Chapter 121

Inside the small cabin.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, Lord Spark!"

Anna, having regained her senses, quickly scrambled up from the bed and kept calling out to Xia Mingyu with a tearful voice.

Her eyes were brimming with tears, looking just like a little deer.

"Calm down, you have nothing to apologize to me for; if anything, I was the one who interrupted your pleasant dream."

Xia Mingyu fetched a handkerchief and gently wiped the girl's damp hair and cheeks, soothing her.

Feeling the man's gentle movements, Anna gradually calmed down, but the blush on her face lingered for a long time.

Lord Spark must think I'm a loose and frivolous woman... But I just mistook the him in reality for a fantasy dream. Oh dear, it's still my fault. Am I really a loose woman?

Will Lord Spark despise me completely from now on? How terrifying...

Anna looked at Xia Mingyu with trepidation, fearing that a trace of disgust might appear in his flawless, black-gem-like eyes.

"How much Twilight Tea have you drunk?"

Xia Mingyu sniffed the rich aroma of tea in the bedroom and, after catching a glimpse of the empty tea bags in the trash can, asked with a frown.

"At first it was one cup a day, then two cups a day, three cups... today I think I drank four."

Anna counted on her fingers.

As she counted, the corners of her mouth twitched slightly, and a smile that looked worse than crying pulled at her pretty face.

She hadn't realized it before, but now that she calculated it, she discovered with horror.

In just a short week, she had actually spent a full twenty Copper Thors on buying Twilight Tea!

Her income from selling flowers all day was only five copper coins, which equaled half a Copper Thor; that meant... she had already spent over a month's worth of income on buying tea.

"One Copper Thor per cup of tea; such an expense for tea is not a small sum for you. Does it really have such a strong temptation for you?"

Xia Mingyu looked at the remaining half-cup of hot tea on the nightstand and asked.

In his impression, Anna had always been a frugal and hardworking girl; even when alone, she would shuttle through the streets and alleys, diligently selling flowers to passersby.

Yet, such a simple girl would, after coming into contact with Twilight Tea, quickly become addicted and squander the money she had worked so hard to earn on drinking tea.

The terrifying infectiousness of this tea... made even Xia Mingyu feel a trace of fear.

"Lord Spark, perhaps it is because I can never touch my dreams in reality that I shallowly indulge in fantasy dreams."

After a long silence, Anna smiled bitterly, and she remembered the blonde girl who had affectionately hugged the young man's arm that day.

That girl's stunning beauty was enough to make even her, a girl, feel pity and love, let alone a man in his prime like Lord Spark?

"What exactly is the fantasy dream you see after drinking the tea?" Xia Mingyu asked, puzzled.

Previously, the girl's voice had been too soft and too hazy, so much so that he hadn't been able to hear clearly what she said.

A scorching blush suddenly rose again on Anna's face, which had been gradually returning to its normal complexion.

She buried her face into her palms abruptly, her chestnut-colored long hair sliding down from her shoulders and weaving into a trembling curtain in front of her.

"I... I saw... the fan-fantasy dream..." Anna's voice was muffled in her palms, every word sounding as difficult as if it were being squeezed out.

The tips of her ears were red to the point of being almost transparent, and even her neck was flushed with a faint pink.

"Gods above, Lord Spark, I beg you! Don't make me answer this question!"

The girl choked out, her voice clearly carrying a sob.

Xia Mingyu: "..."

Looking at the girl in front of him, disheveled and crying like a pear blossom in the rain, he always had the illusion that he was forcing an underage girl.

Giving up on the questioning, Xia Mingyu turned and focused his gaze on that half-cup of hot tea.

Clearly, what he saw after drinking it were memories; why was it that what Anna and the others saw after drinking it were instead the fantasy dreams they longed for in their hearts?

Could it be that the tea leaves the merchant Erkus sent to Red Fox Castle were not the same kind of tea leaves he was selling?

Thinking of this, Xia Mingyu hesitated for a moment, then finally gritted his teeth and picked up that half-cup of hot tea.

Mind Wandering (Flow State) activated!

In an instant, his consciousness became incomparably clear, without the slightest distracting thought.

Looking at the amber, mellow tea in the cup, he carefully extended his tongue and touched the tea soup lightly, like a dragonfly skimming the water.

The next moment, a scene of memory emerged before him.

It was when he was living in an orphanage as a child; when it was his turn to have a birthday, he cried loudly because he missed parents he had never met. At this time, the director brought him a small birthday cake and told him:

"Not all parents bring love to their children; perhaps sometimes those children are not even as good as you!"

Although he didn't understand the meaning of these words at the time, because the birthday cake was delicious, he forgot his previous loneliness and just buried his head in eating the cake.

The memory came to an abrupt end, and Xia Mingyu looked at the teacup, silent.

The tea leaves were the same, but why were the effects obtained after different people drank it different?

If it were just seeing memories, it would indeed be a good form of entertainment, but it wouldn't reach the point where people ignore their economic status and crazily buy it regardless of everything.

After all, most people don't have many memories worth reminiscing about in their lives, and they get tired of it after seeing too much.

But if one could see the fantasy dreams one longed for in their heart... then the temptation contained within would likely far exceed the former by dozens of times, and it could completely be called a kind of soft opium.

And the most critical point is, does this kind of tea leaf have addictiveness and withdrawal symptoms?

Because the reason why opium is difficult to quit on Blue Star is that after becoming addicted to the drug, the dopamine originally in the body stops secreting, so much so that even normal exercise or even breathing brings unimaginable, severe pain.

If this kind of tea leaf also has this kind of addictiveness and withdrawal symptoms... that would mean that the only pure land of Sosia, the Twilight City that Leo exchanged his life for, would immediately fall into an endless abyss!

Thinking of such a terrifying scene, Xia Mingyu's brows furrowed tightly, and fine beads of sweat even broke out on his forehead.

Must, immediately go tell Lady Rosa about this!

"Promise me, don't drink Twilight Tea anymore; this is a request."

After dropping this sentence, Xia Mingyu hurried out of the small cabin, leaving only the teary-eyed girl on the bed.

At the same time, a piece of major good news was spreading rapidly in Twilight City.

"Lord Erkus, the lord of the Twilight Chamber of Commerce, has announced that the price of Twilight Tea has dropped to one copper coin per cup!"

The citizens who learned of it first shouted with joy.

This shout was like a stone thrown into still water, causing huge waves throughout the entire city-state.

"Gods above, Lord Erkus is the kindest and most generous merchant I have ever seen!"

"One copper coin a cup? I can drink Twilight Tea every day from now on and never have to work again!"

"Long live Lord Erkus, he is the only merchant in the Southern Region with a conscience!"

The crowds on the street shouted excitedly one after another, and for a time, the city was filled with praises for that merchant.

Finally, these praises converged into one title—Conscientious Merchant Erkus.

And Xia Mingyu, who had walked onto the street, looked at the countless citizens cheering for Erkus, looked at their incomparably bright smiling faces, and for a moment, he actually felt a sense of horror.

(End of chapter)