The Sixth Face
The surrounding scenes changed frantically in Chen Ling's eyes. Before Chen Ling could even recover from this immersive memory, another roar came from above.
"Not accept my fate? Then what else can I do... continue being their amusement? What meaning is there in that?"
"..."
"If I don't die, I'll still have nothing! Even if I continue to live, they will endlessly interfere with my life. If they can create one you, they can create a second, a third... One day, I will be driven mad by them."
"..."
"You are afraid!!"
"You know that if I die one more time, I will truly die!!"
"You are afraid that if I die, no one will be able to perform for you anymore, so you conjured his appearance, wanting to coax me into living, right?!"
"Giving me ethereal hope, watching me risk my life to chase it, and waiting until I'm about to reach it to shatter that so-called hope... This is exactly what you want!"
Amidst the heavy snow filling the sky, Chen Ling knelt in a pool of blood, roaring angrily at those pairs of scarlet pupils in the nothingness behind him!
ăChen Yană's phantom stood beside him, his face already covered in tears.
The countless pairs of scarlet eyes in the nothingness were like the countless ăThe Audienceă below the ăStageă. Not only did they not feel the slightest guilt because of Chen Ling's anger, but the mockery in their eyes grew even more intense...
ââăClownă.
As all the images dissipated, Chen Ling could feel the experiences of his past life seemingly being drawn out like silk from a cocoon, transforming into countless fine hairs that condensed into ăInk and Brushă, rapidly outlining in the surrounding blank world!
The ăOpera Masksă belonging to him was taking shape.
Just as Chen Ling was still immersed in the marvels of this secret method, an abnormal feeling surged in his heart!
He frowned and looked beneath himself. In this vast white world, it was as if something else was being triggered by ăPainting the Vermillion Faceă and was about to surface...
"There's a sixth face?"
The appearance of the five facesâăMale Leadă, ăFemale Leadă, ăPainted Face Roleă, ăSecondary Male Roleă, and ăClownăâhad already surprised Chen Ling greatly. He himself hadn't thought that he would actually be involved in every single role... But as the five ăOpera Masksă fully fused together, it seemed there was still something more stirring restlessly.
From that thing, Chen Ling didn't feel the slightest familiarity... On the contrary, a sense of unfamiliarity and fear unconsciously welled up in his heart.
"What is that?" Chen Ling murmured to himself, "I don't remember having this kind of past..."
Before his voice fell, a smear of pitch-black seeped out from under his feet, like pitch-black ink splashed on a snow-white piece of paper, spreading out to the surroundings at an astonishing speed!
Following the spread of this pitch-black color, the lines and color blocks just outlined by ăPainting the Vermillion Faceă were frantically swallowed up. Under this absolute pitch-blackness, all colors were assimilated and blurred. The specificity that originally belonged to "Chen Ling" was rapidly disappearing!
The snow-white world was collapsing. A pitch-black giant beast, seemingly from the netherworld, was slowly opening its abyssal maw, swallowing Chen Ling's tiny body within it!
"This is..."
Chen Ling's pupils contracted sharply!
ăăAudience Expectation Valueă -1ă
ăWarning! Warning!ă
ăăThe Audienceă is beginning to intervene in the ăPerformanceă!!ă
...
ăAncient Vault of the Drama Pathă, ăPerformance Zoneă.
In the first row of the audience seats, Ning Ruyu and the others looked at Chen Ling's motionless, statue-like back, as if waiting for something.
"Master, is this really okay?" ăMo Jueă couldn't help but ask.
"Okay? That depends on how you define 'okay'." Master shrugged. "ăOld Sixă has already grasped the trick to ăPainting the Vermillion Faceă. Whether he can successfully draw this face depends entirely on himself."
"So what will ăLittle Junior Brotheră's final ăOpera Masksă look like?"
"I've said it before, everyone is a comprehensive body of personality. The final face that comes out definitely won't be purely a certain role type; at most, it will just be close to a certain role."
"I guess ăLittle Junior Brotheră should be closer to me." ăLuan Meiă said calmly. "His limbs and voice are near perfect; he is a born 'ăFemale Leadă' role."
"That's not necessarily true. ăLittle Junior Brotheră's temperament is more like mine, and he's a very capable fighter. I'm guessing it's a 'Martial ăMale Leadă' face." Ning Ruyu leisurely opened a ăFolding Fană that he had pulled out from who knows where.
"Actually, ăLittle Junior Brotheră also has the form of an overlord." ăWenren Youă said sullenly.
"In case he actually takes after me... uh... it's best if he doesn't."
ăMo Jueă let out a long sigh.
Just as the crowd was guessing, a light breeze suddenly lifted on the ăStageă. They saw Chen Ling sitting cross-legged there, the hem of his ăGreat Crimson Theatrical Robeă beginning to dance lightly in the wind. On that initial pure white ăOpera Masksă, ăMarkingsă rapidly began to surface one by one!
The first to appear was a ăMale Leadă face. The colors red and blue interwoven with each other, and the lines were sharp. Exactly as Ning Ruyu had said, it was a Martial ăMale Leadă face.
Ning Ruyu's eyes lit up, "Look, I said ăLittle Junior Brotheră takes after me... huh?"
Before Ning Ruyu's voice fell, that Martial ăMale Leadă face dimmed and disappeared. Replacing it was a delicate and beautiful ăFemale Leadă role ăOpera Masksă. And before this face could last for a few seconds, another flashy ăPainted Face Roleă role ăOpera Masksă surfaced...
Within a short ten seconds, the five ăOpera Masksă of ăMale Leadă, ăFemale Leadă, ăPainted Face Roleă, ăSecondary Male Roleă, and ăClownă changed in succession. When the last face disappeared, Chen Ling's body shook violently!
Thudââ!
A muffled sound came from the ăStageă!
Ning Ruyu and the others blanked simultaneously, not understanding what had happened, and turned to look at Master in confusion...
At this moment, Master's expression was incomparably gloomy. His solemn gaze was fixed on the ăStageă, as if he was on guard against something.
"This ăAuraă..." ăMo Jueă looked at Chen Ling's back on the ăStageă, his brows furrowing unconsciously. "So strange... I've never felt this kind of ăAuraă before. Which ăOpera Masksă is this?"
"Indeed. Looking across the ăAncient Vault of the Drama Pathă, I have never felt this kind of ăAuraă." Ning Ruyu knew that some kind of unforeseen event must have happened to Chen Ling.
"ăLittle Junior Brotheră... I estimate something has happened to him."
The entire ăPerformance Zoneă fell into a dead silence.
Suddenly, the cross-legged Chen Ling on the ăStageă moved.
Under the watchful eyes of Ning Ruyu and the others, that ăGreat Crimson Theatrical Robeă, with its back to the ăStageă, slowly stood up... Due to the angle, they couldn't see Chen Ling's face at this moment, but a bone-piercing chill and coldness spread outward like a roaring ocean wave!
The spotlight shone on the ăGreat Crimson Theatrical Robeă as the bright vermilion slowly turned around, exposing a pitch-black face to their vision... That was a face like an abyss. The scarlet eyes were slightly curved in a mocking and bizarre manner, and the exaggerated corners of the mouth were pulled up behind the ears like hooks, as if it was grinning sinisterly.
An ăOpera Masksă unique to "ăThe Audienceă" had descended upon the ăStageă!