Chapter 854: Sugar-coated hawthorn and hunger

"Let's head straight for the Wuji Domain then," Sun Buming said, immediately echoing Chen Ling's words. "If we move quickly, we should arrive in about two days... If you get really hungry on the way, you can eat candied hawthorns."

Chen Ling was startled. "Candied hawthorns? Where would you get those?"

Sun Buming simply rubbed his hands in the air, and two bright candied hawthorns materialized out of nowhere, releasing a rich aroma of hawthorn.

Chen Ling took one string in surprise, scrutinizing Sun Buming suspiciously. Even he couldn't tell where these candied hawthorns had come from.

"Just a few unique little tricks," Sun Buming shrugged. "Don't you do them too? All those playing cards just now, didn't they appear out of nowhere?"

"But those are just illusions, they're fake, while yours..." Chen Ling hesitated for a moment but couldn't resist his hunger. He bit into the top hawthorn, chewed for a while, and swallowed it. It was sweet. "Yours... it's actually real?!"

"It's real, the kind that can fill you up... But I can only conjure candied hawthorns, not other things like you can," Sun Buming said with a helpless shrug.

Chen Ling was incredibly surprised.

His Scarlet Conjuring could create anything, but most of it was an illusion. Its other function was merely to swap out objects in others' hands with similar ones. Sun Buming's trick, however, was true creation out of nothing! Even if it only produced candied hawthorns, it was still quite remarkable.

Chen Ling devoured the remaining candied hawthorns in a few bites. Jian Changsheng, seeing him eat so eagerly, felt a bit tempted. He took the second string and, after a few bites, reluctantly commented, "Mmm... it tastes the same as last time. It's alright."

Chen Ling looked at Sun Buming. "By the way, why did you only conjure two? Aren't you going to eat any?"

"—Ugh!!!" Chen Ling watched in shock as Sun Buming suddenly turned pale and began to dry heave, utterly bewildered, holding the finished skewer in his hand. Were the candied hawthorns really that bad?

"Seriously, what's your deal, man?" Jian Changsheng grumbled.

"Nothing..." Sun Buming replied, still pale. "Whenever I had no food, I'd eat the candied hawthorns I conjured. At my worst, I ate them every single day for half a year... Now, just thinking about it makes me... ugh!!!"

Chen Ling was speechless.

After Sun Buming recovered, he seemed a bit embarrassed. He cleared his throat twice before remembering that Chen Ling and Jian Changsheng didn't know his name. He extended his hand to Chen Ling. "Um... officially, my name is Sun Buming, Six of Diamonds."

"Chen Ling, Six of Hearts."

"Jian Changsheng, Six of Spades."

None of them were sticklers for formality; they simply exchanged names and left it at that. Had they not worried about being asked their companions' names during their next joint operation, they probably would have skipped even this step.

"Three of the 'Six' generation are now gathered... Only Clubs is missing."

"Hmm." Chen Ling seemed to recall something and turned to ask Sun Buming, "Do you know anything about the Six of Clubs?"

"The Six of Clubs..." Sun Buming thought for a moment. "I haven't met him, but I've heard some rumors. He's apparently a Shamanic Daoist... and he seems quite difficult to get along with."

"Difficult to get along with?"

"Yes, an elder once mentioned him, describing him as... 'autistic,' 'isolated,' 'crawling in the shadows,' 'unlucky if you get too close,' and things like that."

Jian Changsheng was surprised. "Sounds like he could rival Hearts?"

Chen Ling silently clenched his fist.

"Anyway, he's most likely in the Wuji Domain, so we might run into him this time," Sun Buming said, adjusting his small round sunglasses. "Alright, let's get going."

Chen Ling, having just finished a string of candied hawthorns, felt a little hungry again. He simply headed straight in the direction of the Wuji Domain, with Jian Changsheng and Sun Buming following closely behind.

The Theater.

As spotlights flickered on, Chen Ling slowly opened his eyes on stage.

Traveling in the Gray Realm was inherently boring and monotonous. Chen Ling could only seize the brief breaks during their journey to enter the Theater.

Chen Ling first glanced at the audience, where countless crimson eyes were still gazing at him. However, he didn't see the presence of Chen Ling of Zone 3 among them, nor in any other corner of the stage.

"Chen Ling, where are you?" Chen Ling stood on stage, calling out softly.

Calling out his own name felt a bit awkward for Chen Ling, but moments later, a voice responded from above.

"I'm here, deep within your mind... This Theater is too special; I can't enter it, so I can only temporarily reside outside." Chen Ling of Zone 3 paused, then spoke again, "Also, if you find it strange to call me by that name, you can call me 'Yao.' It's my childhood name."

"Yao..." Chen Ling noted the name. "Will it have any effect, with you staying outside?"

"No, I'm strong enough now. As long as I don't leave the physical body, I won't dissipate."

"That's good."

"But there's a problem..."

"What is it?"

"When my soul was weak before, it was fine. But now my soul is complete, and adding your soul and this Theater... this physical body is almost at its limit carrying so much. Haven't you noticed your stamina draining faster and faster?"

As soon as he heard this, Chen Ling's expression grew serious, as if he had just realized something... No wonder he had been getting hungry so easily since defeating Kongwang. At first, he thought it was due to his domain being overloaded, but now, he realized it was likely because his physical body couldn't bear the weight of so many souls. The problem was, even knowing the cause, there was no quick solution. Unless he expelled Yao's soul from his body... but Chen Ling couldn't do that. Without Yao, he would have long been replaced by Mockery. Furthermore, a connection now existed between him, Yao, and the Sacrificial Land, making it impossible to easily separate them. There had to be another way...

"Let's just hold out until we reach the Wuji Domain," Chen Ling said slowly. "Aren't you a Shamanic Daoist? Perhaps there'll be a solution to everything there."

"...Perhaps," Yao replied, then fell silent, as if asleep. Chen Ling didn't call out to him again. Instead, he went straight to the screen at the edge of the stage... In the corner of the screen, a shimmering, oscillating treasure chest icon was prominently displayed. The reward from the previous performance had arrived. Chen Ling raised his hand and tapped the treasure chest...