Chapter 221: Deadly Escape

He extended his hand without hesitation and struck the tiny gap on the pupil.

Bang—!!

The moment his fist landed, the entire crimson sun-pupil violently contracted, and the surging crimson sea around it surged like boiling water, like a beast enraged by a sneak attack.

After this punch landed, Mojiao's presence seemed to be completely exposed. Countless red papers rolled back, stabbing towards him like sharp spears, while whistling sounds of air breaking sealed off all escape routes from every direction.

At the same time, the tiny gap that Chen Ling had originally broken open shattered and expanded under Mojiao's fist, becoming a hole large enough for half a shoulder to pass through.

Chen Ling's eyes lit up instantly. He tried to move his body out from behind the grand curtain, but the next moment, his pupils suddenly contracted!

*Thump—*

More than a dozen crimson paper strips, like spears, successively pierced through Mojiao's body from behind. Warm blood splattered across the surface of the paper-sun pupil, and his face instantly turned pale!

More and more paper strips pierced into his body. Under the red paper monster's fury, he was completely impaled before the pupil, as if by countless crimson thorns, and the wounds on his body were shocking to behold.

All of this happened too suddenly. Chen Ling had just felt a surge of relief at having survived, but everything unfolding before him crushed it completely.

As Chen Ling stood there stunned, a hand stained with blood slowly lifted...

"Junior brother..."

Blood continuously seeped from Mojiao's throat, making his words indistinct, but even so, the smile on his pale face remained as gentle as ever. "Give me your hand."

Chen Ling unhesitatingly extended his hand through the gap and clasped Mojiao's bloody hand tightly. As veins bulged on the latter's arm, the next moment, a tremendous force directly dragged Chen Ling out from behind the grand curtain!

A large gash was torn open on the surface of the crimson sun-pupil, and Chen Ling was completely pulled out from inside the pupil. His body, in that instant, passed through the gap between reality and the theater and began to fall towards the ground!

As he detached, the enraged crimson sun-pupil in the sky melted and disappeared at a visible rate, like a snowman consumed by fire. Along with it, the red paper cloud sea that had enveloped the entire Galaxy Guild disappeared too.

Just as Chen Ling was about to hit the ground, a strong hand firmly grasped his body, suspending him in mid-air.

Chen Ling looked up and saw Mojiao, covered in bloodied holes, standing in mid-air, giving him a faint smile before slowly descending to the ground with him.

Seeing this scene, Chu Muyun, who was carrying a bloody pulp towards them, finally let out a long breath.

His gaze swept over the manor, which had returned to normal, and he murmured,

"Is it finally over...?"

The moment Chen Ling's feet safely touched the ground, an unprecedented sense of weakness welled up within him, and he nearly buckled and collapsed.

Chen Ling looked back and saw Mojiao weakly slumped in a pool of blood. He had more than a dozen wounds on his body, five of which were fatal, and blood continuously gushed from them. His life force was like a flickering candle in the wind, seemingly about to extinguish.

Chen Ling's expression changed. He quickly stepped forward to support him and anxiously asked, "Are you alright?"

"Cough, cough, cough, cough, cough..." Mojiao opened his mouth to say something, but then began to cough violently. Chu Muyun, who was standing by, also quickly stepped forward, his expression grave, and took out a scalpel from his sleeve, clearly intending to do something.

"No need..."

Mojiao waved his hand to stop him. "I won't be able to stay in this body for much longer... There's no need to waste your energy..."

Chu Muyun froze. After a moment of hesitation, he ultimately stood aside without moving.

Mojiao's life force was on the verge of disappearing. He slowly and with difficulty raised his head, looking at Chen Ling in front of him. "Junior brother, don't worry... I, your senior brother, won't die... But in the future, you must not release that thing casually... Your senior brother cannot always arrive in time... A slight mistake could lead to disaster..."

Chen Ling was filled with questions at this moment but didn't know where to begin. He was silent for a moment, then smiled bitterly,

"I'm sorry... I don't know who I am right now... I... I don't even remember who you are..."

"Of course, you wouldn't remember, because this is our first meeting." Mojiao's voice was a little hoarse. "It seems master was right; you would eventually fall into confusion... When you are ready, you can come to the Ancient Theatrical Treasury to find us... Your other senior brothers and sisters are also very curious about you."

"There, you should find the answers you seek..."

As his words fell, Mojiao's life force completely vanished. At the same time, the painted face on his skin began to fade, as if something had left his body and floated lightly into the distance...

Chen Ling stared blankly at this scene, motionless as a statue.

The Ancient Theatrical Treasury... It's the Ancient Theatrical Treasury again.

Chen Ling recalled someone previously mentioning that the Ancient Theatrical Treasury was one of the few ancient treasuries not controlled by humans. Its location was at the intersection of the Ash Realm and the real world, ordinary people couldn't reach it at all, and it was considered a forbidden zone for living beings... Now, it seemed this forgotten ancient treasury was far more complex than that.

"Chen Ling, are you alright?" Chu Muyun asked with concern.

"I'm fine... Wait, why are you here?"

"Wen Shilin came to my home and said I had a lot of influence, asking me to come to the Galaxy Guild to rescue you..." Chu Muyun's gaze swept over the completely leveled manor, and he smiled helplessly. "Now, it seems there's no need for that..."

"..." Chen Ling pointed to the bloody, pulpy mass on Chu Muyun's back. "What is that thing?"

"You mean this?"

Chu Muyun calmly replied, "Just some unlucky person I don't know."

By the time Chen Ling and Chu Muyun walked out of the Galaxy Guild's main gate, night had already fallen.

It was called a main gate, but in reality, behind that seemingly sturdy and luxurious portal, the entire guild had been razed to the ground. All that remained was blood-stained earth as far as the eye could see, broken corpses strewn everywhere, and buildings scattered haphazardly among the ruins.

Yet even with such chaos inside, the outside remained completely unaffected. Shops along the street were closing one by one for the night, their owners calculating the day's earnings, chatting with their neighbors, then locking up and whistling their way home... Inside and outside the gate, it was as if they were two entirely different worlds.

"That person's domain is truly amazing," Chu Muyun exclaimed, seeing this. "If no one had broken into the guild's interior, no one would have noticed anything unusual, probably not even by tomorrow morning."

Chen Ling looked back at the guild's main gate. "Who exactly is he?"

"I don't know the specifics; I've only heard some rumors about him... In short, that senior's movements are always elusive and hard to fathom. Even within the Twilight Society, which has many talented and extraordinary individuals, he is one of the most mysterious among them."

"He's also part of the Twilight Society?"