Chapter 1345: Gullies

The restaurant fell silent.

Jian Changsheng, Sun Bumian, and Jiang Xiaohua stared blankly at Chen Ling's face, taking a long time to regain their composure.

"Red Heart, what happened to your face?" Jian Changsheng asked with a frown.

"Just some side effects after accepting the Scourge of Mockery," Chen Ling said with a faint smile. "Apart from looking a bit frightening, there aren't any other major effects..."

"Can't you change your face? Why don't you change it?" Sun Bumian immediately asked.

"It's useless... This face can't be changed back."

The three fell silent once more.

"If it can't be changed back, then it can't be changed back," Jian Changsheng said indifferently, patting Chen Ling's shoulder. "What's wrong with being scary? The document doesn't say that you can't enter the Hanging Jade Realm just because you're scary! At worst, you can just wear a mask when you go out, just like before... You don't think this face of yours could scare us brothers, do you?"

"I don't think Red Heart is scary," Jiang Xiaohua immediately replied.

Sun Bumian nodded. "Indeed, we've already seen this face when you lost control in the Boundless Realm... Now, it actually looks quite kind, at least much gentler than the murderous Scourge of Mockery."

"I know you won't be scared. I wear the mask just in case it affects your appetite later."

"Then that's settled! Put on your mask and come back to the Hanging Jade Realm with us!"

"I can't go back, but it's not because of my face."

"Then why not??"

"Is it that Vow Gu?" Sun Bumian mused. "I heard Teacher Ye mention something before, that you were forced to eat some kind of Vow Gu... Is it related to that?"

Jian Changsheng and the other two had heard of Vow Gu, but they didn't know exactly what it was or how it would affect Chen Ling.

"Yes, it's partially related..." Chen Ling briefly explained the effects of the Vow Gu.

A faint candlelight flickered in the dimness.

After listening, Jian Changsheng and Sun Bumian's breathing gradually grew heavier.

Jiang Xiaohua showed no reaction, partly because he didn't need to breathe, and partly because... he didn't understand.

He just watched blankly as Jian Changsheng silently clenched his fists, then turned and walked out of the palace without a word, his black leather coat taking on a fierce gleam in the firelight.

"Where are you going?" Chen Ling asked in a deep voice.

"I'm going to find that bastard Chu Changqing and make him hand over the antidote!" Jian Changsheng said without looking back. "If he doesn't, I'll kill him!"

Before Jian Changsheng could leave the restaurant, a hand stopped him.

"You? Can you kill a Nine Monarch?"

Sun Bumian calmly spoke.

Jian Changsheng glared at him, seeming about to argue, but couldn't utter a single word... The gap between him and a Nine Monarch was still too vast.

"Perhaps I should go instead," Sun Bumian said.

"? If I can't kill a Nine Monarch, how can you?? Your rank isn't even as high as mine!" Jian Changsheng protested.

"...Heh."

Sun Bumian adjusted the small round sunglasses on his nose bridge and smiled slightly.

For some reason, at the instant that smile appeared, Jian Changsheng felt that Sun Bumian was somehow different from before, though he couldn't pinpoint exactly how.

"If you're all going, then I'll go too," Jiang Xiaohua trotted along, catching up.

"Enough."

Chen Ling's low voice echoed from the other end of the long table. "Even without the Vow Gu, I wouldn't return to the human realm."

"Why???"

"Don't you understand? Whether the Vow Gu exists or not is irrelevant. What truly bars me from the human realm is people's prejudice... or rather, the barrier between 'humans' and 'disasters.'

As long as I remain the Scourge of Mockery, no matter which realm I enter, I will always cause panic. Do you really think that with that government document, I could live peacefully in the Hanging Jade Realm?

No...

Even if the government recognizes me, the people won't. Once they know a world-ending disaster lives in their realm, they will live in constant fear. People living near me would move away in terror, and more and more would protest to the government. They would unite with governments from other realms to pressure the Hanging Jade Realm, forcing me to leave.

No matter how low-key I am or how harmless I pretend to be, it would be useless. My perceived weakness would only fuel their malice, making them even more reckless, and it might even implicate you all...

Disasters have invaded humanity for over three hundred years. So many have died at their hands. Their hatred, their fear, cannot be nullified by a single document.

And I, as the Scourge of Mockery, as long as I remain in the human realm, will forever be a great source of anxiety for all humanity. Without Chu Changqing's Vow Gu, perhaps there would be some other black or white Gu to restrain me and drive me away!"

Chen Ling's voice echoed through the dim restaurant. A hint of pain gradually crept onto his dark, eerie face, and then a reddish glow began to appear in his eyes, as if a second personality within him was stirring.

Chen Ling felt his emotions shifting and immediately forced himself to take a deep breath and calm down...

"I'm doing very well in the Abyssal Mockery... Why should I go to the human realm just to invite humiliation?"

"There is already an insurmountable chasm between me and the human realm."

The entire underground palace fell into a deathly silence once more.

Jian Changsheng, Sun Bumian, and Jiang Xiaohua looked at the figure in the large red opera robe, standing alone at the end of the long table amidst the flickering candlelight, speechless for a moment...

Chen Ling's answer was realistic. Even if Jian Changsheng could use that document to secure him a legal identity in the Hanging Jade Realm, "law" was ultimately just the "law" of the Hanging Jade Realm's government. It couldn't represent the attitudes of all residents, let alone the will of all humanity.

Given this, the existence of the Vow Gu made no difference... Chen Ling would not return to the human realm.

Jian Changsheng was silent for a long time. His fists clenched tightly at first, then reluctantly relaxed. He took a deep breath and walked back into the restaurant.

"To hell with the human realm... If you're not going back, then don't. I think your palace is quite good too—big, with lots of rooms, no need for air conditioning in summer, and a bunch of venomous insect guards outside... Here, no one can bully us."

Us.

Hearing those two words, Chen Ling's heart trembled slightly...

"Alright, alright, let's give Chu Changqing a pass then." Sun Bumian shrugged as well, turned, and sat back down at the dining table.

Jiang Xiaohua didn't say a word and obediently returned to his seat.

Chen Ling quietly watched the three in front of him.

Then,

He suddenly started to laugh.

The torches on the walls and the candles on the table suddenly flared brightly, making the entire restaurant increasingly luminous.

"Hahahaha! That's more like it!!"

"We of the '6' generation have reunited after a long time apart. Don't let these trivial matters spoil our mood... This is my territory in the Abyssal Mockery, and since you've come all this way, you must enjoy yourselves tonight!!"

The figure in the large red opera robe stood at the head of the long table, dramatically waved his sleeve, and shouted loudly:

"Someone! Bring the King food and wine!!!"