Chapter 971: Shen Nan's Thoughts

Shen Nan's Thoughts

Crack——

A roaring thunderclap rang out by the child's ears. His consciousness vanished instantly, and he fell headfirst onto the cart.

Rainwater slid down Shen Nan's fingertips, his hand still maintaining the petting posture. That hideous mask stared at the fainted child, fierce, malevolent, and terrifying.

"Xiao Tian!!"

Seeing this, the woman who was still kowtowing immediately cried out in alarm and stumbled up to run over.

Shen Nan slowly withdrew his hand. The hideous mask glanced at the running woman, and his figure began to hop and sway on tiptoes again, like a drunk dancer, carrying the flag and hopping into the distance.

The woman terrifiedly helped the child up from the cart, took off the sack and blanket covering him, and suddenly froze upon seeing the sight before her.

The massive tumor that originally grew on the back of the child's head had disappeared at some point, as if a giant invisible hand had completely smoothed it out... At the same time, the child's originally skin-and-bones body was actually visibly starting to recover its color!

"Mom..." A soft murmur sounded from her embrace, striking the woman's mind like a bolt of lightning.

She jolted back to her senses, hugged the child and looked toward a certain direction in the rain curtain, then her whole body fell to her knees with a plop, her forehead heavily kowtowing on the ground hit after hit.

Thud, thud, thud——

The woman's kowtowing sounds were drowned in the rain, and didn't stop even when blood flowed from her forehead.

At the end of the misty street, a figure in a black-and-red Theatrical Robe danced wildly, waving a flag, like a god who had come to the human world for amusement, laughing heartily as he returned to heaven.

...

Under the pattering eaves, Shen Nan slowly took off the Nuo Mask.

Although he only wore the mask for a few minutes this time, Shen Nan's complexion was already as pale as paper. He exhaled a long breath of turbid air and looked behind him.

"How was it, did you see clearly?"

A figure wearing an overcoat had also arrived under the eaves at some point, looking at him with a complex expression.

Shen Nan revealed a 'just as I expected' expression.

"Didn't see clearly? This dance is indeed too complex... Next time we'll..."

"I saw clearly." Chen Ling spoke slowly,

"This dance is not difficult for me."

Shen Nan: ...

Chen Ling was telling the truth. He had the foundation laid in the Ancient Vault of the Drama Path; this kind of physical movement really wasn't difficult... The reason he remained silent was because in Shen Nan's actions of saving the child just now, he saw the shadow of his father saving him back then.

"So, you usually use the power of [Nuo] to do these things?"

"Basically, yes. I don't like fighting, and usually no one looks for me to fight..." Shen Nan looked down at the Nuo Mask in his hands, a trace of loneliness flashing in his eyes.

"Besides, apart from me in this world, perhaps no one else can do these things."

Shen Nan was the only [Nuo] in the world, and the only existence capable of bringing down miracles. If there were some things he didn't do, then some people would forever lose the possibility of surviving... Compared to killing, Shen Nan hoped more to use his power to save people.

"But you are essentially an Ordinary Person." Chen Ling's Secret Pupil stared at Shen Nan's cheeks.

"Putting on the mask turns you into a 'god'... This is a gift, but also a pressure. Using the power of [Nuo] too much puts too great a burden on your body... Short life, sudden death, premature aging, one of them will eventually fall on your head."

"I know."

"Then you should cherish your own life and use the power of [Nuo] less."

"But I will eventually die of old age anyway, won't I? Rather than pretending not to see anything and living on, it's better to make this limited life more meaningful... Perhaps this is the reason heaven let me survive."

Shen Nan's grip on the mask tightened. As if recalling something, his gaze was incredibly complex.

"Moreover, if my power alone is limited... then it would be good to have one more [Nuo] in this world."

"So, back when you specially chased after me, you had already thought of letting me become a [Nuo]?" Chen Ling's eyebrows raised slightly as everything connected.

"No wonder you volunteered to help me solve the issue of one body and two souls, and even brought me all the way here, making a mask and teaching me the God-Sacrificing Dance.

From the very beginning, you saw the 'Drama' and 'Witchcraft' in my body... You actually weren't asking for nothing. You want a second [Nuo] to be born in the world, so that after you die young, this path won't be completely forgotten by people."

Shen Nan didn't deny it. He looked into Chen Ling's eyes and smiled slightly.

Chen Ling sighed helplessly.

Although Shen Nan approaching him indeed had ulterior motives, at the end of the day, Shen Nan's goal was still pure and selfless. He could indeed solve the one body, two souls issue, he just hoped that at the same time, [Nuo] could also be passed down.

Chen Ling felt no anger at being schemed against; instead, he admired Shen Nan even more. In this peaceful era where everyone was blinded by profit, the appearance of a figure like Shen Nan was indeed the fortune of humanity.

"I can try, but it's still the same phrase... I can't guarantee I'll be able to do it. After all, there is still a difference between you and me."

"I know, your Path of the Actor is twisted." Shen Nan nodded slightly. "Actually, I've always been very curious. My so-called 'Twisted Divine Path' is actually just the combination of two Divine Pathways, it can't be considered truly twisted... But your Path of the Actor truly radiates eeriness from beginning to end."

Shen Nan hesitated for a moment, but couldn't hold back from asking that sentence, "Is yours... really considered a 'Divine Path'?"

"...My situation is a bit special."

Chen Ling could still only speak vaguely. It wasn't that he didn't want to explain, but that he himself was indeed not too clear on what exactly his Twisted Divine Path was all about.

Shen Nan didn't press further. He and Chen Ling returned to the open space in front of the ruined house. By now, the rain had lessened considerably.

Chen Ling glanced at the dim sky light and confirmed his remaining time in the Timeline Save File:

——00:09:32.

Less than ten minutes left?

"Since you've memorized it all, then give it a try." Shen Nan looked at Chen Ling with a face full of anticipation. "Put on the mask, dance like I did just now, and then while sensing the Divine Descent, guide the second soul into the Nuo Mask."

Shen Nan expended so much energy bringing Chen Ling here just to witness the birth of the second [Nuo]. In a sense, he even hoped for Chen Ling's success more than Chen Ling himself.

Yang Xiao and the others also turned to look at Chen Ling, seemingly somewhat curious.

Chen Ling looked at the Black-and-White Mask in his hand, took a deep breath, and slowly put it on his face...