Chapter 186: I am the audience, and also the actor!

On the stage.

Dead silence.

One second ago, the figure clutching the black altar and spasming violently was still emitting beast-like whimpers.

The next second, everything came to an abrupt halt.

Su Ming slowly, inch by inch, moved his face away from that pure white mask.

On that tear-streaked face.

All the pain, fear, fragility, helplessness……

In the blink of an eye they vanished completely, as if they had never existed.

Only the tranquil stillness of an ancient well remained, a deep, bone-chilling cold.

Cry?

Cry my ass!

His performance is over.

That solo play titled 【Survival】.

He used his most genuine life and deepest memories as the script.

He performed it for this altar.

He performed it for that unseen 【Judge】.

He also performed it for……

His past self.

Never mind, even if it's a kind of farewell!

Because……

Now he, his sharpness fully revealed!

Su Ming leisurely rose to his feet, brushed off the dust on his knees, his movements calm and unhurried.

He began to stand!

No longer needing to hide!

The person who just knelt on the ground, breaking down in tears?

Just an unrelated spectator in the audience below.

He calmly gazed at the black altar before him, formed by the 【Faceless Man】.

「The 【Truth】's solace……」

「A play that no longer needs actors……」

「A gift that lets the audience empathize……」

He softly recited the altar's demand, the corner of his mouth curling into an extremely faint arc.

「Now, is it enough? 」

Hum——

The instant his words fell, the entire 【Shu Music Hall】 theater shuddered violently.

On that light‑devouring black stone pedestal, the embedded pure‑white mask, the deliberately upturned sneering arc……

Actually, at this moment it grinned even wider!

「Good——! 」

A strange‑toned cheer exploded from the audience seats, thick with market‑street vigor.

Immediately, the theater's dome, walls, and seats all twisted and faded at this moment.

The dilapidated scenery vanished.

The whole world, its art style suddenly shifted!

What appeared next was an ancient pleasure‑quarter compound, an extremely bustling open‑air stage.

Below the stage, voices surged, spectators like a tide.

There were vendors carrying candied hawthorn sticks.

There were storytellers shaking folding fans.

There were wealthy gentlemen dripping with pearls and jewels.

There were also beggars in tattered clothes……

A thousand people, a thousand aspects—exactly that 【All-Beings' Countenance】!

On every spectator's face, without exception, a comical white paint square was drawn at the bridge of the nose.

They munched melon seeds while slapping their thighs.

They pointed at Su Ming on stage and shouted praise loudly.

Their lewd banter and clowning stirred this solemn atmosphere into a murky haze.

「Yo! This face‑changing is faster than flipping a book! 」

「Not bad, much more exciting than the earlier 《Clown Official Judges Case》! 」

「Heard the Changrui Escort Bureau went under? Over a hundred didn't make it back alive! 」

「Just‑fried spicy melon seeds! Crunchy and hunger‑busting—want a pack? Essential for listening to tunes! 」

「Heard? Shopkeeper Wang's concubine and the accountant were caught red‑handed in an affair! 」

「The East Street madam said the new top courtesan secretly married the rich young master! 」

This, is the true stage of the 【Clown】 role!

Born of the market streets, returning to the market streets!

"Good job! Deserve a reward!"

Those countless figures stood up together in unison.

They dug copper coins, shattered silver, even mantou and flatbreads from their chests and hurled them all at Su Ming.

But in midair, those things turned into pure red light dots!

Boom—!

Simultaneously, the black altar before Su Ming erupted with a roar.

It didn't crumble into dust; instead it transformed into intensely thick black smoke.

The black smoke rose, gathering in midair into a brush saturated with dense ink!

Using those red light dots as ink and the void as paper, dragons and phoenixes fluttered, inscribing two large characters—

【Absolute Skill】!

When finished, the brush instantly shattered, becoming a streak of light that surged straight toward Su Ming's brow.

At the center of the stage, the spot that had been the altar.

A mask, quietly floating.

It is as thin as a cicada wing, warm to the touch, its material neither metal nor jade, displaying a chaotic gray‑white.

Like the 【Faceless Man】, it has no facial features.

It is the starting point of all expressions in the world.

It is also the endpoint of all deceit.

Su Ming extended his hand and held it in his palm.

Without a hint of hesitation, he pressed it straight onto his face.

A cold sensation arrived, and the mask instantly merged into his skin, disappearing.

Yet he could feel it clearly.

His own face no longer belonged to him.

It became a canvas that could be kneaded at will!

"Interesting."

His voice also changed.

Now I can be not only 【Pure】…

I can also be 【Clown】!

It depends on whether he uses the 【Lingren Score】 makeup, or this mask!

When Su Ming had a thought, the 【Eye of Truth】 activated.

【Name】: Mortal White Face (Clown·Series Item 1/3)

【Quality】: Myth

【Function One】: Powdered Makeup Appearance (Active Ability)! You can expend mental power to 【draw】 an invisible facial mask onto any target within sight, forcibly granting it a 【Role】! During the role's duration, the target's behavior, mind, and even fortune will shift toward that 【Role】! e. g., 【Dog of a Bereaved Family】, 【Jumping Beam Clown】, 【Heaven‑Crushing Lone Star】…

【Function Two】: Real Lies (Passive Ability)! Your speech and actions will bear a 【Real】 weight! The more you believe in the role you assume, the closer your lies become to 【Real】, and the more they can influence others' perception and judgment!

【Function Three】: Outsider (Passive Ability)! Your resistance to all illusion, disguise, and mental‑control abilities receives an almost infinite boost! No one can force you into a role!

【Function Four】: 【Lingren Insight】! This item bears the final obsession of the 【Clown】 role!

【To feign false as true is the ultimate truth! I am the Audience, also the Actor!】

"Good good good!"

Su Ming clenched his fist, feeling exhilarated.

It turned out to be a 【Myth】‑rank item!

【Powdered Makeup Appearance】, divine skill!

It's not merely a simple disguise as someone else.

But to actively, aggressively define others!

Pointing at a deity sustained by belief, calling it a 【Jumping Beam Clown】.

Then all his subsequent majesty and attacks could appear ludicrous to others!

This is no longer a simple debuff…

This is a Dimensional Reduction Strike at the rule level, from the 【Character Design】 perspective!

When paired with 【Real Lies】… it's practically unbeatable!

【Outsider】 needs no further explanation; its literal power is strong.

As for 【Lingren Insight】…

Earlier, the Legendary Rank 【Counter‑Tongue】 also possessed this function!

"Perhaps… collecting the three‑piece 【Clown】 series items will unlock 【Lingren Insight】!"

"The 【Clown】's obsession… kind of looking forward to it!"

"The grand gift I give, the return is good, reciprocity!"

Su Ming steadied his mind.

He took off the 【Mortal White Face】 from his face.

His eyes moved from the debris of the first altar to the nine remaining on the stage!

Don't rush.

Only now…

Just getting started!