Chapter 470

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?!"

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!

【Chen Yan】's phantom stood beside him, his face already covered in tears.

The countless pairs of scarlet eyes in the nothingness were like the countless 【The Audience】 below the 【Stage】. 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...

——【Clown】.

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 【Ink and Brush】, rapidly outlining in the surrounding blank world!

The 【Opera Masks】 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 【Painting the Vermillion Face】 and was about to surface...

"There's a sixth face?"

The appearance of the five faces—【Male Lead】, 【Female Lead】, 【Painted Face Role】, 【Secondary Male Role】, and 【Clown】—had already surprised Chen Ling greatly. He himself hadn't thought that he would actually be involved in every single role... But as the five 【Opera Masks】 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 【Painting the Vermillion Face】 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!

【【Audience Expectation Value】 -1】

【Warning! Warning!】

【【The Audience】 is beginning to intervene in the 【Performance】!!】

...

【Ancient Vault of the Drama Path】, 【Performance Zone】.

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?" 【Mo Jue】 couldn't help but ask.

"Okay? That depends on how you define 'okay'." Master shrugged. "【Old Six】 has already grasped the trick to 【Painting the Vermillion Face】. Whether he can successfully draw this face depends entirely on himself."

"So what will 【Little Junior Brother】's final 【Opera Masks】 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 【Little Junior Brother】 should be closer to me." 【Luan Mei】 said calmly. "His limbs and voice are near perfect; he is a born '【Female Lead】' role."

"That's not necessarily true. 【Little Junior Brother】's temperament is more like mine, and he's a very capable fighter. I'm guessing it's a 'Martial 【Male Lead】' face." Ning Ruyu leisurely opened a 【Folding Fan】 that he had pulled out from who knows where.

"Actually, 【Little Junior Brother】 also has the form of an overlord." 【Wenren You】 said sullenly.

"In case he actually takes after me... uh... it's best if he doesn't."

【Mo Jue】 let out a long sigh.

Just as the crowd was guessing, a light breeze suddenly lifted on the 【Stage】. They saw Chen Ling sitting cross-legged there, the hem of his 【Great Crimson Theatrical Robe】 beginning to dance lightly in the wind. On that initial pure white 【Opera Masks】, 【Markings】 rapidly began to surface one by one!

The first to appear was a 【Male Lead】 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 【Male Lead】 face.

Ning Ruyu's eyes lit up, "Look, I said 【Little Junior Brother】 takes after me... huh?"

Before Ning Ruyu's voice fell, that Martial 【Male Lead】 face dimmed and disappeared. Replacing it was a delicate and beautiful 【Female Lead】 role 【Opera Masks】. And before this face could last for a few seconds, another flashy 【Painted Face Role】 role 【Opera Masks】 surfaced...

Within a short ten seconds, the five 【Opera Masks】 of 【Male Lead】, 【Female Lead】, 【Painted Face Role】, 【Secondary Male Role】, and 【Clown】 changed in succession. When the last face disappeared, Chen Ling's body shook violently!

Thud——!

A muffled sound came from the 【Stage】!

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 【Stage】, as if he was on guard against something.

"This 【Aura】..." 【Mo Jue】 looked at Chen Ling's back on the 【Stage】, his brows furrowing unconsciously. "So strange... I've never felt this kind of 【Aura】 before. Which 【Opera Masks】 is this?"

"Indeed. Looking across the 【Ancient Vault of the Drama Path】, I have never felt this kind of 【Aura】." Ning Ruyu knew that some kind of unforeseen event must have happened to Chen Ling.

"【Little Junior Brother】... I estimate something has happened to him."

The entire 【Performance Zone】 fell into a dead silence.

Suddenly, the cross-legged Chen Ling on the 【Stage】 moved.

Under the watchful eyes of Ning Ruyu and the others, that 【Great Crimson Theatrical Robe】, with its back to the 【Stage】, 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 【Great Crimson Theatrical Robe】 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 【Opera Masks】 unique to "【The Audience】" had descended upon the 【Stage】!