Chapter 963: Nuo

Nuo

Clang clang——clang clang——

The train gradually accelerated along the tracks, having completely left Shanghai and continuing south.

The scenery outside the window gradually changed from high-rise buildings and cities to boundless mountains and farmland. Sunlight spilled onto the empty Fruit Platter, shimmering slightly with silver light.

Shen Nan looked at the empty seat opposite him, feeling somewhat restless... Just a few minutes ago, Chen Ling said he was going to the toilet and still hadn't returned.

"This guy... he wouldn't have run away, would he?" Shen Nan muttered to himself.

Shen Nan couldn't figure out Chen Ling's temperament, but felt that since this guy wanted to solve the issue of one body and two souls, he shouldn't have run away.

Just as he was debating whether to get up and look for him in the toilet, a strange youth wearing an overcoat casually sat down opposite him.

"Excuse me, this seat is taken," Shen Nan said politely.

"..."

As if realizing something, Shen Nan asked tentatively, "Are you... Chen Ling?"

Chen Ling didn't deny it.

"How come you changed your appearance again after not seeing you for a while?"

"Is it strange? Before you bumped into me, I had already changed three identities," Chen Ling said indifferently. "Now that the train is far from Shanghai, I should be completely safe. To move around in other cities next, I naturally need a brand new identity."

Shen Nan sized up Chen Ling's appearance, disappointment hard to conceal on his face.

"?" Chen Ling looked down at himself. "Is there something wrong with this appearance?"

"No, but the beauty from just now was a bit more pleasing to the eye."

"..."

Under Chen Ling's near-murderous cold gaze, Shen Nan chose to immediately change the topic:

"How much do you know about [Nuo]?"

"Nuo..."

Chen Ling thought for a moment. "Not much..."

"Nuo Opera, also known as Ghost Opera, is a kind of dance for offering sacrifices to gods, driving away ghosts, dispelling plagues, and expressing celebration. Its core is 'Witchcraft'," Shen Nan spoke slowly.

"Ever since humans first knelt down and worshipped nature, 'Witchcraft' was born... Essentially, 'Witchcraft' is a way for humans to communicate with 'gods', such as totems, shamans, sacrifices, incantations, and setting up altars to cast spells..."

"Magical rituals, ancient and modern, Chinese and foreign, are as numerous as the stars. But all these magical rituals are because humans have desires, but are unable to achieve them themselves. So they can only use rituals to communicate with 'gods' to satisfy the wishes in their hearts..."

"Nuo Opera is a way to communicate with 'gods' in the form of 'Drama', praying for miracles to descend."

"Offering sacrifices to gods with opera and dance..." Chen Ling was thoughtful.

"But do 'gods' really exist in this world?"

"That depends on how you understand 'gods'." Shen Nan pointed to the sky outside the window.

"Before any religion appeared, 'god' was nature, it was all power beyond human comprehension, it was heaven and earth, thunder and fire, tsunamis, frost... Nature in this period was depicted as totems by the ancients, worshipped day and night.

But with the continuous development of human civilization, people's beliefs also began to shift. In addition to nature, they also began to worship their ancestors, believing that their ancestors would protect their descendants in another form after death, dispelling disasters and bringing blessings.

Later on, religions appeared... Based on the foundations of different civilizations, various stories full of divinity began to spread among humans. They combined their own desires with incomprehensible natural divine power, created specific 'gods' one by one, and passed them on to each other. This is the spiritual sustenance of the people, and at the same time, it may also become a tool to control others.

There are many kinds of performances for Nuo Opera, and the objects of sacrifice are also different, but there is one thing that is the most important."

"What."

"The Nuo Mask."

Shen Nan took off the hideous mask from his waist and solemnly placed it on the table.

Buzz——

Almost at the same time, the train entered a tunnel, and the warm sunlight suddenly disappeared.

This was a mask that looked quite old, with many scratches and cracks, but the surface was spotless. Especially those glaring eyes, when Chen Ling's gaze landed on them, it was as if he was attracted by some power and found it hard to look away...

He didn't know if it was an illusion, but in the dimness, the mask seemed to come alive, opening its bloody mouth as if to swallow Chen Ling!

Chen Ling's pupils contracted slightly.

Whoosh——

When Shen Nan's hand caressed the Nuo Mask, the train whistled out of the tunnel. Sunlight shone on Chen Ling again, and that feeling of his hair standing on end also disappeared.

"Different Nuo Masks will have different prayer effects, and the performance methods will also be different... It's like Opera Masks in traditional opera performances. Without wearing a mask, you are yourself, a free Ordinary Person..."

"But when you wear the mask, you are the 'god' who responds to prayers."

"Wearing the mask makes you a 'god'?"

Chen Ling muttered to himself. He looked at the Nuo Mask half-covered in sunlight, subconsciously reaching out his hand to touch it...

"Don't touch!" Shen Nan immediately raised his hand to stop Chen Ling, but just as his hand reached mid-air, that mask completely appeared in front of Chen Ling again!

When those hideous eyes met Chen Ling's gaze again, the familiar sense of impact surged into his heart once more. Under the dim sky light, Chen Ling only felt scarlet pupils suddenly open in the void, and the corners of his eyes were unconsciously dyed a touch of apricot red...

[Paint the Rosy Face]!

Apricot red eyes met the Nuo Mask. The next moment, the environment around Chen Ling shattered with a bang!

...

A bonfire rose slowly in the countryside.

When Chen Ling opened his eyes again, the glaring bonfire occupied more than half of his vision... The evening breeze in the countryside, accompanied by a damp earthy smell, drilled into his nose, making him dream of the ridges in his hometown when he was a child.

Chen Ling stood stunned in place for a long time before looking down at his hands and muttering:

"[Paint the Rosy Face]... it activated on its own?"

The last time Chen Ling activated [Paint the Rosy Face] was when he viewed Lu Xun's past. But this time he didn't initiate it actively; instead, the Rosy Face popped out on its own the moment he locked eyes with Shen Nan's Nuo Mask.

Chen Ling looked around and saw a figure sitting by the bonfire under the starry night sky, head lowered and busy with something... Chen Ling walked to his side and found that it wasn't Shen Nan, but a Middle-Aged Man who looked five or six parts similar to Shen Nan.

He couldn't see Chen Ling. By the light of the bonfire, he held a paintbrush in one hand and a mask in the other, focused on coloring it.

The moment he saw that mask, Chen Ling's eyes narrowed slightly...

He actually entered the past of a mask?

At the same time, a child wearing a white tank top and green shorts ran quickly across the field and arrived in front of the Middle-Aged Man.

"Dad! I finished drinking my medicine!" the child leaned in front of the Middle-Aged Man and shouted proudly. "I didn't throw up at all this time, really!"