Chapter 387: Applause

Old He, mounted on a white crane, pressed the button on his walkie-talkie.“This is Hefeng.”

No prefix, no code; at the sound of these four simple words, a grave voice immediately responded from the other end of the walkie-talkie.

“What’s the situation? I saw the names of Liu Ying and the others disappear... Even if that person truly is Red Heart 6, he's only a Tier 3. How could he have killed them?”

It was clear that the person on the other end of the walkie-talkie also found the two deaths incomprehensible. The fact that their names disappeared within a minute suggested that Chen Ling likely killed both of them consecutively... which made it even more bizarre.

“We fell into a trap,” Old He’s face was extremely grim. “I’m currently escaping Willow Town. Quickly remove the circle, otherwise even I will die here!”

“What?!” the voice from the walkie-talkie exclaimed in surprise.

“Listen to me, there's definitely more than one Red Heart 6 in Willow Town. Everything here has gone awry. We heard the sound of an opera, and then... *clank, clank, clank*... then there was a pole... *clank, clank, clank, clank, clank*...”

Mid-sentence, Old He's throat involuntarily made strange clattering sounds, like heavy metal gears grinding.

He froze in place.

“Hefeng, what are you saying?” the person on the walkie-talkie asked, puzzled. “You heard opera sounds, and then what?”

“Th-en... *clank, clank, clank, clank*... *clunk*... after...”

Old He's voice became increasingly eerie, until he couldn't utter a single word. At the same time, he felt his body growing heavier and heavier, unable to control even his fingers...

The walkie-talkie slipped from his rigid hand, swiftly vanished into thin air, and finally hit the ground with a *bang*, shattering into pieces.

Concurrently, the white crane beneath him flew with increasing difficulty, as if carrying something immensely heavy. After a struggle of two wing beats, it plummeted headlong towards the earth!

Under Old He's terrified gaze, he stiffly lowered his head to look at his body. Unbeknownst to him, his skin had already developed a metallic sheen, his limbs were gradually transforming into wheels, and his rounded body was slowly growing sharp edges...

At this moment, a phrase spoken by the hooded figure just before death inexplicably popped into his mind:

“We... seem to have turned into vehicles?”

“An Iron Chariot, turned into a human?”

Chen Ling rubbed his eyes, staring in disbelief at the seventh approaching Iron Chariot.

In his vision, the chariot was slowly transforming into a human shape. Although it still largely resembled a vehicle, the faint outline of a human face could be discerned from its front... eyes like rivets, wrinkles like cracks, and ears like handles;

Chen Ling could even clearly distinguish fear and bewilderment on that “face”!

If the previous stage performance influencing reality was something Chen Ling could vaguely grasp, the scene before him completely transcended his understanding... Was this a vehicle turning into a human, or a human turning into a vehicle?

At this moment, the boundary between drama and reality seemed to blur, and the world became absurd and bizarre.

As this strange Iron Chariot approached, Gao Chong, in his white robes like a war god on the stage, slowly raised the gold-chiseled tiger-head spear in his hand...

His spear tip was aimed at the Iron Chariot's "face."

Seeing this, Old He, now half-human, half-vehicle, was terrified. He desperately tried to activate his abilities to escape, but within this body, he couldn't perceive any spiritual power.

He frantically tried to turn his wheels, drawing an arc on the stage, directly evading Gao Chong in front of him, and rushed frantically towards the audience.

Just then, his gaze caught sight of a red-robed figure in the first row in front of the stage, and he paused slightly.

It’s him?!

It’s Red Heart 6, Chen Ling!

Recognizing Chen Ling by the face identical to the one in Liu Ying's drawing, Old He was completely taken aback. He had never imagined that his original target for assassination would appear before him at such a moment.

So Chen Ling had been hiding here all along... No wonder Liu Ying couldn't locate him.

Chen Ling's reflection appeared in Old He's rivet-like eyes. After a brief hesitation, he charged at Chen Ling in the audience, like a whistling train at full speed!

His body had been transformed like this, and he was inexplicably trapped on the stage. He estimated it would be extremely difficult to escape on his own. Perhaps only by capturing Chen Ling could he gain a chance to negotiate... At the very least, he could drag Chen Ling down with him before he died!

Old He opened his mouth, seemingly growling Chen Ling's name, but only made harsh metallic clanking sounds.

Chen Ling, sitting in the first row, was startled to see the monstrous Iron Chariot charging directly at him. It was too late to dodge, especially with Li Qingshan sitting beside him in meditation.

*Whoosh*—!

Just as the Iron Chariot was about to leap off the stage, a gold-chiseled tiger-head spear descended from above!

Under the gleaming, cold spear tip, the sturdy Iron Chariot was as fragile as a paper effigy. A white figure stood at the edge of the stage, and with a horizontal sweep of the spear, split the Iron Chariot in half down the middle!

Blood splattered, fragments shattered.

Under Old He's terrified and painful gaze, his body disintegrated, crashing heavily onto the stage with a dull thud.

Even the furthest-flying fragment did not land in the audience. Instead, it came to a halt steadily at the edge of the stage, not crossing the boundary between performance and audience.

Old He lay inverted across the stage, his eyes fixed on Chen Ling below. Finally, the consciousness in his eyes gradually faded, turning completely into two metallic-looking rivets.

An “aged” Iron Chariot thus met its end at the edge of the stage.

Chen Ling's body remained tense. He stared blankly at the scene, only recovering moments later.

He looked up to see a figure holding a long spear standing atop the ruins of flesh and fragments. The orange-yellow light from behind him cast a golden silhouette around his body, making him resemble a white-robed war god.

Their gazes met for a moment across the stage.

A faint smile played on the white-robed figure's lips. He then turned and sang loudly to Wuzhu in the distance:

“Though the foreign soldiers surge forth in chaos, I vow they shall not escape, not even with wings!”

He raised his spear and charged back into the fray on the stage.

Chen Ling sat in the dim light and shadow below the stage, his large red opera robe silently swaying. He remained as silent as a statue.

No other bodies appeared during the rest of the performance, likely because all the enemies who had been pursuing him were annihilated. After an exciting fight scene, the performance drew to a close.

Although Chen Ling didn't quite understand it, he remained seated quietly until the entire performance was over.

As a character resembling Yue Fei finished his final lines, the stage lights extinguished completely, and a misty haze once again enveloped the dim stage.

In the profound silence and darkness, the red-robed figure in the audience remained still for a moment, then slowly raised his hands...

Lone yet fervent applause echoed.

Several figures slowly emerged from the darkened stage...

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