Chapter 401: The Origin of the Flower

The figure was incredibly fast. By the time Chen Ling rushed out of the house, it had already covered several kilometers.

"Hey, why are you running??"

Chen Ling ran at full speed but still couldn't catch the figure. He couldn't help but shout, "Didn't you send me those flowers? I just want to ask you a few questions..."

"Yiya!!!"

The Clown sped up even more, covering his face with his hands and bolting like a child caught misbehaving. The distance between him and Chen Ling grew wider and wider...

"Damn it..."

Chen Ling couldn't for the life of him understand. The Clown had tried to kill him before, yet now it felt as if Chen Ling was the villain, scaring the Clown into a panicked flight just by showing his face. When Chen Ling himself was being chased, he certainly hadn't run this fast!

At this speed, Chen Ling knew he couldn't possibly catch up. He even considered shooting himself a few times to activate his Blood Robe ability, but then thought better of it – it seemed too extreme just for this.

Just then, Chen Ling seemed to remember something, and his eyes narrowed. He reached out into the void, parting an invisible curtain. Empowered by the Theatrical Dao Ancient Collection, his figure vanished instantly.

The wildly sprinting Clown saw a blur before his eyes as a red-clothed figure parted a curtain directly in front of him, seemingly stepping out.

"Wait, I just want..."

"Yiyayayaya!!!!"

The Clown was so startled he leaped several feet off the ground, his eyes wide on his ash-smeared face. He forcibly twisted his body in mid-air, hurtling past Chen Ling with a whoosh!

He rolled half a turn on the ground, then similarly pulled at the void with both hands, his figure disappearing behind another invisible curtain.

Seeing this, Chen Ling hesitated for a moment before parting a curtain in front of him and chasing after the Clown.

As the two figures vanished, the star-dusted grassland fell silent.

Meanwhile, at Wenren You's home.

"What... what's going on?" asked Ning Ruyu, her eyes full of confusion as she stood by the window with the others, watching the two figures vanish into thin air.

"Master, what exactly did you tell Old Five?" Luan Mei asked.

The young man leaned against the wall and yawned lazily. "I didn't really say anything... I just told him that Old Six isn't our enemy and that, from today, he's your junior brother."

"...That's all?"

"Yes, that's all."

"So, Old Five is..."

"He's probably trying to apologize to our junior brother," Ning Ruyu mused. "As a senior brother, he almost killed the junior brother, so he wants to make amends but doesn't know how. Old Five isn't particularly clever to begin with, and he hasn't interacted much with people outside of the Theatrical Dao Ancient Collection. Now that the junior brother has startled him like this, he's likely quite flustered."

"Should we help them?" Wenren You asked slowly.

"Let them sort out their own affairs," the young man said, waving his hand. "So, why did you keep me here? What exactly did you want to tell me?"

Mo Jiao exchanged glances with the others before speaking, "Master, we believe... our junior brother isn't suited for learning opera."

"Oh?"

"His talent is simply too... well... mediocre," Mo Jiao said, choosing his words carefully. "He's definitely not cut out for this, whether it's singing technique or physical performance. Even if he were to start practicing basic skills now, it would take at least a decade to achieve anything notable..."

"His recitation is also quite ordinary," Wenren You added.

Ning Ruyu retorted in surprise, "But our junior brother's talent for combat is the best I've ever seen."

"But combat alone isn't enough..."

While the disciples were arguing, the young man sitting at the table paid no attention. He calmly took a sip of tea, as if he had long anticipated this outcome.

"Master, what are your thoughts?" Luan Mei asked.

"You all... still underestimate Old Six too much," the young man said slowly.

Everyone was slightly stunned. "What do you mean?"

"Perhaps no one in this world is better suited to learning opera than him. Whether it's singing, reciting, acting, or combat, his talent is actually no less than any of yours."

Mo Jiao asked, puzzled, "But when we taught him..."

"You were teaching Chen Ling," the young man interrupted calmly. His profoundly deep eyes then swept over everyone as his voice slowly filled the quiet room: "But don't forget... he is more than just 'Chen Ling'."

Everyone was startled.

"I had you teach him basic skills not to teach him opera, but to awaken his instincts... to awaken the deepest instincts within 'that body.' Only then can Old Six go further on this path. Otherwise, he will eventually fall into the abyss."

"Yiya!"

The Clown burst through an invisible curtain, landing among numerous bookshelves. He raised his hands, then stumbled to an abrupt stop.

He looked around. This was the Text Zone, where countless opera scripts and books were arranged on endless wooden cabinets, stretching as far as the eye could see...

Not seeing Chen Ling pursuing him, the Clown patted his chest and let out a long sigh of relief...

"You don't have to run, I just want to talk to you..." An invisible curtain opened directly above him. As Chen Ling's upper body emerged, the Clown was startled and leaped four or five meters into the air once more.

"Yiya!!"

Panic and bewilderment appeared on the Clown's ash-smeared face. He turned and continued to sprint wildly into the distance!

Chen Ling was speechless.

At that moment, Chen Ling suddenly wondered if there was something on his face, given that the Clown reacted as if he'd seen a ghost every time he appeared.

"Don't go!" Chen Ling could only grit his teeth and continue the chase.

The two figures, one following the other, darted among the countless bookshelves. The swirling wind lifted countless paper pages into the air.

The Clown ran frantically with his hands outstretched in a gesture of surrender, his short legs a blur. As he fled in a panic, three disc cases fell from his pocket, scattering onto the ground.

As these disc cases opened, countless light and shadows began to fold between them. Entirely different worlds, like a stack of pancakes, enveloped both figures!

Chen Ling felt a dizzying blur, then found himself on a bizarre continent. Under a deep blue sky, he was surrounded by countless plants he had never seen before.

Just as Chen Ling wondered where he was, an ostrich wearing glasses darted past him!

"The white-faced dwarf who raided the Queen of Hearts' garden is here again!"

A sharp cry echoed through the dense jungle. One after another, massive beasts began to flee in terror, their expressions showing extreme fear as they looked at the Clown darting into the distance.

Chen Ling was stunned for a moment. He then darted forward again, and soon spotted a disc case lying quietly in the overgrown jungle:

— *Alice in Wonderland* (USA), Tim Burton, 2010;

At that moment, Chen Ling's mind suddenly conjured the mysterious, fantastical yellow flower he had received on his first night...

He seemed to know where the flower had come from.

Chen Ling casually picked up the disc case, then reached out into the void to pull open a curtain. His figure instantly vanished from that world.