Chapter 727: I Am Chen Ling

Chapter 727: I Am Chen Ling

The figure struggled wildly in place, but the four paper shackles seemed to tighten further and further.

It glared angrily at Master. Then its body underwent a visible transformation; the surface of the black shadow began to shimmer with the sheen of skin, and its crimson eyes faded and disappeared, replaced by three-dimensional human features.

It was Chen Ling's face!

"Master..." As if its vocal cords hadn't fully recovered, the voice was a bit muffled and unclear.

Within a few short seconds, the original figure had vanished. Instead, Chen Ling, draped in a large red opera robe, stood wearing four paper shackles, lost and bewildered on the grooved ground, looking around.

"Master!" He looked at Master, his eyes full of confusion. "Master... Where is this? How did I get here?"

"What are these things on my hands?"

Master watched this scene quietly, his eyes growing colder and colder.

"Master... These papers are hurting me so much. How do I loosen them?"

"Stop pretending," Master said in a deep voice. "You are not my disciple... Who are you?"

"What are you talking about, Master? I am Chen Ling, I'm Lao Liu!"

"You are not him."

"I really am Chen Ling! Master, please help me... These papers are making me so uncomfortable, I feel like I can't breathe... Where's Eldest Senior Brother? If you don't help me, I'll go find Eldest Senior Brother to help me!"

Veins bulged on 'Chen Ling''s neck, and his whole face turned purple, as if he genuinely couldn't breathe.

Seeing Master's expressionless face, he glared at him resentfully, then turned to walk away. But after taking two steps, he clutched his own neck as if suffocating, struggled violently, and then collapsed to the ground.

Master remained unmoved, watching quietly.

One second,

Two seconds,

Three seconds...

"Damn it!! You really won't save me!!"

'Chen Ling' suddenly leaped up from the ground, pointing at Master and cursing loudly, "You old geezer!! Quickly undo these things for me!! Otherwise, I'll slap myself, I'll slap... I'll slap..."

Slap, slap, slap—

'Chen Ling' slapped left and right, each slap with immense force, even knocking out a few of his own teeth, and his face instantly swelled up.

A light breeze swept past him. Master's hand, like lightning, gripped his neck, lifting him into the air like a small chick. Master's face was so grim it seemed water could drip from it!

"You... Who exactly are you??"

"I am Chen Ling!" the figure in the red opera robe shouted. "I am Chen Ling! Whoever stands on this stage, that person is Chen Ling!!!"

Seeing this, Master's eyes gleamed, a sharp light flickering in them, as he pondered something.

He released 'Chen Ling''s neck.

'Chen Ling,' still wearing the paper shackles, fell to the ground with a thud. He struggled to his feet, and then sprinted to escape into the distance.

Master watched the scene with cold eyes, but made no move to stop him. Instead, he calmly turned around. He reached into his robe, and a simple black cart flew out from a disc, landing on the ground with a clang.

Master unhurriedly raised his hand and tossed the lifeless Jian Changsheng onto it.

Meanwhile,

'Chen Ling,' wearing the white shackles, gritted his teeth and walked back.

"What? Not running anymore?" Master asked indifferently.

'Chen Ling' just stared at him maliciously, without a word.

The white shackles on him were formed from the spiritual tablet of the Faceless Actor. Only Master in the entire world could undo them, and no matter how far he ran, he couldn't get rid of them.

"What exactly do you want?"

"I want my disciple back."

"I can also be your disciple," 'Chen Ling' said, taking a deep breath, his tone full of sincerity. "I am exactly like him. Everything he can do, I can do... No, I am him, and he is me."

"As long as you are willing, I can kneel down now and kowtow to become your disciple. I promise to treat you like a father, and all the other senior brothers and sisters will be my family. Whatever you need me to do in the future, I will always be ready to help..."

"No need," Master's three words were a cold refusal.

The respect and sincerity on 'Chen Ling''s face vanished entirely. He burst into a furious tirade,

"You ungrateful old man, do you really think you're so great? If it weren't for these wretched spiritual tablets, we would have killed you eight hundred times over!"

"And another thing, I wanted to say this when I watched the performance earlier: You old geezer are so old, yet you're still using a child's face here. What the hell are you pretending to be young for?!"

Faced with these malicious verbal attacks, Master's expression seemed not to change much. After a moment of thought, he calmly replied:

"How about this... You come with me to a place. Once we're there, I'll remove your shackles and grant you freedom."

'Chen Ling''s cursing abruptly stopped.

"...Are you serious?"

"I swear in the name of the Way of the Theater God."

As Master solemnly made his vow, something unseen seemed to respond. Seeing this, 'Chen Ling''s expression finally softened.

"Where are you going?"

"In the Gray Realm. You'll know once we get there."

"...What are you planning?"

"Are you scared? Is there any place in this Gray Realm you're afraid to go?"

"In this whole world, there's no place I wouldn't dare to go," 'Chen Ling' sneered. "Territories of world-ending calamities, realms of the Nine Human Sovereigns, ancient divine storages... They're all just insignificant ants."

"Is that the confidence of a 'spectator'?"

"Heh."

'Chen Ling' let out a cold laugh, neither confirming nor denying.

Master raised a finger and pointed at the simple cart carrying Jian Changsheng. "Go, drag him along with you."

"Why is this idiotic unlucky fellow here?"

Master: ...

"And why should I push it? Are you pulling rank because of your age?" 'Chen Ling' glared maliciously at Master, not bothering to hide his ill will.

"Do you still want me to remove the shackles?"

'Chen Ling' snorted coldly, swallowing his anger. He sullenly walked up to the cart, grabbed the handle, and rudely started walking away.

Clatter—Clatter—

The cart bounced over the uneven ground, without slowing down at all. It jostled the unconscious Jian Changsheng around like stir-fry, his head bumping one moment, his backside hitting the next. In no time, he was bruised and swollen.

Seeing this, Master said nothing more, but walked straight towards a certain direction in the Gray Realm.

'Chen Ling' dragged the cart, following behind Master with cold eyes. The four paper shackles restrained his power, and he muttered softly to himself, as if secretly cursing something.

Clatter—Clatter—

On the cart, Jian Changsheng, who had been tossed up and down by the bumps, muddledly opened his eyes a crack.

"What the hell... Did I reincarnate as stir-fried pork with chili..."