Chapter 974: Who Are You

Who Are You

"Are you alright? Yao."

"Mm." Yao's voice rang out from his mind. "The mask couldn't bear the aura of the Land of Divine Rituals. After it shattered, I could only come back again..."

Chen Ling nodded slightly. He looked up at the gloomy sky, his gaze somewhat bewildered.

"What are you thinking about?" Yao asked.

"Master once said that after the Gray World descended, the first World-Ending Calamity to appear on Earth was the Calamity of Taboo." Chen Ling paused for a moment. "It slaughtered a country, crossed the ocean, and finally arrived at the Ancient Vault of the Witchcraft Path, swallowing the Land of Divine Rituals... Back then, I found it a bit strange. There's more than one World-Ending entity in the Gray World, so why was it specifically the Calamity of Taboo... Why did it go straight for the Ancient Vault of the Witchcraft Path the moment it arrived on Earth?"

"So, you suspect..."

The scene from just now surfaced in Chen Ling's mind: the Calamity of Taboo roaring angrily on the churning tsunami at the aura of the Land of Divine Rituals radiating from him... He remained silent for a long time before speaking slowly:

"Perhaps from the very beginning... it was me who lured it here."

"It was the aura of the Land of Divine Rituals on me that enraged the Calamity of Taboo through the God-Sacrificing Dance, causing it to descend... No, thinking a step deeper, perhaps the descent of the Gray World on Earth was also caused by me?" Chen Ling muttered to himself,

"I have 'Mockery' on me, and you are connected to the Land of Divine Rituals. The [Nuo] we both initiated might have not only communicated with 'gods', but simultaneously communicated with another world...

If that's the case, then I am the main culprit of all the disasters."

[Audience Expectation Value +3]

[Current Expectation Value: 36%]

Seeing the Expectation Value flash before his eyes, at this moment, Bureau 749's prophecy about him abruptly surged into Chen Ling's mind!

[Ghost-Mock World-Ending, Descends upon the Human World]

[Era of Chaotic Reversal, Heaven and Earth jointly Execute]

Chen Ling stopped his footsteps on the country road in the rain, his whole body ice-cold.

He looked down at his pale palms, his voice incredibly hoarse,

"Ghost-Mock World-Ending... descends upon the human world... Era of Chaotic Reversal, heaven and earth jointly execute... Maybe they aren't wrong. If they had killed me last time, the Gray World wouldn't have descended, and humanity simply wouldn't have entered the next era of despair."

Chen Ling's fingernails dug deeply into his palms. Traces of fresh blood seeped out, mixing with the rainwater and flowing onto the ground.

Chen Ling couldn't accept such an answer.

He risked his life, wanting to Reverse the Era, wanting to return everything to the very beginning... but now he discovered that perhaps his existence was the source of all the disasters.

"I don't think so." Yao's voice dragged Chen Ling's consciousness out of the abyss.

"Perhaps we did enrage the Calamity of Taboo, but if just dancing a dance lured a world to descend, that's a bit too exaggerated... Moreover, the one creating the disasters is the Red Star, and the Gray World descended along with the Red Star. It has nothing to do with you.

Furthermore, whether the Timeline Save File is real or not is still an unknown. It's too early to draw conclusions now."

Chen Ling remained silent for a long time, bitterly squeezing out a smile:

"I hope so..."

——00:01:48.

Chen Ling temporarily suppressed his chaotic thoughts, looked at the dark clouds overhead, and let out a long sigh... Regardless, this time's Timeline Save File was almost over. Entering here next time would probably be a month from now.

Currently, he was in the Wuji Domain. Where he would be a month later, whether he would be dead or alive, was still an unknown...

Just as Chen Ling was preparing to wait for his return,

A figure holding an umbrella walked over from the country road behind him.

Chen Ling looked back, only to see Shen Nan holding a few Nuo Mask fragments in his hand, his expression heavy, slowly stopping his footsteps in the rain.

"Sorry," Chen Ling initiated the conversation. "I failed... In the end, I still couldn't become a [Nuo]."

"Failure isn't scary. Even if we failed this time, we still have time... Tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, the day after that, we still have chances."

To Shen Nan, time measured in "days" was Within Easy Grasp. But to Chen Ling, every time he came here required a month's time. The unit of time for the two was fundamentally different...

Chen Ling didn't explain, only smiling helplessly:

"Perhaps."

"However, some things are different." Shen Nan suddenly changed the topic, his gaze looking at Chen Ling incredibly sternly. "The trust between people, if it isn't stable from the very beginning, everything else is just a castle in the air."

Chen Ling was stunned for a moment. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, we should be a bit more honest with each other."

"..."

Chen Ling looked at him for a long time, letting out a long sigh. "So, you still don't believe my Transmigration..."

"When you mentioned the gray world earlier, I actually believed you a bit... but looking at it now, you weren't telling the truth."

"Everything I said is the truth."

"Is that so?" Shen Nan shook his mobile phone. "Before getting on the train to find you, I took the time to make two phone calls. The first call was to Elder Xiao, confirming your identity with her. The second call, I made to a Friend from Shangjing, asking him to help me conduct some investigations."

Chen Ling was taken aback. He didn't expect Shen Nan to be so cautious. Although he also called Xiao Chunping to confirm Shen Nan's situation, he didn't expect Shen Nan to specially send someone to investigate him in Shangjing City...

However, thinking about it, it was quite reasonable. He was a target wanted by the entire Bureau 749. For Shen Nan to want to make him a [Nuo], he had to verify his background.

"And then?"

As Chen Ling asked, he also checked the countdown on his screen again.

——00:00:27.

"Elder Xiao has a very high appraisal of you." Shen Nan paused for a moment, his eyes narrowing slightly.

"But my friend searched through the entire victim list of the Shangjing City Theater, and didn't find the name 'Chen Ling'... So I want to ask..."

"You, who exactly are you?"

Rumble——

Muffled thunder sounded from the dark clouds.

Chen Ling's mind jolted sharply with the thunder. He froze in place, his gaze looking at Shen Nan full of bewilderment...

"What are you talking about?" Chen Ling's eyebrows furrowed tightly,

"I didn't lie to you. I really was an intern Director-Screenwriter at the Shangjing City Theater... I was crushed to death by the chandelier on the stage during the earthquake, and my parents even claimed my body... How could my name not be on the victim list?"

"Chen Ling..."

"Your friend must have missed a list, or his information source is completely inaccurate. If you need it, I can describe the appearance of that theater in detail, and can even provide the list of other actors and staff..."

"Enough!" Shen Nan interrupted Chen Ling.

He walked straight up to Chen Ling, his eyes staring at Chen Ling's pupils like swords, as if wanting to see completely through him.

"First, this friend of mine is exactly the Human Resources Manager of the Shangjing City Theater..."

"Second..."

"The Shangjing City Theater hasn't recruited an intern Director-Screenwriter in three years."

"I didn't expect that even now, you're still pretending..."

A flash of anger crossed Shen Nan's eyes,

"Chen Ling... no, perhaps this isn't even your real name... I don't know why you want to hide it, but if possible, I still hope we can be a bit more honest..."

"You... who exactly are you?"