was at the ready for a gang fight, he smiled.
“All right. Next, we are going to discuss how to deal with those little bugs out there.”
The little bugs he was talking about were the two men in white who meandered around, vandalizing the area around his house recently. He had spotted them very early on. But the intel he got earlier told him that they were protecting Lin Xiao and that the spells they rigged around his house were mostly of containment in nature, not to harm Lin Xiao. So he had left them to it. But since he had sorted out everything else, it was their turn.
Hanyu and Nisse were definitely keeping many secrets to themselves, but he was not going to force them to spill their secrets. Everyone had secrets. Sometimes, it was best to just let it be.
Lin Sheng had no intention to ask, but Hanyu and Nisse had questions.
“Big Brother Lin Sheng, do you mind I call you this?” Hanyu, nudged by Nisse from behind, asked.
Others looked at Hanyu, sizing him up as if they were shocked that he had the audacity to call Lin Sheng his big brother.
“Whatever you find comfortable.” Lin Sheng was starting to like the two kids. “You two have anything to say to me?” He could see it in their eyes.
“Please be careful about the Soul Relics,” a crisp female voice sounded directly in his head. Apparently, it was Nisse.
“The Soul Relics?” Lin Sheng was startled, but he quickly came to his senses and talked with her discreetly using some special communication ability.
“Yup, it is something that can let you move in the Blacktide for a longer period. Look out for it,” Nisse reminded him.