Chapter 468: Sixth Face

The surrounding scenes rapidly shifted in Chen Ling's eyes. Before he could recover from this immersive memory, another roar echoed from above.

"Refuse to accept my fate? What else can I do... keep being their entertainment? What's the point of that? If I don't die, I'll still have nothing! Even if I live, they'll constantly interfere with my life. If they can create one of you, they can create a second, a third... Eventually, they'll drive me insane. You're scared!! You know if I die one more time, I'll be completely gone!! You're afraid that if I die, no one will be left to perform for you, so you conjured his image, hoping to trick me into living, didn't you?! You give me ephemeral hope, watch me desperately chase it, and then, just as I'm about to reach it, you shatter that so-called hope... That's what you want!"

Amidst the falling snow, Chen Ling knelt in a pool of blood, roaring furiously at the pairs of crimson eyes that materialized behind him in the void!

Chen Yan's phantom stood beside him, tears streaming down its face.

The countless crimson eyes in the void, like an audience beneath a stage, showed no hint of remorse for Chen Ling's fury. Instead, the mockery in their gazes intensified...

—Chou.

As all the scenes dissipated, Chen Ling felt his past life experiences unraveling like silken threads, transforming into countless tiny filaments. These coalesced into ink, rapidly sketching lines in the surrounding blank world! His unique facial mask was taking shape.

Just as Chen Ling was still immersed in the wonder of this secret art, a strange sensation welled up in his heart!

He frowned, looking beneath himself. In this vast, white world, something else seemed to be stirring, drawn forth by the 'Drawing the Vermillion Face' technique, on the verge of appearing...

"A sixth face?" The appearance of the five faces—Sheng, Dan, Jing, Mo, and Chou—had already greatly surprised Chen Ling. He had never imagined that he would be involved in every single operatic role... Yet, as all five masks merged, it seemed something more was stirring.

Chen Ling felt no familiarity with this new presence. On the contrary, a sense of unfamiliarity and dread spontaneously arose within him.

"What is that?" Chen Ling murmured to himself. "I don't recall having such a past..." Before he finished speaking, a blot of pitch-black spread out from beneath his feet, like dark ink spilled on white paper, rapidly expanding in all directions!

As this darkness spread, the lines and color blocks sketched by 'Drawing the Vermillion Face' were ravenously consumed. Beneath this absolute blackness, all colors were assimilated and bled together, and the unique characteristics that defined 'Chen Ling' rapidly vanished!

The pure white world was collapsing. A monstrous, pitch-black beast, as if from the netherworld, was slowly opening its abyssal maw, swallowing Chen Ling's minuscule body.

"This is..."Chen Ling's pupils abruptly contracted!

Audience Expectation Value: 1Warning! Warning!The audience is beginning to intervene in the performance!!

Ancient Opera Treasury, Performance Zone.

In the first row of the audience, Ning Ruyu and others watched Chen Ling's motionless, statue-like back, as if awaiting something.

"Master, will this truly be alright?" Mo Jiao couldn't help but ask.

"Alright? That depends on how you define 'alright'," Master shrugged. "Sixth Brother has already grasped the secret of 'Drawing the Vermillion Face'. Whether he succeeds in drawing this face is up to him."

"So, what kind of mask will Junior Brother draw in the end?"

"As I said, everyone is a composite of personalities. The final face certainly won't be purely from one role; at most, it will only be similar to a particular role."

"I guess Junior Brother will be more like me," Luan Mei said calmly. "His movements and voice are almost perfect; he's a natural 'Dan' role."

"Not necessarily. Junior Brother's temperament is more like mine, and he's a good fighter, so he'll probably have a 'Wusheng' face," Ning Ruyu said leisurely, pulling out a folding fan from somewhere.

"Actually, Junior Brother also has the appearance of a Hegemon," Wen Renyou said flatly.

"What if he's actually like me... er... it's probably better if he isn't."Mo Jiao sighed deeply.

Just as everyone was guessing, a gentle breeze suddenly stirred on the stage. Chen Ling sat cross-legged, the hem of his large red opera robe began to dance lightly in the wind, and on his pure white initial mask, lines rapidly started to appear!

The first to appear was a Sheng face, with red and blue interwoven, and sharp lines. Just as Ning Ruyu had said, it was a Wusheng face.

Ning Ruyu's eyes lit up. "See, I told you Junior Brother was like me... Huh?"

Before Ning Ruyu finished speaking, the Wusheng face dimmed and vanished, replaced by a delicate Dan role mask. This face lasted only a few seconds before another elaborate Jing role mask emerged...

Within a mere ten seconds, the five masks—Sheng, Dan, Jing, Mo, and Chou—successively transformed. As the last face disappeared, Chen Ling's body suddenly jolted!

Thud—!A muffled sound emanated from the stage!

Ning Ruyu and the others simultaneously froze, puzzled by what had happened, and turned to look at Master with questioning gazes.

At that moment, Master's expression was exceedingly grim. He gazed intently at the stage, as if on guard against something.

"This aura..." Mo Jiao said, looking at Chen Ling's back on the stage, his brow unconsciously furrowing. "It's so strange... I've never felt this kind of aura before. Which mask is this?"

"Indeed, throughout the entire Ancient Opera Treasury, I've never encountered an aura like this." Ning Ruyu knew that something had definitely happened to Chen Ling. "Junior Brother... something must have gone wrong."

The entire performance zone fell into a dead silence.

Suddenly, Chen Ling, who had been sitting cross-legged on the stage, moved.

Under the gaze of Ning Ruyu and the others, the large red opera robe, with its back to the audience, slowly rose... Due to the angle, they couldn't see Chen Ling's face at that moment, but a bone-chilling coldness, like a howling wave, spread outwards!

The spotlight shone on the red opera robe. The vibrant vermillion slowly turned, revealing a pitch-black face to their view... It was a face like an abyss, with crimson eyes slightly curved, mocking and eerie, and exaggerated lips that hooked upwards behind its ears like a grin, as if it were sneering.

A mask, unique to the 'Audience,' had descended upon the stage!