Chapter 43: The First Performance

Chen Ling's eyes swept over the opening lines of the text. As the pages turned, he saw many familiar scenes and phrases, as if everything he had experienced over the past few days had been compiled into a script and recorded here.

["It's you." Behind the wooden desk, a man in a white coat turned slightly. "Here to pick up medicine for your brother again? Didn't he transfer to a hospital in District Two?"]

[...]

["A-Ling, you're already dead. You shouldn't be here." Chen Tan's eyes were bloodshot as he gripped the axe tightly, his voice hoarse. "Whatever is occupying your body... I'll set you free."

A low rumble of thunder echoed through the dark sky...]

[...]

["Don't be afraid, brother." Chen Yan whispered softly. "I'll help you bury him."]

[...]

["Hello, I'm Law Enforcer Chen Ling... Are you ready to answer my questions?"]

["Rather than being a puppet for the rest of my life, Chen Ling would rather choose death."]

[...]

["Monster... monster!!" a law enforcer screamed in terror. "He's not human! He's a monster!!"]

[...]

And the final line was a descriptive passage:

[He stood alone in a sea of blood, the dagger slipping gently from his hand. As a cold breeze brushed past, his body fell backward like a withered blade of grass.]

Reading this, Chen Ling felt a chill run down his spine.

Although he had long been aware that he was being watched, it wasn't until this moment that he truly felt the eerie nature of it.

The most crucial point was that Chen Ling could only see his own scenes. Everything that happened when he wasn't present was blocked out by thick black lines... Even he, the "protagonist," didn't have full access to the entire script.

"A script based on my personal experiences..." Chen Ling murmured to himself.

As the final line concluded, the pages automatically bound themselves into a booklet in midair and fell into Chen Ling's hands. The text on the cover was particularly striking.

[First Performance]

[Initial Chapter—"Heartless"]

[Starring: Chen Ling]

[Featuring: Chen Yan, Han Meng, Chu Muyun, Chen Tan, and others]

At the same time, a wooden bookshelf appeared in the corner of the stage.

Chen Ling stared deeply at the script in his hands. After a long while, he walked over to the bookshelf... He placed the script on the far left of the first shelf, with the title "Heartless" facing outward, clearly visible.

Just as Chen Ling was about to turn around to proceed with the second designated draw, a familiar voice rang in his ears:

[Intermission is over. Please continue the performance.]

The black curtain slowly rose, and Chen Ling's consciousness drifted away from the theater, into the void...

---

"You're awake?"

As Chen Ling opened his eyes, Chu Muyun's voice came from nearby.

The heater hummed in the room. Chu Muyun had already taken off his wool coat and was sitting quietly in a chair by the window, dressed in a shirt and vest, flipping through a medical book.

Before he could say another word, a dagger was already pressed against his throat, the cold killing intent instantly extinguishing the candles!

In the dimly lit room, Chu Muyun's eyelids twitched as he looked at the red-clad figure before him and spoke calmly:

"It seems that divine path has indeed affected your personality... So bloodthirsty, are we?"

"You knew A-Yan was fake all along, yet you pretended nothing was wrong and stayed for so many days... What's your goal?" Chen Ling's eyes gleamed with ferocity.

"I'm a doctor. I came to District Three to treat you."

Chu Muyun closed the book. "If I had any ill intentions toward you, you would have died countless times by now."

Chen Ling stared at Chu Muyun.

"How much... do you know?"

"Unfortunately, I know everything."

"Everything as in...?"

"What do you think?" Chu Muyun's lips curled into a faint smile as he leaned slightly toward Chen Ling. "I'm curious... How did you manage to maintain your sanity after fusing with an 'Apocalypse'-level Calamity? Or rather... how did you achieve balance?"

Hearing this, Chen Ling's pupils contracted sharply.

From the moment they first met, when Chu Muyun had gone out of his way to stay, the man must have already sensed something was off.

In the days that followed, he had been observing Chen Ling, even probing for details about Chen Yan's characteristics... This man, with his silver-rimmed glasses and gentle demeanor, was the most cunning of them all.

But Chen Ling hadn't expected that Chu Muyun would immediately expose his identity as a Fusionist, and even mention the "Audience's" level.

"So... what do you plan to do?" Chen Ling countered. "Cut open my brain and take a look? Hand me over to the law enforcers? Or use this to blackmail me into doing something for you?"

"Honestly, the first option is quite tempting." Chu Muyun shrugged helplessly. "Unfortunately, my superiors won't allow it... As for the second option, that's even more impossible. If I were to go to the law enforcement headquarters with you, I'd be the first one arrested..."

"Your superiors?"

Chen Ling seized on the key point. "Aren't you the Divine Physician of Aurora City? Who are your superiors? The hospital director?"

"The 'Divine Physician' is just an identity I fabricated to infiltrate Aurora City."

"Then what's your real identity?"

"...Have you heard of the Twilight Society?"

Chen Ling shook his head.

"The Twilight Society is a secret organization established outside the nine... no, now eight major human domains. All members are assigned code names based on playing cards, and they operate covertly within various human domains."

"Sounds like a shady organization."

"No, we are a righteous organization." Chu Muyun adjusted his glasses and smiled. "It's just that, in the eyes of the world, our righteousness represents absolute evil..."

"Sorry, I'm not interested in joining a cult."

In his previous life, Chen Ling had heard countless brainwashing tactics used by cults or pyramid schemes, all aimed at instilling twisted ideologies to control people's minds. In this life, even though he was burdened with a "Calamity," he had no intention of sinking to that level.

"That's why I said we're not a cult... Our ideals just clash with the current era." Chu Muyun explained patiently. "Besides, our salaries are quite high—about ten times that of a law enforcer."

"Ten times?" Chen Ling gave him a surprised look, then shook his head. "But money doesn't mean much to me... Even if I had it, I'd need to be alive to spend it."

If this were his previous life, Chen Ling would have been tempted by the tenfold salary. But now, his primary goal was to break free from the control of the "Audience." Everything else was secondary.

"We also have extensive resource channels. If you hit a bottleneck while climbing the divine path, you can seek help from other members."

"Do you have many members?"

"About twenty or so still alive."

"..."

"Let's talk about our righteousness instead..."