Chapter 1080: Broken Jade

Broken Jade

"We can't let him destroy the 'Bridge'." Han Meng said in a deep voice, "That's hundreds of thousands of human lives..."

As he spoke, Han Meng directly took a step walking towards the Calamity of Mockery's direction. Just as he took one step, Jian Changsheng fiercely grabbed him.

"Are you crazy? He crippled the Silver King with three slaps, and killing a Rank 8 is like killing a chick. Are you, a Rank 7, going up to send yourself to death?!"

"Stalling for one second is still one second."

Han Meng directly threw off Jian Changsheng's hand, answering calmly.

To Han Meng, the "Justice" in his heart was his standard for measuring everything. Now the Rank 8 Combat Power was almost completely wiped out. Seeing that the Calamity of Mockery was about to crush hundreds of thousands of people to death, he couldn't sit by and watch.

Even if he could delay the Calamity of Mockery for one second, perhaps hundreds, thousands, or even tens of thousands of people could escape danger...

But when Han Meng looked at the Calamity of Mockery again, his entire person blanked out in place.

A blood-stained palm grabbed the Calamity of Mockery's raised wrist.

Under the Great Red Paper Umbrella, the "human figure" slowly turned his head to look beside him. Only to see Ning Ruyu, who was almost cleaved open by a knife and dyed in a blood color, standing staggeringly beside him. Even if his fresh blood was about to run dry, those eyes were still incomparably determined.

The instant Ning Ruyu appeared, not only Han Meng, everyone present blanked out...

Ning Ruyu was the most heavily injured person present, and also the only existence who had blocked the Calamity of Mockery multiple times... Logically speaking, it should be extremely difficult for him to even stay alive now. Unexpectedly, he could still move his body and block in front of the Calamity of Mockery?

"You are not allowed... to use Little Junior Brother's hands... to slaughter commoners..."

Ning Ruyu's voice was incomparably hoarse. He didn't know where he got the strength from to actually forcefully prop [Mockery]'s wrist in midair, "Little Junior Brother is already pitiful enough... Your sins... shouldn't be borne by him..."

Scarlet pupils looked at Ning Ruyu, who was close at hand. The air fell into a bizarre deathly silence;

The next moment,

A mist of blood exploded from Ning Ruyu's chest!

Countless pieces of Red Paper like wildly dancing tentacles pierced through his body, crushing his heart, and with a boom, nailed him dead on the ground to the side.

Ning Ruyu's mud-like body sank into the earth. Fragments of his blood-red robes danced in the air. The instant those pupils fell into emptiness, a soul was attracted by the spinning Red Paper Umbrella, silently sinking into it...

Luan Mei, Wen Renyou, and Mo Jue's pupils instantly contracted...

"First Senior Brother?!!!!"

...

"Ahhhhhhh!!!!"

A heart-tearing and lung-splitting angry roar sounded from the dark Audience Seats.

A figure with both fists covered in blood was hammering the wall in front of him crazily like a madman. Chen Ling's eyeballs were climbed over by sinister blood vessels. His entire person looked like he had already collapsed.

"[Mockery]!!! I'll kill you!! I will definitely kill you!!!!"

"Let me go back!! Let me go back!!!"

"Return First Senior Brother's soul to me!!!"

Chen Ling was trapped in the Audience Seats. He saw the entire process of what happened outside, and also witnessed Ning Ruyu's death... First Senior Brother's gentleness and determination before death were like an unprecedented sharp blade, piercing Chen Ling's heart full of holes.

Moreover, Chen Ling was very clear that the souls of people killed by the Calamity of Mockery couldn't transcend, and would suffer eternal torment in despair.

Anger, unwillingness, self-blame... Intense emotions filled Chen Ling's mind. He couldn't forgive the Calamity of Mockery who did all this... But he also happened to be very clear that in a certain sense, the Calamity of Mockery... was himself.

"Yao... Yao!!!"

Chen Ling was like grabbing the last straw to save his life, crazily shouting Yao's name, "Like last time, teleport me to the Stage... Let me go back!! Let me go back!!!"

After a brief silence, Yao's bitter voice sounded by his ears:

"This time's situation is different from last time... Last time it was Master who imprisoned the Calamity of Mockery, and we were also in the Land of Divine Rituals, with the blessing of the 'Sacrifice' to be able to do it... And this time, there is more than one 'Actor' on the Stage. Even if you teleport back now, you are not their match."

The Calamity of Mockery last time was personally released by Chen Ling, and only one "Audience" member stepped onto the Stage, gaining control over the body. But this time's situation was more like the chaotic period when all the Audience members were fighting and scrambling on the Stage before Master stuffed the Path of the Soldier fragment into him to create "Chen Ling", which was also the most primitive "[Mockery]".

Just as Yao said, even if Chen Ling stepped onto the Stage now, he might not be able to defeat all the "Audience" and snatch back control.

Hearing this, a look of despair surfaced in Chen Ling's eyes...

"... Actually, there is still one method." Yao hesitated to speak, "If... if it succeeds, not only can you return to the Stage, perhaps you can also snatch back a portion of '[Mockery]'s' authority, and snatch back First Senior Brother's soul."

"What method???"

"Relying on just your and my power alone, we can't cross The Fourth Wall, nor can we defeat the 'Audience'... Since that's the case, we can only rely on external force."

"... External force?"

"The power of 'Sacrifice'."

"But we are not in the Land of Divine Rituals right now, where would we get the power of 'Sacrifice'?"

"Did you forget? Even if we are not in the Land of Divine Rituals, we have also drawn upon the power of the Land of Divine Rituals before..." Yao's figure outlined beside Chen Ling. He pointed at the sinister grimace on Chen Ling's collarbone.

Chen Ling seemed to realize something, a burst of bright light erupting in his eyes, "You mean... [Nuo]?"

Last time in the Timeline Save File, when Chen Ling tried to dance the God-Sacrificing Dance for the first time, he had crossed space with Yao and drawn upon the power of the Land of Divine Rituals. Although it was only for an instant, that power was already strong enough to shake the Calamity of Taboo.

"But we failed last time." Chen Ling frowned tightly. "My Path of the Actor comes from the Calamity of Mockery, and your Path of the Witch God is too powerful. No Nuo Mask can bear our power."

"Regarding the Nuo Mask, I actually have a way to solve it..."

Yao paused for a moment. "But there is still one more problem... [Nuo] itself is a kind of 'Sacrifice', and 'Sacrifices' require a price. For example, every time Shen Nan performs the God-Sacrificing Dance, he loses a massive amount of lifespan.

Shen Nan is just an Ordinary Person. Our power is stronger and more special than his. To be honest, if we truly draw upon the power of [Nuo], no one can imagine exactly how strong it would be... But similarly, the price required must also be something we cannot bear.

This point... you must be mentally prepared."

There was still another example that Yao didn't voice out. Back then in the back mountain, he made a wish through the "Sacrifice" ritual, and ultimately attracted Chen Ling on that rainy night... And the price was that he lost everything he originally had, leaving behind only such a soul with nowhere to belong.

But the Chen Ling at this time simply didn't care about any price anymore. He could even pay with his life without hesitation...

"No matter what the price is, I can accept it." Chen Ling directly answered, and then asked, "But how do you plan to solve the problem of the Nuo Mask?"

Yao slowly turned his head, looking at Chen Ling's face...

"Don't forget... on your face, there was originally a 'mask'." Yao paused for a moment,

"Your... [Paint the Rosy Face]."