Chapter 590: Source

As expected, all the lights in the house were completely unresponsive.

"Everything was fine, why is there a power outage?" Kong Baosheng mumbled to himself. "No... I have to go to the power bureau and find out what's going on."

"Why go to the power bureau?"

"Isn't the electricity supplied by the power bureau? Now that we have no power, we definitely need to contact them," Kong Baosheng replied instinctively. "Even if the circuit is broken, we should at least ask when the power will be restored. If it's going to be a while, we'll need to prepare kerosene or other alternatives in advance..."

As he spoke, Kong Baosheng put on his coat and quickly left the theater, heading towards the power bureau.

Upon hearing this, Chen Ling suddenly seemed to recall something and froze in place.

Electricity is supplied by the power bureau, so if there's an issue, you go to them. That's tracing things back to their origin, which is logical. If that's the case, why can't the existence of the Red Dust Base be traced back to its source?

The Red Dust Base is the cornerstone of the Red Dust Realm, and it was established single-handedly by Lord Red Dust.

If the Red Dust Base can't be located, why not simply ask Lord Red Dust himself?

Chen Ling's eyes gradually lit up. Without hesitation, he turned and ran upstairs. This sudden change startled Li Qingshan, who asked in confusion:

"Brother Lin, where are you going?"

"I have something to do! For the next few days, you can oversee and decide the theater's performance schedule!"

Before Chen Ling finished speaking, he had already entered the room, closing the door behind him and leaving a bewildered Li Qingshan standing alone downstairs in the empty hall.

He stared blankly at Chen Ling's closed door and mumbled a reply:

"Oh..."

As Chen Ling inserted the USB drive into the desktop, familiar dark green code automatically appeared before his eyes:

Reading...

Reading complete.

Chen Ling felt his vision quickly plunge into darkness. When his consciousness returned, the surrounding scene had already changed.

The first thing Chen Ling saw was the screen of a familiar flip phone. On the screen, he was indifferently making a peace sign, with a light rain falling on its surface and trickling down his fingertips.

He had returned to the exact moment he last logged off from the Era Archive.

Chen Ling casually closed the phone with a soft "snap," then slowly stood up and looked around. More than half of the museum had been reduced to ruins. In the grey drizzle, a young boy was laboriously moving three cots under the eaves.

Yao Qing had finally managed to settle Yang Xiao, Su Zhiwei, and Xiao Chunping, protecting them from the wind and rain. When he turned, he saw Chen Ling standing calmly there.

He was momentarily stunned, as if he had seen a ghost.

"You... you... how did your injuries heal so quickly??"

Yao Qing clearly remembered that Chen Ling had just been covered in blood, his intestines spilling out of his stomach, looking as if he were on the verge of death. He had even offered an ambulance, but Chen Ling refused. Then, Yao Qing turned away for a moment, and suddenly, the man was completely fine?!

"I told you it was just a minor injury, nothing serious."

Chen Ling casually waved his hand and walked directly to the three cots, his gaze falling on Su Zhiwei's pale face.

He only had twelve hours this time within the Era Archive. He needed to extract clues about the Red Dust Base within this timeframe, otherwise, if he missed this opportunity, he wouldn't be able to re-enter for another month.

A lot could happen in a month. It was uncertain whether the Red Dust Realm would even still exist by then.

However, Su Zhiwei had overextended her mental energy in the recent battle, and it was unclear if she would awaken in time. Chen Ling had no other option now but to sit and wait, leaving it to fate.

Chen Ling sighed helplessly, walked alone to the steps by the door, sat down, and gazed at the gloomy sky, falling silent.

"No, what's with the sighing?" Yao Qing immediately grew anxious. He rushed to Chen Ling's side and couldn't help but ask, "What's wrong with them? You... tell me the truth, I can handle it!"

"...What nonsense," Chen Ling said, glancing at him. "They just overextended their mental energy and passed out. Didn't you see their condition?"

"You suddenly walked over, looked at them with a grim expression, then sighed... it was quite unsettling."

Chen Ling was speechless.

"So, when will they wake up?"

"It's hard to say; it depends on how much each of them overextended their energy. I hope they wake up as soon as possible."

Chen Ling shrugged and spoke truthfully.

Though anxious, Yao Qing could do nothing but sit idly beside Chen Ling, staring wistfully at the dilapidated museum ruins and sighing repeatedly.

Half an hour passed, then an hour, then two...

Yao Qing checked on the three individuals several times, but still, there was no sign of them waking. Helpless, he decided to search through the ruins.

Waiting idly felt pointless, so he might as well use the time to retrieve some artifacts from the rubble. Many of the buried items were works left by predecessors, and regardless of their monetary value, they held immense significance for both him and Xiao Chunping.

Yao Qing lifted one stone after another, his hands becoming covered in dust. Occasionally, he would pull out a few embroidered pictures from underneath. Although their frames and glass were shattered, the delicate embroidery itself was largely undamaged, merely covered in dust.

Yao Qing brushed the dust off the embroidered pictures, his eyes filled with heartache. He carried them from the drizzle back under the eaves, carefully smoothed them, and finally weighed them down with a stone to prevent them from blowing away.

Chen Ling watched the scene without a word, standing as still as a statue.

After an indeterminate amount of time, a soft exclamation came from the ruins.

Yao Qing was seen walking from a distance, holding a shattered photo frame with a puzzled expression. As he walked, he used both hands to remove the broken frame and pull out the photo inside.

"Strange... where was this photo kept before?"

"What photo?"

"It looks like a photo of Grandma with someone... I don't think I've ever really seen this person next to her?"

As he spoke, Yao Qing casually handed the photo to Chen Ling, who took a casual glance and suddenly froze in place.

The photo showed Xiao Chunping with a young man. The background appeared to be an old street in Guangdong, with neon signs behind them displaying traditional characters for specialty snacks.

The young man in the photo with Xiao Chunping was wearing a red performance suit adorned with colored threads and sequins, and an imposing Eastern dragon was embroidered on his cuffs. In his left hand, he held a vibrant lion dance head, while his right hand flashed a peace sign at the camera. He was grinning widely, with small, round-framed sunglasses perched on his nose, giving him a slightly roguish yet dashing appearance.

"A lion dance?" Chen Ling muttered, flipping the photo over in confusion. A date was printed on the back, catching his eye: