Chapter 1268: The Next Performance

The Next Performance

It's him?

How did he catch up?

Chen Ling didn't turn his head, but he had already swept that black shadow in the crowd with his peripheral vision. After a brief moment of thought, he directly turned into a nearby Alleyway.

Chen Ling didn't expect Han Meng to actually chase him out of the Pu Family. This further proved that he might have discovered his clues. However, at this juncture, Chen Ling could barely protect himself, so he really had no time to tangle with Han Meng.

Seeing Chen Ling suddenly turn, Han Meng's brows instantly furrowed.

He immediately accelerated his figure. Almost in the very next second after Chen Ling turned, he arrived at the intersection...

But when he looked toward the Alleyway, there was already no one in sight.

This level of anti-tracking ability was definitely not something an ordinary Fifth-Tier Path of the Scholar God could achieve. All the clues corroborated with each other in Han Meng's mind at this moment, and an answer surfaced in his heart.

"It really is you."

"Although I don't know how you did it, however..."

"I will definitely 'catch' you."

...

Finely shredded Red Paper meandered and flowed along the corner of the wall. After silently swaying past several streets, they reformed in another empty corner, and Chen Ling, wearing a gray vest, slowly stepped out.

Chen Ling turned his head and glanced in the direction he just came from, lightly pushing the rimless glasses on his nose bridge, then calmly walked toward the guest house.

As he approached the streets surrounding the guest house, he heard a burst of noisy sounds coming over. Quite a few citizens seemed to have surrounded this vicinity, pointing and pointing at something in the direction of the guest house...

And at this time, the guest house was already surrounded by bright yellow police lines. The Police Officers of the South Sea Domain and a small number of Pu Family members were standing outside, seemingly discussing something, their gazes constantly looking toward the guest house.

Seeing this scene, Chen Ling's heart skipped a beat.

Something happened at the guest house.

He changed his face in a corner, mixed into the crowd, and approached the direction of the guest house.

"Hey, what happened here? Why is it even cordoned off?"

"I heard they caught two Fusionists here!"

"Fusionists?? Real or fake!"

"Holy shit, I live right across from here, and I even go downstairs to buy groceries every day... Doesn't that mean two Fusionists have been living next to me this whole time?"

"Maybe you guys even crossed paths at the wet market."

"Quick, stop talking, my goosebumps are already rising..."

"Are they people from the Integration Faction?"

"Not sure. Just now, someone draped in a black cloak rushed over, shouting for the Red King and some Q to save him... Then the Pu Family discovered this place. They might be people from the Dusk Society."

"Too scary. I definitely have to suggest to the government to disinfect and clean this entire street. Don't let the Calamity's virus spread to people..."

"Right, right, right! No wonder I always felt itchy all over recently!"

"..."

In the crowd, Chen Ling's face was visibly gloomy.

Logically speaking, the time it took for the news of the Canal Gang encountering the Six of Hearts to reach the Pu Family was already enough for Pu Jianyue to escape. Yet as a result, he was still caught up to... and actually dragged Little Peach and the others into it.

"Was that Six of Hearts caught?" Chen Ling asked casually.

"Probably not, it seems he still managed to escape in the end."

"Oh."

Pu Jianyue not being caught meant that he could still maintain his original identity. Chen Ling walked back into the Alleyway. When he came out again, he had already changed back into "Pu Jianyue".

He walked straight toward the few Pu Family members who were communicating with the Police Officers.

"Young Master Jianyue?"

"What's the situation here?"

"Oh, it's nothing major. Just now, your father discovered traces of the Six of Hearts here. After a bout of chasing, he accidentally caught two Fusionists... Originally, he was worried they were from the Dusk Society, but they were simply too weak and were instantly knocked out by your father's shockwave.

Your father said the Q generation of the Dusk Society shouldn't be this weak, so they might really just be ordinary Fusionists who sneaked in and were just coincidentally caught in the crossfire."

The person who caught Little Peach was Pu the Sixth?

Chen Ling's eyelids twitched slightly. For some unknown reason, he felt an inexplicable sense of awkwardness in his heart...

It wasn't that he felt awkward about Pu the Sixth arresting people, but rather this entire matter itself made him feel an inexplicable disharmony. But for a moment, he couldn't put his finger on where the problem lay; he just instinctively felt something was wrong...

Chen Ling closely followed up and asked:

"Oh... then what about those two Fusionists? Are they dead?"

"No, these two Fusionists pose no threat. Your father dispatched a few people to escort them to the police station. They should be undergoing interrogation right now to see if they have any relations with the Six of Hearts."

That Pu Family member asked doubtfully, "Young Master Jianyue, what are you asking these for?"

"I just heard my dad was here, so I wanted to come over and chat with him about some asset matters. I didn't expect him to have already left... It's fine, I'll directly head back and wait for him later."

Chen Ling casually waved his hand and found an excuse to leave.

Chen Ling moved away from the crowd and glanced at the sky. Misty drizzle was drifting down from the sky. There were less than 15 hours left before the Integration Faction and the others arrived at the South Sea Domain...

He had to rescue Little Peach and the other before then and open the door for the Integration Faction according to plan.

But if he personally went to rescue Little Peach, the subsequent situation would gradually slip out of Chen Ling's control. After all, no one knew what kind of enemies he would encounter when rescuing them this time, or whether his identity would be exposed. And right now, the tool man "Pu Jianyue" he originally prepared on the other side had already gone missing and was basically of no use.

Once trouble appeared here, even if he could barely protect himself, who would go open the door for the Integration Faction?

"Of all times, it had to be now..."

Just as Chen Ling was pondering how to Break the Deadlock, the surrounding environment suddenly distorted!

In Chen Ling's field of vision, the street and pedestrians all rapidly receded. He felt as if he were placed in another world. Under the dim sky's dome, a twisted Path of the Actor extended from beneath his feet all the way until it vanished at the end of the sky...

Over there, a bizarre Divine Path Star was silently flashing.

Chen Ling blanked out for a moment.

To think the performance condition for stepping into the Sixth Stage was triggered at this time...

Through his previous few experiences, Chen Ling knew that every performance would be accompanied by some major events. The Advancement performance of the Sixth Stage appearing at this time meant that he was indeed walking toward the next vitally important juncture... Could it be that the next performance was related to the South Sea Domain and the Integration Faction?

He took a deep breath and slowly walked forward along the twisted Path of the Actor. On both his sides, countless scarlet pupils were staring at him, with mockery and smiles hidden within the eyes, like "Audiences" Off Stage waiting to see what happens.

At the end of the stone steps about to step onto the Sixth Stage, Chen Ling slowly stopped in his tracks.

He looked down beneath his feet, and a line of small characters entered his vision:

——[Amidst the Audience's questioning and applause, welcome the King's final destination]