Chapter 1009: [嘲]

Chapter 1009: Mockery

Pale satin hung throughout the house, making it feel oppressive and somber.

Many figures surrounded a middle-aged woman, offering condolences and comfort. The woman herself sat helplessly on the floor, clutching a black and white photo frame, her face streaked with tears.

The moment Chen Ling saw the woman, his heart twisted.

It was his mother.

The first time Chen Ling entered the "Era Archive," he didn't have the courage to see his mother again, but this time, he didn't want to escape anymore.

Chen Ling was exhausted.

He was physically and mentally drained from his journey, burdened by too many secrets and too much pressure. Even Chen Ling was on the verge of collapse. Even if it was just a false illusion, he wanted to talk to his mother.

Perhaps that was his only solace now.

However, the moment Chen Ling took a step forward, everything around him suddenly distorted, like a stage from which a deceptive curtain had been pulled away.

Chen Ling seemed to sense something, abruptly turning his head to look behind him. Pairs of mocking, crimson eyes gradually disappeared into nothingness as the curtain vanished.

"Audience"?

How could they be here?

Chen Ling turned back blankly, looking towards the direction of his home. The next moment, his pupils suddenly contracted!

"Where's Zhou Ling's dad?"

"Still at the hospital, discussing Ah Ling's funeral arrangements... They said to let Xiuyun come back first to pack up his belongings."

"Did you see Ah Ling's... body?"

"Yes, I saw it, the poor child... During the earthquake, his car on the road lost control, and a large truck crashed onto the sidewalk, crushing him completely."

"At the hospital, Caiyun held Ah Ling's hand and cried for over an hour before his dad finally pulled her away."

"Sigh... Heaven has no eyes."

The middle-aged woman was still sitting on the floor, her eyes red, but her appearance was completely unfamiliar to Chen Ling. Even the relatives surrounding her were strangers; Chen Ling swore he had never seen any of them before.

Even the black and white photo in the woman's arms, which Chen Ling expected to be himself, had changed to an older young man.

He wore glasses, a smile on his lips, and looked gentle and frail.

"No..."

Chen Ling stared blankly at the scene, his face extremely pale. "This isn't possible... How could this happen..."

An unfamiliar mother, unfamiliar relatives, an unfamiliar home... His closest kin, who were just within reach moments ago, had become strangers in an instant, leaving Chen Ling thunderstruck.

Chen Ling instinctively rushed forward, pushing through the crowd!

"Who are you??" the strangers at the doorway asked in surprise.

Chen Ling didn't answer. He rushed into the house on his own, only to find that all the furnishings had changed. He frantically entered every room, as if searching for any trace of his existence.

"Wait, who are you?! What exactly do you want??" A middle-aged man glared and blocked Chen Ling.

"I am Chen Ling!! Where is Zhang Caiyun??"

"Zhang Caiyun? Who is Zhang Caiyun... This is Li Xiuyun's house. Are you at the wrong door?"

"Isn't this 901?!"

"Yes, it is."

"Then this is my home! I've lived here for over ten years; I can't be mistaken! Jingqiu Community, Building 12, Unit 1, 901! My name is on the property deed! My name is Chen Ling!"

The man was startled.

"Jingqiu Community... What are you talking about? This is Country Garden." He frowned deeply. "I work as a real estate agent. I've never heard of any Jingqiu Community in the entire Shangjing City."

Chen Ling stood dumbfounded.

Everything in his memory had been replaced by another family...

Perhaps,

He had never existed.

Chen Ling stumbled back several steps. An unprecedented agony prevented him from thinking, and the confusion etched deep within his heart surged into his mind once more.

"My home is fake... my school is fake... my work is fake... What then, is real?!"

"Who exactly am I..."

"Who am I really?"

"Whoever you are..."

"I'll believe you this one time."

On the thick snow, Yao slowly rose. At his feet lay various strange items... tree branches, a hen, a cross, and numerous animal hearts.

His ragged gray coat swayed in the cold wind, and Yao's cheeks were red from the cold. He looked up, his eyes filled with determination.

"If this damned thing really works, I'm willing to devote everything to you... If the ritual ends and there's no sign of my recovery, then those dreams are just dreams after all... I won't believe in any more sorcery, nor will I accept anything you try to instill in me."

"My parents said they found a famous doctor in District Two who can replace my heart... Even if this fails, I'll still have at least one more chance to live."

Black blood flowed from Yao's seven orifices, dripping onto the black formation beneath him. The mixed aura of the Witch God Path spread along the formation's patterns, connecting them into a chaotic mass like a contamination, resembling meaningless graffiti when viewed from the sky.

At the same time,

An inexplicable sensation surged into Chen Ling's mind, as if he were trapped in an extreme darkness, yet he heard someone whispering his name...

"Who... is calling me?"

"Ahhhhhh!!!"

Chen Ling clutched his head, feeling as though he was splitting apart. Everything in his memory descended into chaos; the past he had once deeply believed in began to reveal its true nature, little by little.

"No... no..."

"It's wrong!"

"It was wrong from the very beginning..."

"I'm not Chen Ling, nor am I some transmigrator... I am..."

The Theater.

Under the pale spotlight, Chen Ling's body knelt on the ground, his face twisted in agony.

Pairs of crimson eyes surrounded the audience seats, staring intently at Chen Ling on stage. They seemed to be waiting for him to be killed by the King in White, so that the theater and reality would merge, allowing them to swarm out and reclaim control of this body!

Just like they had forcibly dragged Chen Ling off the stage not long ago.

Chen Ling's pained groans echoed on the stage. His features visibly blurred, and under the onslaught of confusion, his skin seemed to melt like butter, dripping onto the floor bit by bit.

Beneath his skin, dark, mottled patches appeared, black as ink... like the skin of the "Audience."

In a daze, the conversation between his master and the "Audience" member who had usurped the stage, after his master suppressed the "Mockery Calamity," flashed like lightning through Chen Ling's mind...

"I am Chen Ling!!"

"I am Chen Ling! Whoever stands on this stage! They are Chen Ling!!!"

This voice, like a thunderclap, swept past Chen Ling's ears. In his state of endless confusion, Chen Ling suddenly seemed to realize something and abruptly opened his eyes!

He slowly lowered his head, looking at his hands, which were black as ink under the spotlight.

He murmured:

"I'm not Chen Ling, nor am I some transmigrator... I..."

"I am also an 'Audience' member..."

"I am..."

"Mockery."